Ottawa LRT Public Inquiry

[rocketphish]

Province could call for judicial inquiry into Ottawa's LRT
Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney says 'all options are on the table'

Joanne Chianello · CBC News
Posted: Nov 10, 2021 6:08 PM ET | Last Updated: 11 hours ago

Just hours after Ottawa city council voted against a judicial inquiry into the problem-plagued Confederation Line, the provincial cabinet will look into calling one itself.

In an email to CBC Wednesday afternoon, Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney wrote that the province is "increasingly concerned" with the city's ability to carry out future phases of work on the light rail network.

"We need to have full confidence that the city will be able to successfully deliver," she wrote.

The province has committed $1 billion to Ottawa's LRT Stage 2, and a previous Liberal government gave the city $600 million for Stage 1.

"As a result, we are looking at options that will increase the province's oversight of the project, in an effort to protect taxpayers and transit riders," Mulroney said.

"This may include a judicial inquiry, a review by Ontario's auditor general and further measures that may require provincial legislation. All options are on the table."

Mulroney says more oversight is being considered after hearing repeated concerns from industry stakeholders and city councillors over the execution of Stage 1.

The Confederation Line has been shut down since mid-September when a train derailed near Tremblay station. The city confirmed Wednesday that partial service will resume Friday.

A senior Conservative source close the premier's office told CBC that provincial officials were disappointed council voted down a motion Wednesday for a judge to look into everything that led up to the city's contract with Rideau Transit Group, the launch of the Confederation Line and its troubled operation.

The source called the LRT an "epic screw up" that can't "just be swept under the rug" and that there has to be more accountability for how this all went wrong.

Now, the provincial cabinet is looking to take the matter into its own hands and will be discussing what options to take as early as next week.

"I would support an inquiry that is pursued by the provincial government," said Coun. Catherine McKenney, who twice tried to get council to sign onto an inquiry.

"I think that it's required if city council won't move forward. I'm actually not surprised [as] the provincial government has invested quite a bit of funding."

Mayor Jim Watson was asked about the province looking into the Confederation Line during a news conference after Wednesday's council meeting.

He said he had spoken with Premier Doug Ford a few weeks ago about the council's decision last month to ask the city's auditor general to investigate the LRT instead of a judge, and the premier seemed pleased.

That doesn't appear to be be case any longer. The mayor told reporters there's been no contact between either city politicians or city staff with the province about any interest of theirs to host their own inquiry, the cost of which would have to be borne by the province.

Watson also defended the work of the city's new auditor, Nathalie Gougeon.

"She's not a pushover," he said, "This is not some exercise where she's trying to appease her political masters. I expect that she will do a very thorough analysis and research into all of the problems, going back to Day 1."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...ince-1.6244755

[rocketphish]

Province to launch public inquiry into Ottawa LRT network
Line only recently returned to service after September train derailment

Trevor Pritchard · CBC News
Posted: Nov 17, 2021 5:30 PM ET | Last Updated: 24 minutes ago

The Ontario government has announced it will launch a public inquiry into Ottawa's problem-plagued light rail network.

Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney issued a statement Wednesday evening saying the issues plaguing Stage 1 of the LRT network have been "unacceptable and disappointing."

"As a funding partner for the project, we need certainty that the City of Ottawa will be able to successfully deliver the remaining phases of work for this project. Ottawa transit riders deserve and expect this certainty as well," Mulroney's statement said.

"To get to the bottom of these issues facing the Ottawa LRT, our government will be launching a public inquiry. Our goal is to get this up and running as soon as possible."

The Confederation Line only recently returned to service after being shut down for nearly two months because a train derailed Sept. 19 near Tremblay station.

Ottawa city council had previously voted 13-10 against a motion by Coun. Catherine McKenney for a judicial inquiry, settling instead on an investigation by the city's auditor general.

Mayor Jim Watson was among those who opposed McKenney's motion.

Speaking shortly after Wednesday's announcement, McKenney said the province's decision speaks to the "lack of transparency" at city hall.

McKenney cited a CBC investigation published today that found officials knew there were reliability and maintenance issues with the $2.1-billion network in the weeks before taking possession.

"We need to understand what went wrong. So that includes the procurement process. That includes the contract. That includes the launch. That includes everything up until today, really," McKenney said.

While the recent derailment caused the most significant shutdown of the LRT network since its September 2019 launch, there have been a myriad other other problems, from jammed train doors and faulty power lines to broken axles and cracked train wheels.

"I think this shows people in our city that raising your voice and making a sound case for a change makes a difference," said Ottawa Centre NDP MPP Joel Harden, who has been raising issues about LRT with Mulroney at Queen's Park.

"We still don't know the terms about this inquiry. But it is an inquiry. It's not going to be filtered through the mayor's office. This is hopefully going to be something where we can really get to the bottom of this so that we get the LRT we deserve."

The scope of the provincial inquiry would be established in the coming weeks, Mulroney said in her statement.

It would culminate in a "report on what has transpired and recommendations to prevent this from happening again," she said.

With files from Stephen Hoff and Adrian Harewood

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...tawa-1.6252951

[daud]

Apparently jimbo wasn’t given the heads up either.

Never a dull moment.

[rocketphish]

'Unacceptable and disappointing': Province calls for public inquiry into LRT in Ottawa
“Our goal is to get this up and running as soon as possible."

Jon Willing, Bruce Deachman, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Nov 17, 2021 • 4 minutes ago • 5 minute read

Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet decided Wednesday that Ottawa’s beleaguered LRT system should be the subject of a public inquiry, delighting politicians who have been demanding a major investigation.

The LRT problems became hard to ignore for the Progressive Conservative government, with nearly $2 billion in provincial taxpayer money already committed for the massive O-Train project. The rail system reopened last Friday after being out of commission for 54 days, but full service won’t be restored until the end of November.

A week after the PC government sent a warning shot to Ottawa City Hall by musing about an LRT investigation, cabinet followed through on Wednesday.

“The issues plaguing Stage 1 of the Ottawa LRT have been unacceptable and disappointing. As a funding partner for the project, we need certainty that the City of Ottawa will be able to successfully deliver the remaining phases of work for this project. Ottawa transit riders deserve and expect this certainty as well,” said a statement from Jordanna Colwill, a spokesperson for Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney.

“To get to the bottom of these issues facing the Ottawa LRT, our government will be launching a public inquiry,” the statement added. “Our goal is to get this up and running as soon as possible. In the coming weeks, we will establish the scope of the inquiry and its terms of reference with the intention of receiving a report on what has transpired and recommendations to prevent this from happening again.”

Other senior party sources, who weren’t authorized to speak for the Ford administration, said the government hoped to have the inquiry done before the next municipal election in October 2022.

Joel Harden, the NDP MPP for Ottawa Centre, has been calling for the Ontario government’s attention to the LRT program. After the PCs announced the inquiry Wednesday, Harden posted on social media, “This is a win for accountability, for transparency and for our city.”

Coun. Diane Deans said the Ford government was doing the right thing as she criticized Mayor Jim Watson’s handling of the file.

“This project, in my view, has been mismanaged by the mayor from the very get-go. Way too many decisions have been made in his boardroom behind closed doors. And information has been deliberately kept from council and the public,” Deans said.

“So, I think this is a necessary step in restoring public confidence and trust in the city and in our LRT system and to learn valuable lessons going forward. LRT will continue in this city for many years to come, and, out of the gate, this project has just ran off the rails, and we need to get it back on the rails, but we also need to learn from our mistakes lest we repeat them going forward.”

Deans said she hoped the provincial inquiry would include an examination of Stage 2 procurement.

While city hall management sensed the province was compelled to launch an LRT review of some kind, even bigwigs in the corner offices didn’t receive a heads-up from Queen’s Park on Wednesday that cabinet was leaning toward a public inquiry.

“Both Premier Ford and I share the goal of better public transit for the residents of Ottawa,” Watson said in a statement sent by his press secretary, Patrick Champagne. “As I have said over the last year, my No. 1 goal is to get RTG and Alstom to fix LRT and start delivering the world class transit service Ottawa paid for and transit passengers deserve.

“I support the Province’s decision to get to the bottom of why RTG and Alstom have failed to deliver on their obligations to our City, and I support the shorter process proposed by the Province. I will look forward to responding more fully when we are informed of the scope of the Province’s effort.”

Coun. Catherine McKenney, another councillor who has been vocal in supporting an inquiry, was “happy to see that the provincial government is looking at opening up an inquiry into what happened with our light rail system. Transparency and accountability, I believe, have been lacking at city hall around this issue, and it’s good to see that the province is taking that seriously.”

McKenney, who had proposed a motion at council for a judicial inquiry — a motion that was voted down 13-10 — added that, although they didn’t know precisely what format the province’s inquiry would take, they hoped it would address all failings of Ottawa’s LRT system.

“I hope the province is serious and I hope the inquiry will have a broad scope and the ability to look at every aspect of the procurement process, the contract, the launch, the testing, everything up until today, to give us a full understanding of how we got to today, with a $2.2-billion dysfunctional system,” McKenney said.

The majority of council voted in favour of asking the municipal auditor general to investigate the LRT program, and, based on recent remarks Nathalie Gougeon made to council, it seemed she was on board with conducting an audit.

A public inquiry would act like a fact-finding investigation, likely with public hearings and a final report offering recommendations. It is not a criminal or civil litigation process. The point of an inquiry is to ensure mistakes aren’t repeated.

That’s especially important since the city is in the middle of the $4.6-billion Stage 2 O-Train expansion project and it will eventually come knocking on the doors of the provincial and federal governments for billions more to build Stage 3.

The provincial government has paid $600 million for Stage 1 and another $1.2 billion for Stage 2.

The federal government has contributed roughly the same amount of money as Ontario into the first two stages of the O-Train project.

The city’s construction contract with Rideau Transit Group to build Stage 1 was $2.1-billion, but the city is spending another $115 million from a contingency fund to cover additional measures, including legal expenses. The city has been embroiled in legal battles with its LRT contractor over city-issued default notices and maintenance fees.

Derailments on Aug. 8 and Sept. 19 called into question the safety and upkeep of the LRT system.

RTG affiliate Rideau Transit Maintenance is contracted to maintain the LRT system for 30 years. Both companies are partnerships between ACS Infrastructure, EllisDon and SNC-Lavalin.

After a transit commission meeting on Wednesday, and before the Ford government announced the public inquiry, Coun. Allan Hubley, the commission chair, said people shouldn’t be surprised by Ford considering an investigation since “he’s all about accountability for the taxpayers.”

Hubley said, “What I hope comes out of this is the province wants to work with us” by pooling resources in an effort to “right the ship.”

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-lrt-in-ottawa

[OTownandDown]

Maybe now we can finally learn how to run a PPP job?

[rocketphish]

City AG determining path forward after provincial call for LRT inquiry; Mayor Watson criticizes comms

Jon Willing, Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Nov 18, 2021 • 50 minutes ago • 3 minute read

The city’s auditor general is waiting to hear about the scope of a provincial public inquiry into Ottawa’s LRT program before deciding how to move ahead with her own investigation.

“With the recent news of the province’s decision to launch a Public Inquiry, my Office is reviewing the best way we can continue to add value while being prudent with tax payer dollars,” Nathalie Gougeon said in an emailed response on Thursday.

“It is too soon for my Office to make a decision on its next course of action until we have further information from the province on the potential scope of the work they will be undertaking.”

Council has voted in favour of asking Gougeon to audit the LRT program, rather than requesting a judicial inquiry under the Ontario Municipal Act.

Gougeon has indicated to council that her office has been planning an LRT audit. Her audit work plan is scheduled to be up for approval by the audit committee on Dec. 3.

On Wednesday, the Ontario Progressive Conservative government announced that it’s calling a public inquiry into Ottawa’s rocky LRT program, whose Stage 1 has received $600 million from provincial taxpayers at part of the $2.1-billion construction contract.

Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney told radio station CFRA Thursday morning the province plans on establishing the terms of reference for its public inquiry “in the coming weeks.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Jim Watson spoke with Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy and local cabinet minsters Lisa MacLeod and Merrilee Fullerton on Thursday morning before a breakfast meeting of the Ottawa Board of Trade. The mayor let them know he wasn’t happy to be blindsided when he heard about the provincial inquiry from the media.

“I think they have to do a better job of informing us when they do something that directly impacts us, and the City of Ottawa and the people of Ottawa. I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request for that kind of common courtesy,” Watson told reporters afterward.

“We constantly see news about what Queen’s Park is going to do to and for Ottawa in the media. And I, to this day, have never received any formal notification through the minister’s office as to what the scope of the examination will be.”

The city’s own examination of the LRT by the auditor general will continue, Watson said, but he also said the city will support the provincial inquiry — it doesn’t have a choice — adding that it was a better, cheaper, more efficient option than a judicial inquiry as had been pushed by some councillors.

“I still think the auditor general was the best route, but the province has said they want a public inquiry. They’re paying for it. They’ll set the time limits. They’ll set the parameters and I’m fine with that,” Watson said.

“I feel very confident that at the end of the day what they’re going to discover is that there were a series of incompetent managers who did not properly supervise the maintenance of the facility. And we saw what happened when one guy didn’t screw in 12 bolts and it shut the whole system down for over 50 days.”

The province has already said it is withholding $60 million of its $600 million commitment to the Stage 1 construction of the LRT until it receives assurances and documentations from the city, but Watson said he’s confident the city will easily meet the province’s targets to free up that money.

Is he worried that the review puts future provincial funding at risk?

“Anything can happen, but I feel very confident of the progress we’re making on Stage 2,” Watson said.

The $4.6-billion Stage 2 expansion, which is extending the LRT line west and east and extending the Trillium Line south, has expected to receive up to $1.2 billion from the provincial government. The federal government is contributing a similar amount.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...iticizes-comms

[hwy418]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

City AG determining path forward after provincial call for LRT inquiry; Mayor Watson criticizes comms

Jon Willing, Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Nov 18, 2021 • 50 minutes ago • 3 minute read

The city’s auditor general is waiting to hear about the scope of a provincial public inquiry into Ottawa’s LRT program before deciding how to move ahead with her own investigation.

“With the recent news of the province’s decision to launch a Public Inquiry, my Office is reviewing the best way we can continue to add value while being prudent with tax payer dollars,” Nathalie Gougeon said in an emailed response on Thursday.

“It is too soon for my Office to make a decision on its next course of action until we have further information from the province on the potential scope of the work they will be undertaking.”

Council has voted in favour of asking Gougeon to audit the LRT program, rather than requesting a judicial inquiry under the Ontario Municipal Act.

Gougeon has indicated to council that her office has been planning an LRT audit. Her audit work plan is scheduled to be up for approval by the audit committee on Dec. 3.

On Wednesday, the Ontario Progressive Conservative government announced that it’s calling a public inquiry into Ottawa’s rocky LRT program, whose Stage 1 has received $600 million from provincial taxpayers at part of the $2.1-billion construction contract.

Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney told radio station CFRA Thursday morning the province plans on establishing the terms of reference for its public inquiry “in the coming weeks.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Jim Watson spoke with Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy and local cabinet minsters Lisa MacLeod and Merrilee Fullerton on Thursday morning before a breakfast meeting of the Ottawa Board of Trade. The mayor let them know he wasn’t happy to be blindsided when he heard about the provincial inquiry from the media.

“I think they have to do a better job of informing us when they do something that directly impacts us, and the City of Ottawa and the people of Ottawa. I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request for that kind of common courtesy,” Watson told reporters afterward.

“We constantly see news about what Queen’s Park is going to do to and for Ottawa in the media. And I, to this day, have never received any formal notification through the minister’s office as to what the scope of the examination will be.”

The city’s own examination of the LRT by the auditor general will continue, Watson said, but he also said the city will support the provincial inquiry — it doesn’t have a choice — adding that it was a better, cheaper, more efficient option than a judicial inquiry as had been pushed by some councillors.

“I still think the auditor general was the best route, but the province has said they want a public inquiry. They’re paying for it. They’ll set the time limits. They’ll set the parameters and I’m fine with that,” Watson said.

“I feel very confident that at the end of the day what they’re going to discover is that there were a series of incompetent managers who did not properly supervise the maintenance of the facility. And we saw what happened when one guy didn’t screw in 12 bolts and it shut the whole system down for over 50 days.”

The province has already said it is withholding $60 million of its $600 million commitment to the Stage 1 construction of the LRT until it receives assurances and documentations from the city, but Watson said he’s confident the city will easily meet the province’s targets to free up that money.

Is he worried that the review puts future provincial funding at risk?

“Anything can happen, but I feel very confident of the progress we’re making on Stage 2,” Watson said.

The $4.6-billion Stage 2 expansion, which is extending the LRT line west and east and extending the Trillium Line south, has expected to receive up to $1.2 billion from the provincial government. The federal government is contributing a similar amount.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...iticizes-comms

Ha! That's rich coming from Jim Watson - expecting transparency from others! I fully expect him to not seek re-election because of this. Hopefully Hubley will do the same...

[Admiral Nelson]

Originally Posted by hwy418

Ha! That's rich coming from Jim Watson - expecting transparency from others! I fully expect him to not seek re-election because of this. Hopefully Hubley will do the same...

Will be glad to see it. City Hall needs a lot of fresh air.

[rocketphish]

Mayor sought briefing with minister before Ontario called public LRT inquiry
Ontario cabinet decided to call public inquiry into Ottawa LRT on Wednesday

Joanne Chianello · CBC News
Posted: Nov 18, 2021 12:51 PM ET | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

As the Ontario government pondered calling a public inquiry into Ottawa's light rail system, Mayor Jim Watson sent a five-page letter to the transportation minister extolling the city's "due diligence work" on the Confederation Line and asking to discuss what the city had already done to investigate.

Watson asked Minister Caroline Mulroney for "a fair opportunity to brief you more fully on this important issue and to provide you with a full overview of the steps council is taking" to examine the work of Rideau Transit Group (RTG) and train-maker Alstom, which is also responsible for light-rail vehicle maintenance.

Watson told Mulroney it was important for her to know some of those pushing hardest for a judicial inquiry — presumably councillors like Catherine McKenney and Shawn Menard and NDP MPP Joel Harden — "are opposed to P3 agreements, or any involvement or oversight by the private sector."

The mayor never explicitly urged against calling an inquiry, but he said the city needs "staff to continue to focus their time and energies on ensuring that RTG delivers our shared goal of providing safe light rail service in Ottawa every day.

"I would ask that you keep that in mind should you be contemplating additional provincial oversight."

Mulroney didn't buy that argument.

Late Wednesday, she announced the provincial cabinet had decided to launch a public inquiry into the LRT.

Watson told reporters Thursday morning he welcomes a public inquiry but complained he didn't get a head's up the province was going ahead with an inquiry. Indeed, Mulroney made the announcement soon after cabinet made the decision Wednesday afternoon.

"My only request to the province is, please stop surprising us, let us know in advance when you're going to make a decision that affects our taxpayers, our citizens, our passengers, and our employees," Watson said, adding the province hasn't once expressed any concern about the LRT in the last two years.

He also confirmed the city's auditor general will continue her investigation into the LRT.

Mulroney confirmed Thursday the province will pay for the public inquiry. She also said the mayor "knows that the province has been concerned."

"[The ministry has] been in contact back and forth with the mayor's office over a lot of the issues that have arisen over the past few months," said Mulroney.

The minister faced questions about why the Confederation Line debacle warrants a public inquiry, considering they are usually called when someone has died. In particular, she was asked why a public inquiry hasn't been called into examining how thousands of residents of long-term care homes died of COVID-19.

Mulroney said the province went with a commission hearing on long-term care problems "to get answers right away" while in the middle of a public health crisis.

"They're trying to get to work, and the trains don't come. They're trying to get to school and the trains don't come," Mulroney said during a news conference Thursday.

"So I think from transit riders in the city of Ottawa, from their perspective, this is something that's needed. They want answers. They deserve a system that works."

The province spent $600 million on LRT Stage 1, and has promised $1.2 billion for the second phase. Mulroney wants to understand how the money is being spent and what's gone wrong — and didn't rule out holding back funding.

Mulroney said the terms of reference and scope of the inquiry haven't been established yet, but she wants it to look at safety and technical issues, value for money, and accountability.

The province can call an examination into issues of good government under the Public Inquiries Act. The legislation allows the province to set the timeline and budget for the inquiry, and this one is expected to be less expensive and shorter than the judicial inquiry that council voted down last week.

The first major step is to appoint a commissioner, Mulroney told reporters, and she said she hopes recommendations are given in early 2022 "so that we can then move forward with Stage 2."

The next municipal election is Oct. 24, 2022.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...uiry-1.6253665

[rocketphish]

Stage 2 funding for LRT could be at risk based on findings of promised public inquiry
Most critically for Ottawa city hall, Mulroney said "it's possible" that the provincial funding for Stage 2 could be impacted.

Jon Willing, Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Nov 19, 2021 • 12 hours ago • 4 minute read

Stage 2 funding from the province could be at risk if the government doesn’t like what comes out of a public inquiry into Ottawa’s erratic LRT system.

During a press conference Thursday in Toronto, Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney said “it’s possible” that the provincial funding for Stage 2 could be impacted, potentially dropping a wrecking ball onto a $4.6-billion financial plan for a municipal transit project more than two years into construction.

The province has committed $1.2 billion for Stage 2 and work crews with two construction consortia are toiling at sites across Ottawa digging trenches, building stations and laying tracks. The city has purchased 38 more Alstom Citadis Spirit train vehicles for the LRT expansion.

Is Mayor Jim Watson worried that the public inquiry puts future provincial funding at risk?

“Anything can happen, but I feel very confident of the progress we’re making on Stage 2,” Watson said after a breakfast event in Ottawa.

Most of the money committed to Stage 2 by the province is still in the hands of the provincial government.

According to deputy city treasurer Isabelle Jasmin, the province has transferred $329 million to date for the Stage 2 project.

The Ontario Progressive Conservative government on Wednesday announced that it’s calling a public inquiry into Ottawa’s rocky LRT program, whose Stage 1 has included $600 million from provincial taxpayers to help fund the $2.1-billion construction contract.

The Ottawa Board of Trade breakfast event featured Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, with local cabinet minsters Lisa MacLeod and Merrilee Fullerton also in attendance.

Before the event, the mayor let them know he wasn’t happy to be blindsided when he heard about the provincial inquiry from the media.

“I think they have to do a better job of informing us when they do something that directly impacts us, and the City of Ottawa and the people of Ottawa. I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request for that kind of common courtesy,” Watson told reporters afterward.

“We constantly see news about what Queen’s Park is going to do to and for Ottawa in the media. And I, to this day, have never received any formal notification through the minister’s office as to what the scope of the examination will be.”

Watson tried to make a case to the provincial government that its intervention wasn’t required, since the majority of council had already voted to ask the city auditor general to investigate the LRT program.

But Mulroney expressed a lack of confidence in the city’s ability to sort out the LRT mess on its own.

Asked if the province will pause Stage 2 payments during the public inquiry, Jordanna Colwill, a spokesperson for Mulroney, said the government’s focus is on “the causes of the chronic issues plaguing Stage 1 of this project,” while noting that the government continues to hold back 10 per cent of the Stage 1 grant during safety investigations.

“We need more confidence that the City of Ottawa will be able to deliver successfully on future phases of work before flowing committed Stage 2 funds,” according to the statement sent by Colwill.

Meanwhile, the city’s auditor general is waiting to hear about the scope of the public inquiry before deciding how to move ahead with her own investigation.

“With the recent news of the province’s decision to launch a Public Inquiry, my Office is reviewing the best way we can continue to add value while being prudent with tax payer dollars,” Nathalie Gougeon said in an emailed response.

“It is too soon for my Office to make a decision on its next course of action until we have further information from the province on the potential scope of the work they will be undertaking.”

Council chose the audit route to review the LRT program, rather than requesting a judicial inquiry under the Ontario Municipal Act.

The provincial government has more control over the budget and length of a public inquiry, thanks to provisions of the Ontario Public Inquiries Act.

Mulroney said the government is establishing the inquiry terms of reference and working to appoint a commissioner. A budget won’t be determined until a scope is determined, she said. Mulroney said she hopes to see recommendations generated by the inquiry next year.

Mulroney said she’s concerned about safety and making sure the LRT system is working as it should.

“I’m also concerned about value for money and getting answers and accountability,” Mulroney said, adding that the government has been hearing about the LRT problems from constituents in the nation’s capital since the opening in September 2019.

“The people of Ottawa deserve a transit system that works.”

Watson believed the city’s auditor general would continue her examination, but voiced some support for the public inquiry.

“I still think the auditor general was the best route, but the province has said they want a public inquiry. They’re paying for it. They’ll set the time limits. They’ll set the parameters and I’m fine with that,” Watson said.

“I feel very confident that at the end of the day what they’re going to discover is that there were a series of incompetent managers who did not properly supervise the maintenance of the facility. And we saw what happened when one guy didn’t screw in 12 bolts and it shut the whole system down for over 50 days.”

The public inquiry could cast a wide net, even if the scope is limited to the procurement, launch and operations of Stage 1. It could also circle back to Toronto, since Crown agency Infrastructure Ontario advised the city on the Stage 1 procurement, which led to the city hiring Rideau Transit Group for construction and maintenance.

The city didn’t use Infrastructure Ontario for Stage 2 procurement.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...iticizes-comms

[rocketphish]

For the Doug Ford government, there's no downside to an LRT inquiry
The province has spent big money on light rail and is fully justified in digging into how well it was spent. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the first stage was built while the Liberals were in power.

Randall Denley
Publishing date: Nov 18, 2021 • 1 day ago • 3 minute read

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson doesn’t get out-manoeuvred too often, but he got caught on the wrong side of the LRT public inquiry issue, and it could prove to be a politically fatal blunder. Once the public inquiry ordered by the provincial government begins, expect a steady stream of stories that won’t all reflect well on the mayor.

Watson has said he is still undecided about whether he will run in next fall’s municipal election, but he’s clearly lost some of his enthusiasm for the job. The public inquiry, which is expected to report just before the election, certainly won’t help his prospects. Perhaps he will figure that out.

The idea of an outsider rooting around in the details of the troubled transit project has to be disconcerting for Watson, who has an obsessive desire to control everything that goes on at City Hall. Now, he has lost control of the narrative. He will have no say in the choice of commissioner, the terms of reference or who gets questioned. Watson himself will almost certainly be called to testify

Watson managed to stave off Coun. Catherine McKenney’s first request for an inquiry rhough a procedural manoeuvre, substituting a motion for the city’s auditor-general to look into the LRT fiasco. A second attempt by McKenney did come to a vote, which Watson and his supporters won 13-10.

Unfortunately for Watson, that wasn’t the end of the matter. He failed to understand that an inquiry would be popular with the public, who have been inconvenienced by the LRT shutdowns and embarrassed by their city council’s apparent incompetence.

The mayor also underestimated the political value of an inquiry from the PC government’s point of view. It was a surprising mistake from a man who used to be a provincial politician himself.

According to a source close to the provincial decision, the way the Ford government sees this, the inquiry is a no-lose proposition. The province has spent big money on the LRT project and is fully justified in digging into how effectively it was spent.

Of course, there is an element of politics. The LRT is perceived as a failure but critically, it’s not this provincial government’s failure. The first stage of LRT was built while the Liberals were in power. As a bonus, Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca was transportation minister for part of the time and local Liberal MPP Steve Blais sat on city council and was head of the city’s transit commission.

It’s no coincidence that the provincial inquiry is expected to report just before the municipal election. Officially, it’s so voters can have their say, but if they say that Watson is out as mayor, few tears would be shed by provincial PCs.

Surely Watson knows he is not the most popular guy with the PCs, and yet he seemed surprised that Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney didn’t give him the courtesy of a head’s up before she drop kicked him through the goal posts of politics. He might have found more sympathy if he had not been such a long-standing and enthusiastic practitioner of bare-knuckled politics himself.

Watson quickly pivoted from being dead set against an inquiry to supporting the provincial inquiry, at least for public consumption. To be fair, the city rejected a costly and open-ended judicial inquiry, for which it would have paid the bill. The public inquiry ordered by the province will be cheaper, quicker and not on the city’s tab.

One of the things the inquiry will want to determine is how much political pressure Watson and councillors applied to get the LRT into service, even though there were still safety and maintenance concerns.

The inquiry is unlikely to find any ill intent or wrongdoing, but incompetence and bad decision making are strong possibilities. It will keep the LRT story in the news right up until election time. Not so good for Jim Watson

The mayor wanted the LRT to be his legacy. It will be, but perhaps not in the way he had hoped.

Randall Denley is an Ottawa political commentator and author. Contact him at randalldenley1@gmail.com

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/de...an-lrt-inquiry

[rocketphish]

Ford government announces Ottawa LRT inquiry will be overseen by a judge

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Dec 17, 2021 • 6 minutes ago • 3 minute read

The Ontario Progressive Conservative government on Friday announced a judge will oversee the public inquiry into the Stage 1 LRT program, with a report filed as early as Aug. 31, 2022.

Ontario Court of Appeal Justice William Hourigan will lead the inquiry into the “commercial and technical circumstances that led to the breakdown and derailment” of the Confederation Line, the government said in a news release Friday.

When he was in private practice before becoming a judge, Hourigan specialized in commercial litigation.

Along with identifying the commissioner, the province laid out the mandate of the inquiry and confirmed it would focus on Stage 1 of Ottawa’s LRT program, with no mention of Stage 2.

There are five general areas the province wants the inquiry to address:

• Decisions on the procurement approach, selection of Rideau Transit Group and award of the alternative financing and procurement contract to RTG;
• Whether the city’s procurement process affected the technical standards for the Stage 1 design, construction, operation, maintenance, repair and rehabilitation;
• Whether the contract was adequate to ensure the design, construction, operation, maintenance, repair and rehabilitation of the project was done in accordance with all laws and industry standards, including performance and safety;
• Whether RTG and its subcontractors carried out those works in accordance with laws and industry standards; and
• Whether the city’s oversight of the Stage 1 project was adequate, including decisions that led to the project being deemed substantially complete and the associated testing to support the declaration.

The province has directed the inquiry to have open hearings while also giving Hourigan the option to hold them virtually.

The inquiry must produce a report with conclusions and possible recommendations by Aug. 31, but the transportation minister can agree to extend the deadline to Nov. 30 at the latest.

City staff, former staff or consultants anticipating paying for legal advice ahead of the provincially ordered LRT inquiry likely won’t be able to bill municipal taxpayers for hours charged by their personal lawyers.

The inquiry could compel anyone intimately involved with the design, planning, operations and procurement of Stage 1 to answer questions during the hearing.

City solicitor David White pointed to a section of the governance report for the 2014-2018 term of council that says municipal staff and council members would be covered for damages or legal costs in defending themselves in legal matters related to their “good faith discharge of their duties” as employees or elected members.

However, White noted that inquiries don’t make determinations of civil or criminal liability, something that was confirmed in the province’s release of the inquiry mandate on Friday.

“In accordance with that Policy and appreciating that appearing as a witness does not engage an individual’s legal interests, as would be the case if the person were a party to a legal proceeding, the City does not provide reimbursement for any external legal expenses incurred by the individual,” White said in an email relayed by the communications department.

Still, White said the city would follow “standard practice” and make legal counsel available to anyone appearing as a witness on behalf of the city who would require advice or support.

White said it’s premature to comment on the potential for the city to recoup costs related to the inquiry, but he pointed out that the Public Inquiries Act includes a section empowering the commission of inquiry to make rules related to fees and expenses that could be paid to witnesses and participants.

The provincial government first announced the LRT inquiry on Nov. 17, days after city council voted against requesting a judicial inquiry, preferring instead to ask the city auditor general to probe the LRT program.

There were no details announced about when the inquiry would begin or if the inquiry commission has a budget.

The $2.1-billion Confederation Line Stage 1 construction contract was funded using $600 million of provincial money. The federal government paid the same amount and the city funded the rest.

The province has also committed $1.2 billion for the $4.6-billion Stage 2 expansion. The federal government is providing another $1 billion for the project.

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[rocketphish]

City manager's explanation of LRT launch foreshadows key evidence in public inquiry
At a finance committee meeting on Friday, it was as if Coun. Shawn Menard was playing the role of commission counsel and city manager Steve Kanellakos was on the witness stand.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Dec 21, 2021 • 55 minutes ago • 4 minute read

A recent explanation by city hall’s top bureaucrat about why he gave the green light to launch the Confederation Line in 2019 likely foreshadows key testimony at next year’s LRT public inquiry.

“I didn’t launch the trains just on my own gut feeling or my own intuition as a non-expert on trains,” city manager Steve Kanellakos said during a finance and economic development committee meeting on Friday.

“I launched it with the signature of the independent certifier, which met the contractual agreements and met all the safety requirements for that train to be launched.”

No doubt the Ontario Progressive Conservative government wants to know all about the city’s decision-making before the municipal government accepted the LRT system from the Rideau Transit Group (RTG) and launched it.

Two trail derailments this year, plus the fact provincial taxpayers have contributed $600 million to Stage 1 and are paying up to $1.2 billion for Stage 2, helped convince the provincial government to order the public inquiry.

The provincial government included in the inquiry’s mandate “an inquiry into the decisions that led to the declaration that the (Stage 1 LRT) Project had reached substantial completion and any associated testing carried out to support such declaration.”

The inquiry administration is just getting off the ground now that the provincial government has named an inquiry commissioner, Justice William Hourigan, and set an Aug. 31, 2022, deadline for a report, unless the deadline is extended up to Nov. 30 by authorization of the transportation minister.

At the finance committee meeting on Friday, it was as if Coun. Shawn Menard was playing the role of commission counsel and Kanellakos was on the witness stand, with the Capital ward councillor asking the top boss what led the city to OK the launch of the LRT system.

Kanellakos, in what might have been his most comprehensive explanation about the LRT opening and the problems that followed, said he was the one who ultimately made the decision to launch.

Once the system achieved “revenue service availability” — the state at which the train system was contractually ready for the fare-paying public — the city had to decide whether to “sit on the trains and pay RTG for the trains that weren’t running or put them into service once the independent authorities singed off on the safety and reliability of those trains,” Kanellakos said.

RTG maintains the LRT system through its affiliate company Rideau Transit Maintenance (RTM).

Kanellakos said there were no problems identified in the construction completed under the $2.1-billion Stage 1 contract.

The months after the Sept. 14, 2019, launch revealed a different problem, he said.

The first major service-impacting problems were with the doors on the Alstom Citadis Spirit trains. Then there were power malfunctions, cracked rail welds, rail switch failures, overhead wire breaks, wheel “flats” and cracked wheels that slowed the transit service before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Ottawa in March 2020.

The Aug. 8, 2021, derailment near Tunney’s Pasture Station happened when an overheated roller bearing led to the wheel severing from the axle. Alstom suggested a large locking nut for the cartridge assembly was loose, leading to the roller bearing failure.

The Sept. 19 derailment near Tremblay Station happened after bolts weren’t appropriately torqued on a gearbox attached to a wheel and axle unit.

“The issues that arose on those trains after the launch, you could not foretell all those issues in advance of what would happen,” Kanellakos said.

The real issue, he said, has been “the maintenance capabilities of Alstom and RTM and their other (subcontractors) to be able to maintain those trains and deal with any actions or any problems that happen with those trains if there were any failures,” Kanellakos said.

The city anticipated growing pains in the first year of operations, but it didn’t anticipate RTG’s inability to quickly make repairs, Kanellakos said.

Menard also asked Kanellakos about a memo that was never sent to council about a pause in the 12-consecutive-day train testing in July 2019. The memo was signed by former transportation general manager John Manconi and described a 48-hour pause in testing because of “performance over the first three days of trial running.”

Kanellakos said he was concerned about sending a memo to council each time there was a train stoppage or communication with RTG. At the time, council should have known the trains were ready to go when they passed the testing and would not be involved every time there was a minor issue, according to Kanellakos, who decided council would only receive a memo when the trains passed the test under the contract.

“It wasn’t discussed with the mayor, it wasn’t discussed with the chair of the committee. It wasn’t a memo that I considered … should have any kind of political discussion,” Kanellakos said of the unsent Manconi memo.

Menard said he hoped staff would tell council about any issues during the Stage 2 testing. “Hyper-vigilance and more communications is better than less in this situation,” Menard said.

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[rocketphish]

LRT inquiry commission launches website, opens applications for standing
The Ontario Progressive Conservative government ordered the public inquiry into Stage 1 of the Confederation Line after two derailments of Alstom Citadis Spirit trains over two months in 2021.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Jan 24, 2022 • 4 minutes ago • 2 minute read

The Ottawa LRT inquiry commission launched its website on Monday with new details about who’s been added to the commission team, along with a call for applications for standing during the inquiry.

The website at ottawalrtpublicinquiry.ca will keep the public in the loop on the work of the inquiry, which is being overseen by Justice William Hourigan acting as commissioner.

The Ontario Progressive Conservative government ordered the public inquiry into Stage 1 of the Confederation Line after two derailments of Alstom Citadis Spirit trains over two months in 2021. The city has been operating the LRT system since September 2019, with the maintenance contracted to Rideau Transit Maintenance, a division of the system builder, Rideau Transit Group.

The province announced Hourigan, an Ontario Court of Appeal judge, as the inquiry commissioner in December. He has been tasked with learning the “commercial and technical circumstances that led to the breakdown and derailment” of the LRT system.

Two experienced lawyers from Toronto law firms have been named co-lead counsels for the inquiry. They will be tasked with reviewing documents and leading questioning during the hearings.

Ottawa-born Christine Mainville is a partner at Henein Hutchison LLP. Mainville, who specializes in criminal, extradition and regulatory proceedings, has acted as senior counsel to the commission on the independent review of street checks in Ontario and co-counsel on the Reataeh Parsons independent case review in Nova Scotia.

Kate McGrann, a partner at Crawley MacKewn Brush LLP, practises in complex corporate/commercial matters, professional discipline, employment, fraud and defamation issues. McGrann was lead commission counsel on the Collingwood judicial inquiry and co-lead counsel to the Ontario COVID-19 long-term care commission.

The support team includes Heidi Francis as executive director, Sejal Jain as director of policy and operations and Estelle Saint-Martin as director of communications.

The commission has opened applications for standing if people, or their lawyers, want to be considered participants in the inquiry. If granted standing, they could receive notice of documents that will be introduced as evidence, cross-examine witnesses and make closing submissions.

In gauging if people should have standing, Hourigan could consider if they have a direct interest in the subject matter, could be notified of a finding of misconduct, would further the conduct of the inquiry or would contribute to the openness and fairness of the inquiry.

While expenses for lawyers representing witnesses and participants aren’t covered by the commission, Hourigan can also consider requests for funding.

Applications must be made by Feb. 28.

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LRT inquiry commission schedules sessions to hear from the public

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Feb 22, 2022 • 1 hour ago • 1 minute read

The LRT inquiry commission will give the public a chance to share its two cents on the $2.1-billion Confederation Line.

The commission announced on Tuesday that two public meetings will be held “where the public will have the opportunity to share their views and make statements.” The meetings will be on May 25 and May 26 at 7 p.m. at the Shaw Centre.

The commission said more information about how people can sign up will be available on the commission’s website during the week of March 21.

The LRT public inquiry was called by the Ontario Progressive Conservative government in November. The government appointed Justice William Hourigan as inquiry commissioner to hear about the “technical and commercial circumstances that led to breakdowns and derailments” of the LRT system. Hourigan’s inquiry report is due by Aug. 31, but the provincial government can extend the deadline to Nov. 30.

The inquiry is focused on Stage 1 of the city’s LRT project.

The commission announced on Feb. 11 that it sent summonses to several recipients asking for documents produced since June 1, 2007. The parties have until Feb. 28 to substantially produce the documents, which could include a range of media, like video. All documents must be produced by April 29.

The commission continues to receive applications from individuals and groups who want to have standing to participate in the inquiry hearings. The deadline is Feb. 28 at 4 p.m. The commission will announce in March who will participate in the hearings. The application is on the commission’s website.

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[rocketphish]

Rideau Transit Group claims city didn't consult consortium before launching LRT system

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Mar 02, 2022 • 26 minutes ago • 4 minute read

The City of Ottawa “decided unilaterally” to launch the Confederation Line in September 2019 without consulting the consortium that built the LRT system because of political pressure, the Rideau Transit Group alleges in new court filings.

The revelation is in the affidavit of RTG CEO Nicolas Truchon as part of a response by the company to a city application related to two derailments last year.

More information about the decision to launch the $2.2-billion LRT system is trickling out ahead of a provincial inquiry into Stage 1 of the O-Train project.

With its new court documents, which were filed at Superior Court on Tuesday, RTG is putting on record its observations of the city’s decision to launch the LRT line on Sept. 14, 2019.

“The city did not consult either RTG or the construction contractor before taking this decision,” Truchon says in his affidavit. He says he learned this information from Matthew Slade, an EllisDon rail director who was a leader with RTG’s construction contractor at the time of the system’s handover to the city.

“However, well before this date, RTG and the construction contractor, as well as the City’s then-consultants, STV, recommended a soft opening for the system. In Mr. Slade’s view, the city disregarded this recommendation due to the political push to get the system operational,” Truchon says in his affidavit.

Mayor Jim Watson dismissed RTG’s claims that the timing of the LRT launch was politically motivated and was devoid of consultation with the consortium.

Watson said the city will be filing reply documents in the coming weeks, but he offered an example that showed RTG endorsed the launch.

“I fundamentally disagree with their interpretation because they actually presented me with giant key to say here’s the start of the LRT,” Watson said Wednesday.

“They actually gave that to me launching the LRT. It was their call and obviously we consulted with them.”

None of the allegations by the city or RTG has been tested in front of a judge.

RTG is a partnership of ACS Infrastructure, EllisDon and SNC-Lavalin. The city is asking the court to confirm a notice of events of default as it builds a case against the consortium’s performance in maintaining the LRT system.

The city has strongly criticized RTG’s ability to maintain the LRT system under a 30-year contract as both organizations, the city and the rail consortium, work to build the public’s confidence in the Confederation Line.

In its court filing, RTG says the problems that started after the 2019 launch aren’t unique for a new transit system, despite the frequent condemnation from the public and politicians that things weren’t normal.

The service problems that happened shortly after the 2019 launch “are a normal part of the natural bedding-in period of a project of this nature,” Truchon says in his affidavit.

“These issues were aggravated by the city’s decision to discontinue concurrent bus service during the start up period leaving no alternative to its ridership. However, the public and elected officials have seemed unwilling to accept the normal growing pains associated with bringing a system of this nature online.”

Truchon says RTG has been working to resolve problems, but, “The issues to the system have unfortunately led to misguided and unproductive micromanagement by elected officials of OC Transpo’s and RTG’s operations, which has caused distractions to the operations of the system as well as when addressing issues as they arise.”

He gives one example of OC Transpo management requiring 24-hour notice of testing a tunnel ventilation system so a city councillor could be informed in order to warn property owners of noise.

In his affidavit, Truchon says that the level of involvement by elected officials “is very unusual,” characterizing it as “political hurdles” that impact RTG.

Now, RTG and the city are battling in the open, in court.

Truchon accuses the city of filing a court motion to pre-empt the LRT public inquiry. He points out the city filed the court application on Dec. 15 and the provincial order-in-council establishing the inquiry mandate was issued the next day. The city, Truchon says, didn’t advance its court application until the inquiry commission started issuing summons to produce records, and then the city was asking the court for an expedited hearing.

In its response to the city’s application, RTG slams the city for not following the dispute resolution procedure in their LRT contract by pursuing litigation. The confidential process requires an adjudication by a third party before a court process can begin, RTG says.

Since the city felt political heat after the derailments, it skipped the mandatory adjudication step “because adjudication (unlike a court proceeding) is a confidential process, and so could not be discussed in public,” RTG says in court filings.

On Wednesday, RTG’s spokesperson underscored the company’s position that the dispute should be handled within the contract framework.

“Our filing is a matter of public record and our position is clear. We are supportive of the dispute resolution process as indicated in the project agreement with the city,” Helen Bobat said in an email.

“In this instance, the contractually agreed upon process was not followed and therefore we have filed this motion. We hope the court will view the matter the same way.”

Bobat added: “Rideau Transit Group remains committed to continue working hand-in-hand with the city to provide essential transit services for the people of Ottawa.”

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[J.OT13]

I tend to believe RTG on this one. The inquiry will reveal us for sure who's telling the truth.

[J.OT13]

CBC's take:

City launched LRT prematurely for political reasons, says RTG executive

Joanne Chianello · CBC News · Posted: Mar 02, 2022 3:08 PM ET | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Allegations from motion filed in court to halt city's efforts to declare consortium in default

The City of Ottawa launched the Confederation Line prematurely and without consulting the contractors because it was under political pressure, according to a massive document filed in Ontario Superior Court this week by the group behind the light rail transit system.

The completion of the $2.1-billion Confederation Line was more than a year late and because of that, "there was intense political pressure to bring the system into service when it approached completion," according to an affidavit from Nicolas Truchon, the CEO for Rideau Transit Group (RTG), which designed, built and now maintains the LRT.

The affidavit cites Matthew Slade, who had a senior role for the constructors of the rail line, saying the city pushed ahead with opening the LRT system without following the advice of the builders.

Although RTG formally handed over the system to the city at the end of August 2019, city officials including now-retired transit boss John Manconi had always said it would take a few weeks before the LRT would be open to the public.

"The city decided unilaterally to offer full service to the public on Sept. 14, 2019, only two weeks after [the handover] was achieved," according to Truchon's affidavit. "The city did not consult either RTG or the construction contractor before taking this decision."

Truchon also contends RTG and then-consultants STV "recommended a soft opening for the system."

"In Mr. Slade's view, the city disregarded this recommendation due to the political push to get the system operational," the affidavit read.

The RTG executive also said a soft launch would have allowed for "a normal part of the natural bedding-in period for a project of this nature" when the typical issues arose in the early days of the LRT system. Instead, he says there was more public criticism due to the full launch.

The issues with the LRT were also "aggravated by the city's decision to discontinue concurrent bus service during the start-up period leaving no alternative to its ridership," Truchon stated.

"The public and elected officials have seemed unwilling to accept the normal growing pains associated with bringing a system of this nature online."

Mayor says launch was RTG's call

Mayor Jim Watson told reporters Wednesday he "fundamentally" disagreed with RTG's interpretation.

"They actually presented me [with] a giant key to say, here's the start of the LRT," Watson said. "It was their call and obviously we consulted with them."

Truchon's claims the city "unilaterally" decided to fully launch the Confederation Line are part of a motion filed in court on Tuesday by RTG. The group is trying to halt the city's efforts to have the court declare RTG in default of its contract with the city.

In September 2021 the city issued a second notice of default to RTG — a consortium of SNC-Lavalin, ACS Infrastructure and Ellis Don — after two trains derailed in as many months. In mid-December the city asked the court to confirm RTG has not lived up to its obligations in the project agreement.

If the court deems RTG is in default, the city could end the 30-year maintenance contract worth more than $1 billion. Terminating the contract would hurt RTG — already out $42 million in payments from the city — and according to the court documents, the city docked $13 million from payments to RTG between September and December of 2021 alone related to the two derailments.

RTG argues the city didn't follow the dispute resolution process spelled out in the project agreement and the city's application should be stayed.

City went to court to distract from inquiry, RTG claims

According to the court documents, the dispute resolution mechanism is spelled out distinctly in the contract, and calls for progressively serious measures if the city and the RTG can't work out their differences.

RTG claims the city improperly jumped over the adjudication phase of the process, which is the third step, and its motion states "the parties must complete adjudication prior to a dispute being referred to arbitration or to litigation in this court."

Instead, after RTG executives were unable to resolve their dispute at a Nov. 9 meeting with Ottawa rail director Michael Morgan and OC Transpo GM Renée Amilcar, the city's next move was to file an application in court on Dec. 15.

In his affidavit, Truchon states the city's move to go straight to court was also "politically motivated," suggesting the city was looking to distract the public from the fact the province had launched a public inquiry into the Confederation Line.

"Since the idea of a provincial inquiry first made news, the city has launched this application by surprise, skipping the adjudication step," according to the affidavit.

"The city has asserted that its application is urgent and that it should be heard on an expedited basis."

It is not clear when RTG's motion to stay the city's application will be heard in court. The province's inquiry into the LRT is underway, and public hearings are expected sometime in the spring.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...ium%3Dsharebar

[rocketphish]

LRT inquiry commission begins hearings in June, grants full standing to 10 parties

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Mar 07, 2022 • 56 minutes ago • 3 minute read

The judge overseeing the LRT public inquiry, which will be held at the University of Ottawa beginning in June, has granted full standing to 10 groups and individuals from the 24 who applied to participate in the hearings.

The roster of full participants doesn’t contain any surprises, with groups like the City of Ottawa, Province of Ontario and the Rideau Transit Group (RTG) predictably getting status.

The other seven parties are:

• Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279, which is OC Transpo’s largest union
• Alstom Transport Canada, the manufacturer of Ottawa’s LRT fleet
• Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corp., otherwise known as Infrastructure Ontario, which was the city’s procurement advisor for Stage 1 LRT
• Morrison Hershfield, a firm that has worked on the LRT project
• RTG Engineering Joint Venture, the consortium’s group of engineering experts contracted for the project
• Thales Canada, which supplied the communications-based train control system
• Transport Action Canada, a transportation advocacy group

RTG’s participation includes its role as builder under affiliate Ottawa Light Rail Transit Constructors and maintainer under Rideau Transit Maintenance. The three organizations made separate applications for standing, but the commission grouped them as one party.

“I have reached the decision to grant these applicants full standing because they were all significant players in the events that led to the construction and implementation of the Project, including in the tendering process, the construction of the Project, the decision to accept the LRT system, and the ongoing operation of the LRT system,” Justice William Hourigan, the inquiry commission head, said in announcing the list on Monday.

It’s up to the inquiry commissioner to decide what kind of access parties get as part of their standing, but it can include receiving advance notice of documents being filed as evidence, seats at the counsel table and the rights to cross-examine witnesses and make closing statements.

Hourigan also granted partial standing to three parties: STV Inc., a firm that was part of the preliminary engineering team; David Knockaert, who has told the commission he wants to shed light on an access-to-information request regarding the LRT project; and Justin Kelly, who has a website that tracks when the LRT system is down.

The nine people and groups denied standing are companies that offered to provide professional services to the commission or residents with interest in public transportation. Another applicant denied standing is a former Alstom employee involved in testing.

The commission gave people until Feb. 28 to submit an application for standing and funding. No one who was granted standing applied for funding.

In his order on selecting who will have standing, Hourigan highlighted “the need to balance the right to participation against the need for this Inquiry to complete its work expeditiously.”

The commission has until the end of August to produce an inquiry report, but the deadline can be extended to Nov. 30 if the transportation minister agrees.

The commission announced the hearings will be held at the U of O’s Ian G. Scott Courtroom in the Faculty of Law.

Alain Roussy, the interim dean of the common law section in the U of O’s law faculty, said the university plans to use the inquiry as a teaching opportunity.

The hearings, which will be livestreamed in both official languages, will allow witnesses to testify in person or remotely.

The date on which the hearings will begin hasn’t been announced.

The inquiry commission is holding public meetings on May 25 and 26 at the Shaw Centre where the public can make statements. The commission will release information on its website, ottawalrtpublicinquiry.ca, during the week of March 21 about how people can register to speak.

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[rocketphish]

People can now register to speak at Ottawa LRT inquiry's public meetings
Deadline is May 20 for meetings May 25 and 26

CBC News
Posted: Mar 23, 2022 11:33 AM ET | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

People have until the start of the May long weekend to register to share their thoughts with the leader of the provincial inquiry into Ottawa's troubled light rail system.

The province has said the June inquiry will look into the technical issues that led to two derailments of the Confederation Line last year, as well as the procurement process, the city's oversight of the project, and its adherence to laws and safety standards.

Before that, two public meetings are scheduled for the evenings of May 25 and 26 out of the downtown Shaw Centre where people will be able to share their experiences with Stage 1 of the project with inquiry commissioner William Hourigan.

In a Wednesday news release, the inquiry organizers set a deadline of May 20 at 5 p.m. ET, which is eight weeks away, for people to register online to speak either in person or remotely.

Registration is encouraged but not required for people who want to watch.

Participants in the inquiry include the province, the city, its transit union, Alstom — the company that built the trains for the east-west Confederation Line — and representatives from builders Rideau Transit Group and maintenance managers Rideau Transit Maintenance.

Hourigan has an Aug. 31 deadline to submit a final report to the province's transportation minister with findings on what happened, as well as recommendations to help address them. The minister can give an extension of up to three months if needed.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...tion-1.6394490