On October 1, the judicial inquiry into the MFP computer scandal came to an abrupt halt when Madam Justice Denise Bellamy announced "new information that, if true, could result in criminal charges being laid against one or more potential witnesses to the inquiry."
Toronto Free Press has written of related issues, including Judi McLeod’s article on a similar fiasco over the contracting for City Hall telephones. As recently as August 5 of this year, quoting other sources, I wrote in this paper that "…over $670,000 was disbursed in expenses without benefit of receipts, and contracting and other records that should have been handed over by North York to the newly-amalgamated city of Toronto appear to have gone missing. Contracts were issued without tender, and mandatory reports to council were not made. Entertainment expenses incurred in the U.S. were paid by Toronto taxpayers, and Liczyk (see below) signed off on contracts without the authority to do so."
Regular readers may remember that my employment with the city of Toronto came to an abrupt end after Toronto Free Press carried two articles I had written regarding problems and inefficiencies within the Finance Department Accounting Division following amalgamation. The dismissal settlement includes a statement that I was not fired, and I received a generous payoff at the taxpayers' expense.
Wanda Liczyk, now CFO of Toronto Hydro, and Mayor Mel Lastman, go back many years to when she was Treasurer under him during his North York days. I have publicly said that in my opinion, the whole issue of untendered contracts, properties sold at fire-sale prices for tax arrears, and the purchasing of software programmes from Beacon Software and Remarkable Software of the U.S. have the potential to become the biggest case of municipal corruption in Canadian history. Now, it would seem, things are beginning to come together.
In his October 2, article "Probe eyes Yanks" in the Toronto Sun, George Christopoulos says that "…(City) auditor Jeff Griffiths states he could find no evidence that the Beacon or Remarkable contracts were tendered," and that City Council had then voted to add the two U.S. companies to Justice Bellamy’s terms of reference. On October 3, the Toronto Star carried a front-page story "Bribery allegation probed in computer contract" by Jack Lakey, in which we are told of allegations that computer manufacturer Dell Canada was asked for a bribe by a "lobbyist" who suggested that "a member of city council" thought the deal was "worth $150,000." Even though a then-salesperson for Dell has suggested that the request may have been for a "success fee," that cute little euphemism doesn’t mask the stench of corruption.
Getting back to Liczyk, in her October 1 column in the Toronto Sun, Sue-Ann Levy states: "It appears chief financial officer Wanda Liczyk initiated the lease extension to spread the city’s budget pressure over a longer period and deliver the tax freeze promised by Lastman."
Interesting… we now have a good idea what the excuse might be, but I personally hope that the new and dramatic bribery investigation doesn’t overshadow what may have been a good few years of systematic looting of the taxpayers’ coffers.
In any event, we are now looking at years of investigations, and probably some long-drawn-out court cases that could end up at the Supreme Court of Canada. It may take years, but there will be no escape for anyone who is guilty.
Jeff Goodall worked for the Metro Treasury and City Finance Departments for 25 years, and served as a member of the CUPE Local 79 Executive Board for 14 of those years.
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 1997-2018 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2018 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement