The same summer that Ms Raitt attended the Case Ootes fundraising dinner, Dillon Consulting was finishing up its environmental screening report Proposed Fixed Link Bridge to the TCCA.  Again, the question of trust and an arm’s length relationship manifested itself.

In 1998, the TPA commissioned Dillon Consulting to do its first environmental screening on matters involved in building the bridge.  Naturally, an organization paying for a study can either accept or reject the results.   The TPA must have liked Dillon’s work since the TPA contracted Dillon to carry out an addendum in 1999.

On October 24, 2002, at a meeting of the City’s Waterfront Reference Group, responding to a series of leading questions from Councillor Minnan-Wong, councillors were told the following:

• Claudio Covelli of Dillon Consulting: “ And that EA was signed off on by responsible federal authorities.”

• Elaine Baxter-Trahir, City of Toronto Waterfront Project Director: “And Transport Canada did sign off – or the federal environmental agency did sign off on the assessment in 1999.”

• Henry Pankratz, Chairman of the Toronto Port Authority: “All of the information and the material related to the bridge concept, the Environmental assessment, including federal government sign offs and our business plan, has all been given to city staff.”

• In response to other committee members, Lisa Raitt, CEO of the TPA stated: “And the last condition on deferral was of course the Environmental assessment and that was signed off in September 1999. So with respect to the bridge and construction, there are no surprises.”

Contrary to what they claimed, the Canadian Environmental Agency differed: on June 11, 2002, it told the TPA’s representatives, Dillon Consulting, that the TPA is “… required to conduct an environmental assessment of the fixed link project because they became subject to the Canada Port Authority regulations prior to the completion of the existing (1998) EA report.”

On Saturday, May 24, 2003, Dillon, held its Proposed Fixed Link Bridge Environmental Assessment Open House.  The Open House, ostensibly an opportunity for community output, was in reality a showcase of Dillon’s plans.  The consultants followed up in June with a draft report.  The report’s Appendix I contained 44 pages of comments, the majority of which resulted from the Open House.   If Dillon could not deflect an objection, it noted the comment or promised to provide a response.  There was no acknowledgement that any objection had validity.

Appendix I contained the following comment and response.

Comment
What contracts has Dillon Consulting Limited entered into with the TPA and with any federal government department regarding the Toronto Islands, the Toronto Island Airport or any link with the Toronto Island Airport since 1945?

Response:
Dillon Consulting Limited was the lead consultant on the 1998 EA, the 1999 Addendum to the 1998 EA, and is the lead consultant on this EA.  Dillon is also the lead consultant on the design of the Fixed Link Bridge.

At the same time that Dillon Consulting was conducting an environmental screening that showed absolutely no problems that couldn’t be mitigated, it was designing the bridge. 

In the Fall of 2003, the TPA signed off on the environmental screen, satisfied that their bridge designers had no conflict of interest in producing the FINAL EA SCREENING REPORT, Proposed Fixed Link Bridge to the TCCA that proved that they, the bridge designers, found no environmental problems either with the construction or operation of the bridge or increased Bathurst St. traffic or expanded airport activity.

The TPA appears to have been oblivious of any possible conflict of interest when it agreed with Dillon, the consultants who conducted the environmental screening, could find no environmental reasons for halting the project even though the very same consultants designed the bridge and stood to gain from the project.  Where was the arm’s length relationship?  How did their process generate trust? 

Bob Kotyk