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economist sunsuntribune justice saturday dec 6 2003 mould removal tops provincial auditor questions why project not retendered by usa queen staff writer tackling a massive mould infes tation at the newmarket courthouse cost taxpayers almost 100 times the original estimate while construction contracts were awarded without fol lowing standard procedures accord ing to the assistant provincial audi tor fen mccarter red flagged the 23- million bill in the annual auditor generals report to the ontario gov ernment released last week not only was the amount 92 times more than the 250000 origi nally budgeted for the work but tax payers also ended up on the hook for another 20 million to relocate court operations to trailers in m parking lot when repairs went on for months longer than expected the costs and scope of the remedial work were significantly underestimated throughout the life of this project mr mccarter said in his investigation we noted that the majority of contracts for both the remedial work and the relocation to temporary accommodations were awarded without following competitive selec tion procedures the costs and scope of the remedial wqrk were significantly underestimated throughout the life of this project karen ras spokesperson for the ontario realty corporation the gov ernment body that maiiagesproper- itiestiwned by the prqvinpsand over- s5rep2urs at the cpurihouse defended costs v j she argued the corporation was forced to respond immediatelyto 27 health and safety orders issued by the ministry of labour l 0 mould was discovered in the c6urfll6use in march 2000 the building was closed in june of that year after seyeral occupants of the building including judges lawyers support staff and prisoners fell ill with ailments mcluding headaches dizziness and rashes- some victims were even taken to hospital by ambulance but repair work slated to take a few weeks in the summer of 2000 stretched out for a year this was considered an emer gency situation said ms ras adding costs increased incremental ly as workers realized the extent of the mould infestation we did not have the luxury of going out to tender this situation was an emergency situation this is not the standard way we operate it would have been a lot cheaper to tear down and rebuild from scratch i think ms ras said the corporation hired a cost consultant and a quality sur veyor to review construction invoic es to ensure taxpayers were getting good value for their money she also said the corporation takes the auditors report seriously and welcomes any suggestions mr mccarter offers but at the same time she would not rule out the corporation making similar arrangements if forced to deal with another government prop erty in an emergency situation in the future in his report mr mccarter dis missed excuses the crisis justified allowing costs to snowball while he notes efforts were being made to fasttrack repairs to disrupt court operations as little as possible mr mccarter stressed better plan ning of the project should have been imperative such planning would allow for better and more predictable deci sionmaking prior to commencing capital projects and during the entire life of the projects and would ensure apprdpriate competitive pro curement practices are followed pauline tapping york region vicepresident arid an executive boaid member of the ontario public service employees union is appalled costs spiralled out of con trol and standard procedures for awarding contracts werent followed the government wanted a quick fix said ms tapping who believes provincial politicians were worried powerful judges crown attorneys and defence lawyers would make waves if the mould problems werent addressed immediately t would have been a lot cheaper to tear down and rebuild from scratch i think 0f course im not a instruction worker but now the taxpayers in yo region have that butiden staff photobill roberts assistant provincial auditor jim mccarter red flagged the 23nuuion bill fpr a massive mould infes tation at the newmarket courthouse in the annual auditor generals report released last week more judges crown attorneys to taekie coiirt backlog by jeff mitchell staff writer measures including new hires and an annual blitz have helped chip away at the backlog of cases at newmarkets courthouse accord ing to the head crown attorney while he wouldnt release spe cific numbers bob mccreary said york region is faring better than other jurisdictions where charges are in danger of being tossed out because of delays bringing them to court right now we are in the range of about six months from set date to trial date thats acceptable mr mccreary said the issue of court backlogs arose again last week when a provincial auditors report showed the number of cases on the books for eight mpnths or longer in ontario has grown from 60000 in 1997 to 100000 today charges lingering for months risk being dismissed courts have been onnotice to hold timely hear ings since the landmark askpv case of 1990 in which the supreme court of canada ruled a man who waited more than two years for trial had been denied justice that ruling saw thousands of pending cases dismissed its a question of better managing the sheer number of cases we have bob mccreary head crown attorney for york region the court also ruled in 1992 darlene morina woman who waited 14 months to be tried on an impaired driving charge had been subjected to excessive delays ontario attorney general michael bryant has announced plans to hire new judges and crown attorneys as a means of tackling the backlog four of those new crpwns will be sent to newmarket bringing the cornple ment in york region to 31 also helpin g clear up case lists are annual blitzes that see space in the finch avenue courthouse set aside for york cases the most recent blitz occurred over three rhontiis this spring mr mccreary said our backlog situation is under control he said were pretty optimistic jm of course its hot simply a mat ter of staffing cases aire becoming more complex and those caught up in the justice system are often not represented by lawyers which can result in delays those elements require case management by the crowns office to avoid having the entire system bog down mr mccreary said were talking about the way we screen our cases the way we make decisions on what cases we are going to make a priority he said its a question of better managing the sheer number of cases we have vgjgfex rngf i book for n0ftty7eam specials at lal li f-r- ukiml your neighbourhood bar grill seniors discount 15 receive a four cheese spinach j jdip ipith a purr 1 chase of two reg- j ular priced j entrees limit one 1 per table j expires feb 12 2004 1 valid only at 7710 martham road