Dr. Chris Mazza, did speak before an all-party hearing last Wednesday after threats of two legislative warrants. But he has informed the government through his lawyer, Roger Yachetti, that he won’t be back this summer.
The committee requested Mazza return to answer questions surrounding a $6.7-million marketing services agreement with Italian helicopter firm AgustaWestland. The deal is also being investigated by the Ontario Provincial Police.
And since the Legislature has risen for the summer, the probe has few powers to force Mazza to testify.
Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees said Mazza’s undisclosed medical condition is keeping him from returning to the last three days of the hearing next week.
Previously, Mazza, a former emergency room physician, had produced doctor’s notes that have excused him from appearing due to his mental state.
“The subcommittee received a letter from his lawyer, advising the clerk that according to Mazza’s doctor, he is in no condition to return to testify at this point,” Klees told the Star on Thursday.
When Mazza appeared before the committee last week he often seemed physically weak and needed help standing out of his chair. His parents and girlfriend, Kelly Long, rushed to his side to help. Long is a former water ski instructor who rose the corporate ladder to become associate vice-president at ORNGE.
“There are those that feel I have been using my medical condition as a shield to hide . . . all I can say is that they are wrong,” Mazza told the hearing on July 18.
Mazza founded the $150 million a year agency in 2005 and then proceeded to transform it. He created for-profit spinoff companies, made questionable business deals and received eyebrow raising executive perks for the head of a public company. Mazza’s salary, bonus and interest free loans in the most recent year totalled about $2.6 million, the Star has previously reported. Mazza left ORNGE on Dec. 21.
Next Tuesday, Health Minister Deb Matthews will return to testify and on Wednesday, former ORNGE board chair Rainer Beltzner is to appear.
Committee chair Progressive Conservative Norm Miller said once the three days are over, there will be no more hearings until the Legislature resumes in the fall and the committees are reformed.
“The way it stands now, all the committees, just before the Legislature comes back, cease to exist,” Miller said. “I would hope the government would be anxious to keep this work going.”
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Tanya Talaga
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