Ottawa council OKs call for tough penalties on misbehaving councillors

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Ottawa city council is throwing its weight behind a call for tougher rules to protect municipal workers from harassment and to make it easier to turf abusive councillors.

Councillors backed a motion by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario urging the provincial government to beef up the law by updating municipal codes of conduct, enacting new flexible penalties and allowing municipalities to ask the courts to remove a councillor if that is recommended by the municipal integrity commissioner.

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In 2020, the Ottawa’s integrity commissioner issued the first of several damning reports on the conduct of former College Ward councillor Rick Chiarelli, who was accused of sexually harassing multiple female staff members over the course of nearly a decade. The maximum penalty was a 90-day suspension without pay for each offence. There was no mechanism to remove a sitting councillor. Ultimately, Chiarelli was suspended for a total of 450 days and forfeited pay worth $132,000.

Orléans MPP Stephen Blais, a former Ottawa city councillor who served alongside Chiarelli, has twice brought a private member’s bill forward at Queen’s Park to strengthen the penalties. Both times it has been defeated.

Wednesday’s motion was brought to council by Somerset Ward Coun. Ariel Troster and it was backed by AMO and an advocacy group called Women of Ontario Say No.

“We saw what happened at the last term of council,” Troster said. “I was shocked and horrified to learn that that particular councillor did not lose their job, and, if he’d wanted to run again in another election, he could have done so. We need legislation with teeth because everyone deserves access to a safe workplace.”

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But removing an elected official shouldn’t be done lightly, she added.

“I understand some of the concerns. We have to be really careful, and people have a right to democratic legislation. We wouldn’t want to see this taken lightly. But, when you see a situation like the one we had in Ottawa, when we saw egregious, repeated, serial harassment, somebody like that shouldn’t be allowed to take their seat at council.”

Chiarelli, who served 22 years on council, did not run for re-election in 2022. He has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.

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