Transcript of O'Brien's police interview released
Videotaped police interview with O'Brien played in court
Last Updated: Monday, May 25, 2009 | 4:02 PM ET
CBC News
Det. Brian Mason, of the Ontario Provincial Police, began his testimony in the influence-peddling trial of Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien Monday. (Francois Leclerc/CBC)Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien told police investigating allegations of influence peddling against him that he never offered Terry Kilrea a job and wondered if there was "something else going on."
The comments were heard in court on Monday morning, as videotapes of a police interview with O'Brien were played during the mayor's criminal trial.
Ontario Provincial Police Det. Sgt. Brian Mason recorded interviews with some of the case's key players after March 27, 2007, when he took over the investigation into allegations Kilrea was offered incentives to drop out of the race for Ottawa mayor in 2006.
Video of O'Brien's interview was played in court on Monday, but the public and media were allowed only to hear the audio, not to see the images.
A transcript of the interview OPP detectives conducted with O'Brien on April 3, 2007, was later released to the media on Monday afternoon.
The interviews in the video, the court was told, took place April 2-3, 2007, in what's known as the Kanata detachment's "hard interview room."
Present during the interview were O'Brien, his lawyer Paul Lebarge, Mason, and another detective.
At the beginning of the tapes, O'Brien says, "It's a cozy room," and then asks the detectives if they're Ottawa Senators fans or Toronto Maple Leafs fans.
He then talks about his meetings with former mayoral candidate Terry Kilrea.
Kilrea has sworn an affidavit claiming he received an offer in which he would have his campaign expenses paid and be given help getting an appointment to the National Parole Board if he dropped out of the mayoral race.
Kilrea's allegations spurred the investigation that led to charges of influence peddling against O'Brien.
In the video, Mason tells O'Brien that he could be charged with two offences, and then O'Brien and his lawyer discuss the possible charges.
O'Brien describes Kilrea as "a man who's done nothing, will do nothing."
"I never offered him a job, period. I never promised a job, period. And I will go on the record saying it. It's hard for me to fathom how he came up with the inferences he did," O'Brien says.
On the video, O'Brien tells the detectives that during a July 19 phone call with Kilrea, he was only interested in hearing about Kilrea's website, voter lists and support.
Kilrea, O'Brien says in the video, was the one who brought up the parole board.
O'Brien says that he told Kilrea to contact John Baird to apply for a job with the parole board. "My message was real clear: You've got to do this on your own."
At the end of the video, O'Brien suggests that the push behind Kilrea's allegations could be coming from somewhere else. He mentions unions and the technology company Siemens. "I would be very interested to see if there's something else going on."
Just before noon, Crown prosecutor Scott Hutchison asked Mason about the warrants and production orders he carried out to search for emails and phone records in his investigation.
O'Brien's lawyer, Michael Edelson, was set to question Mason once court resumed Monday afternoon.
