The Toronto Parking Authority board has been suspended without pay after city council voted to review a contentious land deal it was involved in.
Councillors debated the matter at city council Thursday afternoon after the mayor moved a motion to have the city manager take over the TPA until a full review into the matter is concluded.
The mayor argued the board should step aside to allow a full review while acknowledging that at this point, there is no evidence of any wrongdoing by any board member.
City council agreed and also backed another motion which asked for the matter to be referred to the city’s integrity commissioner.
The request for a review comes after the city’s auditor general determined that the price the TPA was offering for a property in North York was more than $2.5 million over its market value.
In March 2016, city council asked the TPA to purchase a property at Finch Avenue and Arrow Road so it could be used for a parking lot and bike sharing stations that would be built to serve riders of the Finch Avenue LRT.
By August of that year, the TPA had agreed to purchase the property for $12.1 million but board member and city councillor John Filion soon grew concerned with the purchase price and alerted Auditor General Beverly Romeo-Beehler.
Romeo-Beehler conducted an investigation into the deal and determined that the actual market value of the property was approximately $9.5 million.
Romeo-Beehler wrote in her report that the TPA did not properly estimate the value of a digital sign on the property, relying on the expertise of a consultant who made assumptions that a second digital sign could be able to be erected on the property – a move not currently allowed by the Ministry of Transportation.
As a result, Romeo-Beehler found the sign was actually only worth $1.55 million rather than the $4.5 million value the TPA touted.
Furthermore, it was revealed that the sign consultant was used by the TPA worked with a lobbyist who also represented the owner of the property.
That lobbyist had represented the sign consultant on 200 occasions since 2011.
On Thursday, city council also voted to have the lobbyist registrar take a closer look at the consultant and lobbyist’s role in the matter.
With files from CP24.com reporter Chris Fox.
