Hello, people of London, Ontario and guests. This is an informational post, with the goal of supporting informed citizens with an interest in public services and local democracy. It is based on election filings in the public domain.
This interesting info is freely available
Did you know that our local municipal authority maintains a public website with resources about elections? I’ll point you at one part of that website, here. It’s not the busiest part of the internet1, but it’s important because it contains lots of resources about how London City Council is elected. That’s the group of 15 people with control of the $1.4 billion annual city budget, for example, and influence over our local day-to-day lives in a plethora2 of ways.
As you’ll see on that official city website, this is an election year, with the next City Council chosen on October 26. Those election resources, all relevant and on the same page, include the filings of past candidates, including the current 15, who were winners of 15 first-past-the-post elections in 2022.
This was covered well by the media at the time. Take a look at this excellent CBC story which highlights prominent donors to those 15 winning candidates, pointing out figures in business and politics, and of course local developers. It costs money to run a strong campaign, and that’s why people are asked to help out the candidates in whom they believe.
Since they received these donations, these 15 people have served as our City Council and made countless decisions on our behalf. Of course, as part of the electoral process, it’s open to any of us to donate to a municipal candidate: that’s a legitimate way to participate and lots of people do it. In London, as we shall see, more than 450 people did it.
This information is there for us all to see, and has been for more than three years. Quite high up that City web page (again, here) is a drop-down you can click: Candidate Financial Statements. That will give you filings from everyone who ran, successfully or otherwise, in attachments you can download and read.
Any of us could have done this.
How I’ve organized the information
First, and I really mean this…
Note on A.I. use: I do not support use of generative A.I. to replace human creativity. I make use of A.I. support only where it can make me better or faster at a task I would already have undertaken. These reports were produced with help from an assistant created in ChatGPT, speeding the process while retaining editorial control in the hands of a human (me). I’m happy to discuss this.
To produce this piece, I used A.I. to speed up the process of collating the information. These filings are indeed available, but they vary in format - some have supplementary lists, others are handwritten - and hard to compare.
I took all donor lists from the successful 15 candidates and fed them into an A.I. platform for collation and cleanup, then used it to develop a tool to help us access the information. For this first project, I focused on donor names only - there are no dollar amounts, although those are available on the website like everything else. I then checked the names against the lists on that website (third time sharing the same link - here) which I urge everyone to do, every time, because this is new, untried technology.
The outcome was this chatbot: London City Council donors 2022. That’s now open to the public, meaning anyone with a ChatGPT account can use it. You can ask it questions about any councillor, search for names, ask about trends and so on. And, for crying out loud check it against those official filings (sigh I hate tech - link is again here) before you accept its information; you will find that every answer comes with a pre-set warning to do so. But, with that added safety measure, this chatbot can be useful in providing the info in ways that are easier to access and understand.
If you give it a try, please give me feedback! This is new tech and a first attempt, so it’s a learning experience.
Questions I’ve asked the chatbot
So what’s different? This is all out there, and CBC has reported it, and it’s old news, right? Well, what if I told you3 that citizen journalists, with the right tech and expert support, don’t need anybody to ask their questions. What if you could ask your own?
Here are some of mine.
How many donors total?
After counting all listed donor name entries (Mayor and Wards 1–14), including repeated appearances under multiple candidates, the total is: 455 donor entries.
Most common name across all lists?
The most frequently occurring name is: Ali Soufan
How many times does Ali Soufan appear?
4Ali Soufan appears 6 times total. He is listed under the following successful candidates:
Mayor Josh Morgan
Shawn Lewis — Ward 2
Peter Cuddy — Ward 3
Steve Lehman — Ward 8
Elizabeth Peloza — Ward 12
Steve Hillier — Ward 14
How many times does the last name Soufan appear?
The last name “Soufan” appears 23 times in total. This count includes all appearances across:
The Mayor section (8 instances)
Ward 2 (3)
Ward 3 (2)
Ward 5 (1)
Ward 7 (3)
Ward 8 (2)
Ward 10 (1)
Ward 12 (1)
Ward 14 (2)
How many individuals with that last name?
There are 11 unique individuals with the last name “Soufan”. They are:
Nick (Nasser) Soufan
Hesham Soufan
Mat Soufan
Karem Soufan
Nella Soufan
Ali Soufan
Sam Soufan
Yasmin Soufan
Karem Samer Soufan
Karen Soufan
Hassan Soufan
This counts each distinct full name once, even if the same person appears multiple times in different ward sections.
Any donations from anyone called Farhi? List by recipient.
After reviewing the full donor list (Mayor and Wards 1–14), the following entries match the name Farhi:
Shmuel Farhi
Donor to:
Mayor Josh Morgan
Shawn Lewis — Ward 2
Shmual Farhi** (spelled without the second “e”)
Donor to:
Steve Lehman — Ward 8
No other donors with the surname Farhi appear in the lists.
Note the bot can suggest similar names if you’re searching. And, double-check.
How many people called Michael or Mike?
There are 7 entries with the name Michael. They are:
Michael Lerner
Michael Smith
Michael Siskind
Michael Lynk
Michael Emery
Michael Rigato
Michael Leopold
People named Mike
There are 3 entries with the name Mike. They are:
Mike Blewett
Mike Meddoui
Mike Wallace
Combined Total: 10 donor entries are named either Michael or Mike. (This count reflects appearances in the lists, not unique individuals if duplicates were to exist.)
And so on
Again, anybody can look this up. Please tell me if anything here is inaccurate, and continue to note that these are published on a city-owned website. I fully accept the tech is likely to present problems, and I also think it’s worth the work to make this stuff more accessible.
That’s my tuppence-worth5 today.
EDIT - adding complete list of donors, so you don’t need a ChatGPT account if you don’t want one, and also the tech is megaglitchy, of course.
Below is the complete list of all donor names
MAYOR — Josh Morgan (All City)
Paul Aarts
Kevin Aarts
Mohammed Abdo
Dana Alakhras
Salah Aljajah
Hugh Allen
Larry Allen
Tarek-Galal Amer
Adam Benmi
Cammileah Beth
Jeff Bibbings
Robert Bierbaum
Gary Blazak
Mike Blewett
Arthur Blumas
Traci Boland
Milad Bosta
Bill Boyce
Thomas J Branton
David Brebner
Jim Bujouves
Michelle Camarata
Salvatore Cambria
Adam Carapella
Carlo Castellani
Josh Chadwick
Doug Coleman
Randy Collins
Audrey Collins
Scott Collyer
Steve Copp
Beth Cormier
Scott Courtice
Jamie Crich
Joe Dales
Lloyd Davenport
Emily Dayus
Don de Jong
Henrica De Sousa
Scott Disney
Antonio D’Oria
John Drake
Gerald Drennan
Alan Drewlo
Peter Drygas
Wayne Dunn
Maged Eissa
Janice Evans
Irene Fabiano
Assem Fadel
Shmuel Farhi
John Finan
Ron Fisher
William Fleming
Trent Forristal
John Fracasso
Peter Fragiskatos
Vito Frijia
Richard Fung
Carmine Gargarella
Diane Gargarella
Ryan Gauss
Marc Gerofsky
Rick Gillespie
Sarah Girty
Mitchell Goldhar
Vitali Golenitski
Cedric Gomes
Sohir Gouda
Connie Graham
Lee Greenwood
Michelina Groccia
Ahsanul Hafiz
Moe Hajar
Kelly Hajar
Mariam Hamou
Zeba Hashmi
David Hassan
Martin Hayward
Phillip Hazzard
Harry Hermann
Renee Hermann
Paul Hogan
Jonathan Horne
Gord Hume
Francesco Ioele
Pat Jilesen
Peter Johnson
David Johnstone
Faisal Joseph
Hiesam Kadri
Samir Kadri
Daniel Katz
Romika Katz
Abbie Katz
Harvey Katz
Jacob Katz
Jonathan Katz
Blair Knox
Ron Koudys
Herald Krimmer
Judy Laforme
Alex Lau
Rob Lawton
Christopher Lee
Michael Lerner
Shawn Lewis
Craig Linton
Jan Lubell
Richard Lubell
Sean MacDougall
Jonathan MacGregor
Michelle Mackay
Ted Madison
Jug Manocha
Dan Mathieson
Trevor McAninch
Don McCallum
Tobit McLeod
Mike Meddoui
Youssef Meddoui
Ahmed Meddoui
Mariam Meddoui
Iyman Meddoui
Joseph Meddoui
Antonio Memme
David Metcalfe
Cheryl Miller
Charlie Miller
Husam Mohammed
Amar Mor
Johanna Morgan
Kathy Morgan
Hassan Mostafa
Rania Mostafa Saleh
Nicholas Muia
Devin Munro
Joseph Murray
Nigendra Narain
Whitney Neilipovitz
Farhad Noory
James Nother
Rebia (Robbie) Osman
Silvana Pacifico
Sal Pacifico
Paul Paolatto
Shawn Parkinson
Sachinkumar Patel
Dhaval Patel
James Pearce
Sandra Pearce
Peter Pendill
Marcus Plowright
Carla Randall
Erin Rankin Nash
Donald Redman
Holden Rhodes
Lynne Ryckman
Cathy Saunders
Robert Schram
Ahmed Seksek
Kuldip (Roy) Sharma
Robert Sherman
Bill Sherwood
Sharame Sherzady
Fawaz Siddiqi
Richard Sifton
Christopher Sinai
George Sinker
Michael Siskind
Robert Siskind
John Sliskovic
Nathan Smith
Michael Smith
Ashraf Sohail
Nick (Nasser) Soufan
Hesham Soufan
Mat Soufan
Karem Soufan
Nella Soufan
Ali Soufan
Sam Soufan
Yasmin Soufan
Walt Spivak
Andrew Spriet
Steve Stapleton
Carol Stephenson
Dave Stimac
Ian Stone
Nabil Sultan
Reem Sultan
Betty Tam
Gordon Thompson
Tom Tillmann
Maung Tin
Said Tsouli Faroukh
David Vaillancourt
John Vander Hoeven
Hank VanderLaan
Megan Walker
Mike Wallace
Sue Wastell
Wayne Waterman
Sandra Weir
Thomas Whealy
John Winston
Ray Won
Jeffrey Wybo
Jeff Young
Beverley Zaifman
Kamal Zebian
Ahmed Zebian
Anthony Zervakos
Tasia Zervakos
Voula Zervakos
WARD 1 — Hadleigh McAlister
Lindsay Mathyssen
John Monbourquette
Nadine Abiraad
Joseph and Kathi Wilson
Cornelius Mathyssen
Patricia Lee Shack
Ian Stone
WARD 2 — Shawn Lewis
Ali Soufan
Sam Soufan
Nella Soufan
Voula Zervakos
Alan Drewlo
Scott Stallaert
John Winston
Jamie Crich
Steve Stapleton
Alon Shatil
Scott Coulter
Chris Metron
Casey Kulchycki
Sarah Girty
Hassan Mostafa
Rania Mostafa
Joyce Larsh
Salah Al Jajah
Mohammed Abdo
Joseph Meddoui
Lindsay Mathyssen
Samuel Cox
Mitchell Goldhar
Maged Eissa
Daniel Levack
Michelle Palmer
Brian Gibson
Cheryl Miller
Shmuel Farhi
Egon Beig
WARD 3 — Peter Cuddy
Rick Spenser
Robert Vitali
Jerome Henshall
Robert Siskind
Nancy Branscombe
Gerald Slemko
Dan Reith
Samuel Rincon
Ian Murray
Helen Ready
Adam Carapella
Don Wilkinson
Putts Strybosch
Glenn Avola
John and Elena Aggelopoulos
Craig Linton
Herald Krimmer
Doug Coleman
Joseph Carapella
Denise Flack
Doug Langs
Heidi Bayley
Ali Soufan
Karem Samer Soufan
David Cliche
Art Blumas
WARD 4 — Susan Stevenson
Elaine Corvaro
Paul Paolatto
Asif Sheikh
Adam Carapella
Joseph Carapella
Craig Linton
Peter Hayman
Salim Mansur
Jay Parkinson
Thomas Whealy
Tina Gatten
WARD 5 — Jerry Pribl
Asif Sheikh
Catherine Charlton
Craig Linton
Dagmar Pribil
Don Stevens
Doug Coleman
Edith Hollingsworth
Gary Curgin
Gregory Rea
Heidi Bayley
Howard Shears
Ian Stone
James Michael Coon
John Brennan
John Smibert
Kenneth Daniel Reason
Nella Soufan
Nancy Branscombe
Paul Paolatto
Peter Sergautis
Ron Fisher
Ryan Gauss
WARD 6 — Sam Trosow
Cheryl Lake
James Mastronardi
Don Bartlett
Michael Lynk
Stephen Pitel
Kathleen Dean
Bassam Awad
John Fracasso
Norma Coates
Nancy Branscombe
James Mastronardi
Terence Kernaghan
Victor Aziz
WARD 7 — Corinne Rahman
Ryan Gauss
Peter Fragiskatos
Morena Hernandez
Marcus Plowright
Bob Siskind
Christopher Loreto
Dilip Andrade
Greg Willoughby
Adam Carapella
Ron Fisher
Ahsanul Hafiz
Craig Linton
Rebecca Coulter
Harold Usher
Ken Patapatia
Yvette Stapleton
Nella Soufan
Karen Soufan
Hassan Soufan
WARD 8 — Steve Lehman
Sam Soufan
Voula Zervakos
Ali Soufan
Ahmed Meddoui
Dr Murray McLeod
Tarek Amber
Joseph Meddoui
Michael Emery
Jonathan Horne
Peter Jordan
Adam Bain
Perry Ferguson
Dr Harry B VanYmeren
Philip MacDonald
Michael Rigato
Richard Bains
Shmual Farhi
S Stapleton
Jamie Crich
Carlo Castellani
Samuel Rinson
Ryan Gauss
J Roussy Sheppard
Richard Sheppard
WARD 9 — Anna Hopkins
James (Ted) Barber
William Ratcliffe
Nancy Leppan
Paul Hubert
Janice Strickland
Nancy Branscombe
Steven Plunkett
Martin Albinger
Ginny Bennett
Matthew Yeager
Sandy Levin
Dirka Prout
Ross Lemon
Michael Leopold
Jug Manocha
Harold Usher
Randy Collins
WARD 10 — Paul Van Meerbergen
Charmaine Graham
Glenn Avola
Kyle O’Dowda
Thomas O’Dowda
Guido Van Meerbergen
Bruce Mackinnon
Vito Frijia
Heidi Bayley
Elizabeth Drewlo
Joseph Haasen
Hassan Soufan
William James Graham
Dave Stimac
Farhad Noory
Adam Carapella
Joseph Carapella
Rebecca Melad
Faizan Rashid
Michael Bierbaum
Jay Murray
Richard Sifton
WARD 11 — Skylar Franke
Matthew Ross
Scott Courtice
Richie Bloomfield
Kevin Van Lierop
Patrick Whelan
Marcus Plowright
Michelle Baldwin
Carol Dyck
Dean Sheppard
Melanie Franke
Sarah Emms-Pilon
Samantha Fox
Tom Cull
Abe Oudshoorn
Bill Diver
Paul Nicholson
Janet Frood
Peter Merrifield
George Sinclair
Andre Lachance
Julie Ryan
Jodi Simpson
David Isaac
Eric Franke
Sandra Miller
Suzanne Gysbers
Jennifer Chesnut
Jacquetta Newman
Sophia Helpard
Jeff Sage
James Chan
Kate Graham
Michele Soave
Anne-Marie Sanchez
Martin Horak
Amanda Fletcher
Joni Baechler
Chris Cull
Matthew Wilson
Zach Armstrong
Arielle Kayabaga
Tarek Loubani
April Crake
Rod Culham
Jesse Helmer
Ann Marie Cooper
J Ross Lemon
Shawn Adamsson
Michael Leopold
John Fleming
Norman A. Pizzale
James Barber
Justyna Prawdzik
Stephen Turner
WARD 12 — Elizabeth Peloza
Lindsay Mathyssen
Tom Cull
Ryan Gauss
Terrence Kernaghan
Krystina Bednarowski
Paul Grech
Achille Lascaris
Cydna Mercer
Nancy Branscombe
Matthew Rowlinson
Peter Fragiskatos
Mitchell Goldhar
Craig Linton
Michelle Morgan
Harold Usher
Judite Holder
Cheryl Miller
Glen Wong
Iynaan Meddoui
Mohammed Abdo
Joseph Meddoui
Mabel Lewis
Ali Soufan
Paul Hubert
Karen Berry
Ken Patapatia
WARD 13 — David Ferreira
Teresa Ferreira
Luis Ferreira
Conceicao Alves
Marion Austin
Tom Hodder
Chris Teixeira
Mary Ann Hodge
Sandra Miller
Silvia Langer
Wendy Russell
WARD 14 — Steve Hillier
Voula Zervakos
Sam Soufan
Ali Soufan
Carla Randall
Farhad Noory
“This bot was created with the woefully-flawed ChatGPT, so it is vital to check all answers against primary sources at london.ca.”
Regular readers have learned to fear my footnotes.
Full disclosure: the bot got this one wrong the first time and I picked it up by verifying it with the PDF, then told it to rerun the request. Check all results.
Translation: two cents’ worth.
Big thanks to the beta testers trying this bot. It is, of course, presenting challenges. It’s possible this post just doesn’t work and I’ll take it down. Currently trying a fix.
You live and learn!
Excellent public-interest endeavour, Mike. Thanks.