Larry O'Brien and Jim Jones

Recently, Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien was charged by the OPP with attempted bribery. O’Brien allegedly attempted to bribe a rival candidate to drop out of the mayoral race in exchange for certain items – one of which was allegedly an appointment to the National Parole Board of Canada, to be done by the Conservative government. This allegation got federal Environment Minister John Baird caught up in the controversy. Several Liberals called for Baird’s resignation in Question Period before the holidays. However, the OPP has said they no longer have any investigative interest in Baird. Baird has also always been clear that no such appointment was ever discussed with anyone. I am a Liberal, but I am willing to give Baird the benefit of the doubt. Because O’Brien is innocent until proven guilty, I feel he may stay on as mayor as long as he is not found guilty. If found guilty, he may feel compelled to resign. In such a case he may be required to resign depending on the severity of his sentence. If O’Brien resigns in 2008, there is still time for a by-election for the Ottawa mayoralty. If there is a by-election, I would want the runner-up from the 2006 race, Alex Munter, to run. I’d expect him to be the frontrunner in such a race unless one of the city councilors was to run. If councilors were to run in a by-election, it would give them a unique opportunity to run for mayor without putting their council seats on the line. In a regular election, councilors cannot run simultaneously for council and mayor. But at the same time councilors are not required to resign their existing council positions to run for mayor. In a mayoral by-election, councilors could retain their seats while running and only have to give up their council seats if elected mayor.

Mentioning this topic compels me to mention a slightly similar situation that has occurred in my home town of Markham, Ontario. Markham Regional Councilor Jim Jones pled guilty to assault on November 22 for an assault that occurred in February of this year. Mr. Jones grabbed a maid at a hotel in Niagara-on-the-Lake where he was staying for a Town Council retreat. Jones was lying on his bed. Jones said “Kiss me” to the maid and grabbed her without permission. The maid left the room shocked and called police. The police came and charged Jones with sexual assault. The charge was later downgraded to regular assault which Jones pled guilty to. Jones states that what he did was a major error in judgment. Jones was given a year’s worth of probation and several hours of community service as a sentence. Markham Town Council in response to Jones’ conviction requested Jones’ resignation as a councilor. Jones refused to resign. Town Council did however accept Jones’ resignation as Markham Deputy Mayor. The Town also stripped Jones of all committee chairmanships. The Town asked the Regional Council to take similar disciplinary action. Indications are that some councilors are now going to feel uncomfortable working with Jones in light of his conviction. Markham now has no Deputy Mayor but Regional Councilor Jack Heath stands to become Deputy Mayor because he received the second most number of votes in the 2006 Regional Council election. Since Jones was innocent until proven guilty, the Town did not request his resignation until after he was convicted. I believe that was the proper way to go about it. In this day and age, unwanted kissing and grabbing are serious matters. Jones should consider what is best and resign if he feels that his continued presence on council will make things too awkward.

I feel that Jones conviction has essentially ended Jones political career. In the 2010 election, I do not think Jones could get the most number of votes for Regional Council let alone the fourth most number of votes for the 4 spot election. But our political system allows Jones to continue in office until December 2010. He can then choose to not run for re-election if he wants to avoid a likely defeat. Whether he runs again or not, he will be eligible for a severance package in either defeat or retirement.


In conclusion, I hold out hope that Alex Munter or someone progressive like him can become the next Mayor of Ottawa.