Joel Harden
At 11 a.m. on November 30, a loud thud was heard across Ontario. The final report of the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Public Commission dropped, and it hit the table hard.
The massive 664-page document detailed the problems and issues with Stage 1 of our LRT system. Justice William Hourigan (who led the report) was scathing. He noted a pattern of “deliberate malfeasance” by city officials, and “egregious violations of public trust.”
This was the transparency I pursued for two years, working with residents and local leaders.
Premier Ford says he’s outraged, and has patted himself on the back for calling the judicial inquiry. But, at first, his government deflected this issue.
Two years ago, when I called for a public inquiry of our LRT, I was told this “was a municipal project”, but Ontario officials “were paying attention.”
That made no sense then, and it makes no sense now. The province invested $600 million into Stage 1 of Ottawa’s LRT system. So we kept the pressure on.
A year later, after major derailments and much public pressure, we got a big win.
For two consecutive days, I rose in Question Period, demanding a judicial inquiry after it was refused at the Ottawa City Council by a vote of 13-10. I noted the revelations about consultants who lobbied against a judicial inquiry, some of whom invoked colourful language.
This time, the province responded, declaring a public inquiry. And sunlight, as Justice Louis Brandeis once said, is the best disinfectant. At last, we have the truth.
And for some, the truth hurts. I’m still sifting through the evidence, but one thing is certain: our LRT is bad news for boosters of Public-Private-Partnerships (P3s).
Justice William Hourigan said “the P3 model caused or contributed to several of the ongoing difficulties on the project … the city traditionally had a hands-on leading role in projects, given the lesser role it played under this mode, the city was left in a position where it had limited insight or control over the project.”
The city set an absurdly low budget, and contractors withheld information about the LRT’s viability to perform. City officials then misled city councillors about the LRT’s capabilities, even going so far as to change LRT standards mid-stream.
But this isn’t just a comedy of errors, intentional or not. P3s are an accident waiting to happen, they will not offer the transparency or accountability the public deserves.
That’s the lesson from Ottawa’s LRT. But where do we go from here?
Send your thoughts to joel@joelharden.ca and we’ll talk about how to get Ottawa’s LRT back on track, both literally and figuratively. I look forward to hearing from you.