The people who are responsible are the ones who approved the project. That's the rule, and to protect themselves, they will find a scapegoat, usually under pressure from the press. In Ottawa, for example, a pedestrian bridge over the parkway behind my house was designed to impress and involved building a ooncrete support structure angled much like the support tower in the Montreal Big O, with suspended tubular supports from the tower, while a precast structure could have been thrown up at minimal cost. So the city council approved the project which any fool would see from the design as being costly, impractical and flawed.The concrete was poured, turned out to be full of holes and had to be torn down. Our councillor blamed the project managers and took credit for their dismissal, but was just one of those on council who approved the design in the first place. In the federal system, committees make decisions on projects, and responsibility is diffused, but blame can be focused downhill.