Chiarelli taking leave from his council duties to focus on health issue
Coun. Rick Chiarelli is taking a medical leave of absence from his duties at city hall because of an unspecified health issue.
The announcement from the College ward councillor on Tuesday says the leave comes at the urging of his doctor after he was rushed to a hospital emergency room on Aug. 14.
Chiarelli says in his statement that since the ER visit, he has followed his doctor’s instructions by “almost completely eliminating work and stress activity and attending follow-up appointments.”
He says he has been too sick to formalize his leave of absence until now. “I hope to return to my duties as soon as possible, but must continue to focus on my recovery,” his statement says.
Council on Wednesday will consider a motion to authorize Chiarelli’s leave of absence. He has provided the mayor and the clerk with medical documentation that he won’t be able to return for an indeterminate period, until at least Oct. 9.
Chiarelli is currently under scrutiny because of an allegation he asked inappropriate questions of a woman who had applied for a job in his office. A report from CBC Ottawa alleges Chiarelli asked the woman if she would be comfortable not wearing a bra to events.
The woman filed a complaint with the city’s integrity commissioner, according to the CBC, but the commissioner has so far refused to confirm or deny the allegation. Chiarelli missed meetings this month at city council and the planning committee and has not commented on the CBC report.
However, Chiarelli’s lawyer, Bruce Sevigny, sent a letter to the city clerk saying the allegations were “spurious” and that Chiarelli has “consistently conducted himself in accordance with the highest moral and ethical standards, and in full compliance with the City of Ottawa’s Code of Conduct and Violence and Harassment in the Workplace Policy, and with the Ontario Human Rights Code.”
Chiarelli’s medical announcement came the day after another veteran councillor, Diane Deans, announced she was taking a leave to begin treatment for ovarian cancer.