The former Calgary city councilor’s lawyer says his client’s spending was not criminal

CALGARY – A lawyer for a former Calgary city councilor has argued his client’s expense reports that incorrectly included the names of 27 politicians from across Canada were the result of administrative and management errors, but not criminal intent.

Joe Magliocca is on trial after being accused of lying about travel expense claims between October 2017 and December 2019.

In it, he named politicians from across the country, including a Quebec cabinet minister, the Ontario NDP leader and the mayor of Halifax.

Magliocca, the former city councilor for Calgary’s Ward 2, was charged with fraud and breach of trust just days before Alberta’s 2021 municipal election.

RCMP launched an investigation in August 2020 after Calgary police reported the incident.

Concerns about the city council’s spending were raised after an investigation found it spent twice as much as other Calgary city councilors at the 2019 Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Quebec City; $6,400 for the four day trip.

Several key witnesses who attended either FCM conferences or the Quebec Winter Carnival testified that they did not know Magliocca and were not invited to eat or drink by him.

During his closing argument on Friday, defense attorney Aryan Sadat said there was not enough evidence to find his client guilty.

“There is little evidence that Mr. Magliocca knowingly misled anyone or intended to disadvantage anyone,” he said.

“I respectfully call on this courtroom to recognize the inadequacy of the Crown’s case and find Mr. Magliocca not guilty on both counts.”

Sadat said Magliocca’s conduct was within established guidelines and that any problems were the result of confusing city reimbursement policies and office administration errors.

“A distinction should be made between administrative offenses and criminal behavior.”

The Crown was scheduled to make its case Friday afternoon. The judge in the case has indicated he will reserve his decision.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in October.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press