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Did Brampton overpay for a building owned by someone connected to Mayor Patrick Brown? The building, which used to house Alectra Utilities, is to be repurposed by the city as a processing centre for speed camera tickets. “S” is for Sandalwood Parkway and “S” is for Sneaky Patrick Brown and “S” is for scandal… Alas, under Mayor Brown’s watch, it seems that not a month goes by in Brampton without yet another scandal erupting. Because that’s how the Sneaky One rolls. The most recent example: Toronto Star investigative reporter Kevin Donovan recently broke a story that suggested Brampton City Council vastly overpaid for a property on 175 Sandalwood Pky. Dr. W. The building, which used to house Alectra Utilities, is to be repurposed by the city as a processing centre for speed camera tickets. It should be noted that the province will soon be banning speed cameras in Ontario. But never mind… Yet, the price paid for the property doesn’t make sense. The building sold for $32.5 million in 2020. But Brampton City Council approved a deal to buy the edifice for $77.9 million. In Donovan’s report, he notes council approved the purchase of the office building following a series of closed-door meetings. As well, the city paid $10 million more for the property than its own independent third-party appraiser valued it at. The Star’s report revealed closed session documents identifying local businessman and CEO of the BVD Group Bikram Dhillon as the seller. This was information that was previously kept confidential by the city. The released documents confirm Dhillon had purchased the property from Alectra Utilities in 2020 for just $32.5 million. The Star also reported that Brown and Dhillon appeared at several events together prior to the sale. And Dhillon was named as “Brampton Citizen of the Year” in 2023 – just a month before the deal to purchase 175 Sandalwood was finalized. Surely a coincidence… Rebel News recently paid a house call to the building. While Donovan was able to access the building in the course of his investigation, such is no longer the case. The entrance doors are now locked, and two security guards stand watch. We were told to reach out to the city’s media relations team. We did. Par for the course, our request for comment went ignored. We also reached out to Dhillon, but at time of writing no response was received. So, the questions remain: how did a building sell for a $45.4 million uptick in a less than robust real estate market? And why was it that the meetings regarding the sale took place behind closed doors? And why the lack of transparency? Stay tuned…