Cornwall Standard Freeholder

17 March 2010

Posted By KEVIN LAJOIE KLAJOIE@STANDARD-FREEHOLDER.COM  

CORNWALL -- City officials have made their pitch to recover the $1.7 million that was spent on the Cornwall Public Inquiry.

 Mayor Bob Kilger, Coun. Denis Carr and CAO Paul Fitzpatrick recently met with Ontario Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Bradley to request assistance from the province with the city's outstanding costs for the inquiry.   

The trio didn't get an answer on the spot, however Kilger felt the meeting with the minister went well.  

"It was positive. He was well-informed. He was interested (in the issue)," said the mayor.

There's no firm timeline on a response, and given that the current fiscal year is nearing its end, Kilger said they wanted to leave it "open and flexible" in hopes that it will lead to a more favourable response.

"We felt if we did that (request a deadline for a response), it could jeoperdize our chances," he added.

The mayor said they gave Bradley some material to review, and he'll be consulting with the finance minister and attorney general on the issue.

The full cost of the Cornwall police service's involvement at the inquiry was about $8.7 million.

The costs prior to April 1, 2007 were fully covered by the province through a one-time "special assistance grant" of $3.2 million from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, and the costs since then -- about $5.5 million -- have been shared on a 68/32 split between the Ministry of the Attorney General ($3.8 million) and the city ($1.7 million).

The attorney general's office has already indicated it won't be providing any more assistance, so the request to Bradley could be the city's last chance to recoup the $1.7 million.

 The inquiry costs haven't directly impacted the tax base as they have been covered through working reserves.

Based on the most recent estimates, the total cost of the inquiry is hovering around $48.9 million.

That figure includes $27.5 million in "direct costs" related to the inquiry's Cornwall office.

Of that, $3.4 million went towards counselling and $318,656 was spent on travel expenses related to coun-selling.

Another $21 million went towards legal fees for parties with standing, and a further $308,054 was spent by the Crown law office on civil and legal expenses related to the inquiry.

It's expected the final tally for the inquiry will be in the $50-million range.

Article ID# 2494390

Comments on this Article.

 Between trying to sponge money from the FEDS for the POE or trying sponge money for a over paid hospital staff who isn't the city of Cornwall irritating? If I was a FED or PROV government Cornwall will be at the bottom of my list to help.

Reply | Report | Page Top Post #1 By cornwaller77

Maybe we can charge the province for the use of our facilities for franco-ontarian day. lmao