Toronto council risks plunging the city back into costly scandal if it curtails the work of the three ethics watchdogs, warns a key lawyer from the computer leasing inquiry that rocked city hall in 2005.

David Butt, who helped run the so-called MFP inquiry for commissioner Justice Denise Bellamy, commented in an interview Tuesday on the ombudsman, integrity commissioner and lobbyist registrar roles.

He made the comment as a corruption inquiry in Montreal heard testimony implicating that city’s mayor, and hours before Toronto council voted to extend redoubtable ombudsman Fiona Crean’s contract by only two years — less than half the normal term.

Toronto’s watchdogs “have to have independence, they have to be able to make the tough calls, they have to be able to hold people accountable and that cannot take place, in Justice Bellamy’s view, without a level of independence that ensures you can make fearless decisions,” Butt said.

“Is a part-time retained lawyer who can be fired anytime going to have the requisite independence? That’s certainly not the model that this commission of inquiry recommended.”

Relaxing the ethical vigilance that followed the $19.2-million inquiry, which produced a landmark, 244-recommendation report and sparked creation of the three watchdog positions, is inviting a return to abuses, said the former inquiry co-counsel who spoke out with the consent of the now-retired Bellamy.

“History teaches us that scandals and problems of government arise and then they fall and then rise again. . . . We need to have constant vigilance around all of these issues.”

Called to probe how a $43-million computer leasing contract almost doubled without council authorization, the inquiry exposed a culture of cronyism within former mayor Mel Lastman’s city hall, and evidence of shady dealings between lobbyists, city staff and elected officials.

Last week, Mayor Rob Ford, who has felt the sting of both Crean and integrity commissioner Janet Leiper, argued in favour of collapsing their duties, plus those of lobbyist registrar Linda Gehrke, into one job done by a part-time lawyer on retainer to the city.

Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday told the Star on Friday he wants city staff to review the provincial legislative requirements for both an integrity commissioner and ombudsman to see if the roles could be combined.

Butt, a prominent Toronto lawyer, urged the mayor and council to reacquaint themselves with the inquiry’s findings and recommendations, noting politicians set the example for the city’s tens of thousands of employees.

“If the examples in front of them, in their own workplace, are playing fast and loose, then (staff) play fast and loose,” he said. “Setting the tone at the top is crucial because it does dramatically influence, from our experience from the inquiry, the informal culture of how people actually conduct themselves.”

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Finally, Butt noted Bellamy’s inquiry recommendation that councillors should not coerce staff “including intimidation, bullying, or alluding to future promotion or employment prospects.”

Crossing the line past respectful “heated debate” about public policy discourages the best, smartest people from working for the city, he said.