A second round of debate over whether Ottawa’s turbulent light-rail system requires a judge-led investigation or a more cost-effective auditor general probe came to the same conclusion Wednesday, with city council again opting against the judicial inquiry.
Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney brought a motion forward at Wednesday’s meeting seeking airtime for a proposed judicial inquiry into the original LRT contract and any potential misconduct by city council or staff during the procurement process nearly a decade ago.
The councillor had put forward a similar motion in October that never formally made it to the floor of council as a motion from Stittsville Coun. Glen Gower, calling for the auditor general probe, was ruled to be a replacement by Mayor Jim Watson.
McKenney opened up the debate Wednesday by asking about the different powers available to the city’s new auditor general, Nathalie Gougeon, as compared to a judicial inquiry, which would be led by an Ontario Superior Court Justice.
Gougeon explained that while she has the authority to review documents normally withheld by solicitor-client privilege, as well as to interview anyone under oath, her results are “inward looking” at the city’s operations.
Her interviews are also done in a private and sometimes anonymous context — a possible advantage to compel witnesses to share their testimonies with her.
Gougeon confirmed as well that the awarding of the LRT contract, the start of operations and subsequent maintenance of the system are indeed on her 2022 work plan, with the initial part of the report expected to be available by June.
McKenney argued that while she had confidence in Gougeon, the past few years of inconsistent LRT service requires a “public” adjudication.
“It’s not enough, in today’s environment, given what’s happening in our transit system… not to do everything we can in a public forum,” they said.
But many of the arguments against the judicial inquiry came down to resources and overlap with the impending AG probe.
City manager Steve Kanellakos cautioned councillors that the same transit staff working on getting the system running at full capacity today are the ones who would be bogged down by administrative tasks to meet the demands of the audit as well as the prospective judicial inquiry.
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“Even doing an audit is a huge undertaking,” he said. “Having a second overlapping or simultaneous review… is just going to exponentially impact the same staff that are trying to deal with the auditor.”
River Coun. Riley Brockington, who ultimately voted in favour of McKenney’s motion, said he’d introduce a motion to rescind the call for an auditor general probe if council decided to go ahead with the judicial inquiry so as to avoid the double-barrelled approach.
Some councillors, such as Orléans Coun. Matt Luloff, preferred to view the options as a possible one-two punch: if the AG report finds evidence of misconduct, a judicial inquiry could then shine a spotlight on any transgression.
But as it stands, some councillors said they were uncomfortable launching the judicial inquiry — a time-consuming process that could see the municipality foot a multimillion-dollar bill for the probe — without that evidence first.
Others pointed to emails released in media reports earlier this week as evidence that something is rotten in the LRT saga.
Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Carol-Anne Meehan cited a report from CBC News that disclosed emails between former Ottawa mayor Bob Chiarelli and Brian Guest, his former aide and a consultant with the city during the original LRT procurement.
According to emails CBC reviewed, Guest wrote that Chiarelli’s public calls for an inquiry were “screwing” someone who was a “loyal friend and servant.”
Guest responded to CBC in the article to say he was proud of his work on Ottawa’s LRT procurement and placed blame for failures on Rideau Transit Group.
“This letter should be a signal to us that there are people who don’t want us asking questions. For that reason alone, I will be voting for a judicial inquiry,” Meehan argued.
Gougeon, who was hired to the role earlier this year, defended the independence of her office and ability to deliver an honest report on what happened in the LRT procurement.
“What you will see in a report is factual information,” she told council. “I want to ensure that my reputation stands on its own. I will, in no way shape or form, be swayed in how we report on these particular outcomes.”
Watson, in closing, called for councillors to reject the motion and let Gougeon complete her “important work.”
McKenney’s call for a judicial inquiry was voted down 13-10.
Here’s how the vote split:
- Orléans Coun. Matt Luloff – No
- Kanata South Coun. Allan Hubley – No
- Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Rawlson King – Yes
- Alta Vista Coun. Jean Cloutier – No
- River Coun. Riley Brockington – Yes
- Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Keith Egli – No
- Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney – No
- Stittsville Coun. Glen Gower – No
- Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans – Yes
- Rideau-Goulbourn Coun. Scott Moffatt – No
- West Carleton-March Coun. Eli El-Chatiry – No
- Capital Coun. Shawn Menard – Yes
- College Coun. Rick Chiarelli – Yes
- Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney – Yes
- Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder – No
- Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper – Yes
- Innes Coun. Laura Dudas – No
- Bay Coun. Theresa Kavanagh – Yes
- Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Carol Anne Meehan – Yes
- Cumberland Coun. Catherine Kitts – No
- Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury – Yes
- Osgoode Coun. George Darouze – No
- Mayor Jim Watson – No
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