Thread by @jchianello

@KatePorterCBC @dianedeans Deans is giving staff and the outside lawyer Geoff Gilbert the gears. Can you keep drafting the contract and still give council and the public two more weeks to consider the deal? #ottnews

@KatePorterCBC @dianedeans I see Gilbert isn't using his "rubber knife" metaphor right now. Emotions are running high this morning, as they should be with so much money on the line. #ottnews

@KatePorterCBC @dianedeans Treasurer Marian Simulik says if the province refuses outright to provide funding, "This project is dead....we can't make up that $1 billion." #ottnews

@KatePorterCBC @dianedeans Deans: "Council has a metaphorical gun to its head, and being asked to vote for a pig and a poke.....we all remember Orgaworld....I believe it's in the public interest to delay this vote." #ottnews

@KatePorterCBC @dianedeans Now Coun. @RickChiarelli, who said an audit of Phase 1 recommended that "we not let this happen again." Public doesn't have information it needs early enough. And oversight is a priority for everyone who's been elected here. #ottnews

@KatePorterCBC @dianedeans @RickChiarelli "In the end, we're responsible for the decision and for the decision being right," says Chiarelli. And if don't have enough time to make sure it's right, responsible for getting more time. #ottnews

@KatePorterCBC @dianedeans @RickChiarelli Councillors' responsibilities mean sometimes having awkward conversations, or standing up to "corporate momentum," says Chiarelli. #ottnews

@KatePorterCBC @dianedeans @RickChiarelli Coun. @cmckenney asks NRF has worked for SNC-Lavalin as recently as the summer. Gilbert says his client here is the city of Ottawa. Norton Rose Fulbright is a large firm and has represented all the proponents at some time. #ottnews

@KatePorterCBC @dianedeans @RickChiarelli @cmckenney Mayor @JimWatsonOttawa shuts down this VERY INTERESTING line of questioning. McKenney wrapping up on deferral (which will fail). #ottnews

@KatePorterCBC @dianedeans @RickChiarelli @cmckenney @JimWatsonOttawa "The public is asking us to make sure that we have enough time...to make this decision." says McKenney. #ottnews

@KatePorterCBC @JimWatsonOttawa Now Watson on deferral. Any delay risks the closing of the bid, and the price going up. He also says councillors who wanted to defer didn't even try to get support from other councillors. #ottnews

@KatePorterCBC @JimWatsonOttawa Apparently Watson thinks you can't vote for deferral and then vote for Stage 2 report. I don't see how these are mutually exclusive. #ottnews

@KatePorterCBC @JimWatsonOttawa Watson also says that the majority of public supports Stage 2. That's likely true, but there's a lot of public support is seems for a 2-week delay as well. See @OttawaCitizen editorial and op-ed pages....#ottnews

We're onto the debate of the actual report of the LRT Stage 2. This will pass with no problem, but likely many questions. So far, no motions. #ottnews

Coun. @TimTierney asks what happens if, worse-case scenario, SNC-Lavalin -- which is the preferred bidder for the Trillium Line extension -- ends up bankrupt. Swail says the city would contract SNC's work to some other company, the way it did with the Vimy Bridge. #ottnews

@TimTierney Here's Tierney's question on the Citadis Spirit trains. The 38 trains required for Stage 2have already been purchased and should be ready for 2021. (Actually, 2 had to be borrowed for Stage 1 to replace a couple of duds.) #ottnews

Coun. @tm_kavanagh wants to know if traffic-calming and other connectivity issues are being paid for out of LRT2 budget and not "regular" budget. #ottnews

@tm_kavanagh John Manconi agrees with Kavanagh. City is committed to "multi-modal" transportation. That will be figured out during construction, and whether it's in the scope of budget. (But in LRT1, some of these measures ended up being more $$. Like Scott Street bus detours.) #ottnews

Menard asks if SNC-Lavalin is found guilty and is banned from federal contracts, does that threatened federal money in LRT? No. (I actually checked this fact with PSPC - took them days to answer!!!) #ottnews

Menard moves for council to move into committee of the whole, because he'd like to ask more questions, but his five minutes are up and he's not allowed to get back on the speakers' list under council rules. 13 yeas to 6 nays....including @JimWatsonOttawa! #ottnews

@JimWatsonOttawa I am surprised by the vote, but it's a good one. For something this huge, councillors should be able to have more than 5 minutes for comments and questions. #ottnews

Meehan asks about SNC-Lavalin....sure, city and its procurement team has screened the company, but is sure that was the case with other controversial SNC-Lavalin projects as well. #ottnews

Swail says he can only speak to this process. Says the process under which SNC-Lavalin won the bid was "diligent and fair." #ottnews

The amount of city debt being taken on for LRT2 is $1.6B - $700M higher than previously planned. At interest rates between 3.5 and 4.75%....could mean $1B in interest over the 30-year life of the borrowing. #ottnews

Also, transit levy must be at LEAST 3% each year for the financing of LRT2 to work. (Actually, the transit levy proposed for the 2019 budget is 3.5% - which council will be voting on later today!) #ottnews

Meehan asks about the train going under Limebank and that she's been told it would be cheaper for train to go above the road. Swail says the contract allows for builder to do whichever is cheaper, so could change. Only issue is that Limebank is an end-of-the-line station #ottnews

Deans: Is SNC-Lavalin a client of NRF?
Gilbert: Yes, am sure that's the case.
Deans: Have you declared this conflict?
Gilbert: Everyone from NRF went through conflict screening. #ottnews

Deans asks about the technical scoring for the bidders. In all four technical categories, had to score 70%.
How did the Trillium bidders score? #ottnews

Correction: Deans asks if all proponents reach the 70% threshold.
Swail says he can't share that information because it's confidential. He seems to not want to say yes or no. #ottnews

Swail says evaluations were sent to the executive steering committee and were "screened through." He won't say if SNC-Lavalin reached the 70%.
Deans: "You're not giving me any confidence."
#ottnews

Deans asks Michael Morgan if he was one of the technical scorers. Gilbert says no one is supposed to say who's on the technical evaluation team. #ottnews

Deans asks if council can go in camera to get the answers to the questions about the technical scoring, because city solicitor says shouldn't say more in public. #ottnews

Deans says okay, let's go in camera because she wants the answer to this. And wants assurance that councillors have access to the scores after the contract is signed. NO! #ottnews

.@CBCOttawa asks for the evaluation scores of all the bidders -- just the numbers -- and was told by the city that I could not see them. Shouldn't the winning bidder have the best score? And why can't we see them? #Ottnews

How is city council supposed to make a decision on the largest project in Ottawa's history without a clear answer whether SNC-Lavalin met the 70% technical threshold. #ottnews

Leiper has tried another time. Swail says met requirements but has NOT said SNC mete 70%. #ottnews

McKenney asks if there's any way that a bidder could win if it did not meet the 70% threshold. Lawyer Gilbert is dancing....can't answer. #ottnews

McKenney: We can't even know whether a winning proponent could have not met the technical threshold. #ottnews

Now Chiarelli asks if there was any direction to re-score any of the bids. Gilbert won't answer. #ottnews

How many of the evaluation team members or anyone overseeing the process would have had a connection with SNC-Lavalin? #ottnews

There was screening and no, no one had a conflict, according to Oliver Grant of P3 Advisors, the fairness advisor for the LRT2 procurement. #ottnews

Gilbert of NRF says its NOT UP TO COUNCIL to look at any scores. Just trust us, he says. #ottnews

Oh good. Now it turns out Deloitte also represents SNC-Lavalin, just like the city's outside law firm, Norton Rose Fulbright. They ARE both large firms, so it's different branches of the firm represent different clients. #ottnews

Am back covering council after a quick update on the LRT2 discussion, which has taken QUITE A TURN, with Coun. @dianedeans suggesting that SNC-Lavalin did not meet the 70% technical requirement. NO ONE will confirm that they did. Have never seen anything like this. #ottnews

Coun. @cmckenney said this is the most difficult decision for her since she's been elected. She "reluctantly" supports Stage 2 and hopes that she doesn't regret taking staff's advice. #ottnews

.@JLeiper says he doesn't have all the facts. "It is a measure of the trust that I am putting in you....that I am willing to make that leap of faith" and vote on Stage 2. #ottnews

Mayor @JimWatsonOttawa now makes some final comments on the historic LRT Stage 2 vote. Wants to get to Stittsville and Barrhaven in Stage 3. #ottnews

The vote on the $4.66-billion LRT Stage 2: approved in a 19 to 3 vote. Councillors @dianedeans @RickChiarelli and @ShawnMenard1 voted against the project. #ottnews

We're now onto the $3.4-billion operating budget.....mayor doesn't see why we need a 10 minute break. Pressing on! #ottnews

Everything is going to fast that I can barely keep up. @OttawaPolice budget is passed (where it somehow has to find saving in OT, which it NEVER does), as is the budget for @opl_bpo. #ottnews

Coun. @glengower moves a motion about freezing transit fees longer "in the unlikely event" that LRT1 is delayed past June 30 at the transit commission instead of budget. "They unlikely event"??? We'll see. #ottnews

Now. Coun. @tm_kavanagh would like to freeze the transit fares beyond July 1 for vulnerable groups. It passes....#ottnews

Coun. @dianedeans now brings up that the 2018 budget approved $849K for mayor's office budget, but he actually SPENT $912K. She brought it up at FEDco meeting, and wanted to know if treasurer had answer as to how that happened. #ottnews

Apparently mayor forgot to table water and sewer budget. Done and done. Passed. #ottnews