Patti Starr was a fundraiser and supporter who made illegal political contributions through her role as head of a charity called the Toronto Section of the National Council of Jewish Women.
The suit, Starr v. Houlden, reached the Supreme Court of Canada which ruled that the inquiry was unconstitutional since it would impair the rights of the defendants to due process which would be available to them in a criminal trial.
This decision set a precedent for future judicial inquiries including the Westray Mine disaster of 1992 and the Algo Centre Mall collapse in Elliot Lake in 2012.
In the book she argued that her sins were minor and that Peterson used her as a scapegoat to avoid scrutiny of other activities within the Liberal party and government.
In 1985, Starr was a volunteer chair of the Toronto Section of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), a charity in existence since 1897.
The council received a $251,000 tax rebate which Starr put into a special capital fund of the charitable foundation that operated the building project.
In February 1989, Linda McQuaig, working as a journalist for The Globe and Mail, was investigating problems with Liberal housing policy and became aware of connections between Starr, real estate developers and the provincial government.
These tips may have been made due to a dispute between Starr and John Sewell, both of whom were on the board of the Metro Toronto Housing Authority (MTHA).
Sewell disagreed with Tridel's involvement with NCJW's Prince Charles housing development because the contract terms violated MTHA policy.
[2] McQuaig published an article that said that the NCJW had made contributions to political parties in contravention of the Charities Accounting Act.
Gordon Murray, a director at Revenue Canada, said that she was mistaken and that charities were specifically barred from contributions to partisan political causes.
[3] At the NCJW, former executive director Betty Stone went to president Gloria Strom with documents showing the political contributions.
Ian Scott said, "I don't know whether Ashworth received a refrigerator, but assuming he did, the interesting thing was the number of people that thought I got a fridge, if not better.
[10] On June 23, 1989, Peterson ordered a judicial inquiry be set up to investigate the relationship between Starr, Tridel Corp and the government.
The purpose of the inquiry was to determine "whether a benefit, advantage or reward of any kind was conferred on any elected or unelected public official or any member of his or her family.
[13][14] Soon after the supreme court ruling, the police laid 76 charges plus including over 30 violations of election spending laws against Starr.
[13] Starr felt unfairly singled out by the affair and launched a lawsuit against Peterson, his adviser Vince Borg, Attorney-General Ian Scott, the province and the cabinet for C$3 million in damages for negligence, defamation, malicious prosecution and abuse of power.
She brought not only embarrassment to the National Council of Jewish Women, but put at risk their credibility in appealing to their constituency for their continued personal and financial aid.
The decision has been cited repeatedly in other similar situations including the Westray Mine disaster of 1992 and the Algo Centre Mall collapse in Elliot Lake in 2012.
[21] Shortly after the McQuaig articles had been published and the investigations started, David Peterson asked members of the DelZotto family to step down from their public appointments even though they had not been personally implicated.