Brampton probe into misconduct over downtown deal expected Monday

Lawyer George Rust-D’Eye’s long-awaited report into alleged misconduct by city staff is to be released next week. Council had been preparing to vote on whether to quit paying him.

Thestar.com
April 22, 2015
By San Grewal

A long-delayed investigation into alleged misconduct by Brampton city staff in a $500-million development deal is almost complete. And frustrated councillors - who were getting ready Wednesday to vote on cutting off payments to the investigator - can’t wait to finally learn what he’s found.

“It looks like the threat of firing still works,” Councillor John Sprovieri told council, referring to his motion on Wednesday’s council agenda, which recommended that no further payments be made to lawyer George Rust-D’Eye.

Rust-D’Eye was hired by the city in September to carry out an investigation into allegations that staff misled council in 2011 when recommending Dominus Construction be awarded the contract to redevelop part of the downtown core.

Rust-D’Eye originally said his probe would be completed in December, but it has since been delayed three times, and councillors have grown increasingly frustrated.

Sprovieri prepared his motion, but withdrew it when staff said Wednesday they had contacted Rust-D’Eye and he had indicated the report would be ready Monday.

“These are not really difficult issues for him to get to the bottom of,” Sprovieri said after the meeting.

Rust-D’Eye, according to staff, has been paid more than $160,000. The former chief administrative officer John Corbett had suggested, in a verbal response to councillors in September that the cost of the investigation would be between $50,000 and $60,000.

Corbett, who hired Rust-D’Eye while Susan Fennell was still mayor, left his job at the city last month. A source told the Star at the time his contract had been terminated.

Before that, councillors and Mayor Linda Jeffrey criticized the fact that Corbett set no timeline or budget when he hired Rust-D’Eye.

Sprovieri said he and other councillors “know this issue. I know it like the back of my hand. I have every single piece of documentation on everything that happened.

“If this report tries to sweep anything under the rug, we will have a field day. I will be immediately calling for the province to step in and for another investigation to be done by a procurement expert.”

Councillors have expressed concern about Rust-D’Eye’s hiring since they learned early this year that his former law firm, WeirFoulds, had been hired by the city to work on the development plan’s early stages.

In January, Rust-D’Eye acknowledged to the Star that the firm, which he left in 2013, did do work on the project prior to his departure. But he said, “I cannot remember if I was personally involved.”

The City of Brampton has since denied a freedom of information request by the Star seeking documents that might show whether or not Rust-D’Eye has previously been hired by the city to do any work for it. The Star has appealed the denial to the provincial Information and Privacy Commissioner and is waiting for a decision.

The council-ordered investigation by Rust-D’Eye was prompted by evidence found in documents filed in court for a $28.5-million lawsuit launched against the city by another developer, who alleges he was unfairly disqualified from bidding on the development deal.

The City of Brampton has stated that it denies all of the lawsuit’s allegations. Dominus has stated that it followed all of the rules in the bidding process.

Councillors asked staff Wednesday to ensure no less than five days between the release of Rust-D’Eye’s investigation and a public meeting to address its findings.

“A lot of people have been waiting for this report,” Sprovieri said. “We’ll all be looking at this very closely.”