War of words breaks out between Campion, NPCA chairman
Welland Mayor Frank Campion had a short response to NPCA chair Sandy Annunziata’s assertion that Campion’s resignation from the agency’s board was a matter of political theatrics.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Campion, who was re-elected in October.
Campion resigned from the troubled Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority board Wednesday morning, saying the mandate of the members should expire at the end of the regional council term next week.
He urged all other Niagara regional councillors who are NPCA board members to resign, saying they all have the same ethical and moral responsibility, so a new board could take charge and select the chair.
Annunziata, who was edged in his bid for re-election to regional council by political newcomer Tom Insinna, said he and the NPCA board received legal advice from Toronto lawyer Paul Demelo that the agency must rely on a 24-year-old, never-usedbefore process to select members
of the new board of directors.
The process is set forth in a
1994 Ontario government order in council. The order mandates the chair oversee a series of meetings to approve the next board of directors.
That’s not how the process has worked for as long as anybody can remember.
Niagara’s regional council appoints members to the NPCA board from each municipality, either the mayor, a sitting councillor or a member of the community.
Some experts say the order in council has been superseded by changes to the Conservation Authorities Act, which was updated as recently as 2017.
Annunziata didn’t answer a series of questions put to him by email. He made his comments during a radio interview with Tim Denis on CKTB.
“Frank wants to pull these theatrics about stepping down because he has a moral obligation,” Annunziata said. “That’s absolutely —”
He didn’t finish the sentence. “You know what, Frank sat in that meeting. He could have raised the issue there and said, ‘Sorry, Mr. Demelo, we want a second opinion’ that the order in council won’t stand. It’s just theatrics.”
Annunziata said 10 times in a 10-minute interview he didn’t care who is on the next board.
However, he went on to add, “I’m glad the mayors are bringing forth candidates. Tell them to bring as many as possible, because I am telling you right now, there are a lot of people trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes. They already have their people picked that they want to sit on the board, and I am saying, no. Open it up. Put as many candidates as possible.”
He sidestepped a question on who he thinks is “pulling the wool over people’s eyes.”
Campion said if the orders in council must be followed, the chair doesn’t have to be Annunziata. The board needs a fresh start. His is a practical solution.
That’s something St. Catharines city council supports. It voted earlier this week to ask regional councillors to appoint interim members to the board on inauguration day next week — the earliest they can legally swap out the current board.
Campion said he has only had positive feedback on his decision.
“I have heard from a few people suggesting that they support the direction I’ve taken and support me in taking some leadership on this,” he said. “The decision wasn’t hard to reach, but I took some time to think about all the ramifications.”
Mike Reles, NPCA communications manager, said the orders in council were discovered by
NPCA staff when investigating a request by the City of Hamilton for more board members after its levy apportionment went up.
The discovery of the orders in council has left NPCA between a rock and a hard place.
“We didn’t have that knowledge before, but we can’t pretend it doesn’t exist,” Reles said. “Our opinion is a responsible one. We are saying that now we know the information, we should follow it as it is laid out. From the organization’s perspective, we aren’t really concerned about who is appointed to our board. We get whoever is appointed to our board.”