Another Inquiry Bill For Cornwall Police Service

Cornwall News AM 1220

November 07, 2007 — The summer months of the Cornwall Public Inquiry cost the Cornwall Police Service around $200,000 in legal fees. The numbers for June, July and August were released at a police board meeting this morning. Deputy Police Chief Danny Aikman says lawyers are preparing members to take the stand. Aikman expects the board's bills to go down after members testify. As many as 20 members could be called.

council sounds off; Many city councillors are upset over a controversial Cornwall Public Inquiry

Cornwall Public Inquiry

09 November 2007

Posted By Terri Saunders

City council should have been informed of a funding deal in place to pay Cornwall Public Inquiry bills and the province should cough up more cash to cover them, council members said Thursday.

"Let's face it: we all asked for this inquiry to be called because we felt it was important to address these allegations that have been made over the years," said Coun. Denis Carr. "But what we didn't ask for was for these kinds of costs."

Carr said taxpayers should not have to dig into their own pockets in order to pay for the inquiry.

"It's ridiculous that they have to pay for this; it's unfair, actually," said Carr. "The province has a much bigger 'public purse' than we do, and they should be the ones taking care of the cost of this inquiry."

Carr said he will have a few questions for city administration if the matter comes up at the next council meeting set for Tuesday evening.

"I definitely have some questions as to how this came about and why council was not informed about the decisions that were made," said Carr.

"I'm hoping we can get some answers to those questions."

As council members crunch numbers in an attempt to balance the next municipal budget efforts are under way to keep taxes down.

"Anything that increases ratepayers' taxes is a concern for me," said Coun. Kim Baird. "We must approach the province again as we have done in the past and ask that more funds be made available to us."

Baird said despite her hopes the province will kick in some more cash, she will accept whatever happens in the end.

"If it turns out we will have to pay our share, then we will have to pay it," Baird said. "As for suggestions council was not kept informed, that's a concern. Hopefully we will be brought up to speed at the next council meeting."

That meeting is slated for Tuesday.

Many councillors believe a provincial inquiry should be paid for with provincial dollars and not municipal cash.

"This is an inquiry which was called by the province," said Coun. Andre Rivette. "I don't believe the city should be picking up any of the costs associated with this inquiry in any way. I say, 'Don't pay the bills.

"Send them back.'"

Councillors wanted more info

Council should have been better informed throughout the decision-making process, some members said.

"This was done without the authority of council," said Coun. Glen Grant.

"We didn't have any say in this.

"I think the simplest solution is to just not give them the money."

Coun. Bernadette Clement said she's hopeful the issue will become a talking point around the council table.

"I think what is needed here is better communication between administration and council," said Clement. "I'm confident that the mayor's office would have proper contact with the parties involved, but there probably should have been an attempt to keep council informed along the way."

Clement said she's not concerned the matter was handled in an inappropriate way and she hopes the lines of communication will soon open up.

"I believe the mayor will continue to have proper contact with the parties because the police service does still need representation at the inquiry," she said. "In the meantime, I do believe we have to go back to the province in a strong way and ask for more money. This is a huge issue for this community and it needs to be addressed."

Coun. Guy Leger echoed Clement's concerns council should be kept well-informed about what's going on with this file.

"We should go back to the province and ask for more cash," said Leger.

"And council should be part of whatever discussions are taking place around this issue."

Leger said he's hopeful the matter was seemingly kept private for a reason, admitting he hadn't heard anything about the funding formula agreement until he read about it in the Standard-Freeholder.

"If we were not kept abreast of the situation, I'm thinking there must be a good explanation for that," he said. "I am certain council will be fully briefed at the next council meeting."

Leger said taxpayers should not be on the hook for any costs associated with the inquiry.

"We need to go back to the province," he said, "and negotiate another deal."

Coun. Elaine MacDonald said she knew talks were in the works but she was surprised to hear the parties involved had reached some sort of resolution.

"I didn't realize it was a done deal," said MacDonald. "I thought the province would eventually pull out to some extent, but not like this."

MacDonald said she was never convinced the provincial government would continue to pick up the city's entire tab for participation at the inquiry, but said a 60/40 cost-share split is beyond what she had envisioned.

"I am surprised we have to be responsible for that much," said MacDonald.

"I think the province should shoulder more if not all of the costs, but we're not really in a position to give them an ultimatum so I'm not holding my breath."

Coun. Mark MacDonald disagrees, to some extent, with any suggestion the city may not have the political clout necessary to force a reversal of fortune.

"I think this is an opportunity for us to go to the province and remind them of how much money they owe us," he said. "Off the top of my head, I'm thinking about money owed to us in relation to the power dam and the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund, so I'm of the mind we're actually in a position to say to the province, 'We'll pay this bill if you pay the bills we send to you.'"

Mark MacDonald said while council needs to figure out a way to get this bill paid, he doesn't like to see issues such as funding detract from the purpose of the inquiry.

"I think the focus has to be on victims and survivors," he said. "I'm not a fan of anything that takes the inquiry or this community away from that focus."

Coun. Syd Gardiner said the sheer length of the inquiry is enough of a reason for the municipality to send a message to Queen's Park that the taxpayers of Cornwall are tapped out.

"No one could have predicted this thing would last this long," said Gardiner. "We need to go after the province again and tell them we just can't afford these bills."

Gardiner said while he was supportive of the inquiry being established and he believes it should run its due course, he does believe the provincial government should step up to the plate and shoulder more of the financial responsibility.

"We need to get this done and the province needs to pay whatever it costs to see it get done," he said. "This issue has to be resolved." Repeated attempts to reach Coun. Denis Thibault were not successful. City's inquiry bill

Total amount paid between April 1 and Sept. 30 = $369,094

Share for each of 21,000 households = $17.58

Share for each of 46,000 residents = $8.02