City of Ottawa fires lawyer accused of vandalizing Holocaust monument
Iain Aspenlieder, 46, facing charges of mischief, harassment
UPDATE: Aspenlieder was denied bail on July 2.
The City of Ottawa has fired one of its lawyers after he was charged earlier this month with vandalizing the National Holocaust Monument, sources have confirmed to Radio-Canada.
On Friday afternoon, Ottawa police announced a 46-year-old man had been charged with mischief to a war memorial, mischief exceeding $5,000 and harassment by threatening conduct.
In a post Saturday on social media, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said he was "very disturbed" to learn the man arrested was an on-leave city employee.
On Monday, Sutcliffe confirmed to reporters that "that person is no longer an employee at the City of Ottawa."
"The National Holocaust Monument is a sacred place in our city, an important place in our city," the mayor said. "And I know that members of the Jewish community were very distraught and disturbed to see it vandalized."
Neither police nor Sutcliffe named the man, but on Sunday Radio-Canada confirmed that he is Iain Aspenlieder, a lawyer who'd worked for the city.
In a statement to Radio-Canada, interim city solicitor Stuart Huxley wrote that the man charged "was on leave at the time of the incident and is no longer employed by the city."
"The recent act affecting the National Holocaust Monument was deplorable and is counter to the values we seek to uphold in our community," Huxley wrote.
"We extend our deepest sympathies to members of our community impacted by this disgraceful act."
Huxley's statement also did not identify the employee. The mayor's office did not identify him either but did tell Radio-Canada that he had been fired.
Vandalism was a 'vile thing'
The National Holocaust Monument was found defaced with red paint on the morning of June 9. The words "feed me" were painted in capital letters, alongside large paint splashes.
The slogan appeared to be a reference to Gaza, which the United Nations had described as the "hungriest place on Earth" the preceding Friday.
The news that the accused vandal was on the city payroll is alarming, said Richard Marceau, vice-president of external affairs and general counsel for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
"To learn that it was an employee of the City of Ottawa who was charged with vandalizing the National Holocaust Monument was shocking," he told Radio-Canada.
"No one, and especially if you're working for the public, should be doing this type of vile thing."
None of the charges against Aspenlieder have been proven in court.
Suspended by law society
The Ontario Sunshine List describes Aspenlieder's position with the city as "legal counsel." He has appeared on the list, which documents public sector employees with salaries of over $100,000, every year since 2016.
According to the Law Society of Ontario website, a man named Iain David Aspenlieder has been "suspended administratively" and is not permitted to practice law.
The law society's website does not say when he was suspended.
Gilles LeVasseur, a business and law professor at the University of Ottawa, said the city can't control the actions of its employees outside of the workplace, but people expect the institution to take appropriate action.
"The city has to showcase that they did their due diligence. They actually did proceed properly as soon as they found out the issues and then they acted upon it," he said.
Numerous local and national officials have decried the vandalism as an act of antisemitism.
Ottawa Centre MP Yasir Naqvi said it was "disgraceful," while Iddo Moed, Israel's ambassador to Canada, called it "pure hate against Jews."
Coun. Ariel Troster, who is Jewish, wrote in a social media post that she was "devastated."
Lawrence Greenspon, a prominent Ottawa defence lawyer and co-chair of the National Holocaust Monument Committee, told CBC after the vandalism occurred that Hamas, not Israel, was at fault for the crisis in Gaza.
A solemn vigil was held at the monument one week after the vandalism.
Many in Ottawa's Jewish community attended, as well as Christian groups and a Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg elder.
Aspenlieder remains in jail and will learn Wednesday if he'll be allowed out on bail. A senior deputy Crown prosecutor who specializes in hate crimes attended Aspenlieder's initial bail hearing on Saturday.
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With files from Radio-Canada's Félix Pilon and Fatoumata Traore