Several key players in the Ottawa Confederation Line Stage 1 bidding process were concerned that the $ 2.1 billion budget would not be large enough to attract bids for the major infrastructure project, he said. Tuesday the public consultation of the light train.
Rob Pattison, who heads the LRT division of the provincial agency Infrastructure Ontario, told the commission Tuesday morning that he had been told that “the budget was not under discussion” and that he was concerned that no one would bid for the project. 12.5-kilometer LRT, which opened late as planned. 2019.
“That’s how much the city had to spend,” Pattison said. “And, you know, that raised the banner of, maybe you have a failed hiring.”
Even the former city administrator who oversaw the hiring of the LRT told the consultation in a May 30 interview that it was a concern that bidders could not put together proposals that met the price limit, especially because the tunnel of the center presented some risk to the builders.
“Personally, I don’t know if I ever felt comfortable until the day we opened the bids and had communications that we could continue,” Kent Kirkpatrick told a commission attorney.
In the end, however, two of the three shortlisted consortia had bids within the $ 2.1 billion envelope, including Rideau Transit Group (RTG), which won with the highest score.
Numerous Confederate Line issues, especially the two derailments last summer, prompted the province to convene a public inquiry into what went wrong with the project. (Jean Delisle / CBC)
The budget limit under control
The Ottawa LRT’s public survey, called by the province last fall, investigates what commercial and technical problems may have caused Confederate line problems, starting as planned and especially the two summer derailments. past.
The commission, led by Judge William Hourigan of the Ontario Court of Appeal, is examining the project somewhat chronologically and has spent the first two days focusing on the procurement process, including whether the size of the budget of the project may have restricted the quality of the line.
The $ 2.1 billion budget for the LRT was set in 2009, but it was preliminary: it was before any detailed engineering was completed and it did not take inflation into account.
At the same time, the then federal and provincial governments had pledged just $ 600 million each.
Over the years, the city and its experts found ways to keep the project within budget, including shortening the downtown tunnel, relocating it to the surface, and shortening the station’s platforms. it is expected to have former MP Nancy Schepers. he was asked when he appeared at the investigation Wednesday afternoon.
Trust professional offers
Lawyers for the investigation have pressured witnesses as to whether the city’s inflexibility in the budget had ramifications for project quality and whether there was political pressure to keep the price down.
“Were there any debates as to whether the budget or limit introduced a risk or increased the risk that the private sector might over-promise in its bids to exceed the limit or meet the budget?” Commission co-advisor Kate McGrann asked extra-treasurer Marian Simulik on Tuesday afternoon.
Kate McGrann, Ottawa’s chief light rail research co-advocate, spent hours interviewing City Treasurer Marian Simulik on the Cofnederation Line’s budget and funding model. (Frédéric Pepin / Radio-Canada)
Simulik not only denied these discussions, but said the city was confident that the consortia bidding for the project, which were made up of large multinational corporations, would put together professional proposals.
“We were basically confident that the private sector would act reasonably and produce a document or offer that reflected what they thought the costs would be,” Simulik told the commission.
Pattison also said Tuesday that the fact that two bids met the price was a testament to the fact that the budget seemed feasible for experienced corporations bidding on the project.
Both Simulik and Pattison said it is not uncommon for a project to be designed to budget, which investigative lawyers have suggested could have happened.
Former Ottawa City Treasurer Marian Simulik appeared on June 14, 2022 before the commission investigating the Confederation Line. (Kate Porter / CBC)
Pattison said that sometimes “there is a number and you can’t beat it and you’re ready [scale it back] or kill the project if you can’t fit within that number “.
The investigation learned that the city’s call for proposals included a contingency plan in case all bidders exceeded the budget, which would have required additional approvals from the council.
Along with Schepers, Infrastructure Ontario’s John Traianopoulos is also scheduled for Wednesday’s hearing.