City manager lashes out at TDSB over ‘baseless and irresponsible’ allegations in $90M lawsuit

By Lucas Casaletto, John Chidley-Hill of The Canadian Press

Toronto’s City Manager isn’t holding back as the back-and-forth between officials and the Toronto District School Board continued Thursday; a day after the TDSB launched a lawsuit against the city, the province and local police over a fire that destroyed a high school two years ago.

Among the damning claims made by the TDSB, they allege negligence allowed a small blaze to erupt into a much larger one that gutted York Memorial Collegiate Institute in Etobicoke in May 2019.

Legal documents filed on Wednesday show the board is seeking $90 million in damages in connection with the fire at the historic school.

In an unproven statement of claim, the board alleges firefighters failed to completely extinguish a small fire in the school’s auditorium on May 6, 2019, allowing flames to erupt again the next day and eventually destroy the building.

The school board alleges that because Toronto police and firefighters suspected that the initial fire may have been arson, the school’s auditorium was sealed off as a potential crime scene.

The suit notes that the evacuated building was in full custody of the police, firefighters, and the Ontario Fire Marshal after the first small fire and alleges the defendants failed to control and supervise the scene, leading to the catastrophic damage to the school.

The TDSB also spoke out against fire chief Matthew Pegg, which caught the ire of City Manager Chris Murray, who on Thursday, issued a letter to Interim Director of Education at TDSB, Karen Falconer.

“I am compelled to express my extreme disappointment in the baseless and irresponsible allegations made against Fire Chief Matthew Pegg,” said Murray.

“I am also appalled at the calculated public release of the claim yesterday by the TDSB, which contained these allegations. In my view, this could have only been intended to cause unwarranted harm for some undisclosed strategic benefit.”

The City of Toronto said in a separate statement that it plans on fighting the case.

“Staff took all appropriate steps to preserve evidence, and allegations in the claim that suggest otherwise are patently untrue and irresponsible,” it said.

“It is unconscionable that the TDSB and its insurers would impugn the integrity of Fire Chief Matthew Pegg and other Toronto Fire Services staff in this manner.”

Murray doubled down on that in his letter to Falconer.

“We ask you to consider the harm caused to Chief Pegg’s reputation by the false claims of misfeasance advanced in your lawsuit,” said Murray.

“We also ask that you reconsider maintaining those claims and consider whether a public apology is owing to Chief Pegg.”

Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor General said it wouldn’t comment on the case as it was before the courts. The Toronto Police Services Board did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Falconer said in a statement that the school board and its insurers had hoped to resolve the matter outside court but were left with no choice but to take legal action.

Falconer said that the school board will rebuild the school regardless of the outcome of the legal proceeding. She noted that the cost of the ongoing rebuild is covered by the TDSB’s insurer, who filed the legal action with the board in an effort to recover its policy payments and additional costs.

“Our focus remains on supporting the 900 students and staff that were sadly displaced by the fire two years ago,” said Falconer.

According to the TDSB, the school was built in memory of those killed in the First World War and opened in 1929. It held a number of artifacts from the First World War.

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