Secrecy over LRT Stage 2 payments is just unacceptable
On LRT, Ottawa Council is again hiding behind 'solicitor-client privilege' — but we taxpayers are the clients and we have a right to know more than they're telling us.
Mohammed Adam, Ottawa Citizen
Published Jul 25, 2024 • Last updated 7 hours ago • 3 minute read
Light rail was supposed to be a project that would modernize Ottawa and transform it into a big-league city, perhaps the best capital of its size anywhere.
But construction snafus, contractor in-fighting, project delays and legal wrangling have turned Ottawa LRT into an albatross around our necks. Frustration rather than joy has been LRT’s biggest contribution to the city so far. It has made a mockery of us.
Not surprising, the different iterations of Stage 2 construction — east, west and south — have been beset by some of the same problems that plagued the Stage 1 Confederation Line, and right now, no one — not the city, not the contractors — can say with any degree of credibility when any of the lines will start operating. We’ve had so many false opening dates, we have to ride the trains to actually believe anything anyone says.
Bad as this may be, perhaps the most worrying aspect of the management of the project is the secrecy surrounding Stage 2 construction claims and how the city is concealing information from residents. Apparently, a dispute has broken out between the city and the Stage 2 contractors over cost overruns, and at a meeting last month, councillors met in-camera, outside public view, to discuss the matter. And it appears the city has not learned any lessons in transparency that the Hourigan Inquiry into Stage 1 LRT so clearly laid out.
After a lengthy meeting, council agreed to settle outstanding claims over Stage 2 construction, and asked city manager Wendy Stephanson to negotiate. But you and I, the taxpayers who will end up footing the bill, won’t know a thing.
The city will not say how much the settlement will cost, who is getting paid, or even which of the extensions — east, west or south — is involved. Council agreed that details of the settlement “are not to be reported publicly, as they relate to litigation and are covered by solicitor-client privilege.”
Solicitor-client privilege. That’s the bugaboo the city always pulls out when it wants to conceal information from the people who pay the bills. It is what they used to refuse to divulge information on the costly settlement with Rideau Transit Group, the Stage 1 contractor. It is the same ruse they pulled to hide information about SNC-Lavalin failing to meet technical scores required to be awarded the Stage 2 contract. The information came out anyway, and the sky did not fall.
The city is making the same play again, and councillors, who are always intimidated by lawyers, have all fallen in line. Nary a word of protest from anyone.
Think about this: the city is in the process of negotiating a settlement with a contractor or contractors that will likely cost taxpayers millions. But it won’t say who is being paid. All we know is that the settlement is about Stage 2, but we do not know the contractor(s) involved. However, we do know that Stage 2 involves three extensions: east to Trim Road, and west to Baseline and Moodie Drive, being built by East-West Connectors. The Trillium Line southern extension to Riverside South at Limebank Road, with a spur to the airport, is being built by TransitNEXT, a subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin, which has now been renamed AtkinsRealis.
But are these the two companies that have launched the claim? Are the claims over the Confederation or Trillium Line extensions?
The city won’t tell us. It’s all confidential, you see. Solicitor-client privilege. It is nonsense, of course. One can understand not talking about money, but not naming the companies involved? What harm would be done if we know it’s East-West Connectors or TransitNEXT the city is negotiating with?
This is what happens when a city government thinks public information belongs to it; it hoards it, and no one has a right to know. This was supposed to be a new, more transparent council that has learned lessons from the past. It clearly hasn’t. When this negotiation ends, residents are entitled to more information. We can’t be paying hard-earned money to phantom companies.
Mohammed Adam is an Ottawa journalist and commentator. Reach him at nylamiles48@gmail.com.
https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/ad...t-unacceptable
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