Mississauga Councillor Has Tirade In Restaurant

Forget Hurricane Hazel, a Port Credit restaurateur is picking up the pieces after Mississauga Councillor Carolyn Parrish had a tropical storm of a temper tantrum in his lobby over a poster supporting Mayor Hazel McCallion.

After noshing on a meal that included three bottles of wine with three others at Aielli Restaurant last Thursday, Parrish allegedly walked out and then back into the restaurant, ripped down a pro-McCallion poster, shredded it and stomped the floor, before jumping into a waiting limousine to go to the Andrea Bocelli concert at the Air Canada Centre.

Owner Louis Macerola was still boiling yesterday that the councillor’s tearing tirade left pieces of poster scattered on his lobby floor for his staff to clean up.

“It’s inexcusable behaviour of a councillor,” Macerola told the Sun. “She represents the city, the people, the mayor. She’s a representative of all of us.

“To come into a public building, take something off the wall and tear it into pieces and then expect my general manager to pick it up is disrespectful to everyone.”

Reached yesterday afternoon, Parrish was surprised Macerola was still upset, saying she apologized as soon as he e-mailed her about the incident.

The poster was advertising the then one-day-old rally in support of the 88-year-old, 11-term mayor who has been weathering a political storm and facing a conflict-of-interest inquiry.

“I had had an extremely stressful week.If you haven’t noticed out here, I’m the Big Bad Wolf and blamed for everything that goes wrong in Mississauga,” Parrish said. “I guess it was one of those impulsive acts, like, ‘Yeah, the rally is over and we’re getting on with business.’ ”

Following council’s decision in October to proceed with the judicial inquiry, Parrish has been under attack for criticizing McCallion.

Some anti-Parrish residents, suspicious of her political aspirations, have even started a website called www.stopcarolynparrish.com

That night, Parrish was dining with husband David, Councillor George Carlson and a fourth, unidentified guest who picked up the $288.47 tab.

The receipt, obtained by the Sun, included three bottles of wine totalling $129.

The councillor insisted her fit wasn’t alcohol-fuelled.

“I was with three people. I may have had one glass of wine, maybe a glass and a half, but I wasn’t drinking; no I wasn’t drunk,” she said, adding later the unidentified guest left with one of the bottles unopened. “It was stupid. What can I say?”

Macerola, a veteran businessman, sent a strongly worded e-mail to Parrish a day later, telling her that in his 33 years in Port Credit he has seen a lot of councillors come into his restaurant but never witnessed or heard of one acting so out of line.

“I kept the torn poster pieces as a souvenir to remind me of this inexcusable behaviour by a publicly elected official,” Macerola wrote. “This demonstrates disrespect for my establishment and my staff. I hope that you consider better behaviour in public appearances in the future.”

Parrish wrote back, thanking Macerola for the “wonderful dinner.” Staff say she had a mushroom appetizer and truffled linguine.

According to the restaurant’s menu, that dish includes slivers of Triple-A long loin with roasted garlic and 12-hour tomatoes topped with arugula and finished with a “spritz of truffle oil.”

“You are absolutely correct,” she wrote. “What began as a bit of a dare and a prank, it (sic) retrospect was poor judgment on my part.”

The former Liberal MP added that she’ll “attempt to replace the poster at once.”

Macerola has yet to see the promised replacement.