Councillor seeks deeper review into Charleswood corridor controversy

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This article was published 24/01/2018 (2977 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Coun. Janice Lukes will put forth an amendment to Coun. Marty Morantz’s motion for a review of the south Charleswood corridor project today, seeking to turn his proposal into a comprehensive internal audit to be completed in the next 90 days.

After denouncing Morantz’s motion — unanimously adopted by executive policy committee last Wednesday — as a “whitewash to bury the facts,” Lukes has spearheaded an effort to deepen the review and shed light on who knew what, and when, about the controversial project.

She hopes doing so will clarify why events unfolded the way they did, as well as make clear who authorized “option four” – an unpopular route change initially withheld from the public.

“Clearly there was some failure in the system somewhere. I think with the level of detail I’m seeking questions will be addressed. Ideally, I’d like to see an external audit. But I’m going to settle for an internal audit. A critical thing is we need a timeline on it. We need to seek to have these answers in the next 90 days,” Lukes said.

“When I saw (Morantz’s) motion, I felt it came nowhere near to seeking the level of accountability and answering the questions on this file that citizens of Winnipeg want to know. If there’s nothing to hide…then there’s nothing to worry about.”

When Lukes (South Winnipeg-St. Norbert) proposes the amendment today, she says it will be seconded by Morantz (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Whyte Ridge), who she’s been working with since denouncing his proposed review last week. In addition to working together on the amendment, they’ve also been reaching out to other councillors for support, Lukes said.

Should the amendment be approved, council will then vote on Morantz’s initial proposal (including Lukes’s amendment). If passed, the 90- day time frame for the internal audit to be completed will begin right away, Lukes said.

The corridor project has been marred in controversy since the revelation – in October 2017 – that a controversial fourth route (the extension of the Sterling Lyon Parkway) was submitted to the province as the city’s first choice for construction.

Prior public consultation only included three possible routes and it remains unclear who, if anyone, at city hall authorized the fourth option. Had it gone forward it would have required the expropriation and demolition of a number of homes.

Following public outcry and lobbying, the project was put on hold and “option four” was eventually scrapped. Both the city’s chief administrative officer, Doug McNeil, and Morantz claim they were left in the dark about the rogue fourth route.

In addition to revealing who knew about the proposed route change, Lukes hopes the auditor in charge of the review will be able to subpoena former city employees involved in the project.

“Key people have left. They hold knowledge. They hold insight. I’m hoping, and do believe under the power of the auditor’s office, they can do that (subpoena). But it’s disheartening that we can’t seem to get answers from the CAO and have to call for an audit,” Lukes said.

“It’s disheartening we have to do another audit involving public works and planning. What is going on in these departments? Where is the oversight? I can say this with 100 per cent confidence: engineers and consulting firms don’t do things unless they’re authorized. Someone had to authorize (option) four, before they went off and did it…So who authorized it?”

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe