Ottawa city council silent on integrity breaches in playground report

City councillorsreceived a report from Ottawa's integrity commissioner on Wednesday that says there were major breaches to Ottawa's lobbying rules in the lead up to the announcement of a new playground in Mooney's Bay Park.

• Sinking Ship broke lobbying rules for Mooney's Bay playground: integrity commissioner
• Ottawa councillors shut down bid to halt Mooney's Bay playground

Integrity Commissioner Robert Marleaudid not verbally present his report, nor did councillors ask a single question about the contentious file.

Marleau's report says Sinking Ship Entertainment failed to register as a lobbyist and that city staff failed to check if the TV production company had registered.

City senior staff appeared not to have realized they were being lobbied, even though the for-profit television production company was looking for almost $1 million in public money to build the playground.

The report also revealed that staff suggested "a work around" when the project did not fit the city's existing processes and policies.

Marleau's report outlines email and phone calls between city staff and producers at Sinking Ship, starting Jan. 5, 2016.

"It occurs to me that Sinking Ship is likely a for-profit company? It may create a problem with my partnership funding program but there are some possible work around [sic]," wrote Kevin Wherry, the acting manager of recreation planning and facility development.

He then suggested TVO could "front the application" since the company was applying funding from a community improvement program that asks for not-for-profit applicants.City staff should have realized that they were being lobbied at that point,Marleauwrote in the report.