| Prior Rules of Procedure |
| Original Applications |
In consultation with counsel for the participants, the Inquiry has scheduled the following dates for the public hearings:
Part I (Collus Share Sale) and Part II (Recreation Facility) of the Inquiry:
In preparation for the public hearings, Inquiry counsel have continued to hold regular meetings with all counsel. The focus of these meetings has been the participants’ ongoing document production, key documents and witnesses. Documents are still outstanding, and the Inquiry has set a deadline of January 8, 2019 for participants to complete this task.
Once all the documents are received, the Inquiry will determine which documents are needed for the public hearings. Counsel to the Inquiry will identify necessary witnesses and prepare statements with those witnesses, so the participants will know what to expect on the hearing days.
Some participants will decline to produce certain documents because of a claim of solicitor client privilege. These privilege claims may require adjudication by an independent decision maker. Inquiry counsel will use this process as required. This will be done before the public hearings.
Kate McGrann has joined the Inquiry as Associate Counsel. She will replace Kirsten Thoreson who has completed her work and whose secondment from the Ontario Securities Commission will end on November 30, 2018. Ms McGrann's biography is here.
Justice Marrocco today issued his decision and reasons for the two applications for additional funding recommendations for Paul Bonwick and Sandra Cooper. A hearing on the issue was held on Monday, October 29, 2018.
The Justice’s decision is here.
A transcript of the proceedings is here.
The Inquiry will hold a status hearing starting on Monday, October 29, 2018 at 1 p.m. If necessary, the hearing will continue on October 30, 2018, at 10 a.m.
The status hearing is being held to require all parties to indicate when their document productions will be complete and to discuss any other logistical issues required to prepare for the public hearings. In addition, participants with pre-hearing motions may bring motions to the Judge with advance notice to all other participants.
The judge will also hear applications submitted by the participants about funding issues.
Since the establishment of the Inquiry, counsel have been interviewing potential witnesses and others who have pertinent information as well as examining thousands of documents.
The status hearing will be held at the Collingwood Town Hall, 97 Hurontario Street, in Collingwood and will be webcast by Rogers Cable. A transcript of the proceedings will be available a day following the hearing.
In preparation for the public hearings, Inquiry counsel have begun meeting and interviewing participants, potential witnesses and others who have information about the subject of the Inquiry. That process started on September 4, 2018.
This important step also involves collecting, organizing and preparing needed documents. This work helps to identify necessary witnesses and focus the public hearings.
During these meetings, some participants have advised that they have thousands of documents relevant to the Inquiry. Some parties have requested additional time to produce documents including one participant which has estimated that it will require an additional two to three weeks to produce its documents.
Other participants have said that they have retained no documents and have nothing to produce. This means that the Inquiry will need to contact people and organizations who may have copies of pertinent documents. These will need to be identified and contacted to locate pertinent documents.
These preparations are a necessary step in advance of the public hearings.
The Inquiry has also been convening regular meetings with all counsel to determine timing, discuss legal issues such as pre-hearing motions and to ask the participants to produce their documents in a timely way. Inquiry counsel will continue these discussions with the participants as documents are received and continue to insist upon input from the participants concerning their readiness to begin the public hearings.
Anyone who has information that they wish to provide to the Inquiry is asked to contact Shelley Fuhre, Executive Director to the Inquiry at sfuhre@collingwoodinquiry.ca or Inquiry Counsel, Janet Leiper at jleiper@collingwoodinquiry.ca.
The Inquiry Judge has released his decision on participation and on the further progress of the Inquiry.
The Inquiry will be divided into three parts:
Part I will deal with the sequence of events leading to the transaction, the corporate relationships and the impact of the Town's 50% share sale of Collingwood Utility Services Corporation to PowerStream Inc.
Part II will consider the sequence of events leading to the allocation of the proceeds, the payment of fees or benefits and the impact of the recreational facility construction.
Part III will consider broader policy and good governance issues arising from the findings related to both transaction.
Participation rights vary according to the interests of the participants.
