Brampton councillors say delayed probe impacting city business

Council is awaiting the results of an investigation that to be done weeks ago, involving allegations that staff misled council about a $500M development deal.

 

Thestar.com
March 3, 2015
By San Grewal

Waiting for a delayed Brampton investigation into possible misconduct in a $500-million development deal is hampering the city’s ability to get important work done, some council members say.

“I am eager to read a final report as soon as possible and move on to new initiatives like two-way, all-day GO rail service,” Mayor Linda Jeffrey said in an email Monday, responding to questions about the probe of Brampton’s downtown redevelopment project.

Other important files councillors said are waiting to be addressed include the proposed LRT route through the city centre and a badly needed first university for Brampton.

The investigation into how the downtown redevelopment deal was procured and whether or not staff misled councillors about it was called at the end of the previous council term in September, prior to the fall municipal election.

That decision was made after the release of court documents in a lawsuit against the city by a developer who claims he was unfairly disqualified from the bidding. Council members, after reading the court documents, including testimony from a senior Brampton bureaucrat, felt they needed their own answers about how the procurement was handled.

George Rust-D’Eye, a Toronto-based municipal lawyer, was hired to conduct the investigation on the recommendation of staff, following a Sept. 10 council meeting. Rust-D’Eye had anticipated having the report done by the end of 2014, but in a letter to council he said the “unforeseen quantity and volume of additional relevant material and information” meant the report would not be ready until at least the end of January. The report has yet to be finished.

The staff report to council in September that recommended Rust-D’Eye for the job included no tendering process, had no timeline for the final report, and no budget.

“I think it is unusual to enter into an agreement for a review without a sense of the cost or the timelines,” Jeffrey stated.

On Monday, a city spokesperson said a “purchase order” for $167,000 was opened in September for the job. But no such figure was included in the September report to council. For work up to the end of January, the city has been billed $179,410 by Rust-D’Eye.

The city did not provide a date for when the investigation would be completed, but said an update is expected from Rust-D’Eye later this week.

“It was clearly outlined that the investigation was expected to take four months to complete,” the city stated in its response.

Rust-D’Eye did not respond to questions.

“None of the allegations have been proven, but how is council supposed to work with staff that might have blatantly misled us?” Councillor John Sprovieri said. “I have an issue dealing with the senior staff involved in these allegations on any issue. There is a barrier. I can’t help having this feeling.”

Councillor Grant Gibson also said the probe needs to be completed so council can move on.

“I hope that this report has some meat on it,” he said.

Gibson wants to know why the delays have occurred, when the report is coming and why the cost has ballooned. “I’m going to ask that this be put on the (council meeting) agenda for Wednesday.”