About 40 people attended the pre-trial conference today at the Provincial Offences Court in Barrie. Most of the hearing took place behind closed doors and the discussions are confidential. The parties agreed to another pre-trial teleconference in mid April to set the stage for either an agreed resolution or proceeding to trial. A recent FOI request to the Township has revealed that since this matter commenced in 2015, the Township has paid out over $310,000 to Township and Compliance Audit Committee legal representation, Committee Member per diems and various Auditing fees, and we are not done yet. The Township does not pay for the legal expenses of Bill French which he must bear on his own. The question that needs to be posed, “How is advancing this matter, at such great cost to the taxpayer, in the public interest?”