NCC's bill for failed LeBreton deal reaches $2M

The National Capital Commission (NCC) has spent nearly $2 million on the LeBreton Flats redevelopment project that's now dead in the water.

According to documents obtained by Radio-Canada under the Access to Information Act, just more than $1 million was paid in salaries and benefits to NCC employees working on the project between April 2016 and December 2018.

Those employees include real estate development experts, property administrators, various advisors and the NCC's in-house legal team, the latter receiving about $191,000.

Nearly $880,000 was spent on other costs, including:

• Travel expenses for meeting to consult with First Nations.
• Advertising, marketing and communications.
• Peer reviews and expert advice.
• Translation services.

And in addition to its own lawyers, the NCC spent more than $410,000 on an outside legal team, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, to "provide additional legal services" on the project.

Radio-Canada did not hear from the law firm about their work. 

Eugene Melnyk and John Ruddy, the partners behind RendezVous LeBreton Group, which won the bid to redevelop LeBreton Flats, launched lawsuits against each other late last year. They were given a 30-day extension to work out an agreement on the project.

Those discussions failed to reach a deal, the NCC announced Wednesday.

In an email, NCC spokesperson Jean Wolff said that on a project of this size, it's normal to have to acquire external expertise. 

He said the commission conducted numerous consultations, including with the Algonquin First Nation and the City of Ottawa, because they expected the project to go ahead.

'It's an unfortunate waste of money'

6 years ago

Duration 0:24

Aaron Wudrick, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, says no more public money should be spent on the LeBreton Flats development project.

'An unfortunate waste of money'

Aaron Wudrick, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, called it "an unfortunate waste of money.

"This is a project we want to see developed, but to spend $2 million and have no project go forward is very disappointing," he said.

"At this point, I think the NCC needs to step back, turn off the taps, and let the private sector parties sort it out.... I think it would be better to wait for the right project that is developed with private money than try to get taxpayer money involved."

The NCC's board of directors is holding a meeting Thursday to discuss the failure of the Rendezvous LeBreton parties to reach a deal, and another on March 7 will "finalize the elements of a new process for the future redevelopment of LeBreton Flats," the NCC said.