Rick Chiarelli protested by council crowd and colleagues

[lindamy]

Rick Chiarelli protested by council crowd and colleagues

JON WILLING
Updated: December 11, 2019

Silent protest happening now. They’re wearing Resign Rick shirts. #ottpoli



Asked about his ailment, Chiarelli pointed to his doctor’s letter sent to the city in October and made public, but he wouldn’t explain further.

The letter said Chiarelli suddenly fainted on Oct. 12, lost consciousness and was transported to an emergency room by ambulance. At the time, his doctor said there was a cardiac evaluation and tests were ongoing. Chiarelli’s “stress levels continue to be high,” the doctor wrote on Oct. 22.

“My health is not very good right now but as it improves I’ll be doing a bit more and more of what I can do,” Chiarelli said outside city hall. “There will be a bit of a setback in the next coming days and then hopefully when I’m able to I will be able to do that.”

Chiarelli said he couldn’t comment on the allegations because of the integrity investigation and a court process he plans to initiate. He doesn’t believe the integrity commissioner has the jurisdiction to investigate the complaints and has said he believes it’s a matter for a human rights tribunal.

The veteran councillor denies the allegations, which include claims that he directed staff to gather intel from people at strip clubs.

It was a striking scene behind the velvet ropes of the council horseshoe as some councillors flipped over their blue recycling bins and used them as makeshift standing workstations during the council meeting. Many of them stood the entire time Chiarelli was there and almost all were standing at their chairs at various moments in the meeting.

Coun. Jenna Sudds first made a subtle point of refusing to sit at the table with Chiarelli when he appeared at council on Nov. 6.

Saw headlines that a certain "embattled" councillor showed up today. I'd rather see headlines praising women standing up for women, like @JennaSudds is this morning. She hasn't taken her seat while he's at the table. Seems she's literally taking a stand against him. #OttCity



I always tell women how important it is to ‘take their seat at the table’. Always. However today felt like a day I just couldn’t sit at that table. I just couldn’t.

Sudds once again stood during Wednesday’s meeting. After the meeting adjourned, she declined to comment on colleagues’ joining her in the protest.

Surprisingly, council’s liaison on women and gender stayed seated.

“I want to stay neutral,” Coun. Theresa Kavanagh said after the meeting. “I don’t want to cloud the investigation. I feel very, very strongly that we have to go through the process. I realize how difficult it is. I’m so proud of the women who have come forward to speak their minds and say what’s happened, but I feel very strongly that we have to keep this process strong and I don’t see what happened today as helping.”

In fact, Kavanagh said, her colleagues’ protest “could backfire” in prejudicing the outcome of the integrity investigation.

“Anyone who’s accused of anything, you have to wait until the decision is made before you can make a decision on what happens next,” Kavanagh said.

Kavanagh, however, acknowledged, “it was much harder to sit.”

As politicians dug into the business of the day, about 15 people in the gallery removed their jackets and stood staring at council. They wore T-shirts that said #ResignRick before unrolling a banner that said #IBelieveSurvivors outside chambers and chanting.

Mayor Jim Watson sat in his usual place, overseeing the mound of paperwork coming across his desk as he tried to chair the budget meeting, though he said later he was standing in spirit with his fellow council members.

According to Watson, Chiarelli had no influence on the 2020 budget, despite Chiarelli’s observing outside city hall that he worked with staff over time to get what College ward needed in the budget.

Chiarelli said he’s “trying to do the best I can” under the circumstances of his health, noting times when other councillors have been granted leave by council.

“This is no different,” he said. “In fact, we have one that started the same day I was denied mine.”

Chiarelli was talking about Sept. 25, the day council approved a leave for Coun. Diane Deans, who’s receiving treatment for cancer, but didn’t address Chiarelli’s request for a leave.

Meanwhile, on the Laurier Avenue side of city hall, a new bra protest appeared on the Ottawa 2017 cauldron and nearby shrubs.

It’ll be interesting to see what the city does about the latest protest, this time on the shrubs and 150 flame. Permanent fixture?


Seeing that Chiarelli seems to have returned to work, council relieved Kanata South Coun. Allan Hubley and Rideau-Goulbourn Coun. Scott Moffatt of their duties helping to manage the office of College ward. The responsibility fell on their shoulders on Sept. 25.

Moffatt vowed to follow through with commitments he made to College ward residents during his brief assignment.

“It is a worry that the residents of College ward are not going to be adequately represented under the current circumstances,” Moffatt said, “and so I would challenge the councillor for that area to make sure that doesn’t happen and make sure we focus on the residents first and foremost.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/rick-chiarelli-protested-by-council-crowd-and-colleagues

 

[qiluren]

皮糙肉厚是搅和政治的本钱。