Stage set for council showdown over LRT contract

A group of Ottawa city councillors is expected to give notice Wednesday that they want a formal inquiry into how SNC-Lavalin won the $1.6-billion contract to extend the Trillium Line despite falling short during the evaluation process.

Capital ward Coun. Shawn Menard saidhe and his colleagues have been fieldingangry emails and phone calls from constituents outraged by this week's revelations, as well as the ongoing problems that have led to chronic train shortagesand service delays on the four-month-old Confederation Line.

• SNC-Lavalin's 'poor' LRT bid should have been tossed, evaluators found
• Ottawa transit boss 'concerned' by frequency of LRT foul-ups

"How do we restore public trust? How do we make sure that the process that was followed previously fully comes to light and is revealed in a way that the public again has confidence in our transit systemand our senior leadership here at city hall?" Menard asked.

Menard wants abreakdown of how much it would cost to get out ofthe $1-billion,30-year contract with Rideau Transit Maintenance, which is responsible for maintaining the entire system for the coming three decades.

He also wants to understand why Infrastructure Ontario wasn't asked to oversee the Stage 2 procurement, as it did for Stage 1. The Stage 2 procurement process was overseen by law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.

While the city's auditor general found no rules were broken during that process, Menard wants to knowhowSNC-Lavalinmanaged to alleviatethe evaluators' concernsafter its bid earneddamning technical scorecards.

Menard said other councillors areplanning to file separate notices of motion.

Issues forFeb. 12 agenda

Filing notice means theissues willbe debated at the following meeting, on Feb. 12, but whether full council approves them remains to be seen.

Menard and a groupof his colleagues have not typically been successful in on votes such as overturning the heritage permit for the Chateau Laurier addition or repealing zoning for aSalvation Army shelter in Vanier.

On LRT, however, Menardsaid councillors aren't doing their jobs if they don'tseekanswers.

I'm hoping that council doesn't just say everything's fine, you know, tickety boo. I think that they'll be affected not just at the next election but throughout the rest of this term if thatgoes on.- Coun. Shawn Menard

"I'm hoping that council doesn't just say everything's fine, you know, tickety boo. I think that they'll be affected not just at the next election but throughout the rest of this term if that goes on," Menardsaid.

"We need to be getting answers here and responding to the anger that's coming from the public rightfully."

On Wednesday, council will also hear Mayor Jim Watson's annual speech about the state of the city.

They will debate a motion by Coun. Catherine McKenney to declare an affordable housing and homelessness emergency, as well as be asked to approve a new climate change master plan and tree by-law.

The city's medical officer of health will also provide an update on Ottawa Public Health'swork related to thenovel coronavirus.