Ottawa rejects judicial inquiry of Confederation Line, but province may conduct one anyway

A commission wants to have 40 people testify on service disruptions and derailments on Ottawa’s Confederation Line.

Christof Spieler

The Ottawa city council has rejected a judicial inquiry involving the Confederation Line, but a judge may still get involved nonetheless.

Ontario is now considering conducting the inquiry because the province is becoming more and more concerned on how Ottawa will carry out future phases of work on the light-rail network. Ontario has $1 billion connected to LRT Stage 2 work after committing $600 million for Stage 1.

An email from a spokesperson for Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney stated the province is looking at options that will increase its oversight of the project … and it may include a judicial inquiry.

The Confederation Line is still inactive following a pair of derailments over the summer.

Provincial officials were disappointed that the city council did not give the green light to the judicial inquiry, and options on what to do will be looked at early next week.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said during a news conference that the province seemed to accept the idea of the city’s auditor general conducting an investigation on the LRT system instead of a judge. Watson said there has been no discussion with the province and its own judicial inquiry.

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