Dietchman: The LRT Survey Report is a novel by policy geek Stephen King

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The coroner’s report does not assign responsibility. Instead, they prefer to prevent similar events from happening in the future. Meanwhile, Commissioner William Hooligan’s LRT investigative report states: Few parties are avoiding bloodshed and responsibilities are assigned. It has already filled one career in public office.

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The most serious blame, from the perspective of Ottawa residents, is at the feet of former Mayor Jim Watson. Watson retained his alderman and city council along with former mayor Steve Kanelacos and his former OC his transpo boss John Manconi. We expose in the dark the myriad of issues associated with Phase 1 of Ottawa’s Light Rail Transit.

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Rideau Transit Group, as well as the companies and consortiums responsible for planning, building and implementing the system, were found to be at fault. But his Hourigan report of nearly 700 pages is a policy geek version of a Stephen King novel, and Watson and Canelacos and Manconi’s senior staff (another Watson club?) believe Ottawans trust most. You are betraying me. When Watson wrote in his now-famous WhatsApp message in 2019, “Our reputation is in tatters,” he probably realized just how personally prescient the note was. you didn’t know In the report, Hourigan points out that the very existence of WhatsApp groups was “the end of good governance.”

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The report found that while city staff adequately shared information about the project with the public and council during the construction phase, they did not share critical information during commissioning tests, when standards were lowered to ensure passing grades. I made it clear that I was withholding. The hooligans then say that only Watson, his office, and Transportation Commission chairman Alan Hubley were notified. It was a deliberate effort to mislead Congress about the test results,” the report said. “The mayor had accurate information about the decision to change commissioning and testing standards, but did not provide that information to the city council. It irreversibly impairs functionality.”

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If Watson wanted to address the issues surrounding the LRT, the only proper means by which he should have done so was through the Council, not through it. His decision to hoodwink the council instead was supported by then councilors Diane Deans and Katherine McKechnie, current councilor Riley Brockington, and then civil transport commissioner Sarah It’s nothing more than an endorsement of Wright Gilbert’s statement.

The fact that Kanellakos quit his $370,000-plus job two days before the report’s release without facing the music he designed is unconscionable. But the former mayor’s deliberate circumvention of the council was worse. According to the report, Watson’s micromanagement of the decision-making process is a problem both in principle and in practice, and can influence city officials to make decisions for political reasons.

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Watson, the report said:[failed] The 2010 mayoral election should heed his own warning that politicians should not interfere in infrastructure projects. ”

His actions are an affront to the democratic process, a deliberate dictatorial slap in front of taxpayers, and a desire to do things right and ultimately endanger public safety. It was a meddling political decision to save face at the expense.

Hourigan’s report contains over 25 pages of recommendations on nearly every aspect of a project, from workforce skill development to maintenance and safety requirements. But as his LRT plans for Ottawa continue, the following words on page 497 of the report stand out: Anything less risks undermining public trust. “

I hope that Hooligan’s report will revive the democracy of City Hall.