Council Member Inquiry/Motion Form Demande de renseignements d’un membre du Conseil /Formulaire de motion
From/Exp. : Councillor C. Doucet (City Council)	Date : 19 - 26 February 2007	File/Dossier : 05-07
To/Dest. : City Solicitor
Subject/Objet : Procedural Ruling re Reconsideration of Light Rail on 23 Feb 07
Inquiry/Demande de renseignements Motion Whereas on December 6, 2006, Council approved the north-south light rail project with a delay to assess the possibility of a downtown tunnel. Whereas on December 14, 2006, Council reconsidered the December 6 vote because the federal government would not release their $200 million contribution until an evaluation of the downtown delay had been made. This was deemed new information and a reconsideration of the December 6, 2006 approval of light rail was undertaken. The new vote of Council because of the uncertainty of federal funding killed the entire project. Whereas on February 23, 2007, Council was asked to reconsider the December 14 vote which killed the north-south light rail project because the Siemens-PCL consortium had presented Council with a letter advising the Corporation that they would be seeking $175 million in damages because of the broken contract. However, the city solicitor advised Council that unlike the federal government’s delayed funding, the Siemens-Legal claim was not deemed to be new information and therefore a reconsideration was out of order and as a result the debate to reinstate the project never took place. Inquiry: Would the City Solicitor’s office explain in writing - why the federal government delayed funding was regarded as new information and therefore justified a reconsideration of Council’s approval of the project? But the Siemens-PCL intention to pursue an out of court settlement for $175 million was not? Both changed the financial outlook of the project, but only one was considered sufficient for Council’s December 6, 2006 approval of the project to be reconsidered and debated publicly.
Response/Réponse (Please Provide Original Response To The City Clerk And A Copy To Each Member Of Council. /Veuillez adresser l’original de votre réponse au greffier et une copie aux membres du Conseil municipal.