No Formal Inquiry Funding Deal

November 14, 2007 — More lobbying is coming from the city to offset what the mayor calls the "spiraling costs" for the Cornwall Public Inquiry. The City Police Service briefed councillors last night on the latest figures. The inquiry bill for the police service and in turn the city was $1.1 million from April through September. Sixty eight per-cent of that bill was picked up by the province. But Mayor Bob Kilger tells AM 1220 News there never was any formal agreement between the province and the city. That covered all the city's expenses up to April 1st. Councillor Andre Rivette says somebody needs to take control or the city better start budgeting for some big dollars. Chief Administrative Officer Paul Fitzpatrick is planning to sit in on police board decisions and will be getting copies of inquiry invoices. Council will be getting an update from the police board every three months.

The deal isn't signed: Kilger; Mayor says city can still get more inquiry funding

Cornwall Public Inquiry

14 November 2007

Posted By Kevin Lajoie

Mayor Bob Kilger insists there's no signed agreement in place with the province to help cover the cost of the city's involvement in the Cornwall Public Inquiry.

Kilger told his council colleagues Tuesday he hasn't signed any agreement dealing with how the city's legal bills for the inquiry are paid, and there's nothing stopping the city from trying to get Queen's Park to foot the entire bill.

"The door's always remained open for us," he said.

Kilger said he used the word agreement when the issue of inquiry costs came up at a recent Cornwall police services board meeting, but he said it was never meant to have the full meaning of an actual agreement.

The mayor said there's only been one written agreement between the city and the province over the inquiry, and that had to do with the $3.2-million grant the city received to cover its costs up to the end of March.

An official with the Ministry of the Attorney General told the Standard-Freeholder a cost-sharing agreement for future inquiry-related bills was put in place at the same time the $3.2-million cheque was delivered. At the time of the funding announcement, Kilger suggested no decision had been made as to how future bills would be paid.

The issue had left some council members expressing dismay at not having been kept up to speed on the funding situation.

According to figures provided by the city, the cost of the Cornwall police service's involvement at the inquiry from April 1 to September 30 totalled $1,160,707. Of that, the city paid $369,094 (or 31.8 per cent) while the province paid $791,613.95 (68.2 per cent). During that period, Cornwall police also incurred $18,581 in "out of pocket" costs related to the inquiry, such as court security, document preparation and copier and courier services.

CAO Paul Fitzpatrick said in order to improve the lines of communication with council on the matter, he's asked the city police services board to provide him with copies of the monthly legal invoices related to the inquiry. Fitzpatrick has also asked to be included in any future negotiations regarding the legal costs, and police officials have been asked to come before council every three months to provide an update on the inquiry costs.

Coun. Bernadette Clement - who expressed disappointment with how the issue was communicated - said she's confident the changes will improve the lines of communication in the future.

Meanwhile, a few councillors expressed concern about how long the inquiry will run and what the final bill will be.

Coun. Denis Carr said the inquiry seems to have "lost direction," while Coun. Syd Gardiner said the city needs to get "the thing over with."

Coun. Andre Rivette suggested the city should begin budgeting for the inquiry if it's going to continue on for the foreseeable future. "They have to find out how long this thing's going to run," he said. The belief is the inquiry will last at least well into 2008 before testimony wraps up.

Kilger said he's written local MPP Jim Brownell to discuss the issue of paying for the city's inquiry costs on a go-forward basis.