City of Ottawa

[rocketphish]

Steve Kanellakos returning to Ottawa as city's new manager
Former deputy manager returns to Ottawa after leaving position in Vaughan, Ont.

CBC News Posted: Feb 08, 2016 3:11 PM ET Last Updated: Feb 08, 2016 8:04 PM ET

The city's former deputy manager will be taking over from city manager Kent Kirkpatrick when he steps down in the coming months for health reasons.

Steve Kanellakos, who left Ottawa to take a position as the city manager in Vaughan, Ont., in the Greater Toronto Area a year ago, was unanimously appointed to the position by city council Monday.

"My wife didn't move to Vaughan. My kids are still here. And quite frankly, you know, having a complete life includes your family and your friends," Kanellakos said at a press conference.

"Coming home means something to me. This is my home."

Kanellakos has spent 30 years working in the municipal public service, starting with a position with the former Gloucester Police Department 1985.

​He began working for the City of Ottawa in 2000 and as deputy manager for city operations was "responsible for the majority" of the municipal workforce, the city said in a statement.

His tenure in his new position will begin May 2, 2016, the city said.

Kanellakos said his first order of business would be to catch up with Mayor Jim Watson and the rest of city council on what's happened in his absence and what their major issues are.

One priority, he said, would be to fill senior management positions — including the two deputy city manager jobs.

"When you go to a different organization, you get an appreciation of what you left behind. I think it's beneficial for myself and it's going to be beneficial for the city administration that I did leave," he said.

"So I come back with fresh eyes, in terms of the organization."

Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney, who worked under Kanellakos before being elected in 2014, called him a "fantastic boss" who was "well-respected" by municipal employees.

"I was happy to see that it was somebody that I trust, certainly, [somebody] that council knows well. We know what the working style will be. He understands the organization," McKenney said.

Kirkpatrick announced last September he would not be seeking a contract extension past March 2016 as balancing his multiple sclerosis and work had become increasingly difficult.

He has held the job of city manager — the top position in the city's workforce of more than 17,000 full-time equivalent employees, not counting the police service — since 2004.

During his tenure with the City of Ottawa, Kirkpatrick has shepherded such projects as the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park and the first phase of the city's light rail system.

In all, Kirkpatrick has spent more than 25 years working in the municipal public service, including four terms as a town councillor in Carleton Place.

Watson said the city held a national search to find Kirkpatrick's replacement before choosing Kanellakos.

Kanellakos represented "the best of both worlds," Watson said.

"He comes to the job not needing a great deal of training. He can hit the ground running. But he also, as he pointed out, has that perspective of another municipality, another regional government," Watson said.

Kirkpatrick had been scheduled to leave at the end of March but Watson said he asked him Monday to stay on an extra month to help with the transition.

"First and foremost is his health," Watson said. "And if he feels he can do it, then that would be great."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa...tawa-1.3438956

[waterloowarrior]

Supposed to be a re-org today

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

Supposed to be a re-org today

Can I select who stays and gets shown to the door !!!!!!

[rocketphish]

Top managers targeted in city hall shakeup

David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: July 13, 2016 | Last Updated: July 13, 2016 7:31 PM EDT

Admitting that the bureaucracy in Ottawa City Hall is short on “organizational effectiveness,” new city manager Steve Kanellakos has dismissed several senior managers.

The former deputy city manager, rehired to the top job from a similar position he held briefly in Vaughan, told city council his plan to flatten the city bureaucracy, bust silos and make the city workforce more responsive on Wednesday. It begins with eliminating the two deputy city managers and a handful of other top jobs, and merging many others.

Kanellakos has been on the job for about two months, much of which he’s spent consulting councillors, city staff and managers about what he ought to do. All the councillors and senior managers, and 71 per cent of the staffers he spoke to, told him that the city’s “organizational effectiveness” is a problem. They lack clear priorities, departments don’t match up to what they understand the city’s goals are, employees don’t feel trusted to make decisions, and too many managers are biding time in fill-in positions.

Ironically, many of those “acting” management assignments have been in place for so long because senior managers have been waiting for Kanellakos to take charge, leaving positions unfilled so they could cut them if needed.

Kanellakos’s final org chart cuts the number of senior managers from 21 to nine.

It didn’t specify who went out the door. Many of the 21 original departments survive as parts of larger groups. But social-services boss Aaron Burry’s department was unchanged except that it has a new head (housing administrator Janice Burelle). Infrastructure manager Wayne Newell, environmental services manager Dixon Weir and planning manager John Moser all had their positions eliminated. The corporate information-technology department has a new director with no indication of what happened to the existing chief information officer, Charles Duffett.

Kanellakos summoned people, one at a time, to the suite he shares with the mayor in City Hall’s old wing, distant from the block of offices where nearly all of them have worked.

It’s sixty-one steps down a straight dimly lit hallway, end to end. The first person to make the walk was Moser, whose regular job is general manager of the city’s planning department, but who’d been an acting deputy city manager for over a year. He’ll stay on as an interim general manager, until they can find someone to run a new department of planning, economic development and infrastructure. The other acting deputy city manager, Susan Jones, will return to her regular job in charge of emergency services.

Moser was followed by Michael Mizzi, one of his own deputies, hired away from Toronto just three years ago to blow fresh air into a department that had a serious problem with public faith.

Kanellakos said the job cuts will cost the city $1.29 million in severances immediately but will save $2.7 million over the next two-and-a-half years. Once the remaining managers have a handle on their departments they’ll be asked to save more money.

Kanellakos’s move undoes the structure built at length by his predecessor, Kent Kirkpatrick.

When the province’s transition board amalgamated Ottawa into its current form in 2001, the bureaucracy had one city manager with a “six-pack” of general managers answering to him, each with a broad set of duties — emergency services; internal administration; transportation and public works; community and social services — that kind of thing. They oversaw groups of directors, who were subject-matter experts.

Kirkpatrick gradually pulled that layer apart. City Hall got those two deputy city managers, each of whom oversaw his or her own pack of general managers with narrower authority. That’s how the number of GMs grew.

Having two deputies freed Kirkpatrick up to deal with great big files like redeveloping Lansdowne Park, planning light rail and negotiating the complicated agreement with Plasco Energy Group to turn city garbage into electricity. But we still got general managers whose expertise didn’t always match the full range of their duties.

One guy, Weir, was responsible for garbage and recycling, drinking water and sewage, all jammed together under the label of “environmental services” though they really have little to do with one another. Why did it seem like we couldn’t build a bridge in this town for several years there? One guy, Newell, was in charge of all the public construction projects and stuff slipped past him.

They’re both out now, in a shuffle that puts their former departments into even bigger agglomerations, some of them odd. City treasurer Marian Simulik, a crackerjack financial administrator, is adding the city’s fleet of vehicles to her responsibilities. Jones’s emergency-services department is adding preparations for 2017 celebrations. The head of the economic-development department, Saad Bashir, is leaving that and taking over the corporate IT department. He has a degree in computer engineering but his whole career has been in business.

Combining planning, economic development and infrastructure into one job is Frankensteinian. No wonder Kanellakos sees nobody currently in the city’s employ as qualified to take it on permanently.

And ultimately, if city staff haven’t felt “empowered,” that’s city council’s fault. “No surprises” is the mantra councillors have demanded their staff chant for years. They hate, hate, hate surprises, good or bad.

If your prime motivation is to make sure that city council is never startled, then you’ll get a culture burdened by administrative barriers and butt-covering. Hire, fire, reorganize, do what you like — that won’t change. Changing councillors’ attitudes is a much bigger challenge awaiting their new top servant.

dreevely@postmedia.com
twitter.com/davidreevely

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...op-bureaucrats

[Norman Bates]

Yeah, let's reorganize and fire a bunch of people. So that we can do it all again in another two or three years.

I've seen this movie too many times. And it always ends the same way.

[J.OT13]

Can anybody explain this to me; how can the City talk about massive layoffs to save money while in the same breath remove the bilingualism requirement stating we can make the anglophone employees take a couple courses a year and get tested once in a while (which I'm sure will cost the City $5,000 to $10,000 per year, per employee). Not like any of them will actually learn to speak French fluently, ever.

No doubt we have qualified bilingual candidates in this region of 1.5 million. Or somewhere else in Canada for that matter.

[mykl]

Unfortunately its too late, but hopefully this will prevent future blunders:


Task force promises to help protect Ottawa’s architectural heritage
July 15, 2016
News Release



Ottawa – The City of Ottawa will create a heritage matters task force that will monitor heritage properties on a regular basis to help encourage the proper maintenance and protection of Ottawa’s heritage buildings.



“While it is the obligation of the owners to maintain heritage properties and to adhere to the City’s By-Laws and provincial laws, this task force will help the City become more effective in enforcing those standards,” said Mayor Jim Watson. “This action will aim at preventing future instances of demolition by neglect, like we’ve seen at Somerset House. It will ensure that future generations continue to enjoy our rich architectural heritage.”



The new task force has been announced partly in response to the partial demolition of Somerset House (352 Somerset Street West). Due to years of neglect, several walls and the foundation of this heritage-designated property have deteriorated to the point that they now pose a safety concern. City Council approved a proposal on Wednesday, July 13 to demolish the sections of the building that pose a risk.



The mandate of the task force will be to:

Review existing legislative tools that could be used to exercise the City’s authority to ensure safety and conservation of heritage buildings.
Develop a strategy with recommended actions to closely monitor the condition of heritage buildings.
Educate stakeholders on the value placed on maintaining heritage buildings in Ottawa.
Engage representatives from the development industry and community stakeholders in the City’s vision for heritage preservation.
Work with the Province of Ontario to explore the development of regulations that will give the City more control in cases where owners do not properly maintain their heritage properties.



The task force will meet for the first time in August and will include Mayor Watson, Councillor Jan Harder, Chair of the City’s Planning Committee, and Councillor Tobi Nussbaum, Chair of the City’s Built Heritage Sub-Committee. City staff, including the senior heritage planner, the Chief Building Official and the Chief By-law Officer, will also be asked to take part, along with legal representatives. Key stakeholders from the built heritage community will be consulted about their ideas on how to better protect our built heritage.

[rocketphish]

Ottawa city hall preview: LRT, truck tunnel, budget and more on fall agenda

Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: August 25, 2016 | Last Updated: August 25, 2016 6:10 PM EDT

The Olympics are over, the back-to-school sales have begun, and city councillors are dusting off their desks after a sleepy summer at Ottawa City Hall.

Postmedia’s Matthew Pearson scopes out what’s on the agenda.

Finance and economic development committee, chaired by Mayor Jim Watson

The budget is arguably the most important item city council will deal with this fall because it will set the tone for 2017. It won’t be tabled until November, but work is already underway.

“We’re in very good shape to meet our tax target of two per cent while maintaining front line services,” Watson said.

The finance committee will also get an update on the city’s economy from the economic development department.

The unemployment rate in July improved slightly from a year earlier, but Watson says he’s “still concerned about the fragility of the economy and what that means for jobs and job creation, and what we have to continue to do to create the environment that people want to continue to invest in our city.”

To that end, the new Innovation Centre at Bayview Yards will welcome its first tenants by the end of the year, he said.

Several more Ottawa 2017 announcements will come this fall, completing the full calendar of events organized by the city to mark Canada’s 150th birthday next year.

Watson is also focused on securing federal funding for the second phase of light-rail transit.

The government this week announced $45 million for pre-engineering studies, but Watson said he hopes a complete funding agreement representing one-third of the cost of the $3-billion project will be announced by the end of 2016.

Transit commission, chaired by Stephen Blais

Commissioners will hear more about OC Transpo’s plan to incorporate the Confederation LRT line into the city’s transit operations, including details about when the public might start to see some of the changes roll out.

The closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera policy for buses, trains and transit stations will be up for discussion and voting, likely in October.

“This is the total review and updating of the policy, which is good timing because we’re building the Confederation line,” Blais said.

Negotiations with Metrolinx will also continue as the city tries to hammer out a new Presto contract, which expires in October.

Transportation committee, chaired by Keith Egli

The juiciest item on the committee’s plate is the discussion of a possible $2-billion truck tunnel connecting Highway 417 with the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge.

A staff report with recommendations is to be released 10 days in advance of the Sept. 7 meeting, instead of the usual seven days, to give the public time to digest.

If the committee and, ultimately, council approves the report, the next step would be to ask the federal and provincial governments to each chip in one-third to cover the cost of the environmental assessment, estimated at roughly $7 million.

The committee will also discuss a new rapid transit corridor along Baseline Road, get an update on the cycling and pedestrian plan, look at functional designs for road reconstructions of Elgin and Bank streets, and proceed with the early stages of an environmental assessment for light rail to Kanata.

“It’s something people have been wanting to happen for some time,” Egli said.

Community and protective services committee, chaired by Diane Deans

Approving a new bylaw to ban the use of herbal water pipes, such as hookah pipes, in the same places where tobacco is outlawed was the committee’s first order of business when it met Thursday.

The full ban goes into effect April 3, 2017.

The community and protective services committee may try to revisit a decision made by Ottawa police earlier this year to download late-night noise complaints to the bylaw department. The committee will also receive the paramedic service review, which is key because a report last year signalled an issue with response times. The city hired 12 new FTEs and added two quick-response vehicles to the fleet.

“I’m not expecting the trend to have changed,” said Deans, adding she hopes the review comes prior to the budget in case it demonstrates a clear need for more paramedics.

The committee will also learn how the community and social services department plans to spend $15 million in federal funds over two years for social housing.

Planning committee, chaired by Jan Harder

Councillors will vote on several development applications that highlight the city’s push for intensification, particularly near transit stations.

Among them:

• Trinity’s proposal for 900 Albert St., which would see three 55-storey mixed-use towers above a multi-storey retail podium steps away from Bayview station
• Colonnade BridgePort’s plan for a 22-storey mixed-use building at 1960 Scott St., where the iconic Trailhead Paddleshack currently stands (across from Westboro station)
• Kristy’s Restaurant owner Walter Boyce’s proposal for 809 Richmond Rd., which would see the restaurant building replaced by two towers near the future Cleary station

The committee will also complete a review of the city’s vacant industrial land supply and introduce a zoning bylaw to allow secondary dwellings or coach houses.

Environment committee, chaired by David Chernushenko

The committee has a hot potato on its hands with the introduction of a new water and sewer rate structure, which has some rural residents peeved about potentially paying a stormwater fee for services largely based in the urban area.

Chernushenko expects to deal with this at the committee’s October meeting, after the public have had “plenty of time” to read and comment on the city’s draft plan.

“It’s crucial that it be dealt with and we’re looking at how best to do that,” he said.

The committee will also receive results of a city-wide audit on how well residents are doing with blue, black and green bins.

“I expect it’s going to be showing us we’ve kind of plateaued,” Chernushenko said, adding that may spur discussion about how to get more apartment buildings to use green bins.

Built-heritage subcommittee, chaired by Tobi Nussbaum

The committee will hear more about ongoing work to update the city’s heritage register, which could pave the way for future heritage designations.

It will also consider several studies looking at whether to create new heritage conservation districts in the Glebe (one for Clemow Avenue east and one for Clemow Avenue west) and four small areas in Sandy Hill.

Committee members will also be watching with interest the National Capital Commission’s plans for 100 Wellington St., the former U.S Embassy, Nussbaum said.

Police services board, chaired by Eli El-Chantiry

The police services board is keeping an eye on the provincial government’s review of the Police Services Act and will be paying particular attention to who will be on the hook for any additional costs for de-escalation training, dealing with people experiencing a mental health crisis and new technology, said El-Chantiry.

He’s also expecting an update on the gang exit strategy, a $400,000-per-year initiative for people who want to cut their ties to a gang (this could also come up at a Crime Prevention Ottawa meeting).

Board of health, chaired by Shad Qadri

The results of a survey about expanding harm reduction services in Ottawa, including the introduction of supervised injection services, are due in the fall.

Ottawa Public Library board, chaired by Tim Tierney

All eyes will be on the board in December, when a report recommending a site for a new central library is expected.

mpearson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/mpearson78

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...on-fall-agenda

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Ottawa city hall preview: LRT, truck tunnel, budget and more on fall agenda

Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: August 25, 2016 | Last Updated: August 25, 2016 6:10 PM EDT

Commissioners will hear more about OC Transpo’s plan to incorporate the Confederation LRT line into the city’s transit operations, including details about when the public might start to see some of the changes roll out.

In other words, when the public in the old city centre might start to see the next round of service deprecation on trunk downtown routes.

[waterloowarrior]

CBC reporting big staffing cuts coming today at City Hall

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

CBC reporting big staffing cuts coming today at City Hall

No actual numbers or key staff member names emerging. I'm at City Hall too often for my own good and there is a lot of fat there and people cruising through their jobs but there are also a lot of good people there as well.

You can bet that the union will fight this tooth and nail if any union members are on the chopping block.

[rocketphish]

'It’s not a good feeling, it’s not a good day': Next round of job cuts begin at Ottawa City Hall

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: October 5, 2016 | Last Updated: October 5, 2016 12:29 PM EDT

The next round of cuts have started at Ottawa City Hall.

City manager Steve Kanellakos told council in an email just before 9 a.m. Wednesday that notifications have started on the “final step of the organizational realignment.” He asked council not to comment to reporters out of respect for the staff who are losing their jobs.

Kanellakos offered a statement politicians can give reporters: “Changes are being implemented at the city. The city is working closely with the unions and will respect all collective agreements. Information will be shared with the public once staff have been informed of the changes. Comment about specific changes and personnel will not be provided at this time.”

The full scope of the cuts won’t be known until they are complete.

Kanellakos recently told the Citizen that the next round of cuts would have some impact on unionized positions. He wouldn’t comment on numbers, or the persistent rumours that as many as 200 positions could be affected.

The city is keen on maintaining the level of frontline services, so any reductions to the workforce are expected to come in jobs that are internal to city operations. Business support positions and managerial roles are expected to be the main targets.

The cuts will help save the city money in the 2017 budget and keep council’s goal of capping property taxes at two per cent.

Kanellakos shuffled his senior management team over the summer and told the bosses to find savings in their departments. The current round of cuts has been anticipated for several months as council nears the 2017 budget process.

“It’s not a good feeling, it’s not a good day,” Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans said. “A lot of people have committed their lives to the City of Ottawa and are leaving the corporation, and obviously that impacts their families as well, so nobody feels good about a day like today.”

– with files from Matthew Pearson

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...tawa-city-hall

[kwoldtimer]

How many jobs were eliminated in the first round of cuts?

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Norman Bates

Yeah, let's reorganize and fire a bunch of people. So that we can do it all again in another two or three years.

I've seen this movie too many times. And it always ends the same way.

Don't forget the golden parachutes! I would love to get one of them jobs where they pay you six figures to stop coming to work.

[lrt's friend]

Become an Uber driver. I hear that the pay is really good, $7.00 per hour after expenses.

[rocketphish]

Layoffs at 110 Laurier

Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: October 5, 2016 | Last Updated: October 5, 2016 6:12 PM EDT

Wednesday was a gloomy day at Ottawa City Hall, where the results of city manager Steve Kanellakos’ administrative review saw 75 managers lose their jobs.

Another 102 unionized employees in administrative positions were given notice, allowing them to exercise their collective agreement rights. Some may leave while others will find placements elsewhere.

Overall, the new structure will affect approximately 1,400 city workers. Some will have new jobs, while others will have new bosses.

As my colleague Jon Willing wrote, Kanellakos told council in an email just before 9 a.m. Wednesday that notifications have started on the “final step of the organizational realignment.”

“It’s not a good feeling, it’s not a good day,” Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans told reporters following a transportation committee meeting. “A lot of people have committed their lives to the City of Ottawa and are leaving the corporation, and obviously that impacts their families as well, so nobody feels good about a day like today.”

The city manager had previously told Willing that the next round of cuts would have some impact on unionized positions. He wouldn’t comment then on numbers, or the persistent rumours that as many as 200 positions could be affected.

Here is Kanellakos’ memo: http://www.scribd.com/doc/326554988

And the detailed backgrounder, including the new organizational chart: http://www.scribd.com/doc/326554821

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...at-110-laurier

[Uhuniau]

So, wait - the supposedly small-c conservative O'Brien administration jacked up the size of the municipal civil service?

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

So, wait - the supposedly small-c conservative O'Brien administration jacked up the size of the municipal civil service?

Doesn't it go back to Chiarelli and the amalgamation?

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Doesn't it go back to Chiarelli and the amalgamation?

One of the articles I saw credited Larry with adding 1000 mouths to the trough.

[rocketphish]

Brian Guest is back at Ottawa's rail office — where his brother-in-law's the boss
Consulting firm Boxfish awarded Phase 2 rail contract worth up to $2M

By Joanne Chianello, CBC News
Posted: Feb 17, 2017 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Feb 17, 2017 5:00 AM ET

At a special presentation at City Hall Friday morning, we'll get our first detailed look at plans for the $3-billion light rail expansion, the most expensive infrastructure project in Ottawa's history.

But the briefing isn't likely to include details about who exactly is planning Phase 2 of the LRT project.

It's not easy to count heads in the light rail office. There are about a dozen city managers on the file, but also a slew of hired guns from various engineering, financial and legal firms.

One of the consultants is Brian Guest, a principal at Boxfish Infrastructure Group.

That Guest is working on the rail project is likely no surprise to City Hall watchers: Guest and his firm specialize in planning transportation and transit projects, especially ones that involve public-private partnerships like Ottawa's.

Guest worked on the initial stages of the Confederation Line. As a city spokesman once put it, "Boxfish is a vital and integral part of the light rail implementation team."

Guest officially left Ottawa's rail office in 2013. Then last year his firm was awarded a new contract worth up to $2 million to consult on light rail.

There's been one significant change since the last time Guest worked in the light rail office: his brother-in-law is now in charge.

Chris Swail, director of O-Train planning, used to be second-in-command in former deputy city manager Nancy Schepers's office. Around the time Schepers retired from her senior role at the city in 2015, Swail was put in charge of managing the plan for Phase 2.

Swail is married to Robyn Guest, who used to work in former city manager Kent Kirkpatick's office. In the city re-organization last year, she was moved to the protocol office, but was later transferred to Mayor Jim Watson's office, where she is a policy director.

That makes Swail the brother-in-law of Brian Guest, as well as the manager overseeing Phase 2 of LRT.

In 2015 Boxfish was subcontracted by Deloitte to write an 18-page "lessons learned" report on the planning and procurement for the first phase of LRT.

According to city officials, Boxfish was paid $265,000 for the work, which included interviewing 19 stakeholders in the project, as well as federal and provincial officials, and coming up with recommendations on how to better plan Phase 2.

And last October, Boxfish won a competitively tendered contract for a wide range of consulting services worth up to $2 million. The tasks are shelled out in phases, and so far the city has approved $700,000 worth of work for Boxfish.

In an email Guest said he doesn't generally speak publicly about the work his firm does for its clients. But he did say he's "proud both of the team and value we offer. Our group has some of the most experienced people in the world at delivering LRT projects under an [alternate financing and procurement] model."

Recently Schepers — who was in charge of the rail office for a while, and was kept on as a special adviser for several months after she retired in 2015 — has appeared on the Boxfish website as a consultant. But city officials have said she is not working on the LRT project.

According to John Manconi, the city's general manager of transportation services, the fact that Guest is a consultant in the office managed by his brother-in-law does not represent a conflict of interest.

Swail was not part of the selection team that scored the Boxfish bid for the work, nor does Swail decide whether Boxfish is awarded the next phase of work, said Manconi.

Nevertheless, Manconi said, "I totally get how it could be perceived as a conflict."

So much so that city solicitor and clerk Rick O'Connor was brought in to make sure the arrangement was not breaching any conflict of interest rules.

Manconi confirmed that Swail is "working actively with Brian." Swail is often at the same table with Guest — and, on occasion, with Robyn Guest as well — in meetings.

Manconi emphasized that while he understands the possibility for a perceived conflict of interest, "I absolutely think he's the right person to be on this file."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa...rail-1.3973776