Council votes against auditing LRT land deals
Posted Dec 15, 2016 06:39:45 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA — A city councillor’s push to bring in the auditor general to examine property purchases for the first phase of LRT was defeated, Wednesday, during a marathon session of city council.
“We have a duty to our citizens; we have a duty of oversight as elected members of council,” said Gloucester-Southgate Councillor Diane Deans, as she introduced her motion to council.
Deans argued that the public has a right to know all of the costs associated with building light rail, and that there are lessons to be learned from the land purchases for the first phase of the Confederation Line.
The motion did not appear to go over well with the mayor, who said his office wasn’t notified of it in advance, and argued that an audit before all land deals are done could increase the costs for Phase 2.
“We know that it does affect the price of land, and the price of land does go up,” said Mayor Jim Watson.
Watson added, the city’s auditor general is already busy auditing the transition to light rail and the safety of the transit system.
Deans’ motion was defeated 18-6.
Related stories:
Policing issues take spotlight on Ottawa city budget day
Phase 1 LRT costs set to increase
