McCallion didn't know about contract changes

Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion told her side of the story about a controversial shareholding agreement on Wednesday.

McCallion, 88, appeared before the Mississauga Judicial Inquiry which is examining the details surrounding a deal the city's electricity company Enersource signed a decade ago.

The agreement gave Borealis, a subsidiary of pension giant OMERS [Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System], a small stake in Enersource and a veto.

The veto was controversial because Borealis was only buying 10 per cent of the company.

The deal had been altered without council's knowledge, according McCallion. She said she could only assume the deal hadn't changed when it hit her desk.

"Even if we were aware of changes to come, the changes should come to [Mississauga City] Council - for a formal meeting of council - to either endorse or reject," she told the inquiry.

Council was told about the changes except the mayor says she wasn't there.

"I wasn't at any meeting where council was told," she said.

So Mississauga's mayor signed the deal without reading the fine print.

McCallion testified no-one told her about the changes that gave Borealis the stake in Enersource and the veto - not the city's lawyer, not the lawyer from OMERS, not city council, not even David O'Brien who was Mississauga's former city manager and the first president and CEO of Enersource.

O'Brien testified earlier that he had told McCallion about the changes, including the veto.

McCallion said she didn't remember that.

"I have no recollection of Mr. O'Brien telling me about any changes to the agreement."

The inquiry isn't over for McCallion. She will return later this month to testify about her role in her son's failed real estate transactions with OMERS.