Mississauga Judicial Inquiry

Not many surprises in the report released this morning by Justice Cunningham. Mayor McCallion did not break any laws, which raises real concerns about the existing laws and the current governance structures to protect the citizens of Mississauga against corruption.

The mayor is unapologetic, but forgets that unethical is not the same as illegal. As a society, we try to make our laws consistent with our sense of what is right and wrong, but the circumstances surrounding OMERS and the City's dealings over Enersource and a proposed hotel near Square One show that incidents arise that are legal but not ethical.

Ex-City Manager David O'Brien clearly had a personal pecuniary interest that conflicted with his role as city manager when negotiating the veto by OMERS over Enersource.

Even if Peter McCallion was not the mayor's son, and even if he never actually made any real money on the deal, it is clear that two Friends of Hazel got a sweetheart deal to double their money to serve as the lead developers until a real, qualified developer could be found. Lucky for the McCallion family, they did not personally benefit, but this is cronyism and the only value these developers brought to negotiations with OMERS was that they were backed by the mayor.