Accept watchdog’s direction: councillors
Ombudsman recommends Region apologize to reporter
Several Niagara Region councillors say the embattled municipality should accept the recommendations of Ontario Ombudsman and apologize to The Standard reporter whose Charter rights the government violated in December.
On Thursday, council is scheduled to debate the recommendations made by Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dube, who found the municipality’s seizure of a reporter’s computer and notes in December was “unreasonable, unjust, wrong and contrary to law.”
Dube made 14 recommendations to the Region, including making a formal, public apology to Standard journalist Bill Sawchuk.
Several councillors interviewed by The Standard say council should adopt Dube’s recommendations without rancour
“We should accept the recommendations and move forward,” said Welland Coun. Paul Grenier. “There shouldn’t be a long debate about this. We should accept them.”
St. Catharines Coun. Bruce Timms said council should take all the steps the Ombudsman has recommended in addition to the steps already implemented by the region.
“Probably everybody overreacted and that’s a lesson to be learned. The ombudsman’s recommendations go a long way,” he said. “I think we have gone a long way to addressing being prepared for that situation in the future.”
On Dec. 7, the Region seized the equipment of Sawchuk and blogger Preston Haskell, after Haskell’s digital recorder was found running on the media table during a closed session of council.
Haskell said the recorder was left on during the open session while he went to the bathroom.
The recorder along with Sawchuk’s computer and notes, were seized by region staff. The reporter’s equipment was returned four hours later after phone calls by a Standard reporter and the paper’s lawyer.
Haskell’s recorder was turned over to the Niagara Regional Police, which still has it. No charges have been laid against Haskell and police say they are conferring with Dube before returning the device.
In addition to finding the seizures were illegal, Dube said the Region violated the Municipal
Act by locking the doors to the building while the meeting was going on and by not stating publicly why they were moving into a closed session.
Dube’s recommendations include making apologies to Sawchuk and Haskell, as well as making improvements to regional policies.
He noted the Region has made some improvements but said they have not gone far enough.
None of the councillors The Standard interviewed objected to accepting Dube’s recommendations, but a few expressed concern about his suggestion that a video or audio record be kept of closed-door meetings.
St. Catharines Coun. Heit said while Dube’s report points to Regional Chair Alan Caslin and CAO Carmen D’Angelo as the key decision makers on Dec. 7, he said no one else in the room — neither staff nor councillors — attempted to intervene and stop the chaos before it got too far.
“We are all part of what took place,” said Heit.
Grenier agreed, saying “we all have to wear this.”
“Anyone attempting to distance themselves from this to score points isn’t being honest,” Grenier said.
“No one in the room said ‘Stop this.’ It got out of hand, and we have to wear that, apologize for it and do better.”
Grenier said the Region had an opportunity shortly after the incident to properly apologize and take steps to set an example for other Ontario municipalities by establishing firm protocols and procedures that recognized the constitutional rights and importance of the work of journalists.
“No one was really interested in it at the time,” said Grenier. “We shouldn’t need the Ombudsman to tell us to apologize and do that. But now we have to do the right thing.”
Niagara Falls Coun. Bob Gale, also called for the recommendations to be adopted and there should be no finger pointing.
“Some people running for election are trying to use this as ammunition but there were no heroes in that room. The only innocent party was Bill Sawchuk,” said Gale.
Gale, who previously told a citizen the controversy about the incident was being manufactured by reporters with “negative agendas,” also said it’s time to “move on.”
“People are interested in taxes and jobs, they’re not interested in these issues at the region.
“Certainly, we should be better for it and these things shouldn’t happen but people are sick of hearing about this stuff,” he said.