Scanned, recopied or Internet copy, if there are errors, please e-mail me with corrections:
Opening comments: More at the end.
This article ran in the Aug. 12, Mississauga News - {Torstar Network} - No worries about Hazel: O'Brien - with the below picture and comments at bottom.
On the stand.
Toronto Star photo
To the main Judicial Inquiry page - to the Hazel McCallion page.
Comments by others to this web-page - 10 - to this web-page at time of posting.
Toronto Star - Aug. 11, 2010 - By Phinjo Gombu Urban Affairs Reporter.
Windfall settlement followed McCallion’s intervention
$4 million pension-fund payout to
son’s company may not have been necessary
Former city manager David O'Brien
PHINJO GOMBU/TORONTO STAR
A close confidant of Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion who got involved on her request and negotiated a $4 million settlement for her son’s company denies he was concerned about her use of the office to advance her son’s interests.
Former city manager David O’Brien’s testimony at a judicial inquiry on Wednesday came amid hints that there was no real urgency for the windfall settlement last fall for Peter McCallion's company.
The OMERS pension fund had long doubted the ability of the company, World Class Developments, to carry through on its promise to build a $1.5 billion hotel/convention centre on prime downtown land OMERS owned, despite the mayor’s initial enthusiastic backing. OMERS wanted out of its conditional deal to sell it. But World Class was balking.
O’Brien, by then a member of the OMERS board as well as a close friend and trustee of the McCallion family trust, was authorized by OMERS president Michael Nobrega to enter settlement discussions with World Class.
O’Brien told the inquiry he initially got involved as Hazel McCallion’s emissary because she was now concerned the dispute could disrupt the purchase of the same land by the city for a Sheridan College campus.
But city solicitor Mary Ellen Bench, the inquiry heard, was already writing a report that said the city’s purchase could go through regardless because an indemnification agreement with OMERS protected the city from future claims by World Class.
The fact that World Class didn’t seek an injunction to stop the sale heightened the city’s confidence there was no real threat to the deal. Bench said the city believed World Class just wanted a cash settlement.
OMERS, through O’Brien, decided to offer the $4 million to McCallion’s company before informing its Alberta partners about it.
“The settlement came out of the blue,” testified Craig Coleman, a manager for Alberta Investment Management Company, co-owners of the land World Class wanted to buy. AIMC had been quite prepared to go to court with World Class to get them to back off, with nothing more than a return of the company’s original deposit. He said OMERS told AIMC the settlement was a fait accompli and agreed to pay out the $4 million alone.
The inquiry is probing the mayor’s role in the land deal and whether it represents a conflict of interest. In Tuesday’s testimony, Bench suggested O’Brien had told her last September he had concerns about the mayor’s involvement, after it became known publicly her son was a principal of the company.
“I suggest the conflict you were concerned about is the appearance of the mayor using her office to advance the interests of World Class Developments,” Clifford Lax, the city’s lawyer, told O’Brien.
“That’s not true,” he responded.
But under cross-examination by commission counsel William McDowell, O’Brien said he did not wish to leave the impression that the mayor, simply by declaring conflicts of interest in council votes, was then free to use her office to promote the interests of people she knew, in private.
“No, I don’t want to leave that impression,” O’Brien said, touching on a key issue being considered at the inquiry.
Comments by others - 10 - to this web-page at time of posting;
The Mississauga Muse
Aug 13, 2010 9:10 AM
So. If all this was being revealed about David Miller, wotcha think would be happening right now?...
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The Mississauga Muse
Aug 12, 2010 2:24 PM
Apologies, small error in the video. So had to repost.
Video: Hazel McCallion. Michael Nobrega. World Class Developments. WHO wanted the court file SEALED? http://tinyurl.com/36vlxp4
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The Mississauga Muse
Aug 12, 2010 1:39 PM
YouTube video. "Hazel McCallion. Michael Nobrega. WCD. WHO wanted the court file SEALED?"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=id-Qmh7TjD8 features AIMCo rep Craig Coleman's August 11, 2010 testimony with January 22, 2009 video showing Hazel McCallion's "much tighter relationship with the Oxford group" --and her "can do no wrong" Michael Nobrega. Craig Coleman wasn't kidding when he testified that "Whether it was a divide and conquer strategy, I'm not sure. That was kinda Mr. -- that is Mr. Filipetti's note there. But, you know, they did --or the -- the Mayor did have a much tighter relationship with the Oxford group than they did with us." GREAT INSTINCTS MR. FILIPETTI!
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The Mississauga Muse
Aug 12, 2010 12:22 PM
@ ComeOn, you forgot one BIG thing. Someone wanted the court file SEALED! SEALED!
"A" is Craig Coleman (AIMCo rep) COURT TRANSCRIPT: Q: Let's scroll down. So the number we've heard in other evidence is $4 million. And then if you look at the third paragraph there: "The parties will consent to an order to remove all the application and counter-application materials from the court file or to seal the court file." Was the genesis of that notion of sealing the file WCD? A: I -- I don't know.
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ComeOn
Aug 12, 2010 11:53 AM
Part 2 A Primer -- Multi Billion Dollar Company Answers Call
We knock on the door of the Multi Billion dollar company and they have their top people drop everything to meet with us. They write back and forth and work with us over years to get it right. Oh no our two deals are falling apart -- utility deal becoming messy -- too many questions; the land deal hits bad economy, contaminated land HELP MOMMY HELP. Land deal if off to court but we have a friend who sits on both side of this deal he will speak to son and fix it. All is well the big company is handing $4 million to son without big company's partner being allowed to take it to court. You know now that I see this in front of me it makes perfect sense and there is no way it could possibly be seen as an abuse of office. Now lets try looking at it without the tinfoil wrapped tightly around my head --- Abuse. Does anyone think he or she could have landed the deal Peter did for WCD? Even Hazel's old pals see that this is a political liability set to go off like a bomb.
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ComeOn
Aug 12, 2010 11:46 AM
Wow How To Get A Deal Like This -- A Primer
First, do not file a tax return for many many years. Now have your real estate lic lapse a few times. Oh, ya make sure your Ma is the Mayor -- that's a big one. Have no record of building a multi million dollar hotel. Show up to meeting dressed as a cowboy -- Doc Holiday style. Now that we have our credentials lets pick a Random company. Hey what about one where our Mom is negiotiating the sale of a portion of the local hydro utility. We knock and their door. cont'd
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The Mississauga Muse
Aug 12, 2010 9:05 AM
CONTINUED BY MR. CLIFFORD LAX: ...And this is a message that you left for the Mayor indicating: "I just watched the show. You
did a great job. Not one call on the issue. That tells you the public are not bothered by this. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Good job on the show." Do you recall what show you were referring to? A: That would be the Mayor's monthly television program, her -- her Mayor's Hour on Rogers. Q: And the issue, I take it, that you were referring to was the issue raised in a Toronto Star article...: All right. And is this the issue that you were referring to when you said that the Mayor had done a great job on her television show? A: I believe so, yes. Q: And that the fact that nobody had called the show about this potential conflict of interest was an indication that there was no real public interest in this matter? A: That would have been my -- my message to her, yes.
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The Mississauga Muse
Aug 12, 2010 8:55 AM
Testimony of City Solicitor Mary Ellen Bench (who took meticulous notes) while Dave O'Brien documented ZIP
BENCH: ...Because this was the -- the first indication that I had that Peter was involved in this deal and, under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, the interests of a child are -- are covered. He had a -- a definite pecuniary interest if he was a principal in WCD. Q: So did you take it to be the case that even if the Mayor hadn't voted, that her involvement put her in a position of conflict, apart from -- apart from voting, if I can put it that way? A: Yeah. The Municipal Conflict of Interest Act is -- is fairly clear in terms of its application and it's, excuse me, essentially inside of the council chambers and doing things to influence the vote of council, more than it is taking steps to influence at another level. So it was just something that's raised as a concern.
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The Mississauga Muse
Aug 12, 2010 8:19 AM
Yes, indeed, we're expected to believe the individual who's McCallion close friend, trustee of the family trust, involved to the hilt
in all this --AND someone who didn't take a SINGLE note! Let's not forget too that other witnesses (OMERS, City Solicitor, AIMCO) all had notes/records showing they *did* have concerns. All anyone need know is this. Hazel McCallion called a public meeting on January 22, 2010 on Enersource because in the Mayor's words, "to give as much information as possible to the citizens because very little information has been given to them.” At that meeting I asked "where is David O'Brien?" McCallion responded, "He didn’t offer. Nor was he invited." That evening she protected him. Yesterday, O'Brien covered for McCallion. Here's video! www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_Vfa92Bv6s
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