FOI released this week shines light on correspondance between CAO and Collus CEO

By Andrew Philips Barrie Examiner

COLLINGWOOD — The saga surrounding Collingwood’s controversial decision to sell half of its utility several years ago adds another chapter Thursday.

As a mammoth freedom of information (FOI) report shines a steady spotlight on nearly year-long correspondence between Collingwood CAO John Brown and former town acting CAO and current Collus PowerStream Corp. CEO Ed Houghton, council will hear from a solicitor charged with studying how the town can best move forward with its energy file during a meeting Thursday in council chambers, beginning at 2 p.m.

Collus Power, a municipal electrical distribution company, was solely owned by the town until it sold 50% ownership to PowerStream back in 2012, creating Collus in a deal worth a reported $14 million.

While the 170-page FOI request released recently has a number of redacted pages, it seems to illustrate the frustration Brown faced after taking over the town’s top role and his quest to try to track down documents relating to the sale.

“I was trying to get the town’s copies,” said Brown, who has worked with other municipalities in the past and noted such documents are normally kept in the clerk’s office, but that wasn’t the case in Collingwood.

But after nearly a year’s back-and-forth with Houghton via email, Brown said during an interview earlier this week that he’s now confident he has all of the materials pertinent to the sale.

The FOI released by the town contains all of the emails between Brown and Houghton from 2015, including items covering topics such as financing, amendments to the sale, bylaws, authorization of both dividends and debt repayments, and to either amend or enter into shared-service agreements with Collus and any of its various subsidiaries.

In an email from last April, Brown wrote: “To be totally candid Ed, I am increasingly concerned that the town’s records remain incomplete, and that this would not have been recognized by you long before now.” Later that day, he wrote Houghton again telling him, “The town has no records at all relating to an 8,000,000 dollar transaction,” and asked that the town be provided with these records.

This past February, more than a year after Brown first requested information from Houghton, council voted to allow the town to “acquire needed information” from Collus PowerStream by a five to three margin with Mayor Sandra Cooper, Coun. Mike Edwards and Coun. Kevin Lloyd voting against this direction.

On Wednesday, Houghton said that since the previous council and previous Collus board were involved in the original deal, some of the documents Brown requested had to be tracked down.

“I was happy to provide them with information,” Houghton said, “but some of it we had to look up.”

Houghton says he fully expects the relationship between the two will continue to be fruitful since it provides a good return for ratepayers and some of the province’s lowest utility rates.

As for the legal aspects of the original deal, Houghton said that the town was represented by Aird & Berlis and that Collus Power didn’t need a legal representation because it “didn’t have anything to sell.”

“Collus didn’t have a lawyer, per se, because we were an entity (of the town),” he said, noting PowerStream had its own independent legal team.

Houghton said he understands Brown’s position since he was acting on behalf of the new council that came into power in late 2014 and weren’t involved in the original sale.

“He’s got his job to do and I’ve got my job to do,” he said, pointing out he reports to his company’s board of directors.

Brown, meanwhile, says Thursday’s meeting will provide direction for council with a presentation and recommendations by energy lawyer Mark Rodger, who the town hired last fall.

His report is titled The Collus Family of Companies: History, Orientation, Services Provider Role and “Go Forward” Options.

“It’s not a matter of getting out of the (Collus) deal,” Brown said, adding that as a shareholder, council needs to figure out what is the best option going forward for Collingwood ratepayers.

“The whole (utility) industry is changing rapidly.”

Collingwood resident and Enterprise-Bulletin columnist Steve Berman was the one who sought the FOI in the first place.

“Obviously, the sale of the utility was on everyone’s mind,” said Berman, adding it was interesting to read through the detailed FOI report and notice the frustration Brown seemed to be experiencing.

“Throughout the FOI, he’s not getting information, he’s getting resistance.”

While Berman said the FOI’s contents didn’t particularly shock him, he was impressed by how diligent Brown was throughout the process. “He laid it out almost like a diary.”

Meanwhile, the OPP Anti-Rackets squad is now in its third year of investigating allegations of impropriety tied to certain, undisclosed municipal decisions in Collingwood.

“There have been a number of (external) issues that have protracted our investigation,” said Det-Sgt. Shawn Evans this week, noting that the force would never divulge what the allegations of malfeasance might centre around unless charges are laid under specific sections of the country’s Criminal Code.

“It’s still ongoing. We’re doing our very best to wrap it up.”

Evans wouldn’t say whether the force’s investigation is looking at the Collus sale, only noting that someone from his unit would be at Thursday’s meeting to hear what Rodger has to say, since the presentation involves the sale of the town’s largest asset.

He added: “If I lived in Collingwood, I would certainly attend.”