Watson takes 'full responsibility' for LRT failings in first statement since damning report but also blames RTG

Former Ottawa mayor Jim Watson has issued his first public statement since the release of a scathing report into Stage 1 of LRT. He said he takes 'full responsibility' for the system's shortcomings but did not directly address many of the report's findings.

Former Ottawa mayor Jim Watson has issued his first public statement since the release of a scathing report into Stage 1 of LRT.

The sweeping 637-page final report of the Ottawa LRT public inquiry, released last week, found that both the city of Ottawa and Rideau Transit Group lost sight of the public interest during the project. In particular, it found the conduct of Mayor Jim Watson and senior city staff "irreparably compromised" city council's ability to provide oversight of the project.

In his statement, released Friday, Watson said he read the report upon returning from vacation.

“At the end of the day, I take full responsibility for the project's shortcomings,” he wrote. “Since we started planning the LRT system in 2010, my goal was always to ensure that the City of Ottawa delivered a safe and reliable LRT system. Throughout the years, I have never veered from this objective. That said, the system we purchased did not meet our expectations, and for that I apologize wholeheartedly to the residents of Ottawa and to our transit users in particular.”

The report into the LRT found that Watson had accurate information about the trial running period ahead of the launch of the system in 2019, but failed to provide it to council. Justice William Hourigan also strongly suggested that Watson, former city manager Steve Kanellakos, and former OC Transpo general manager John Manconi misled the commission in their testimony about why council wasn’t told about the suspension of train testing in July 2019.

None of these findings was directly addressed in Watson’s letter.

Despite his admission of responsibility, Watson’s statement also laid blame on the consortium that built and still maintains the Confederation Line, Rideau Transit Group.