City watchdog asked to investigate misleading briefing note on Scarborough subway

Transit advocates and residents say public must be able to trust staff are providing objective advice to all members of council.

Thestar.com
Jan. 19, 2017
By Jennifer Pagliaro

A city watchdog will be asked to investigate the process that led to the council approval of a subway extension to Scarborough pegged to cost more than $3.2 billion.

Scarborough Transit Action, an offshoot of the transit advocacy group TTCRiders, and several residents plan to file the complaint with the city’s ombudsman on Thursday, the Star has learned.

That complaint comes a week after the group sent their concerns to the TTC following a Star report on a misleading briefing note on a light-rail alternative that was provided to Mayor John Tory’s office and that of TTC chair Councillor Josh Colle, both of whom have strongly advocated in favour of a subway, before it was more widely circulated.

The briefing note, authored by the TTC, was produced before a crucial vote at council in July as critics on council contended Scarborough residents were better served by a network of LRTs, not a one-stop subway extension.

The note cast doubt that council could return to original plans for a seven-stop LRT that would have been fully-funded by the province.

“As it stands now, Toronto council has committed billions toward a one-stop subway extension in Scarborough without the benefit of an objective and complete comparison of costs, delivery dates and funding commitments from higher levels of government for the seven-stop LRT option,” reads the complaint to the ombudsman’s office provided to the Star.

“At a time when there is increasingly limited funding allocated to basic services in Toronto, solid evidence-based decision-making must be used for all significant infrastructure spending.”

The TTC has not yet responded to the complaint sent to the agency.

The group of residents and advocates said the ombudsman’s office told them to give the TTC five business days to respond before lodging a complaint with the watchdog.

That time period expired Wednesday evening.

CEO Andy Byford, who was in a scheduled board meeting Wednesday afternoon, told the Star he does plan to respond later this week.

“We’re still considering our response,” he said.

Byford has previously said he stands by the “integrity of staff” and what was said in the two-page briefing note.

Complaining to the ombudsman is an avenue of “last resort,” according to the watchdog’s website.

The office considers complaints about all city divisions, most agencies and corporations and their staff.

“An ombudsman holds a government accountable to the people it serves, and helps it to improve its service to the public,” the website explains.

If City ombudsman Susan Opler determines the complaint presents a complex issue or systemic problem, she can a launch a formal investigation and publish a report with recommendations to council.

The office has previously investigated city hall security acting as personal bodyguards for former Mayor Rob Ford, Toronto Community Housing’s treatment of seniors and the process for public appointments.

Resident Rosemary Frei, who initiated the complaint, said it is about more than just the Scarborough subway and hopes the ombudsman office pursues a full investigation.

“I hope they’ll exercise the power that they’ve been given and I think its important to have such power in democracy . . . to shed some light when there’s over-politicization or other significant problems within the city government,” said Frei.

The complaint cites the city’s public service by-law, which calls on city staff to maintain political neutrality and “ensure that business-related information is provided equally to all members of council.”

The Star earlier reported the briefing note, which has never been made part of the public council record, was used by Tory and his allies to prevent a return to the LRT alternative, and it swayed at least one councillor to vote for the subway despite an increase in cost.

Importantly, the final version of the briefing note contained increased costs of an LRT line for the first time.

But under questioning from Councillor Josh Matlow, who has repeatedly challenged the push for a subway under Ford and now Tory, on the floor of council in July, Byford said he was “asked to provide” a comparison of the LRT “for the same finish date as a subway.”

This meant the price was simply increased to match the same estimated completion in 2025.

Byford has said he “cannot recall” who asked for the cost comparison.

The note also listed several unknowns about returning to the LRT, but many of them weren’t, in fact, unknown.

For example, it noted uncertainty of funding from other levels of government, when the province is still contractually obligated to fund an LRT and the federal government has confirmed committed dollars to Scarborough regardless of the technology.

The complainants said the public deserves to know who requested the cost comparison and if the TTC was directed to produce the briefing note in the first place. They’ve also asked that an independent comparison of the subway versus the LRT be commissioned.

The subway was meant to be discussed at both the TTC board and executive committee this week, but the Star earlier reported a critical report to move the project ahead had again been delayed.

Council were previously told the $3.2 billion cost was contingent on an alignment being confirmed in July, but council was never asked and never finalized an alignment at that meeting.

Byford said then any delay meant an additional $13 million in costs per month and, in October, said plans for the subway were tracking behind schedule.

Despite those earlier statements, both the TTC and the mayor’s office have said costs are not expected to increase as a result of the delayed report. They did not, however, rule out that costs have increased.