Ontario ombud to investigate CAO hiring
Probe follows investigative stories by The Standard
Ontario’s ombudsman says he will investigate the 2016 hiring of Niagara Region CAO Carmen D’Angelo and his controversial contract extension.
In a Thursday afternoon news release, Paul Dubé said he is launching an investigation after receiving 113 complaints from the public, a recent motion by regional council requesting a probe and the failure of council to resolve the issue.
“Given the high volume of public complaints, the request from regional council, the concerns raised publicly by two local MPPs and others, the evident seriousness of the issue and the fact that local efforts to resolve the matter have been exhausted, I have determined that a formal investigation by my office is in the public interest,” Dubé said.
Dubé was not accepting interview requests Thursday, but in the news release said his probe will “take time” and will not be completed before the Oct. 22 municipal elections.
“As an impartial, independent office of the legislature, we take care to remain outside of the political fray. Consistent with our practice with regard to Ontario government bodies during the recent provincial election campaign, we will not release any reports related to municipalities during this period.”
The announcement follows months of coverage by The Standard on the CAO hiring.
The newspaper’s investigations found D’Angelo downloaded at least six documents related to the CAO position before he was hired on Oct. 31, 2016, including drafts of confidential regional reports to documents written by the staff of Regional Chair Alan Caslin that candidates applying for the $230,000 a year senior staff position should not have had.
This week, The Standard reported that D’Angelo downloaded two working drafts of regional reports in April 2016, shortly after Harry Schlange, the previous CAO, announced he was leaving Niagara.
Standard exposés published in April and July showed D’Angelo had downloaded four documents written
by Caslin’s personal staff in September and October 2016. Three of those documents — two confidential memos about other CAO candidates and the interview questions — were written by Caslin’s policy director, Robert D’Amboise.
The fourth document was written by Caslin’s then-communications director Jason Tamming, and contained answers to a written submission D’Angelo would later present to the hiring committee.
Tamming has since been promoted to regional communications director and answers to D’Angelo.
The ombudsman is also looking into the extension of D’Angelo’s contract, which was done unilaterally by Caslin in October 2017 without informing regional council.
D’Angelo’s original contract was set to expire in 2019, with an optional extension until 2021. Caslin enacted that extension and added another full year to it. Although details of that contract are being kept confidential, The Standard has learned that it includes a golden parachute of a full year’s salary should regional council not renew D’Angelo’s contract in 2022.
Regional councillors have asked for a lawyer, unconnected to D’Angelo or Caslin, to be hired to advise them on D’Angelo’s contract extension which former regional integrity commissioner John Mascarin said is “null and void” because the regional chair acted without a vote from council.
Shortly after the ombudsman’s announcement Thursday, Port Colborne Coun. David Barrick sent an email to all councillors saying council should stop examining D’Angelo’s contract.
“The Region should cease all discussion on all matters relating to the hiring of the CAO and the contract extension as it is being investigated,” Barrick’s email said. “Please ensure these matters do not appear on our agenda as it is completely inappropriate to discuss matters relating to an active investigation by the Ombudsman of Ontario.”
The ombudsman’s probe is the second investigation into the conduct of Niagara Region since the agency was given jurisdiction over municipalities in 2016. Including the CAO probe, Dubé has launched six investigations into Ontario municipalities.
Dube previously investigated the illegal seizure of a Standard reporter’s computer and notes by Region staff in December 2017. The ombudsman found that the Region’s actions, directed by Caslin and D’Angelo, were “unreasonable, unjust, wrong and contrary to law.”
Caslin and D’Angelo did not respond to multiple requests for an interview for this story.
In an email to The Standard Wednesday, Caslin said if the ombudsman launched a probe he would “fully co-operate” with it.
He made the same promise before Dubé’s investigation into the December incident. However, Dubé said the Region’s external lawyer, hired to represent staff and council during the investigation, tried to inappropriately influence the probe.
“[Caslin] pledged full co-operation with this investigation but the Region’s external counsel, ostensibly on behalf of their client, attempted through its response to influence our investigative process, challenge our well established statutory authority, and dictate the content of my report,” Dubé wrote in his report released in July.
In Thursday’s release, the ombudsman’s office asked anyone with information relevant to the investigation to contact it by phone at 1-800-263-1830, by email at info@ombudsman.on.ca or by using the ombudsman’s complaint form at https:// bit.ly/2om6BYa.