Ex-chief of union fighting back

Kitchener’s Ellis faces fraud probe

KITCHENER — The former president of a City of Kitchener union is vigorously fighting back against allegations she misused members’ money, saying she’s the victim of a “witch hunt” by disgruntled ex-colleagues.

Johanna Ellis, the longtime president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 791, is being investigated by the Waterloo Regional Police fraud branch after auditors flagged tens of thousands of dollars in expenses on her union-issued credit card.

But Ellis insists she’s done nothing wrong — and says she never used her union American Express for personal expenses.

“I have nothing to hide, because I’ve done nothing wrong,” she said. “They can say and do whatever they want. The allegations made against me are false.”

Instead, Ellis said she’s being targeted by union members who have held grudges against her for years. She left her post as union president in December, weeks before external auditors were brought in to examine her expenses.

But Ellis says her departure had nothing to do with questions about expenses. Instead, she said she was tired of infighting in the union.

“I stepped down because I’d had enough. Morally, I couldn’t do it anymore,” she said. “People get disgruntled when they don’t get what they want. And I’m not everybody’s favourite person.”

CUPE Local 791 represents more than 370 inside workers who do office, clerical and technical jobs with the City of Kitchener, and another 180 employees in the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network. The union’s new president, Justin Harris, has declined to say much about the allegations, other than confirming the auditors’ findings were passed onto police.

Ellis, meanwhile, said her decision to leave her job as an administrative co-ordinator in the city’s program and re-

source services branch was also not related to the audit or the police investigation. Her last day on the job was this week.

Instead, Ellis said she’s leaving because she wanted a new career challenge. She declined to say where her next job would be.

“I’ve been there for 27 years, people leave their jobs when they are looking for bigger challenges,” she said. “I was eligible for retirement ... I’ve been talking about leaving for quite a few years.”

While she strongly denies she ever used her union credit card for personal expenses, she says expense sheets that back her up have been lost.

“If that paperwork has gone missing, I’m not responsible for that. I’m one person,” she said.

Ellis is also frustrated she wasn’t contacted by the union during the audit, and says she was blindsided by the allegations against her.

“I have not been kept in the loop with everything to do with the union. Nobody has spoken to me about anything,” she said.

After serving as president of the local since 2005, Ellis said she’s angry her track record has been tarnished by these allegations. She said she tried to represent workers as best she could.

“I have no regrets representing members and helping so many people over my tenure with the union,” she said. “I’ll never regret what I’ve done. What has been done to me now is an absolute atrocity.”