Renfrew town councillor Jason Legris
The probe into the Ma-te-Way Activity Centre expansion has concluded.
Council met on Tuesday to hear the town’s final statement on the issue, which has included third-party reviews and investigations from both the town and the OPP into the lack of accountability from leadership that led to rushed decisions and massive overspending on the arena renovations since the inquiry first began back in May 2023.
Jason Legris says he and his fellow council members have done as much as possible to point out the lack of oversight of previous councils that led to problems at Ma-te-Way, but their efforts can only go so far now that it is confirmed the matter won’t go to criminal or civil court.
Councillors took turns apologizing to the public for the lingering side effects of the project, including sizable increases to recent tax bills and a lack of trust in local governance, with Andrew Dick noting that residents are notably sour with an apparent lack of consequences.
Reeve Peter Emon, who was part of the council session that began construction on the renovations, reflected that he didn’t ask enough questions of the then senior management team in charge of town matters at the time, pointing out that the lack of coordination or a unified vision for the project led to a poorly executed plan.
Mayor Tom Sidney says while the overall outcome was not ideal, the town now has a top-class facility that regularly hosts programming that is actively enriching the community.
Sidney also suggested a double standard on the criticism he’s faced over the past three years, noting that his decisions as the lead councillor on Ma-te-Way were based on information given to him by the experts leading the project.
He believes the council used a similar explanation to deflect blame towards the experts on the ongoing Stevenson Crescent rehabilitation, which has seen costs double due to their inability to detect clay deposits under the road, which are now causing instabilities.
Council would push back against that statement, reminding Sidney that the road project’s issues stem from issues missed by expert third-party engineers rather than the former recreation director that was put in charge of the Ma-te-way Expansion.
(written by Kasey Egan)
