A public inquiry into the issues plaguing Ottawa’s light rail transit system has found both city officials and contracted companies at fault for delivering an error-ridden, unreliable system after a 16-month delay.
OTTAWA —
The report says two instances stood out as “egregious violations of the public trust”: the project’s unrealistic deadlines and the fact that information about testing was withheld from the public.As a commercial tactic, he wrote, it was a “failure” because the deliberate communication of “unachievable dates” did nothing to improve the transit group’s standing with local business. Instead, it only served to accelerate mistrust.
Critical information about the trial running of the light rail system was withheld from the city council and only provided to the mayor’s office and the chair of the city’s transit commission, the inquiry also found. Hourigan concluded the conduct of senior city staff and the mayor “irreparably compromised” council’s oversight. “Deliberate malfeasance is unacceptable in a public project.”
Delays during construction posed a significant threat to the deadline and increased pressure to open the system early, the inquiry found. Hourigan found governments must address the challenges that come when a city with little experience with major infrastructure undertakes such a large project.
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