Faith Goldy’s 2018 campaign to become mayor of Toronto is being investigated by Canadian election officials after her campaign finance documents were made public. Officials at Toronto's Compliance Audit Committee, the municipal body that oversees enforcement of campaign finance regulations believe that she may have received contributions to her campaign that violated the law. Toronto is Canada’s largest city, located in the province of Ontario.
Goldy is a “14 Words”-reciting and self-identified white nationalist with connections to the U.S. white nationalist movement. She was slated to speak at the white nationalist American Renaissance conference this year, but after our reporting, she disappeared from the list of speakers. Last year, Goldy launched her mayoral bid, racking up endorsements from right-wing figures, including Michelle Malkin and Rep. Steve King of Iowa. She lost her election.
Goldy’s campaign finances appear to have raised eyebrows at the Compliance Committee. Canadaland's Jonathan Goldsbie reported that officials heard merited concerns that Goldy solicited illegal campaign contributions:
"Sufficient concern was raised that contributions ma have been solicited from outside Ontario… The Committee did not receive adequate information that contributions were kept separate from campaign and personal accounts…"
— Jonathan Goldsbie (@goldsbie) April 29, 2019
The Compliance Audit Committee published information about a hearing on the investigation, which concluded that "sufficient concern was raised that contributions may have been solicited from outside Ontario" in contravention of the Municipal Elections Act, which mandates that only someone who is “normally resident in Ontario” may contribute to a municipal election.
Allegations spurring the investigation include that Goldy sought "worldwide" donations for a failed lawsuit against Bell Media after the media subsidiary declined to air her campaign ads, that she solicits donations from supporters outside Ontario regularly and that her personal finances may not have been kept separate from campaign funds.
Journalist Sean Craig wrote that Goldy “seemed very concerned about” the probability that her personal finances would be probed in the investigation. As Right Wing Watch reported in 2018, Goldy has long planned to allege that the election she lost was rigged against her. “The system is rigged!” she wrote on Twitter in response to the campaign finance investigation.
A Right Wing Watch source said that Goldy had solicited funds via encrypted money-transfer formats from far-right activists outside of Canada, possibly including Chuck C. Johnson, who is a U.S.-based far-right activist who appears to be friendly with several Republican members of Congress, including Reps. Andy Harris of Maryland and Phil Roe of Tennessee, with whom he met with earlier this year. The Right Wing Watch source provided documentation of conversations the source had with Johnson about Goldy’s election on the condition they would not be published for fear of professional retribution. Johnson also told our source that Goldy had solicited advice from Johnson after she lost her election and that he had introduced King to Goldy.
Faith Goldy daily wallet summary report (Lifetime Numbers):
Rec: 1.98165027 BTC ~$10,411.26 USD
Spent: 1.94472803 BTC ~$10,217.28 USD
Bal: 0.03692224 BTC ~$193.98 USD.— Neonazi BTC Tracker (@NeonaziWallets) April 29, 2019
After Right Wing Watch received information from a source earlier this year claiming that Johnson and other far-right figures, we reached Goldy for comment. After noting that “accepting any donation from sources outside Ontario is illegal,” she said that “Johnson had no financial involvement in my high energy political campaign whatsoever.”
“Our financial records will soon be available to the public and you are free to view our immaculate fundraising records thereafter,” Goldy wrote to Right Wing Watch.
Johnson did not respond to Right Wing Watch's request for comment via email and text message.
