Prince George city council has released a statement regarding its review of the George Street Parkade project following recent criticism of the investigation.
Council held a closed-door meeting Tuesday night (March 30) to discuss the investigation after the Prince George Citizen published a series of articles detailing city emails obtained through a Freedom of Information request, known as an FOI, regarding cost overruns from the parkade.
The project was approved in 2018 for an original cost of $12.6 million, but associated costs have now put it at more than $34 million.
Following the discovery of the full cost of the parkade project in December 2020, at the end of January 2021, the city announced it would begin a full legal investigation into the cost overruns.
In today’s (March 31) announcement, the city says this review has been underway for two months and council anticipates sharing the results with residents by the end of April 2021.
“Council appreciates and shares the interest of the citizens of Prince George in this matter," reads the statement.
"It is important for citizens to understand what happened, why it happened, and what we are doing to make sure it does not happen again. Council also thanks residents for their patience while this thorough and comprehensive review is completed.”
It also says the City of Prince George is undertaking the following actions:
- Legal review of the parkade project to understand fully where it went wrong and why and to provide recommendations for processes to ensure this does not happen again
- Legal review of current delegated authority, including the revised Sustainable Finance Guidelines, to ensure it is accurate and to minimize the risk to the City
- Development of a whistleblower policy that ensures all city employees and elected officials have a clear, confidential roadmap to bring their concerns forward
- Options for an internal or external auditor to review capital project processes
“We want to reiterate that Council is committed to sharing the results of these actions with the residents of Prince George. City Council is committed to rebuilding the trust that residents have placed in us,” concludes the statement.
