Coun. Bill Saundercook, chair of council's work committee, has asked the city's chief administrative officer, Mike Garett to investigate how a prime piece of downtown land--which is a linchpin for waterfront development and crucial to tearing down the Gardiner--could have been sold to private developers for $280,000. That’s nice, Mr. Saundercook, but how is it that once again another investigation of a suspicious land deal through a passive city hall is being called long after the horse has left the barn?
Ditto for election-bound councillors who are now saying that what should have been an inexpensive land transaction between the city and Canadian National could end up costing taxpayers a bundle.
Not only is the tract of land in question a linchpin for waterfront redevelopment, one of the two private developers bound for riches is no less than former metro councillor Dale Martin.
About the horse out of the barn theory, Coun. Saundercook recalls being on York council when two of his colleagues went to jail in the Lou Charles’ scandal. ‘In that case the horses were still in the barn eating the oats when justice caught up with them,’ he says. Well, it’s a sad commentary on municipal politics that one of the horses is back in the current municipal race.
Coun. Saundercook was at least awake at the switch when he caught wind of the linchpin for waterfront development deal in the mountain of paperwork that comes through the work committee, and is on the right track in at least demanding a probe.
The should-have-beens in the story behind this story are cause for a wake-up call. Bureaucrats should have been watching for available land in the area because it’s a key to the future and ‘somebody’ should have been more aware, Coun. Joe Pantalone now says.
We need to get to the bottom of this, and no one told me, says Coun. Mario Silva.
Well, boys, the tract of land in question, is right under your nose, in your own ward.
The prime piece of land is a linchpin because it is part of the $12-billion waterfront plan recommended by the task force headed by financier Robert Fung.
One point four hectares in dimension, it sits north of Exhibition Place in the Liberty high-tech district and now belongs to former city and metro councillor Dale Martin and Queen Street garage owner Fred Dominelli.
‘If the city is sleeping at the steering wheel, it isn’t my fault,’ says Dominelli who explained he pumps gas and fixes cars for a living, but also happens to invest his money and has vision.
That explains the little garage owner, but what about the politician, who made a political career of being against all developers?
Questionable land deals in the term of this council should cause public concern if not alarm. Rumours are already rift about the American Standard project, with the as yet unproved theory that developer Tony Falus and his silent partner, former Toronto Sun CEO Paul Godfrey got their project through the bureaucracy without courtesy of site plan approval.
We leave the digging on that to investigative journalist types at the Toronto Star.
Meanwhile, Saundercook should be going outside of the city administration if he wants an independent body with realistic opportunities to keep local politicians honest.
Taxpayers were much better served by the deliberately disbanded Project 80, a group comprised of police officers whose mandate was to investigate potential municipal corruption.
Everybody blamed the province, but it was former metro councillors--some of who are still in office to this day and who had the most to lose--who cut off the project’s funding, effectively bringing it to an end.
With plenty of room for real estate speculation on waterfront lands in view of the 2008 Olympics, taxpayers have nothing in place to protect the public purse from municipal corruption.
It’s time to petition the provincial government for the resurrection of Project 80.
Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2024 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2024 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement