Ed Houghton has, once again, requested permission from the Collingwood Judicial Inquiry to have his lawyer, Fred Chenoweth, ask the first questions while Houghton is on the witness stand.
Houghton was the CEO of CollusPowerStream and the acting chief administrative officer for the town of Collingwood in 2012/2013.
Houghton submitted an application to the inquiry on Oct. 1 requesting a change in the usual order of examination.
For other witnesses in the inquiry, commission counsel Kate McGrann or John Mather perform the examination-in-chief by asking their questions first followed by the rest of the participants or their counsel.
Houghton would like his lawyer, Chenoweth, to go first while Houghton is on the stand, followed by inquiry counsel and the rest of the participants.
Houghton made the same application, which was granted, for the first half of the inquiry.
This time, as last, his application states he is concerned about the potential prospect of a notice of misconduct being served on him by the commission.
“I wish to have the benefit of full procedural fairness, including the right to have my evidence led by my own counsel,” said Houghton in his statement.
A notice of misconduct is a confidential memo issued to an individual over the course of an inquiry to let them know the commissioner – in the final report at the close of the inquiry – may comment adversely on the conduct of a person, corporation, institution or government in the final report.
The Ontario Public Inquiries Act states the commission cannot conclude there has been a misconduct by a person unless the inquiry provides reasonable notice of the possible finding and a summary of the evidence to support that possible finding.
While the notices are confidential and will typically remain that way, court documents revealed Houghton did receive a notice of possible misconduct.
The court documents are related to a lawsuit filed by Houghton to have Epcor pay his legal fees related to the inquiry since he is the former CEO of CollusPowerStream, of which Epcor is the successor.
Thought the notice was confirmed by the court documents, it is not a confirmation there will be a finding of misconduct against Houghton in the final outcome of the inquiry.
Houghton is listed as a witness in part two of the inquiry. Currently, Richard Dabrus of WDG Architects is on the witness stand, and Sandra Cooper, former mayor of Collingwood will follow him.
The witness list also includes Paul Bonwick, lobbyist, owner of Green Leaf Consulting, and the brother of former mayor Cooper; Pat Mills, a Sprung manufacturers rep; Marjory Leonard, Collingwood’s treasurer; Rick Lloyd, former deputy mayor; and Mel Milanovic, Collingwood’s manager of recreation facilities.
The Collingwood Judicial Inquiry began public hearings in April, with part one focused on the 2012 share sale of Collus. Hearings for part two began in September with a focus on the allocation of the share sale proceeds on two recreation facilities – a pool and an arena – in Collingwood.
Public hearings continue today and Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday next week (Oct. 7-9).
