'Tawdry form of petty graft': Crown urges conviction of former Calgary councillor

Calgary Coun. Joe Magliocca is seen at a committee meeting. (File photo)

A lawyer for a former Calgary city councillor says his client's expense claims, which falsely included the names of 27 politicians from across Canada, were the result of administrative and management errors but the Crown says it was a case of "petty graft."

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

He named politicians from across the country, including a Quebec cabinet minister, Ontario's NDP leader and the mayor of Halifax.

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

During his closing argument his lawyer said there wasn't enough evidence to find his client guilty.

"There is a significant absence of evidence to suggest Mr. Magliocca knowingly misled anyone or intended to cause any deprivation," he said.

"I respectfully urge this courtroom to recognize the insufficiency of the Crown's case and find Mr. Magliocca not guilty on both counts."

He said Magliocca's conduct was within established guidelines and any issues were the result of vague city policies on reimbursement and mistakes by office administrators.

"There should be a distinction between administrative fault and criminal behaviour."

But the Crown says Magliocca's actions were clear.

"This is a case of petty graft engaged in over a one-year period by a former City of Calgary councillor who lied in his expense claims in order to hide the truth about his behaviour from the City of Calgary, his constituents, and the public, and obtain reimbursements to which he was not entitled," he said in his written closing argument.

"He purported to be entitled to reimbursement, or to have validly spent the public's money, while eating food, drinking alcohol or smoking cigars with people who have testified that they were not his guests."

RCMP began an investigation in August 2020 after it was passed on by Calgary police.

Concerns over the councillor's spending were raised after an investigation found he had spent double what other Calgary councillors had at the 2019 Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Quebec City.

Crown witnesses who either attended FCM conferences or Quebec's Winter Carnival testified that they didn't know Magliocca and were not hosted by him for meals or drinks.

The Crown said it is vital issue at all levels of government when people put themselves forward for public office.

"It is notorious that the reputation of politicians is tarnished by a host of negative stereotypes," he writes.

"When the means of committing a tawdry form of petty graft is taking in vain the names of almost 30 other public officials who are blameless, there is a further gratuitous erosion of public confidence in the integrity of office holders."

Justice Gordon Wong reserved his decision.