The story for Wednesday’s research is below. Three current and former members of the Ottawa Transit Committee considered that they did not receive basic information about the reliability of the Confederation Line in the days and weeks before its launch in 2019, the investigation of the city tram was heard yesterday. These feelings were shared by councilors Catherine McKenney and Diane Deans and Citizens’ Commissioner Sarah Wright-Gilbert, who testified in a panel with Coun. Allan Hubley, the current chairman of the committee. Some of their concerns were about information being shared in informal WhatsApp messages between high-ranking city officials such as Hubley, Mayor Jim Watson and former OC Transpo chief John Manconi. Deans, who chaired the transit committee until 2014 and served on the city’s finance and economic development committee until 2018, said she only learned of the WhatsApp team when Manconi was questioned on Tuesday. “It was a confirmation that much of what I had publicly suggested in interviews was true – that there was more to it than meets the eye, that not all information was made public,” Dean told the commission adviser. Chris Grisdale. “We are a public company that spends public dollars and we should not hide this kind of information from public view.” On Wednesday, the public inquiry into the Ottawa Light Rail Line examined the details of system failures prior to launch and whether the information was adequately communicated to the municipality and the transit committee. (Francis Ferland / CBC)
‘Casting about in the dark’
Many of Grisdale’s questions focused on preparing for the September 14, 2019 release of the $ 2.1 billion Confederation Line, which by then was already more than a year behind schedule. Citing testimony earlier in the week from Thomas Prendergast – a well-known transportation expert and key Ottawa city consultant on the project – Grisdale asked Hubley if he had ever discussed Prendergast’s “maintenance readiness” concerns with him. Manconi via WhatsApp. Hubley said this was possible, noting that he believes the council has finally learned about these concerns anyway through updates or notes. The details communicated through WhatsApp will not be “different” from other confidential updates given to committee chairmen, he testified. However, Deans, McKenney and Wright-Gilbert all said in the investigation that the information was never sent to them. “A person who has information, to me, is like giving the jury prosecutor all the details, the basic details of the case. But that person does not tell the other jurors,” Wright-Gilbert testified. “Without this information we were – as members of the committee – flying in the dark, trying to understand why all of a sudden our brand new system has all these issues, which are combined one after the other.” The revelation of the WhatsApp team, Deans added, was a confirmation that there was an “internal circle of information that we did not all know”. Citizens’ Transit Commissioner Sarah Wright-Gilbert testified Wednesday that a lack of information around the Confederation Line made her feel “flying in the dark” for answers. (Matthew Kupfer / CBC)
Microscope performance standards
The investigation has already heard that during the 12-day trial run of the LRT, the city relaxed the performance standards that the line had to meet before it opened to the public. When asked about this, Hubley said he remembered the discussions about changing the criteria, but did not participate in them. He agreed that he knew things had changed before the council changed. “Yes, I was aware of them,” Hubley told Grisdale. «Mr. Deans, as a [former] chair, can attest that this is not unique to transit or LRT. “Every chairman of the committee had this kind of briefing with the staff.” The Deans agreed, but said that if he had been Hubley, he would have released the information “in a timely manner”. “I am just shocked [the standards were relaxed]. This is not what … Mr. Manconi had emphatically promised to the members of the council in September 2018 “. Grisdale also asked Hubley about a series of “reference cards” issued during the trial period, with the line passing some days and others failing – and whether his fellow advisers would like to be notified of the results. “Sure, everyone wants to know as much information as possible,” Hubley said. “However, in the vacuum or in the context of the situation, if we published the results every day, they would have caused a lot of issues.” The investigation is expected to continue on Thursday, with advisers Derek Wynne and Sergio Mammoliti testifying in the morning and Watson appearing in the afternoon.
