LRT: Ex-mayor Jim Watson says he accepts 'full responsibility for the project's shortcomings'

In his first public comments since the release of the bombshell LRT public inquiry report, former mayor Jim Watson apologized to Ottawa transit users for the Confederation Line system not meeting expectations and took “full responsibility” for shortcomings of the largest infrastructure project in the city’s history.

He also praised the contributions and integrity of now former city manager Steve Kanellakos, who quit two days before the release of the report that contained harsh words about the conduct of both men in the lead-up to the LRT launch in 2019.

In a statement sent to media Friday, Watson said he read the report by inquiry commissioner Justice William Hourigan upon returning from “a long-planned vacation.”

Among the conclusions of the 637-page report, published Nov. 30, was that information about the trial running of the Confederation Line not shared by Watson and senior city staff amounted to an “egregious” violation of the public trust.

Watson was also pointed to as a source of pressure to get the system open, which the commission cited as a factor contributing to its public launch despite having reliability problems, and was criticized by the commission for directing staff to take a “design-to-budget” approach to the project. This was a mistake, the commission said, that pressured staff and tied the city to a $2.1-billion figure, campaigned on by the mayor in 2010, “that was not a budget at all, but rather an early estimate provided before any preliminary engineering was done, one that was subject to a 25 per cent margin of error and did not account for inflation.”

“At the end of the day, I take full responsibility for the project’s shortcomings,” Watson wrote in his statement.

“Since we started planning the LRT system in 2010, my goal was always to ensure that the City of Ottawa delivered a safe and reliable LRT system. Throughout the years, I have never veered from this objective. That said, the system we purchased did not meet our expectations, and for that I apologize wholeheartedly to the residents of Ottawa and to our transit users in particular.”

Watson noted that the inquiry commissioner found that Rideau Transit Group, the private-sector consortium contracted to build and maintain the LRT system, “was at fault on many fronts throughout the project” and that, “while there were many challenges that followed the launch of the system, LRT has been running well since March of this year, with a reliability rating of approximately 99 (per cent).”

While Watson used the statement to thank all city staff for work in delivering the project, he reserved a particular thank-you for Kanellakos “for his steadfast leadership, professionalism and integrity, as well as his delivery of numerous city-building projects during my time as Mayor.”

The public inquiry report concluded that Kanellakos, the city’s top bureaucrat since 2016, made a “deliberate effort” to mislead council on the decision to lower testing criteria for the LRT system before its launch and on the results of that testing.

Watson, meanwhile, “had accurate information about trial running and the decision to change the testing criteria, but failed to provide that information to Council” — which could have acted on it, the report said.

“Thus, the conduct of senior city staff and the mayor irreparably compromised the statutory oversight function of Council,” the report stated in a section detailing a long list of reasons for the problems with the Confederation Line project.

The report also suggested that Kanellakos, Watson and former city transit boss John Manconi were dishonest with the commission in explaining why it was appropriate not to give council information about what was happening with trial running. Their reasoning, the commission felt, “smacks of an obvious attempt to justify the wrongful withholding of information retroactively and dishonestly.”

In Friday’s statement, Watson wrote that Kanellakos was “one of the most honest and dedicated public servants I have had the opportunity to work with during my time in politics.

“His departure is a great loss to the City, and I want to thank him for his close to four decades of service to our community.”

In conclusion, Watson wrote that, “despite the early implementation challenges, I believe that Council made the right decision in unanimously approving Stage 1 LRT given the long-term transit, economic and environmental benefits.”

1. LRT inquiry report finds fault with Kanellakos, Watson, Manconi conduct

2. Deachman: Pretend I’m Jim Watson. I’m listening.