Geoff Sharpe
16 Jun
Our team at Ottawa Lookout will be summarizing key findings from the commission and analysis by other outlets. Check back here every Monday, Wendesday and Friday for new updates.
For the full list of planned interviews, please visit CityNews.
Who testified Monday: Former rail implementation office director John Jensen and Riccardo Cosentino from RTG.
Key takeaway: According to CBC’s analysis and quotes from the inquiry, Jensen confirmed that the demand for an accelerated launch schedule was coming from Mayor and council.
Who testified: Former city treasurer Marian Simulik and Rob Pattison from Infrastructure Ontario.
Key takeaways: The city did not account for inflation and other big costs, including construction, that increased the budget by $400 million and $177 million respectively, according to CTV’s reporting on the inquiry.
Problems flagged: According to CBC reporter Kate Porter, commission lawyer Grisdale asked if Infrastructure Ontario’s Rob Pattison had raised the fact that procurement of the trains might be impacted by the strict budget of $2.1 billion. Pattison said it was likely he raised it with former rail director Jensen.
Background: For a deeper understanding of how we got to this situation, read the Narwhal’s deep-dive into how the LRT project went off the rails.
Who testified Wednesday: John Traianopoulos from Infrastructure Ontario and former deputy city manager Nancy Schepers.
Background: CBC reported that the major line of questioning for Schepers focused on the $2.1-billion price tag for the project set early on as an estimate. Schepers noted it could go higher or lower by 25 percent. But Watson and other members of council took that number and ran with it.
According to CBC, head of the LRT division for Infrastructure Rob Pattison, and many others, expressed concerns that very few groups would bid due to the low $2.1-billion budget.
For more details, follow CBC reporter Kate Porter who’s live-tweeting each day of testimony.
Who testified Thursday: Yves Declercq from Alstom Transport Canada Inc and Manuel Rivaya OLRT Constructors.
What happened: Alstom was on the defensive about the construction of the LRT vehicles, according to CTV.
According to CTV’s reporting, Declercq said they raised concerns to Ottawa. But the city’s lawyer pointed out Alstom claimed in 2012 they were confident they could deliver the trains even with the complex requirements.
Our analysis: The inquiry is so far suggesting political considerations took a higher priority than budgetary due diligence. Without the inquiry, much of this information would never have been uncovered. One can only imagine how many other projects not just in Ottawa, but at all levels of government, occur like this.
Who testified Friday:
Background: The Ottawa Light Rail Transit Constructors (OLRT-C) is the consortium who oversaw the construction of Line 1. It’s made up of partner groups Dragados Canada, SNC-Lavalin and EllisDon. They hired the designers and subcontractors, Alstom and Thales, who made the vehicles and systems. Here are some of the key takeaways from CBC’s excellent reporting on the inquiry:
Who testified Monday:
No coordination: Rideau Transit Group (RTG) did a poor job of ensuring trains and the signals were working together properly. Two different companies made the trains (Alstom) and the automated signalling system (Thales Canada).
Who testified Tuesday:
Not enough testing: Goudge said problems were inevitable because the trains didn’t get enough running time, according to the Ottawa Citizen. The engineer said the trains started running with known issues.
It’s a bit ironic: We also found out Tuesday, the man in charge of maintenance was actually on the train as it derailed, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
Who testified Wednesday:
Out of the loop: The consultants told the inquiry they were skeptical of the planned launch date of the LRT system because of the numerous problems that hadn’t been fixed during testing.
While the system was deemed safe by everyone involved, it was well known there were plenty of reliability issues and maintenance staff were overwhelmed, CBC reported. As the Ottawa Citizen headline put it: “Everyone knew the LRT would have problems out of the gate — except customers.”
Who testified Thursday:
A rail and a prayer: The city knew that the LRT system had numerous problems, and gave it approval anyway, the inquiry heard on its ninth day.
A key manager of the project for the city told the inquest the city thought Rideau Transit Group would be able to sort out the many issues discovered in testing before the system was running at full steam, according to the Ottawa Citizen. The city also agreed to cut short testing on the fly, and lowered the standards required to declare the system complete.
Who testified Friday:
Pointing the finger: Former head of transportation in the city John Manconi was the one who suggested it should be easier for the LRT to pass initial testing, the project leader at the private sector LRT construction firm told the inquiry.
Matthew Slade, of Ottawa LRT Constructors, said Manconi and other city officials suggested to the train system builder they should use an older version of trial-run requirements that would make it easier for the system to be certified as ready to hand over, according to CBC.
When numerous problems arose during testing, Slade said they were going to blow past that deadline, it was then the city approached the builders about making the tests easier to pass.
Who testified Monday:
What happened: The big focus on super-consultant Brian Guest’s testimony was about his family. His sister and his brother-in-law were both high up in the city bureaucracy, and were important players.
Guest was also a longtime advisor to former mayor Bob Chiarelli. He also advised Mayor Jim Watson. Guest denied his family and political ties had anything to do with his company getting consulting contracts on the rail project, despite his lack of experience in engineering, procurement, or public-private partnerships, CBC reported.
Problems piling up: The other witness of the day said many of the problems were too small to hold back the launch of the LRT system.
Michael Morgan, who was the director of O-Train construction during Stage 1, said there was no political pressure to get the system running. He said for the first weeks of the LRT where there was parallel bus service, the trains were working fine, the Ottawa Citizen reported.
Who testified Tuesday:
Manconi defends private chats: Partway through testing of the LRT city manager Steve Kanellakos told the then-head of the transportation department not to send a memo to council laying out the problems with the LRT. Instead, John Manconi shared updates in a private WhatsApp group with Mayor Watson and head of the transit board Coun. Alan Hubley, CTV reported.
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