Inside Politics

Attention Ontario Provincial Police: Tick, tick, tick ...

by Kady O'Malley Posted: November 22, 2010 8:54 AM Last Updated: November 22, 2010 9:18 AM
That, in case you were wondering, is the sound of the clock running down on a pending request from the gang at Government Operations for the OPP to hand over all of its G8/20 expenses by tomorrow afternoon. During debate on that motion, members from the government side were less than keen on the idea of imposing such a tight turnaround time on the OPP, but when it came time to vote, the opposition -- with the tie-breaking vote of the chair -- ultimately prevailed.  

A bit of possibly relevant context: the Liberals are, of course, utterly convinced that the Conservatives are attempting to protect Vaughan candidate Julian Fantino from any ensuing repercussions from the eventual G8/20 expense reveal, on the grounds that he was, of course, OPP commissioner during the summits, although as government members pointed out repeatedly at the last meeting, the original December 1st deadline was set months before the byelection was called. 

Then again, the fact that the former MP had his eye on the mayor's race wasn't exactly a well-kept secret, but still, it's hard to imagine that even the most Machiavellian PMO strategist could have foreseen this sequence of events. 

 Anyway, if the documents fail to materialize at the appointed hour, the Liberals are prepared to bring forward a motion that would order -- not request -- that the material be delivered by Wednesday, and authorizes the chair to issue a summons to compel the OPP commissioner or deputy commissioner to appear before the committee the following day. Here's the full text of the motion: 

The Hon. Geoff Regan gave notice today of the following motion: "That the Committee orders the Ontario Provincial Police to provide it with the details of all their costs associated with the G8 and G20 Summits, including for goods, services and overtime salaries, providing for each contract (i) the name of the contractor, (ii) a description of the goods or services provided, (iii) the value of the contract, (iv) how the contract was awarded, (v) whether the cost was associated with the G8, G20 or both; that the Committee orders that this information be provided in both electronic and paper form by 2:00pm on Wednesday November 24, 2010; that the Committee also empowers the Chair to take whatever actions are necessary, including the issuance of a summons, to ensure that either the Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police appears before it on Thursday November 25, 2010, to explain the expenses of the OPP as they relate to the G-8 and G-20 summits." Pursuant to the Committee rule on notice requirement, this motion may be moved on Tuesday, November 23, 2010, or at any later date.

Tags: blackberry jungle, g8/20 summit: the aftermath, government operations, hand over the spreadsheets and no one gets summonsed