Calgary city hall booze allegations spur calls for apologies

There were repeated demandsMonday forsome city council membersto apologize for comments made at a recent meeting that an unknown number of city councillors have been using alcohol and drugs while on the job, oreven in the workplace.

However, Mayor Naheed Nenshi isn't offering any apologies for his remarks or for others.

Ward 2 Coun.Joe Magliocca said the accusations about wild parties and drinking at city hall have painted every member of council with the same brush.

Magliocca is among those calling for the council members who raised the allegations to apologize to the citizens of Calgary.

Ward 14 Coun. Peter Demong said he was also disappointed the allegations were brought up publicly.

"This whole thing has become and made our city council pretty much a laughingstock of the country," he told council Monday.

Ward 4 Coun.Sean Chusaid he has heard from plenty ofpeople who aren't happy about the booze allegations and wonder if that's all city council does.

"Even people from Taiwanthey heard about this kind of news. You know, are we proud of it?We made the news in Taiwan.No, I'm not," said Chu during the debate.

'Things that were said were actually true'

Chu said he thought it was wrong for Nenshi to speak about the complaints he has receivedregarding councillors' behaviour.Chu considers it just spreading rumours andwants the mayor to apologize.

Nenshi responded by saying he never accused anyone of anything.

"I just said,'I have received complaints about this.' That is true," he said.

Nenshi told councilthe allegations of parties at city hall, drinking in the office during workhours andcomplaints about councillors' behaviour have all been confirmed by the council members themselves.

"So I was a little bit surprised to hear members of council saying, 'Oh, you must retract.You must apologize,' when the three things that were said were actually true."

That saidNenshi did acknowledge that last week's committee meeting was "not our finest moment" and that city council will get a report back later this spring on adding to council's ethical conduct policy.

After getting no apologies from his colleagues, Magliocca says henow plans to file a complaint to the city auditor's whistleblower line.