CITY DEPOT WAS USED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING

Public Servant Charged After Security Alerted; Marijuana, Scale Found In
City Building

A municipal public servant has been charged after police descended on a
city traffic signal and sign depot that was being used to distribute marijuana.

Acting on a complaint, police arrested a man on Jan. 20 at 175 Loretta
Ave., near Preston Street and Gladstone Avenue, where city traffic signals
are maintained, pavement marking equipment is stored and road signs are
painted and built.

The arrest came after an investigation by city corporate security and
police began in mid-December into a drug operation.

Upon hearing of the internal tip, Mike Flainek, the director of traffic and
parking operations, informed corporate security, and police were brought in.

"We take these situations very seriously," Mr. Flainek said yesterday.

The investigation was the first of its kind in the amalgamated
municipality's history, city spokesman Michael FitzPatrick said.

The city made no public mention of the situation previously, despite the
fact the arrest was made almost eight weeks ago.

Municipal officials were reluctant to discuss the situation, citing
employee confidentiality.

City security chief Bob Gauvreau said a substantial quantity of marijuana
was found at the depot, as was a scale.

Robert Lamoreaux has been charged with possession of marijuana for the
purposes of trafficking. He has a court date for March 30.

Mr. Flainek said Mr. Lamoreaux no longer works for the city. He declined to
elaborate on the reason for his departure.

The situation at Loretta Avenue is the second instance of problems at a
city installation to come to light in the last few days. In both
situations, the city did not reveal the difficulties until they were
discovered by the media.

Last week, it was revealed that the municipality had kept under wraps that
an employee in a vital position at the Lemieux Island Water Filtration
Plant was fired and accused of having alcohol on his breath while on duty.
The dismissal took place at least eight months ago.

Lemieux Island and the Britannia plant pump most of the drinking water for
Ottawa's 833,000 inhabitants.

Again, city staff cited employee confidentiality as the reason the
information was not revealed to the public.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 503, is grieving the dismissal.

Some councillors were concerned about the problem at Lemieux Island
following the drinking water tragedy in Walkerton.

They were also worried that Ottawa's elected officials were not informed
about something so important to the health of the community.

The water system in the Lemieux Island incident was not compromised, staff
said.

Bay Ward Councillor Alex Cullen asked city manager Kent Kirkpatrick for
more information on the Lemieux Island situation yesterday.

"We need a fuller explanation of these issues than received so far," Mr.
Cullen said in a memo to Mr. Kirkpatrick.