Selinger government needs to order audit into stadium boondoggle

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/05/2015 (3798 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

First, it was the city that couldn’t seem to build anything on the level.

Now, the province is showing cracks in its own professionalism in connection with the construction catastrophe at Investors Group Field.

And that’s why now that the Selinger government has dealt with its budget, it should shift gears to immediately order an audit into the boondoggle.

An audit might not reveal all the facts, particularly if the main contractor, Stuart Olson, and the architect decline to co-operate.

It’s just as clear, however, the lawsuit between the stadium’s owners — basically, the taxpayer — and the defendants is also unlikely to yield the full story.

These cases can take years to reach a courtroom and they frequently end in out-of-court settlements with a confidentiality agreement. The matter is settled without any party admitting guilt or responsibility.

That’s fine in the private sector, but it won’t do in this case.

Premier Greg Selinger says the auditor general’s office can conduct an audit at its discretion, but that’s an evasive manoeuvre and an abdication of responsibility. The public is entitled to know how and why the new stadium at the University of Manitoba was built with design flaws that will cost tens of millions of dollars to fix.

Stuart Olson’s claim the problems were caused by political expediency and defective designs demand a thorough response, while the province’s allegation the contractor displayed gross negligence raises questions about the way private firms deal with the public sector.

According to Stuart Olson, the owners of the stadium knew it was a disaster waiting to happen. They knew an iceberg lay in wait as the stadium neared completion and did nothing to stop it.

It was all their fault because they ignored the contractor’s warnings. For the Selinger government, the main funder of the $209-million stadium, it was damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead — or so the contractor alleges.

It says the province and its public-sector partners knew the design could lead to numerous defects.

In fact, the company says it raised some 500 red flags about the design, but they were apparently all ignored.

The implication is the Selinger government wanted construction started in 2011 so it could be added to its list of accomplishments in the general election that year.

If Stuart Olson can prove it warned the province and the other partners — the city, the University of Manitoba and the Blue Bombers — about the design problems, then it seems a little odd for the government consortium to have started a legal battle, unless it was required for insurance purposes.

The fact Phil Sheegl, the city’s former chief administrative officer as well as chairman of the government partnership, has also accused the province of acting in haste without concern for the design problems will also complicate the taxpayers’ case.

Still, are we to believe the contractor built a stadium it knew was unsafe and likely to fall apart within a year of opening? Did it really have no other option than to proceed blindly on the road to disaster?

The bottom line is neither side is likely to be enthusiastic about broadcasting the details in a public trial.

That’s why Mr. Selinger must clear the air with an audit.

There are also lessons to be learned on how the public sector manages major projects. Former mayor Sam Katz once suggested private contractors regularly took advantage of the city. Unfortunately, that bit of wisdom didn’t serve him very well, as several real estate audits have shown.

Now it’s the province’s turn to show it acted professionally and in good faith on behalf of the taxpayer.