Former political aide to Rob Ford faces break-in charges
Strategist Kouvalis helped Ford secure 2010 mayoralty, worked on John Tory’s 2014 race
Controversial political strategist Nick Kouvalis faces charges of breaking and entering, after allegedly being found intoxicated in a Kelseys restaurant after closing time this past fall, police confirm.
At 2 a.m. on Sept. 26, police were alerted to the Burlington restaurant after the alarm went off, and they discovered two people drinking inside.
Halton Regional Police Const. Colin MacLeod said when police entered, the two “were ordered onto the ground.”
There was “very minimal damage,” to the Kelseys itself. MacLeod said although he couldn’t recall the exact manner of the break-in, it was “either doors left open or forced entry from pulling on the door.”
Only hours before, on Sept. 25, activist Sarah Warry-Poljanski had lost the provincial Conservative nomination in the Hamilton Mountain area. Kouvalis and Warry-Poljanski are both facing charges.
The exact nature of Kouvalis and Warry-Poljanski’s relationship is not known. Reached by the Star, Kouvalis directed questions to his lawyer, Dirk Derstine, who said he is “unable to comment about the nature of their relationship on that particular day.”
Kouvalis and Warry-Poljanski appeared in court in October. Derstine said they are meeting with the Crown in the new year and hope to have the case resolved.
“(Kouvalis) does not deny being at the bar that night, but he does deny absolutely having any criminal intent whatsoever in his actions,” Derstine said.
Kouvalis is known as the man behind Rob Ford’s initial rise to power and prominence in the 2010 Toronto mayoral election. He has worked with candidates at many levels of government and was chief strategist for John Tory when he beat Doug Ford in 2014.
Kouvalis stepped down as federal Conservative Kellie Leitch’s campaign manager in February of this year after comments on Twitter where he called a Leitch critic a “cuck,” which is short for “cuckold.” The term is used frequently by white nationalists and members of the alt-right.
He admitted in a 2017 Macleans interview that he had invented a 2016 tweet that falsely listed “billions” of dollars he claimed Trudeau’s Liberal government had supposedly given to international aid organizations in the previous year, including $351 million for the designated terrorist group Hamas. He made it up “to make the left go nuts,” he said.
This is not the first time that Kouvalis — who has been open about his issues with alcohol addiction — has found himself in trouble with the police. He pleaded guilty to drunk driving charges in May of 2016 and had to pay a $1,690 fine.
Warry-Poljanski is an addictions worker, according to a now-deleted bio on her website, and has an educational background in addictions counselling as well as criminal psychology and behaviour. She founded and currently is the chair of the Balfour-Hill Park Neighbourhood Association and sits on the board of directors at The Society for Quality Education.
“It’s important to remember that Sarah’s presumed innocent and that in this case there was absolutely no criminal intent,” said her lawyer, Peter Boushy. And in fact, there is no evidence of any forced entry into the premises.”
Earlier this year, Tory did not rule out working with Kouvalis again in his 2018 bid to remain in office, but said he wanted to “give him a chance to deal with his personal issues.”
In a Dec. 20 interview, when the Star asked Tory again what role Kouvalis will play in his 2018 re-election campaign, he said he “(didn’t) know the answer to that question.”
“I’ve made no secret of the fact — when I say he’s a friend, he’s a friend,” the mayor said. “When my friends have had difficulties I don’t turn my back on them, I try to help them if I can. But I literally don’t have a single person as of yet that’s been appointed to any job in any proposed campaign structure, not one.”
Regarding whether Tory knew about the charges currently facing Kouvalis, spokesperson Don Peat said, “the mayor was not aware of these allegations. We have no comment at this time.” With files from David Rider and Jenna Moon