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Opening comments: More at the end.
To the main Judicial Inquiry page - to the Hazel McCallion page.
Mississauga News - Aug. 9, 2010 - By Joe Chin - jchin@mississauga.net
Consultant didn't deal with McCallions
On the stand. Barry Lyon answers questions from the stand earlier today during the Mississauga judicial inquiry. Staff photo by Rob Beintema
Barry Lyon, of N. Barry Lyon Consulting Ltd., also said he had no direct dealings with Mayor Hazel McCallion. If she saw material connected with the project, he presumed she would have gotten them from City of Mississauga staff.
“We had no contact with her whatsoever,” Lyon told the Mississauga judicial inquiry today.
The second – and highly contentious – phase of the inquiry is examining the mayor’s role in a failed bid by WCD, fronted by her son, Peter McCallion, to buy a parcel of land from the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) for the project. The hotel/convention centre was to be built in the City Centre, on land that will instead house a Sheridan College campus by late next year.
Lyon, who said he’s known the mayor for some 40 years – going back to the mid-70s when he was involved in helping to develop Meadowvale – took the inquiry through the planning stages of the project.
Lyon said he was brought on by Murray Cook, a WCD principal, and not Peter McCallion.
“I didn’t have a clue as to (Peter McCallion’s) role,” he said.
This was corroborated by Scott Walker, a Barry Lyon Ltd. associate, who took the stand after Lyon. Like Lyon, he said he merely kept McCallion in the loop, copying him in e-mails.
On the witness stand last week, McCallion maintained that although he was the project’s “visionary,” he wasn’t involved in the actual development, but only in it to sell condo units as part of the scheme. He testified he stood to make as much as $12 million as the real estate agent.
Evidence, however, showed he was actually a 16 per cent partner in the project.
Lyon revealed Cook, a longtime family friend of the McCallions, wasn’t thrilled when Tony DeCicco was brought on in July 2007.
“Murray Cook called me quite upset to say he’d been told he was no longer responsible for the project and would be sharing that role,” Lyon said.
Comments by others - 2 - to this web-page at time of posting;
The Mississauga Muse Aug 9, 2010 8:07 PM
HOLY JUMPIN' I just started watching today's testimony!
Gotta say. I have no idea why they bother making these people swear on a Bible!
The Mississauga Muse Aug 9, 2010 6:32 PM
What's fun to do is match this article with Joseph Chin's Aug 28, 2007 article, "City Centre getting second hotel"
Especially this quote from today, "'Lyon revealed Cook, a longtime family friend of the McCallions, wasn’t thrilled when Tony DeCicco was brought on in July 2007. 'Murray Cook called me quite upset to say he’d been told he was no longer responsible for the project and would be sharing that role,' Lyon said.'" and compare that to Chin's Aug 2007 statement, that "World Class Developments Ltd. (WCD), a group headed by Streetsville’s Murray Cook, whose developments stretch from Toronto and Vancouver to Dubai." The Judicial Inquiry confirms urgent effort to squeeze out Mr. Cook. Like I said. Public smiley face that's reported vs the Mr. Hyde that they hide...
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