In spite of the fact that there is an appeal of the Kingsway Entertainment District (KED) project before the provincial appeals board and the fate of the project is uncertain, Sudbury council recently voted to continue to spend $8.5 million on site preparation.
No one should be surprised that Sudbury council is proceeding to ram this project through in spite of opposition from many quarters. When council ignored the initial taxpayer funded ($300,000) PWC report that advised against the project, it was clear that council was not unbiased nor above board.
According to news reports, Coun. (Gerry) Montpellier stated the opinion that he believes the city is acting illegally (and irresponsibly) in doing the site preparation work.
Section 224 of the Municipal Act states that it is the role of council:
(A) to represent the public and to consider the well being and interests of the municipality.
(E) to maintain the financial integrity of the municipality.
It is wishful thinking by councillors who expressed the opinion that the KED project will ultimately be approved. That is far from a certainty.
Clearly, council is not maintaining the financial integrity nor the well being and interests of the municipality with this decision. Montpellier is correct that this act by Sudbury council is irresponsible and a violation of the Municipal Act.
Frankly the smell of this project is worse than the smell from the adjacent dump.
James Curry
Sudbury