Tierney phone call overheard by others
Rival supporter, elections worker listened in on speakerphone
Part of the Coun. Tim Tierney phone call that’s at the centre of an OPP anti-rackets investigation was broadcast over speakerphone while three people were in a room at Ottawa’s municipal election headquarters.
The call was placed to Michael Schurter, who on July 27, the last day for election nominations to be filed, was registering to run against the incumbent, Tierney, in Beacon Hill-Cyrville ward.
Justin McAuley, a supporter who accompanied Schurter to the elections office, has said he was in the room, too. An elections worker processing the nomination was also there.
Now, the OPP is investigating the phone conversation in which Tierney is alleged to have offered to make a donation to a food bank if Schurter didn’t register to run in Beacon Hill-Cyrville.
Tierney has denied any wrongdoing.
Schurter said he filed a complaint with police about a potential election violation. The Ottawa Police Service referred the file to the OPP to avoid a potential conflict of interest, as Tierney is a member of the board that oversees the Ottawa police. The chair of the police services board, Eli El-Chantiry, has said Tierney asked to be recused from board activities during the investigation, which is ongoing.
Tierney was at city hall Tuesday to chair an Ottawa Public Library board meeting. Reporters asked him about the police investigation as he entered the meeting room.
“There is a process that’s in place and, again, at the advice of my lawyer, we’ll let that play out at this time,” Tierney said.
“I don’t want to interfere. At the end of the day, I feel very confident that the complaint will not stand.”
Schurter on Tuesday would only say he has been interviewed by the OPP.
He declined to answer further questions.
A fifth person would know some details about the call, since it wasn’t Tierney’s voice who Schurter first heard on the phone that July 27 afternoon when the challenger was completing the nomination process.
It was a city hall political staffer who was the middleman for the call.
Jeremy Wittet, the chief of staff to Innes Coun. Jody Mitic, said he helped connect Tierney with Schurter by phone, but he physically wasn’t with Tierney during the conversation. He said there were three different locations for the phone-call participants. Schurter would have been at Elections Ottawa, finalizing his nomination papers.
Wittet declined to comment on what was discussed during the call. It was understood during the phone call that Schurter had his device on speakerphone, Wittet said.
“I don’t want to talk about the details of the call right now,” Wittet said at city hall when approached about the call.
He said that, as of Tuesday morning, he hadn’t been contacted by the OPP.
Wittet said he’s friends with both Schurter and Tierney. He declined to say why the call was made that day.
Wittet was an election candidate in July, too, and he has since been acclaimed as the Ottawa Catholic School Board trustee in Zone 7. No one ran against him. He has already been a school trustee for just over a year.
Mitic is on leave from city hall for health reasons, and although other east-end councillors are providing political support to his office, his office staff are reporting to the city clerk during his absence.
Tierney was scheduled to appear with Schurter in a taped debate on Rogers TV on Tuesday, but the incumbent councillor cancelled in the morning.
In a news release, Schurter said he was “disappointed” that Tierney cancelled, calling it “a flagrant disregard for the democratic process and a telltale sign of a politician who has gotten too comfortable.”
However, Tierney said he had a serious personal conflict that prevented him from going to the TV debate.
He said he plans to reschedule with Rogers.
“I’m very fortunate that Rogers has given me a few date options. We’re looking at those right now. I look forward to debating. I have a great track record. I’m running on my record,” Tierney said.
“I have nothing to be ashamed of. I’m very excited about it and look forward to all debates, not just the Rogers debate, but also the debates that take place in the ward.”
Tierney and Schurter are the only two candidates on the ballot for Beacon Hill-Cyrville ward. The election is Oct. 22.