Ottawa councillor shocked to learn he'd been named as Magliocca's dinner guest
Ottawa city council member Tim Tierney testified Tuesday he found it “a little shocking ” that he'd been listed as a guest of then-calgary councillor Joe Magliocca on two occasions.
He told Crown prosecutor Aaron Rankin he wasn't even in Calgary on Oct. 10, 2018, when a receipt suggested he and Magliocca were together for a late meal at Hy's Steak House in Calgary.
“Your name is ... at the top of this page,” Rankin said, showing Tierney a receipt for $152.
“Were you in Calgary on Oct. 10, 2018?” Rankin asked.
“No, I was not,” Tierney said. “There was video footage of me at Ottawa city council (that day).”
Tierny also said he was not at a June 4, 2018, dinner at a Halifax restaurant. A receipt for that meal names both Tierney and Halifax Mayor Mike Savage as beneficiaries of Magliocca's largesse.
“Were you eating ribs and chicken with Mr. Magliocca at the Baton Rouge?” Rankin asked.
“I absolutely was not,” Tierny responded.
“Were you at this restaurant that evening?”
“No, I was not,” Tierney said. “Has Mr. Magliocca, Mayor Savage and yourself ever dined together?” Rankin asked.
“Absolutely not,” Tierny said. The prosecutor asked Tierney about his reaction to being shown the expense claims.
“It was a little shocking,” the Ottawa council member said.
In cross-examination, defence counsel Aryan Sadat asked Tierney if he'd been to Calgary during 2018 or 2019.
“I think I was in Calgary for the opening of the Central Library,” he said. “That's the extent of my recollection.”
Tierney also said he was only asked by police about specific dates.
Magliocca, 59, faces charges of fraud and breach of trust by a public officer.
Court also heard from former Edmonton mayor Don Iveson, who said he knew Magliocca from their time spent on the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, as well as through other conferences.
But he told Rankin he couldn't “say I ever had a sit-down meeting with him.”
Iveson said both he and Magliocca would have been at an FCM meeting in Quebec City in late May and early June 2019.
“On Saturday, June 1, did you have dinner or any meal with Mr. Magliocca?” the prosecutor inquired.
“No,” Iveson said.
“That night I did see Mr. Magliocca, but it was at a reception hosted by Metro Vancouver when the food and beverage was provided by the host.”
Rankin also asked Iveson about an FCM meeting in Laval, Que., in 2018.
Iveson said he was not at a meal with a large group of members from the organization on March 7, 2018, at P.F. Chang 's restaurant for which Magliocca filed an expense, which included the former mayor's name handwritten on it.
“On that date I was playing host to delegates ... at a conference held in Edmonton.”
Under cross-examination by Sadat, Iveson acknowledged that many gatherings wouldn't be documented in things such as email streams.
“Folks might fan out to have dinner as a group,” he said.
The trial, set to go into next week, continues Wednesday.
Absolutely not. It was a little shocking. I think I was in Calgary for the opening of the Central Library. That's the extent of my recollection.