WATCH LIVE Day 13 of the inquiry:
From questions about unprecedented text messages on WhatsApp, to his role in reducing trial tests, to storing information from board members, John Manconi faced the harshest interrogation ever during a public investigation of light rail in Ottawa on Tuesday. .
The former general manager of transport in the city and as such, the public figure who is perhaps most associated with the Confederate line, was in a hot seat for five hours, much of it being grilled by the commission’s chief adviser. John Adair.
More and more lawyers during the public inquiry are introducing evidence uncovered in hundreds of informal WhatsApp messages in several group chats to give an idea of what may have led to LRT’s damage.
Manconi used the chat channels to ask City Hall to approve sending a note to the council in the summer of 2019. City Hall officials asked daily for updates on how the trains handled during the morning tests. Alan Hubley’s transit chair would weigh.
Ader pointed out prepared note by Manconi this would alert the entire board that the LRT failed during the first few days of testing days and should be reset. It was never sent after city manager Steve Canelakos said the council had to wait until the whole experiment was over.
“Why would you update only the mayor and Mr. Hubble and not someone else?” Ader asked.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, center, and then-CEO John Manconi, left, are moving along the Confederate line with a number of other employees on August 23, 2019, a day after the test launch was considered successful. (Joan Chianello / CBC)
The lawyer suggests that looking back, Manconi would agree that other decision-makers also need such information, especially for the Finance and Economic Development Committee and the Transit Committee.
“In retrospect, I would do the same thing we did here,” Manconi said. “I needed a communication channel to keep them informed.”
While city attorney Peter Wardle points out that the mayor has a different role from other council members – Watson is the municipality’s chief executive – he doesn’t say why President Hubble should have information that other council members don’t have.
Count Osgood. George Daruz even appeared as part of a chat on WhatsApp in September 2019.
Councilors Alan Hubbley, right, and George Darwis participated in WhatsApp chats with Mayor Jim Watson and OC Transpo CEO John Manconi in August and September 2019 (CBC)
The use of WhatsApp caught the commission’s attention in mid-June, when consultant STV Inc. asked to include the messages as evidence.
In early May, Manconi did not mention the existence of WhatsApp messages during his interview with the commission’s lawyers when asked if he had given daily updates to the mayor or city manager during the LRT trial. Now he says he forgot to mention group chats.
Adair: There was no pressure from elected officials to do this thing in the summer of 2019?
Manconi: Lots of inquiries, frustrations, missed deadlines. Many people are worried. “There was no political pressure on me to do so until a certain date.”
– @ KatePorterCBC
Manconi, meanwhile, has denied facing political pressure, even with many reports flying back and forth.
“The mayor is known for wanting to have a detailed level of detail,” Manconi explained.
Manconi’s only witness confused about the outcome
Some of the clearer exchanges took place on the subject of the trial run – 12 consecutive days of full-service testing on the Confederate line, which “must be almost perfect” before being handed over to the city, as Manconi told city councilors. May 5, 2019
It has already been reported that the criteria were changed during the trial cycle, but the committee read in the minutes how bad the test was. He revealed that Manconi shared this information with the mayor and Hubble in a WhatsApp chat group that included the city manager.
“Today was the first day that we applied very strict requirements [project agreement] requirements for what are vehicles that are ready to serve revenue, “Manconi said in WhatsApp on July 25, 2019.
“Unfortunately, [Rideau Transit Maintenance] not doing well and only four vehicles are on the line. ”
Former OC Transpo chief John Manconi, right, was annoyed by attorney John Adair with the public investigation into the Ottawa light railways on Tuesday. (Public inquiry for light rail in Ottawa)
Adair issued a statement early the next afternoon when a town hall official asked how the morning went.
When Rideau Transit Group reached the main stage, called substantial completion on July 26, 2019, only four or five of the 15 trains were on track, Adair concluded from the reports.
The commission’s lawyer tried to prove that it was Manconi who recommended changing the scorecard.
Manconi testified that he was confused about how the 98 percent reliability score was achieved in 12 days, with no day falling below 90 percent – the criteria that the heard inquiry was created by the Rideau Transit Group construction team and adopted by city authorities.
At the suggestion of RTG, Manconi said that there was a discussion and final agreement between the employees and the experts on the transit of the city that they should reduce the result to 96 percent on average for nine of the best 12 days.
Former OC Transpo boss John Manconi says RTG’s Peter Lauch has suggested we return to the easier criteria for the 2017 trial run. (Stu Mills / CBC)
Adair said the investigation was heard by a number of witnesses with first-hand knowledge of the process and received 1.5 million documents.
“Do you know, sir, that you are the only witness who said that there was some confusion as to whether it was 98 or 96?” [per cent]he asked. “Do you know that you are the only person who has given this proof?”
Manconi replied that he was the only one who was confused.
“That’s right, and no other witness has said you’re confused,” Adair said.
In fact, a text message from one of the city’s railway managers, Richard Holder, on August 6 read: “Alas, John will not retire by 98%.”
Earlier in the day, the city’s key transit consultant, Thomas Prendergast, testified that it is not uncommon to change the criteria during a trial period if it is considered too demanding.
Asked by a commission lawyer if he had been asked for his opinion on changing the scorecard, Prendergast said only he was aware that there had been discussions on the subject.
Manconi wants to know “what’s in it for me”: Lauch
The trial run began on July 29, 2019, and the Confederate line immediately failed. As the next day.
The system did not work on the third day.
After a two-day break, LRT passed for four days in a row – until August 7, when it performed so badly that it caused a “restart” of the 12-day experience.
The other day, then-RTG CEO Peter Lauch wrote to the consortium’s board members, telling them he expected a restart for that day, and although LRT had passed in previous days, “as a passenger experience, days of omissions, would be appalling for the city and public protest would be brutal, as would the mayor and the council. “
As a passenger experience, the days that are passes would be appalling for the city and the public protest will be brutal. – Peter Lauch, RTG
Lauch continues to write, “Manconi has made it clear that he wants to know ‘what’s in store for me’ in order to provide you with a RULES for a test run.”
He suggests that Manconi absorbs some heat not only during LRT Stage 1, but also during Stage 2, where the RTG partner SNC-Lavalin won a $ 1.6 billion contract without reaching the technical points threshold.
It is not clear what Lauch meant by this – he testified on Wednesday morning – and Manconi told the commission he did not remember saying that.
“That’s not my style,” Manconi said. “I would never make that statement.”
Former RTG CEO Peter Lauch told his board of directors on August 7, 2019, that even on the days when LRT passes the trial period, the customer experience will be “terrible.” (Gene Delil / CBC)
But Adair cites Lauch’s letter as the reason Manconi decided to change the testing criteria.
“What happened is,” Manconi’s lawyer suggested, “as you saw on August 7, when you began to slide back into days that were bad, and seeing that even the days that passed were horrifying, What you did was offer RTG that you could get them a pass by going back to the old criteria, as long as they were willing to help you in Stage 2. ”
Manconi replied, “I don’t agree with that, one hundred percent.”
The criteria were changed on August 14, the test run was considered completed on August 22, and a ceremony was held the next day at the town hall to announce the handover of the Confederate line.
WATCH | Highlights of this broadcast event: Has the city set September 14 as the launch date for the Confederate line?
Lowering the ranking to 13 trains changed the contract
On several occasions, Manconi told the council, the public, even the upper levels of government, that 15 double-wagon trains had to run during the morning and afternoon rush hours.
In fact, 34 light rail vehicles, comprising 17 trains, have always been considered a requirement for a reliable LRT system.
In the city’s quarterly report to the province in March 2019, the city wrote that “RTG’s ability to drive 15 double cars in a row” will determine the date of transmission.
Manconi announced on August 23, 2019, that only 13 trains will be needed for rush hour service, as passenger levels are lower than expected.
However, the contract provided for 15 trains, and reducing this requirement to 13 meant that the city authorities had changed the terms of their contract with RTG without notifying the council in advance.
The investigation continues on Wednesday, with Lauch appearing in the morning and a group of city councilors and transit commissioners in the afternoon.
Mayor Watson is scheduled for Thursday, and city manager Canelakos, for …
Add Comment