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Report of the public inquiry into light rail transit in Ottawa
In October 2021, I wrote an op-ed for the Ottawa Citizen calling for a public inquiry into the light rail system. I was concerned about the lack of information available to councilors and the public. I appreciated that the provincial government launched an investigation and on November 30, 2022, we received a very dangerous report on the management of the LRT. This powerful report sets out what councilors and the public should have been informed about, but were not.
This week we received the Honorable William Hourigan’s report on the public inquiry into light rail transit in Ottawa. The investigation looked at a wide range of elements of LRT Phase 1. These included; design, contractual agreements, testing and commissioning, city management of the project before and during substantive completion, the relationship between the City of Ottawa and Rideau Transit Group (RTG) and safety issues that arose along the way.
The Commission’s primary role was to provide answers about what happened and why, as well as to make recommendations to avoid a recurrence of the project’s problems. While human error is predictable, intentional malfeasance is unacceptable in a public project. When participants deliberately mislead the public about the status of a public company, they violate the fundamental duty to act in a manner that advances the broader public interest. There are two instances in the OLRT1 project that have led to unprecedented breaches of public trust.
The first is the conduct of RTG and Ottawa Light Rail Transit Constructors (OLRT-C) in providing estimated completion dates that they knew were completely unrealistic in order to increase commercial pressure on the City. Deliberately communicating unattainable dates jeopardized RTG’s commercial position vis-à-vis the City and increased the mistrust that developed between the parties. It represents a troubling lack of concern for the fact that this misinformation has negatively impacted the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of Ottawa citizens. The people of Ottawa trusted RTG and OLRT-C to be honest with the City and tell them honestly when the system would be ready. The commission found that they betrayed that trust.
Another is the behavior of senior city staff and the mayor not to share information about the trial run. This prevented councilors from fulfilling their statutory obligations to the people of Ottawa. What’s more, it’s part of a troubling approach by senior city officials to control the narrative by withholding vital information or outright misrepresentation. Because the conduct was willful and deliberate, the Commission expresses serious concerns about the good faith of senior city staff and questions where their loyalties lie, noting that “it is difficult to imagine the successful completion of any significant project while these attitudes prevail within municipal government.” . Throughout the hearings, the City, at taxpayer expense, released a summary of the proceedings that was a blatant attempt to spin the testimony in a way favorable to the City. The Commission found that this appears to be unprecedented in Canadian judicial history and is part of a troubling pattern of controlling and shaping the flow of information to the Council and the public.
Ultimately, the problems with OLRT1 were due to a myriad of factors, including reliance on new vehicles and new relationships, lack of integration, decisions to rush the system into operation, inadequate investment in maintenance, and several other factors, some of which were beyond the parties’ control. The result was a flawed LRT that failed to meet the needs of Ottawa residents. In conclusion, the report presents a very disturbing forecast: “…until the private and public entities involved in the OLRT1 project realize that their first obligation is to the public, there is cause for concern that the project will continue to suffer.”
Although disturbing and disheartening, this news is confirmation of something that has been worrying for some time. In September of last year, I and a number of other city councilors started responding to inquiries. There was a growing sense that the facts were not being made available to councillors, transit commission members and the public in a way that was transparent, full and credible. We believed that only an independent, transparent investigation would bring all the facts to the table and give us what we needed to chart a whole new way forward. This report will help us do that.
It’s ironic that the provincial government that ordered this independent public inquiry encourages centralized decision-making through its strong-mayor laws, as well as stating that only one-third of council needs to agree with the direction the city is taking on major decisions like operations LRT. What was criticized in the public inquiry as centralized control, the province confirms by putting it into permanent practice. I appreciate that Mayor Sutcliffe has stated that he will not use the powers of the Strong Mayor, however those powers do exist and although the legislation should be aimed at housing plans, it could have a direct impact on other important city decisions such as infrastructure projects like the LRT.
The council’s next steps are to ensure that all reports on OLRT1 and OLRT2 are met. The public has a right to know what is happening with this major investment, including when the updates are not necessarily positive. With the extensive construction of the Stage 2 LRT in Bay Ward, I will continue to look for updates and ask questions about this project. We need to continue to be informed about all aspects of this large piece of infrastructure.
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