Ottawa Centre MPP Joel Harden is calling on the Ontario government to give city councils the power to remove councillors found guilty of serious misconduct in the wake of two damning integrity commissioner reports against College Coun. Rick Chiarelli.
Harden tabled a motion in the provincial legislature Wednesday following a similar call from Ottawa city council last week.
Council unanimously called on Chiarelli to resign after two integrity commissioner reports found allegations of sexual misconduct against the embattled city councillor were founded.
The punitive measures available to Ottawa council — docking the councillor’s pay, removing him from committees and limiting access to his own office resources — are limited by provincial legislation. A city council cannot force an individual councillor to resign or remove one from office.
Councillors therefore called on Mayor Jim Watson to write to Steve Clark, the minister of municipal affairs and housing, to enact legislation that could see an elected member of council removed in instances of serious misconduct.
In a statement, Harden lauded the courage of the women who came forward to report instances of harassment in Chiarelli’s office and in the interview process to work for the councillor, which, according to the integrity commissioner’s reports, included overtly sexual questions and stories as well as requests to go “bra-less” on the job.
“What happened to them can never be allowed to happen in the future, which is why we need legislation allowing municipalities to remove councillors who have engaged in predatory behaviour, or other very serious misconduct,” Harden said.
Global News has reached out to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for Clark’s comment on Harden’s motion.