Scanned, recopied or Internet copy, if there are errors, please e-mail me with corrections: Opening comments: More at the end. To the main Judicial Inquiry page - to the Hazel McCallion page. Mississauga News - July 26, 2010 - By Joe Chin - jchin@mississauga.net O’Brien was also involved in Sheridan deal In a statement opening the Mississauga judicial inquiry’s second phase, Commission counsel William McDowell said today he expects O’Brien to testify that Mayor Hazel McCallion sought his assistance to reach a legal settlement between OMERS and World Class Developments (WCD) when the latter’s attempt to buy City Centre land from OMERS for a new hotel/convention centre collapsed. The deal was brokered by the mayor’s son, Peter McCallion. Michael Nobrega, president and chief operating officer of OMERS, also requested O’Brien’s help. “You will have to decide after hearing the evidence for whom Mr. O’Brien was acting,” said McDowell. “On one hand, he was and is a member of the OMERS real estate investment board. On the other, he is very close to the mayor and, in fact, is a trustee of the McCallion family trust. “We understand that the mayor discussed the settlement process with Mr. O’Brien and with Mr. (Tony) DeCicco (a WCD principal). We do know that Mr. O’Brien was successful in coming to a settlement of the litigation when OMERS/Oxford would pay $4 million to WCD,” said McDowell. Some City councillors have wondered whether OMERS, which eventually sold the land to the City of Mississauga for $14.4 million, marked up the price in order to cover the settlement. The City subsequently leased the land to Sheridan College, which opens its campus next year. McDowell noted AIMCO, the co-vendor, “did not and does not accept that the settlement was appropriate.” McCallion has testified that back in 2000 O’Brien did not brief her or Council on the last-minute insertion of the clause that gave Borealis Energy Corp., a subsidiary of OMERS, negative veto power. O’Brien was subsequently seconded to lead Enersource. He left Mississauga to serve as a deputy minister of energy and later head of Toronto Hydro before joining the OMERS board of directors. McDowell also revealed that Peter McCallion was involved, as far back as 2002, in discussions with Chinese and Korean financiers to bring a hotel/convention centre to Mississauga. Among the important questions that need to be answered, he said, was what the mayor understood her son’s participation was to be. “What did the mayor know about the extent of Peter’s involvement as the deal progressed?” said McDowell. “I expect that you will hear from her that she did not know Peter was anything apart from being an agent, but we think it is only fair to ask, however, what she was in a position to know, and whether she ought to have taken further steps to inquire.” McDowell said the bottom line for the inquiry is to consider, “whether the robust involvement of the mayor in this transaction advanced the interests of Mississauga.” by others - 5 - to this web-page at time of posting; The Mississauga Muse Jul 27, 2010 10:13 PM @ Come On, I wasn't aware of a courageous staff member What I'm investigating through Freedom of Information regarding Corporate policies and ethical conduct confirms dozens of City Staff not just sweeping crap under the carpet but denying there's a carpet! You wrote, "seven members of Council called for an Inquiry to clear the air -- no sweeping under the carpet like Prentice, Mahoney, Saito and Mullen wanted to do." After today's testimony, I'm wondering just how much Prentice, Mahoney, Saito and Mullen KNEW. And did their all to prevent the public finding out! * Agree ComeOn Jul 27, 2010 9:09 PM Hazel McCalllion Scandal Goes Finally Goes Front Page of Star But It Is Not Yet Big Enough For The News To Put On The Front Page Tony ordinarily I tend to agree or not disagree with you. In this case I have a couple things to point out. If not for one courageous staff member this crap would have been kept from Council and never seen the light of day. The next thing -- seven members of Council called for an Inquiry to clear the air -- no sweeping under the carpet like Prentice, Mahoney, Saito and Mullen wanted to do. I am not debating but showng that there are good people there and they deserve our support for not playing ball with the corruption. * Agree 1 Tony Jackson Jul 27, 2010 3:10 PM Can we have the staff to work for the citizens/tax payers? The “Staff” of municipality of Mississauga have been working “for the benefit of” their PENSION FUND (OMERS), not for the best interest of tax payers/citizens of Mississauga. They “planned” all available resources (city’s development budgets for future years and the Economic Stimulus Fund from Ottawa: 40 million) to benefit OMERS (to OMERS’s assets like SQR1). O'Brian gave the control of city's untility assets (through the veto) to OMERS. It's the high time to STOP them from looting the public funds!!!!!!!!!! The MAYOR (getting her bribe through Peter) and the Councillors (yet to know what they are getting) are keeping a blind eye on these THIEVES/CRIMINALS. * Agree 1 ComeOn Jul 27, 2010 10:20 AM Hazel McCallion Scandal --- WOW I am still trying to come to terms with this one Suggested Hazel excuses: Oh yeah it was a dream... no no it was a mistake no never a mistake... I got it I got it saw this one on TV... Let me be clear I have no idea who Peter McCallion is, if that is his name, depending on your definition of is and your definition of Peter McCallion... run with that it'll work. * Agree The Mississauga Muse Jul 27, 2010 8:22 AM @ Missy2 that said (comment below) I do agree with you Just want to point one thing out. You wrote, "Let's cut the bull, these posts need a little common sense and less Mayor Hater or Mayor Lover retoric." I am NOT a "Mayor Hater" but rather someone who's filed Freedom of Information on several municipalities (not just Mississauga) and know that they uphold the public trust by lying to the public. That revelation absolutely astounded me and I'm ashamed to admit it took me four decades to Get It. I was perfectly conditioned to "You're lucky. You live in Mississauga/Ontario/Canada and you've got governments who CARE". I limited myself to informing myself through newspapers, radio, TV and of course, political flyers. I was a FOOL. And a NEGLIGENT citizen. * Agree 2 The Mississauga Muse Jul 27, 2010 8:12 AM @ Missy2 it's not just logic but assessment of the City's "Trust, Quality, Excellence" "We lead Canada in management" When you've watched almost all Audit, Budget, Council, General Committee meetings (and many public meetings), read the Corporate guidelines/policies and relevant provincial legislation, THEN and only then can someone gauge the truth to the City's reputation as a municipal leader. We're not talking its location (benefiting near airport/Toronto) or benefiting from being young and gorging on development fees. But rather its municipal GOVERNANCE. How bragging about there being on other Council more accountable. The reality is that Hazel McCallion/Council never ran Mississauga. Council depended on Staff to monitor Staff --to let them know what was going on. And I suspect MYTHissauga is the rule not the exception. * Agree 2 Missy2 Jul 27, 2010 5:53 AM Use some logic Let's cut the bull, these posts need a little common sense and less Mayor Hater or Mayor Lover retoric. So what, there was a 4MM settlement between two private companies. If that resulted in the asking price going up, the City didn't have to pay it. I assume before cutting the deal the City would have done due diligence and received a fair market valuation for the land. If the valuation was below the 14MM asking price, they should have said no. If no valuation was done, then all of Council was negligent, including Carlson and Parrish who are now "outraged". It's the citizens who should be outraged with all Council, not just the mayor if we overpaid. If a valuation was done and it was worth 14MM, then we paid market value, so move on. Pretty simple really if you use logic rather than cheerlead for one side or the other * Agree The Mississauga Muse Jul 26, 2010 11:43 PM Hmmmm.... re: David O'Brien, quote, "is a trustee of the McCallion family trust." Wonder how long he's been a trustee... I've an email where Hazel McCallion stated that it was the role/duty of elected officials to provide oversight/hold Staff accountable. So isn't holding the City Manager tough to do when he's also a close friend and trustee to the McCallion family trust? Not to mention of course that in order to hold Staff accountable McCallion depends on Staff to let Council know of any problems that might creep up. Or down... * Agree 1 Tony Jackson Jul 26, 2010 5:23 PM O'Brian, the hands-on mayor He took the veto power (along with him) to OMERS and gave 4 million (plus plus) to Peter McCallion. * Agree 1 Home Page - Main Table of Contents - Back up a page - Back to Top [COMMENTS BY DON B. - ] |
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