NRP to turn over bridge investigation
Niagara Regional Police Chief Jeff McGuire says he will hand over a probe into the findings of a Niagara Region audit report of the Burgoyne Bridge project to Ontario Provincial Police.
In a letter sent to members of the police services board Monday and in a news release, McGuire said while he is confident NRP officers could conduct a “full, fair and impartial” investigation, he will nonetheless accept a request from the board to hand the probe over to an external police service.
“I want to be very clear that I have every confidence in the skills and abilities of the NRPS and in particular Det. Sgt. Paul Spiridi,” the chief wrote. “That said, I concede that it is possible that due to the amount of public attention this matter is receiving, a perception of conflict may be held by some.”
The chief’s decision follows last week’s motion unanimously passed by police board members requesting McGuire send the case to the OPP or the RCMP.
Niagara’s regional council recently received a draft copy of a forensic audit report by Deloitte Canada on the over-budget Burgoyne Bridge project.
The draft report has not been made public.
Last week, council approved a motion to release a redacted version of the final report to the public, which is expected to happen sometime in March.
The police services board motion says the audit identified “several matters which Deloitte recommends should be subject of further investigation by law enforcement authorities.”
The motion said NRP officers deal with regional politicians and staff on a regular basis, potentially creating conflicts of interest.
The NRP investigation into the contents of the audit report was less than a day old when the board asked McGuire to pass it on.
In his news release, McGuire said Spiridi received the final version of the audit report on Wednesday, Feb. 27, shortly before 4 p.m. Shortly before 10 a.m. Thursday morning, the board passed its motion.
McGuire said he has no doubt Spiridi could do the investigation, but acceded to the board’s request to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest.
The chief said he will ask OPP Commissioner Vince Hawkes to take on the investigation.
Board chair Bob Gale said he believed an NRP investigation into the audit report “was a nowin situation for our service,” given the frequent professional contact between NRP officers and regional personnel, including the three members of regional council who sit on the service board.
“If there is a perception of conflict, then there is a conflict,” Gale said in an interview Monday afternoon.
Gale said he was pleased McGuire decided to pass the probe onto the OPP, and urged Niagara citizens and organizations to co-operate with the investigation.
Regional council began its inquiry into the bridge project last spring by ordering a value-formoney audit after the costs of the bridge reconstruction ballooned by tens of millions of dollars from the original estimate.
Council then asked for the forensic audit May 19, 2016, after suspicions arose of possible “fiduciary impropriety” related to the project following an anonymous tip.
The project began with an estimated total cost of $59 million. The final cost has surpassed $90 million.