Release of works depot documents delayed

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

The date originally set for the release of approximately 5,000 documents related to the investigation into the purchase of Oshawa’s Consolidated Works Depot has come and gone, but the city’s clerk says it is because the task is much more significant than expected.

The decision follows a recent appeal surrounding information provided to municipal investigator George Rust-D’Eye.

The city hired Rust-D’Eye to analyze claims made by former auditor general Ron Foster into the purchase of the depot property. In his report, Foster claimed the city overpaid for the property and accused the then city manager of influencing the process and threatening the independence of the auditor general’s office.

A group of city residents sought for the release of an computer drive given to Rust D’Eye and other related documents.

City officials initially claimed the computer drive had been deleted, but the group of residents found an email confirming its contents had indeed be backed up.

It was originally planned that the documents would be released on Thursday, Aug. 23, but City Clerk Andrew Brouwer says this was just not achievable for a number of reasons.

“We realized the scope of the records was larger than we anticipated,” he says.

In fact, Brouwer notes that the amount of records that will eventually be released has almost doubled.

Brouwer says the records were “not professionally managed” five years ago, and have to be formatted in a way that would be accessible to the public.

“The city has an interest that the public has a complete understanding of the information when it is available,” he says. “It’s not helpful to release a large amount of records to the public without those be professionally chronicled.”

As of Aug. 23, it was estimated 1,100 staff hours had been put towards preparing the records.

In order to release the documents, the city also has adhere to regulations under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Privacy Act (MFIPPA).

Under the act, the city was ensure that certain confidential and private information is not released with the records.

On top of that, Brouwer says the city clerks department as has the responsibility of planning for the municipal election in October.

“It is very difficult for us to be able to meet both our statutory requirements,” he says.

During an Aug. 15 meeting, council voted to waive solicitor-client privilege related to the document, except for those required to protect the city from potential litigation.

Brouwer concedes that those seeking the records may not welcome this reasoning, and declined to give a concrete release date.

However, he says, “we do take it seriously, we really want to get this information out, but it has to be done correctly.”

One document was released on Aug. 23, a May 16, 2013 report relating to the independence of the city’s since eliminated auditor general position.