Since the Integrity Commissioner (IC) regime was imposed on Elliot Lake and all other Ontario municipalities by the provincial government, the city has contracted for IC services with Robert Swayze, expertise for municipalities (E4m), and Cunningham Swann LLP - Tony Fleming. Swayze was the first hire, and after trying the two other firms, Elliot Lake is back with the GTA-based lawyer Swayze.
In addition to the IC function, law firms used by the city beginning in 2018 through the present include Aird and Berlis LLP, Cassells Brock and Blackwell LLP, and Wishart Law for various purposes.
The only firm no longer doing business with the city is Wishart Law of Sault Ste. Marie.
Two thousand nineteen was the first year that IC activity came into play, as dozens of complaints were logged in Elliot Lake.
In her report for Tuesday's meeting of Elliot Lake city council, treasurer Amy Sonnenberg listed yearly legal expenditures for the council's consideration.
For comparison, 2018 expenditures were $122,644. They ballooned to $357,914 in 2019, $458,361 in 2020, and eased back a little to $340,590 in 2021, and $167,425 so far in 2022.
Those figures relate to all services rendered by the law firms for the fiscal years and year to date this year, not just their code of conduct and IC work.
That total for 2018 to the present is $1,450,923.
Sonnenberg also broke down city legal costs specifically for conflict of interest investigation for Coun. Pearce and Patrie, investigations of code of conduct and conflict of interest and IC reports and general council relations.
Those billings total $858,644 for the five years, from 2018 to 2022.
They do exist, but because of solicitor/client privilege, the city is not permitted to produce statements of account and billings from individual lawyers and legal firms to justify the figures asked for by the council.
Even if the city waived its privilege, the lawyers and legal entities would still retain their right to confidentially, blocking the release.
The figures compiled by Sonnenberg were produced after the council unanimously voted to seek a full accounting of Elliot Lake IC legal costs at its last meeting, on a motion from Coun. Pearce.
The Tuesday meeting of the council, where they'll be up for discussion, will be livestreamed on the city's website at 7 p.m.