2018 Ottawa Municipal Election

[Admiral Nelson]

Originally Posted by Buggys

We should strive to use tax dollars efficiently, and not automatically try to add "just one more small cost" to everyone.

Big costs can happen from small costs added up.

By comparison, a minimum wage worker only makes about 25k per year gross, with very little savings if any, and very often with only an expensive healthcare plan from the employer that doesn't cover much. One round of IVF is 15-25k out of pocket.

Sure. But this case is the exception and not the rule. And Nussbaum is eminently qualified for both city council and now NCC head. There's nothing gained for the public here in discouraging talent from seeking public office....

Besides, reasonable citizens should have bigger fish to fry than this (corruption, unsustainable suburban growth, take your pick).

[rocketphish]

Eight candidates registered to run in Rideau-Rockcliffe byelection

Shaamini Yogaretnam, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: February 13, 2019



Just more than a week into his new job as NCC boss, the race to fill Tobi Nussbaum’s vacated Rideau-Rockcliffe councillor seat already has eight registered contenders.

A community association president, a climate change consultant, a former executive director of the Orléans Chamber of Commerce and a recent master’s graduate in European, Russian and Eurasian studies are just some of the candidates.

Nussbaum was announced as the new chief executive of the National Capital Commission in December, just two months after being re-elected to his council seat. He resigned as councillor at the end of January and began in the NCC role on Feb. 4.

In 2014, Nussbaum, a former diplomat and director general of strategic policy at the Canadian International Development Agency, was one of six candidates vying for the seat. In last year’s municipal election, Nussbaum only had one challenger, Peter Heyck, who has, to date, not registered for the byelection.

The candidate-filing period opened on Jan. 30, more than two months ahead of the April 15 byelection. Three of the eight candidates currently signed up registered to run on Day One.


Rawlson King, 42, has worked for two decades in public relations.

“I am running because I believe Ward 13 needs experienced leadership to address issues of smart and sustainable development, public safety and improved transit and transportation at city hall,” he said. “We have serious issues concerning gangs, 🞵🞵🞵🞵, shootings, lack of economic opportunities, lack of social investment, lack of infrastructure investment, along with nuisance developers.”

King has lived in the ward for 15 years. He is currently the president of the Overbrook Community Association, board member and treasurer at the Rideau-Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre, and is co-chair of the Ottawa Police Service’s community equity council, which aims to bridge gaps between police and racialized communities.

“I am ultimately running because I believe Ottawa is at a crossroads and requires serious, thoughtful leadership to help guide us through the wide array of challenges confronting us.”

Johan Hamels, 59, lives in Manor Park and works as a climate change, renewable energy consultant.

Hamels served as a member of the Parents’ Council of De La Salle Public High School from 2009-18, serving as chair for three years. He is currently a board member of the Jean-Claude Bergeron Foundation, which supports young artists from De La Salle School in their artistic pursuits.

Hamels was also previously chair of the Parent Participation Committee of the French public school board. Hamels is also a past board member of the Ottawa Renewable Energy Cooperative.

He has served as both executive director of the Green Party in Flanders and the Green Party of Canada.

Penny Thompson, 53, is a federal government employee who “will be on a leave of absence from my position at Health Canada for the campaign.”

She lived in New Edinburgh in 1990 and moved to Manor Park with her husband and children in 2003.

“We have raised our children and now care for parents in this community.”

Thompson has served as chair of a community council and president of a community association. She is a board member of the United Way Public Service Engagement Cabinet and a member of Spark United Way.

She said she is running to represent citizens and to fight for their views and their communities.

Jamie Kwong, 35, is a communications specialist for Correctional Service Canada.

She is the former executive director of both the Quartier Vanier Business Improvement Area and the Orléans Chamber of Commerce.

She has two degrees in criminology and has volunteered with the 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 Assault Support Centre of Ottawa and served as a director on the board with the Ottawa 🞵🞵🞵🞵 Crisis Centre.

“I am running because it is my passion to work in service to the community. For the last 10 years, I’ve been a community builder and organizer advocating on issues that improved the quality of life for our communities. I am running because Rideau-Rockcliffe residents deserve an experienced, business-minded, collaborative yet independent voice at city council.”

She says, if elected, she will add a woman’s voice and cultural diversity to council.

Patrick Mayangi, 29, says he is a “community organizer” and lists “volunteering, mentoring, or engaging with other community leaders,” on his website as ways he has maintained a presence in the community.

He has lived in Ottawa-Vanier since moving to Ottawa in 2005 and completed his master’s degree in 2018.

Oriana Ngabirano, 35, is a business consultant, mother and social activist. Her website describes her as a “fluently bilingual reputation manager and public relations specialist who has worked for organizations ranging from the United Nations to British American Tobacco.”

Ngabirano “sits on the board of two community organizations and is proactively involved with the De La Salle Public School council.”

Marc Dorgeville, 42, is a former climate science researcher who now works as a community social worker at a not-for-profit organization in Vanier, “helping people to overcome their financial difficulties.”

“I decided to run because cities all around the world are showing that they are the main drivers of the change that people want for the environment and on social issues,” he said. “Ottawa also needs to be part of that movement so that we can all change together.”

Peter Karwacki, who describes himself as an experienced and community-minded certified IT project manager and application developer with senior management and financial management experience and a volunteer organizer and fundraiser with the Ottawa Food Bank, registered as a candidate on Monday.

Candidates have until Friday, March 1 at 2 p.m. to file their nomination papers either in person at the City of Ottawa elections office at 1221B Cyrville Road, or by appointment with the city clerk at City Hall, 110 Laurier Ave. W., during regular office hours.

Anyone who is “a resident of the City of Ottawa, or an owner or tenant of land in the City of Ottawa, or the spouse of such an owner or tenant,” 18 years old or older and a Canadian citizen is eligible to run.


With files from Postmedia

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...d-to-run-in-rideau-rockcliffe-byelection

[rocketphish]

With 17 candidates in the Rideau-Rockcliffe byelection, casting just one vote won't be easy

Gord Holder, Postmedia
Updated: March 25, 2019

Figuring out whom to vote for as city councillor in Rideau-Rockcliffe ward was easier in October.

Ballots listed just two candidates. When election night tabulations concluded, Tobi Nussbaum had 7,334 votes, or 80.52 per cent of all ballots, while Peter Heyck had 1,774, or 19.48 per cent.

Soon after, though, Rideau-Rockcliffe residents learned Nussbaum would leave council to become the National Capital Commission’s chief executive officer effective Feb. 4. Because so little of council’s four-year term had expired, a relatively rare municipal byelection was scheduled for April 15, with advance voting on April 5.

Heyck is running again. So are 16 others.

That’s right. Seventeen total candidates. S-e-v-e-n-t-e-e-n.

Who are these people? Can a Rideau-Rockcliffe resident like me sort through that horde to select just one candidate worthy of a vote for a council position with an annual salary of about $105,000, a city hall office and a $260,000 budget to go with it, plus transportation allowances?

The City of Ottawa estimates it will spend $329,500 on its first byelection since January 2006, when Bob Monette was elected to represent Orléans as successor to Herb Kreling, who had resigned to accept a position as a justice of the peace. That vote process cost $277,000, roughly equivalent to $388,000 in current-day figures, according to Tyler Cox, the city’s manager of legislative services.

The only other council vacancies since amalgamation occurred in October 2003, when Madeleine Meilleur (Rideau-Vanier) and Phil McNeely (Cumberland) resigned after both were elected to the Ontario legislature. However, because those seats opened up within 90 days of a fall municipal election, council was not required to fill them in the interim.

By coincidence, Orléans ward also attracted 17 candidates to succeed Monette, who retired from council and did not run for re-election in October.

Matthew Luloff won with 3,622 votes, or 23.76 per cent of ballots cast. Turnout of 43.14 per cent ranked ninth among the 23 wards and higher than the 42.55 per cent who voted for mayor.

Rideau-Rockcliffe ranked last among the 23 wards at 37.15 per cent. That was also its second-lowest figure since amalgamation, ranking ahead of 2003 (27), but behind 2014 (40), 2010 (42) and 2006 (48). The last pre-amalgamation vote in 2000 attracted 45 per cent.

In comparison, turnout for the 2006 Orléans byelection drew 24 per cent.

“Because it’s a byelection (in Rideau-Rockcliffe), I would guess that there would be a lower turnout. However, we also have to remember that there were not too many strong candidates to oppose Mayor (Jim) Watson,” Luloff said, suggesting the lack of drama at the top of the ballot might have dampened voter participation.

“Because Orléans had 17 candidates, either that really energized you or it really discouraged you from coming out.”

The city said there were 25,460 eligible voters in Rideau-Rockcliffe last fall. A 24-per-cent turnout, matching that of Orléans 13 years ago, would yield a bit over 6,100. If is splits 17 ways, the new councillor could end up with mere hundreds of votes, not thousands.

Even so, Luloff says their mandate will be the same as that of 22 other councillors because that’s how “first past the post” voting works.

“We don’t expect that many candidates to run, usually,” he said. “What it does say for the people in Rideau-Rockcliffe is that you have a large number of people who see being a city councillor as the best job in the world and they’re willing to do it.”

Luloff said the toughest aspect of the fall campaign was making a message “stand out” amid the inherent noise of a 17-candidate campaign. His preferred tactic involved personal contact: knocking on as many doors and answering as many emails and returning as many phone calls as possible.

“I attribute a great deal of my win to those personal conversations,” he said.

Of the 17 candidates to succeed Nussbaum, I know Heyck as his opponent last fall, Penny Thompson and Sheila Perry as candidates in 2014 and Rawlson King as president of the Overbrook Community Association.

The rest? I’m as well-read on municipal issues as most people, maybe more so, but they’re essentially just names on a list at this point. I can recall seeing only one campaign-style card in my mailbox, delivered the other week on behalf of Chris Penton, and it was only a few weekends ago that posted campaign signs started popping up in significant numbers.

Because of my unusual work schedule, I generally can’t attend regular community association meetings, nor will I be able to attend either of the two evening byelection candidates’ forums I’ve learned about: March 29 at Overbrook Community Centre and April 2 at Rockcliffe Park Public School. That’s unfortunate because the one previous opportunity I had to attend an all-candidates’ forum, in 2014, I found it to be significantly helpful in making my decision.

What’s left this time, then, is an April 8 debate on environment and climate change at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ottawa plus a collection of statements on candidates’ websites, their responses to identical questions posed by five presidents and one vice-president of community associations based in the ward and other media coverage of the campaign.

Is that enough? I’m not sure.

Should I consider voting for Jamie Kwong because she was the first candidate to register, on Jan. 30, or should I support one of the three who registered on the final day, March 1: Idris Ben-Tahir, Sheila Perry and Jerry Kovacs? Fourteen candidates registered for the city’s Contribution Rebate Program for those who make financial contributions to candidates for office, but Ben-Tahir, Bruce Faulkner and Maurice Lamirande did not. Should that matter? Should I discount candidates Ben-Tahir, Heyck because they don’t have appear to have campaign websites or other social-media presence? Surely I need something more considerate than that.

What about those answers to questions from the community association representatives?

Overbrook and Rockcliffe Park association websites said Faulkner did not participate in that process at all, while a few candidates declined to offer specific responses to one question or another. The available responses contained several catchphrases like “citizen engagement,” “quality of life” and “affordable housing.”

A few candidates criticized the process behind the combined sewage storage tunnel and its effect on New Edinburgh, while others knocked city council’s approval of a Montreal Road location for the Salvation Army’s new shelter.

As for something different, Ben-Tahir offered the idea an enclave for embassies to reduce security costs, as well as building a southern traffic loop from Edwards to Richmond and Arnprior with the idea of diverting much of the truck traffic from Highway 417.

Meanwhile, Kovacs suggested shaking up the seating arrangements in the council chambers occasionally, as he did while teaching a class on wills and estates, presumably to help break down a perceived inner city-suburban split. He also committed to moving into the ward if he’s elected since he’s not already a resident of Rideau-Rockcliffe.

Having considered all that, I can’t say my mind is made up. There’s still time before I vote, but work to do, too.

Here’s why I’m willing to do it, though, plus why I’m OK with the nearly $330,000 cost of a byelection: I didn’t have a vote, or more specifically a council representative to cast a vote, on the 2019 city budget that will raise property taxes by three per cent.

Indeed, some Rideau-Rockcliffe responsibilities had been assigned to councillors for neighbouring wards, but they didn’t have extra half-votes because they were doing that work.

Municipalities affect us more than any other level of government, from property taxes to light-rail projects to whether a budding cannabis entrepreneur can set up shop around the corner.

If I want to have a real say in those matters, and others, I need to find myself a candidate I can support and then vote for that individual on either April 5 or April 15. I encourage all Rideau-Rockcliffe residents eligible to vote to do the same.

[email protected]


Registered candidates for Rideau-Rockcliffe ward byelection

Kasia Adamiec
Idris Ben-Tahir
Marc Dorgeville
Bruce A. Faulkner
Johan Hamels
Peter Heyck
Miklos Horvath
Peter Jan Karwacki
Rawlson King
Jerry Kovacs
Jamie Kwong
Maurice Lamirande
Patrick Mayangi
Oriana Ngabirano
Chris Penton
Sheila Perry
Penny Thompson


Voter turnout in recent elections in Rideau-Rockcliffe Ward

2018: 37 per cent
2014: 40 per cent
2010: 42 per cent
2006: 48 per cent
2003: 27 per cent
2000; 45 per cent


2018 election breakdown

Mayoral election: 42.55 per cent turnout, or 269,772 votes (Jim Watson won with 188,960)
Rideau-Rockcliffe: 37.15 per cent, or 9,458 votes (Toby Nussbaum 7,334)
Orléans: 43.14
Innes: 43.77
Barrhaven: 42.71
Kanata North: 48.21
West Carleton-March: 42.80
Stittsville: 46.37
Bay: 41.63
College: 44.80
Knoxdale-Merivale: 40.03
Gloucester-Southgate: 38.06
Rideau-Vanier: 37.54
Somerset: 39.10
Kitchissippi: 48.88
River: 38.55
Capital: 52.13
Alta Vista: 41.73
Cumberland: 38.00
Osgoode: 45.84
Rideau-Goulbourn: 46.20
Gloucester-South Nepean: 46.09
Kanata South: 41.42


https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...ction-casting-just-one-vote-wont-be-easy

[JHikka]

With 17 candidates it would be great to have a ranked ballot....

[kwoldtimer]

I'm trying to imagine the upcoming all-candidates meetings if all 17 show up.

[rocketphish]

Voters survey crowded field of potential Rideau-Rockcliffe councillors
Some residents think glut of by-election candidates will create a lot of vote-splitting

Matthew Kupfer · CBC News
Posted: Apr 03, 2019 5:39 AM ET | Last Updated: 43 minutes ago

Rideau-Rockcliffe voters had a chance to weigh their options as 16 of the 17 candidates vying to represent the ward made their case at a forum for candidates Tuesday night.

The byelection was triggered by former councillor Tobi Nussbaum's resignation when he became CEO of the National Capital Commission.

Advanced polls happen this Friday, April 5, and voting day is Monday, April 15.

One of the candidates, Maurice Lamirande, was not able to attend Tuesday night's forum due to illness, according to event organizers.

Eloisa Martinez, who lives near Montfort Hospital, said she's pleased by the wide variety in candidates.

"I'd rather have this situation than the situation of the last election where you only had two candidates ... in terms of selection, of diversity in terms of viewpoints," she said.

"Although it's a bit taxing, it's more interesting."

The candidate forum took place at Rockcliffe Park Public School and was organized by local community associations.

The organizers allowed break-out sessions for people to speak directly with candidates. They raised issues such as traffic cutting through residential neighbourhoods, the proposal for another interprovincial bridge, and the handling of the Salvation Army shelter on Montreal Road.

Manor Park resident Eugenie Waters said the large slate of candidates has been somewhat overwhelming, and it could mean the winning candidate doesn't have a strong mandate from throughout the ward.

"That's unfortunate because there are some very capable candidates here and there's just too much vote-splitting," Waters said.

If, hypothetically, votes split evenly between the 17 candidates, the winner would only need about six per cent of the vote — or little more than 530 votes, based on turnout in the ward during last year's municipal election.

While that kind of even split is unlikely, voter turnout is normally less during byelections than regular elections.

"There's many residents in this ward who are working multiple jobs, precarious employment, daycare commitments, many of those people don't have a big opportunity to vote," Waters said.

"With such a small margin, a candidate could take the ward and become the councillor without really being a representative of everyone here."

In the 17-way race to replace former Orléans councillor Bob Monette, Matt Luloff won with 23.8 per cent of the vote or 3,622 ballots — only about 260 more than his nearest competitor.

Rockcliffe Park resident Tim Moore said he would like to see an alternative to first-past-the-post in this situation.

"I'm very disappointed that there are too many candidates and there isn't a double opportunity to choose a smaller number of them and then have them fight off against each other," Moore said.

The candidates on the ballot in Rideau-Rockcliffe are:

Kasia Adamiec
​Idris Ben-Tahir
Marc Dorgeville
Bruce Faulkner
Johan Hamels
​Peter Heyck
​Miklos Horvath
Peter Karwacki
Rawlson King
Jerry Kovacs
Jamie Kwong
​Maurice Lamirande
Patrick Mayangi
Oriana Ngabirano
Chris Penton
​Sheila Perry
Penny Thompson

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/rideau-rockcliffe-by-election-candidate-interviews-1.5082043

[kwoldtimer]

I went to the all-candidates meeting last night (big turnout). Format was minimalist (three minute presentation by each candidate, two minutes if in only one official language), followed by a rather confusing exercise in which the candidates had to vote on a series of hypothetical council proposals (I believe one of the 16 candidates present voted in support of the "discredited" Kettle Island bridge). The last hour was an opportunity to meet individual candidates for follow-up questions.

I thought there were five or six credible contenders, based just on the presentations. In fact, I think I identified my likely candidate (the only one who explicitly described himself as "progressive").

Two or three of the candidates have some reasonable name recognition within the boundaries of Rideau-Rockcliffe, but I have to wonder whether anyone will attract even 2,500 votes.

[rocketphish]

Rawlson King wins Rideau-Rockcliffe byelection
King would be 1st black city councillor in Ottawa's history

CBC News
Posted: Apr 15, 2019 8:35 PM ET | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Rawlson King has won the byelection in Rideau-Rockcliffe to replace Tobi Nussbaum, according to unofficial results posted Monday evening.

King received 1,529 votes, or 18.36 per cent of the vote, to win over second-place finisher Jamie Kwong, who had 1,406 votes.

He will be the first black city councillor in Ottawa's history.

Official results will be announced by Ottawa's city clerk on Tuesday morning, but unofficial numbers show a turnout of 30.61 per cent.

King is the president of the Overbrook Community Association and a board member at the Rideau-Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre. He is also the co-chair of the Ottawa Police Service Community Equity Council.

He has lived in Rideau-Rockcliffe for 15 years and graduated from Carleton University with a bachelor of journalism and a masters degree in communications.

17 candidates competed in the byelection that was triggered when Nussbaum took a position leading the National Capital Commission.

The campaign featured one debate where 16 of the the 17 candidates took part.

The ward is one of the most diverse in the city and includes affluent neighbourhoods like New Edinburgh and Rockcliffe Park combined with areas where socio-economic challenges are more obvious, as in parts of Overbrook.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/rawlson-king-byelection-win-1.5092982

[JHikka]

Turnout was about what I expected (31%) and the winner ended up with about what I expected in total vote percentage (18%). First-past-the-post is super fun when there's seventeen candidates.

[kwoldtimer]

But the right candidate got the nod ....

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Turnout was about what I expected (31%) and the winner ended up with about what I expected in total vote percentage (18%). First-past-the-post is super fun when there's seventeen candidates.

One of his planks is to "Implement a ranked-balloting electoral system for the City of Ottawa". I'm all for this too, but how many incumbents can he sway into taking the same position? Not Jimbo, I'm sure of that.

https://www.rawlsonking.ca/platform

[rocketphish]

2019 Rideau-Rockcliffe By-Election Results



https://ottawa.ca/election/2019-ward13_en.html

[zzptichka]

Pretty crazy that the winner is elected with 5.6% of eligible votes.
Ranked ballots can't come soon enough.

[danishh]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

One of his planks is to "Implement a ranked-balloting electoral system for the City of Ottawa". I'm all for this too, but how many incumbents can he sway into taking the same position? Not Jimbo, I'm sure of that.

https://www.rawlsonking.ca/platform

if Jim has any retirement plans, he might support it. It seems like the progressive side of council (lieper, mckenney, et al) might support it, but I'm not sure they have a majority. King sounds like he's set to join that group.

It was Wynne's govt that introduced the option, not McGuinty's (Jim was minister of municipal affairs under McGuinty).



re-Rideau rockliffe: it seems likely that the ward boundary review will change this ward a bit next election. Both Rideau-Rockliffe and Beacon Hill-Cyrville are below average population for a ward, and Rideau-Vanier and Alta Vista are above average population. They'll also have to take the CFB Rockliffe/Waterridge Village development into account. My best guess is that King will pick up more of Vanier in his ward.

[rocketphish]

And to think that this guy was running for Mayor...

Ottawa businessman tells incredulous judge he burned $1M cash to keep it from ex-wife
"It's not something that I would normally do."

Gary Dimmock, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: February 4, 2020

Bruce McConville would rather burn his own money than give it to his ex-wife, and a disbelieving Superior Court judge is giving him 30 days in jail to rethink his claim.

The 55-year-old Ottawa businessman and failed mayoral candidate sold properties and businesses behind her back, then withdrew the $1 million and, he claims, burned the money in two bonfires: $743,000 last Sept. 23, and $296,000 on Dec. 15.

McConville has long defied a court order to file an affidavit about his finances, notably where the money went from the secret sales. Because his financial affairs remain a mystery, the court has been unable to figure out what he owes in child and spousal support. As a result, he has been paying neither.

McConville also defied a court order not to sell his properties because there was a fear that he was trying to keep the proceeds out of the court’s reach. McConville, in fact, sold some assets to his former accountant.

And he has further defied a Superior Court order to pay the court $300,000 as a security.

McConville’s explanation that he set fire to the missing million was revealed during a contempt motion last week before Superior Court Justice Kevin Phillips.

McConville told Phillips he withdrew a total of $1,050,000 through as many as 25 withdrawals from six bank accounts — and had the receipts to back up his claim — but no longer had the cash.

“So where’s the money now? Phillips pressed.

“I destroyed it,” McConville replied.

“You’ve lost me. What do you mean?” the judge asked.

McConville rambled and spoke of anxiety about a relationship with a daughter.

“Can I back you up a bit? When you say you destroyed it, what do you mean?” the judge asked.

“I burnt it,” McConville explained.

“To the tune of how much?” the judge probed.

“In total, about a million and thirty-nine thousand dollars,” McConville said. (McConville later said he burned $1,050,000 in all.)

“How does destroying over a million dollars advance your child’s best interest?” the judge asked.

McConville admitted that he didn’t film the bonfires of cash, had no witnesses and didn’t record it in any fashion.

“You understand that’s hard to believe?” Justice Phillips told court.

“Yes, I do,” McConville agreed.

McConville said he burned it out of frustration with the divorce proceedings.

“It’s not something that I would normally do,” McConville explained. “I am not a person that is extremely materialistic. A little goes a long way. I have always been frugal. That’s why my business lasted for 31 years.”

Phillips didn’t buy his story and on Jan. 28 ruled that it was “crystal clear” that McConville “has very clearly and deliberately set out to thwart the court and the proper administration of justice.”

Phillips told McConville that if he doesn’t tell the truth in future court filings, he will face “penal consequences” that would make his 30-day term at Ottawa’s Innes Road jail seem “like a walk in the park.”

Before McConville was escorted out of court in handcuffs, the judge added: “You are making a mockery of this court, and its process, something I will not allow … You are conducting yourself with intent to deliberately and wilfully frustrate the proper administration of justice.

“More particularly, I find what you have done to be morally reprehensible because what you claim to have done wilfully and directly undermines the interests of your children,” Phillips said.

The judge then reminded McConville that he, like all parents, had an obligation to provide for his children. Instead, “you have set out to do damage to your children’s future by destroying, on purpose, the financial wherewithal that you had to provide for their best interests.”

The judge said he had to send McConville to jail to send a clear message that court orders must be obeyed. After McConville serves his 30-day jail sentence, he faces severe financial penalties for every day he does not comply with court orders to file a full and honest account of his financial affairs, and notably where the $1-million in cash went.

The judge imposed a $2,000-per-day fine to be paid directly to his ex-wife. That’s $14,000 a week for a man who has long hidden his financial affairs from court, and his ex-wife.

The judge told McConville that the fines would be independent of any future child and spousal support.

Phillips warned: “It may well be, therefore, that your remaining assets, equity in the home and RRSPs, etc., end up entirely in the hands of (ex-wife). If that’s the result you are trying to bring about, then so be it. But you cannot thumb your nose at the court as you have done.”

The judge told court he didn’t think McConville set anything on fire, let alone $1-million in cash. “I don’t believe you. I don’t trust you. I don’t think you’re honest,” the judge told him.

“I urge you to get in compliance because that $2,000 a day is going to run up such that you lose everything,” the judge told McConville.

The lawyer representing McConville’s ex-wife told court the story was just more nonsense, and noted that while McConville claimed to have zero income, documents show he has around $9,000 in expenses a month.

McConville ran a failed bid for mayor in the last city election on a tough-on-crime platform.

[email protected]
Twitter: @crimegarden

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/0204-mcconville

[J.OT13]

What an a-hole! This is not the first time a dead-beat father thinks he knows what's best for the City.

[rocketphish]

Coun. Laura Dudas faces possibility of prosecution over alleged campaign violations

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: March 4, 2020

One of council’s deputy mayors faces the possibility of being prosecuted for alleged violations of municipal election law stemming from the 2018 campaign.

Innes Coun. Laura Dudas will learn Tuesday if the city will be directed to hire an outside lawyer to consider court proceedings after an auditor discovered problems in her accounting of campaign finances.

It will be another test for the elections compliance audit committee, and potentially the city, when it comes to policing municipal campaign rules.

Dudas said she has supplemental information for the committee to consider at the meeting.

“I’m looking forward to clarifying my campaign’s administrative filings with the committee when we meet next week,” Dudas said in an interview Wednesday.

The firm Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton pored through Dudas’s campaign finances at the request of the election compliance audit committee, which last July considered a complaint filed against Dudas and ordered the city-funded audit.

The complaint alleged Dudas used signs from her unsuccessful 2014 campaign and didn’t declare them on her 2018 campaign financial statement and that Dudas spent or received contributions before opening a campaign bank account. Both scenarios would be illegal under the Ontario Municipal Elections Act.

The audit dated Feb. 27, 2020 found multiple violations of the elections law, and although the money in question isn’t huge, it will force the committee to decide if the alleged infractions are serious enough to warrant prosecution.

According to the audit report, Dudas’s declaration on her financial statement that “nothing was utilized from the previous campaign” wasn’t true. The auditor found pictures of Dudas’s 2014 election signs on private and public property. There were also 2014 signs used during Dudas’s 2018 election party, the auditor discovered.

In interviews with Dudas and her campaign team, the auditor learned that they directed people not to use the 2014 signs, and when Dudas found out the signs were being used, she attempted to remove them from public and private properties. According to the report, Dudas didn’t know the 2014 were used at the 2018 election party until seeing pictures later. The report says Dudas “could not recall who decorated the event.”

The auditor also confirmed a problem with Dudas’s acquisition of campaign T-shirts before she opened a campaign bank account. A campaign video was also produced before Dudas opened the bank account and filed her nomination papers, the auditor learned.

There were other red flags in the auditor’s review of Dudas’s campaign finances when it came to accounting for a small amount of bank fees and documentation supporting $869.08 in contributions.

In the interview Wednesday, Dudas said she has receipts, banking records and other documents that weren’t included in the auditor’s report. According to Dudas, she supplied “everything I had access to” during the auditor’s review and she doesn’t know why some of the information isn’t reflected in the final report.

Dudas hadn’t decided if she’ll address the committee during the meeting.

While the committee can direct the city to start a legal proceeding in the event of an alleged election violation, the decision on prosecuting largely rests with the outside lawyer hired by the city. The cost of prosecution compared to the seriousness of the violation can be a factor in deciding if the case should be heard in court.

Dudas, who won with about 41 per cent of the vote in the four-way race in Innes ward, said she didn’t have comment when it comes to the possibility of being prosecuted.

“I feel strongly that holding elected officials to account and ensuring accountability and transparency is something that is incredibly important,” Dudas said.

The council-appointed committee, which is required under the municipal elections law, is made up of citizens with governance and elections experience. No council members sit on the committee.

The city is responsible for the committee’s expenses. In 2019, the city paid a total of $14,883 in honoraria to the five members.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...ecution-over-alleged-campaign-violations

[J.OT13]

Not to worry; as a member of the Watson Club, she enjoys full protection.

[J.OT13]

I'm shocked!!

Jon Willing
@JonathanWilling

The city will now have to hire an external lawyer to review the decision, the file and decide what to do next.
11:23 AM · Mar 10, 2020

https://twitter.com/JonathanWilling/status/1237398622800621569

[rocketphish]

Legal proceedings launched against Coun. Laura Dudas
Election compliance audit committee was uncomfortable with campaign finances

Joanne Chianello · CBC News
Posted: Mar 10, 2020 1:36 PM ET | Last Updated: March 10



Ottawa's election compliance audit committee has decided to start legal proceedings against Coun. Laura Dudas after an external audit found a number of areas of "apparent non-compliance" in her 2018 campaign expenses.

"The apparent contraventions are too numerous and give the committee concern that the values of public accountability and transparency have not been respected during Ms. Dudas's campaign," according to the committee's decision, read into the record by member Catherine Bergeron on Tuesday.

"The apparent contraventions of this number are inconsistent with the maintenance of public confidence and the maintenance of the electoral process."

But that doesn't mean that the first-term Innes councillor is necessarily heading to court. Instead, the city will now hire an outside lawyer to assess the material — including the auditor's investigation and documents provided by Dudas and her lawyer — who will then use their discretion over whether to move ahead.

In July, the committee decided to audit Dudas's campaign finances after Heather Buchanan, who lives in Innes ward, filed the complaint accusing Dudas of spending or receiving campaign contributions before joining the race on May 4, 2018. Candidates cannot "incur" any expenses before officially filing to run.

The complaint said purple campaign T-shirts and a professional video were ready on the same day as her campaign launch.

Buchanan also complained Dudas wrongly reported that she hadn't re-used election signs from her unsuccessful 2014 campaign.

Dudas has explained that the T-shirts were brought to her campaign launch by someone who had a business selling T-shirts as a way to drum up business, and were not ordered by her or her campaign. Dudas also said she and her campaign did not know 2014 signs were being used and that when they became aware of that fact, they tried to remove the old signs.

As for the video, Dudas said the video had been recorded by a friend who makes videos as a hobby and later gave it a financial value of $800.

However, the auditors from Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, who interviewed Dudas and others involved in the campaign, concluded that there were four areas of "apparent non-compliance" with the councillor's expenses.

It their report, the auditors stated that there was evidence that signs from the 2014 campaign — when Dudas ran unsuccessfully against Jody Mitic — were used in the 2018 campaign.

And an interview with one of the campaign managers suggests that the T-shirts in questions were ordered ahead of the launch, and that a student volunteer was helping with the graphic design. However, the invoice for the T-shirts is dated May 31.

As for the video, it appears that Dudas contacted the videographer, who"was under the impression that the video would be used for the campaign" and that there would be no compensation, according to the audit report.

The video was produced on May 2, and was online on May 4, which is the day Dudas declared her nomination. Even though the videographer was not paid, the auditors observed that it could be viewed as incurring an expense before nomination day.

The auditors also found other minor-seeming problems, including a contribution and a bank fee not properly recorded — worth a total of $29.05 — and some missing or illegible receipts for contributions for Dudas or her husband totalling $302.85.

Dudas, who declined to speak after the decision, has said she and her lawyer have provided the committee with all receipts.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/dudas-election-finance-legal-proceedings-1.5492241