A consultant hired by the City of Edmonton to investigate allegations that the drainage department was not well run has given the system a passing grade.
The consultant was hired shortly after Edmonton City Council voted against letting EPCOR run Edmonton’s drainage department. Mayor Stephen Mandel, who was in favour of bringing EPCOR aboard, accused drainage officials of being poor managers and not giving complete information to the council.
But the report, presented to the council December 12th, backed up the utility. It went even further, saying drainage was not only well run, keeping it in city hands was the best decision the council could have made.
“Three times the council has examined this issue in the last decade, and three times they have come to the conclusion that drainage belongs with the city,” said CUPE Local 30 President Alex Grimaldi. “This report is just another document on an already tall pile saying the same thing: public utilities belong under public control.”