Rick Chiarelli was a victim of 'cancel culture,' his wife tells Bill 9 hearing

The wife of a former Ottawa councillor whose alleged sexual harassment prompted a provincial bill to enhance municipal accountability says the legislation would make it easier for public servants to be harmed by false accusations.

Lida Chiarelli told a consultation on Bill 9 in Whitby, Ont., on Thursday that her family had "lived through a nightmare" after her husband Rick Chiarelli was accused of sexual harassment in his role as an Ottawa city councillor in 2019. 

"We all know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my husband did nothing wrong, but he had absolutely no way of defending himself," she told the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy. 

Three damning integrity commissioner reports in 2020 found that Chiarelli had sexually harassed women working for him. The council imposed the strictest penalty available — docking his pay for 450 days and then a further 90 days on his way out of office — but was unable to force him from office.

Bill 9 aims to make it easier to remove misbehaving officials with a process that would include a unanimous vote by the rest of council.

'Cancel culture'

But Lida Chiarelli said the bill would encourage "cancel culture" to destroy politicians via anonymous complaints.

"Political assassinations should not be given credibility by a supposedly confidential formal process that favours the accuser but muzzles the person who should have the right to defend themselves," she told the hearing committee. 

"My husband was falsely accused of allegedly having said things to women in work interviews that they didn't like," she said. "There was no documentation, no proof, only hearsay for these allegations."

Three women lodged formal complaints that the then College ward councillor had asked them inappropriate questions during job interviews, including about not wearing a bra to work events. 

Another report found that Chiarelli bullied and harassed a young female staffer by offering to pay her money to pick up a man from a Montreal nightclub and perform a sexual act on him.

Chiarelli left office in 2022 having always maintained his innocence.

Last week, two of Chiarelli's accusers addressed a Bill 9 consultation in Ottawa, with one of them saying the legislation as currently formulated would not have protected her.

Other speakers have said the bill sets too high a bar for removal, requiring a unanimous vote by the rest of council.