Petrowski taking Region to court
In a bid to prevent the public release of integrity commissioner reports into his conduct, St. Catharines regional Coun. Andy Petrowski is taking most of regional council to court.
The notice of motion, jointly filed at Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Welland Thursday by Petrowski and Fort Erie resident Fred Bracken has baffled regional councillors who have no idea what is going to happen next.
“I really don’t know how this will be dealt with,” said Niagaraon-the-Lake Lord Mayor Patrick Darte when asked if regional lawyers will represent the councillors in court. “I’m not trying to be coy, I just really don’t know what is going to happen. I am sure we will have a better idea when we can all talk on Monday.”
Petrowski and Bracken are seeking an injunction against the public release of three reports by integrity commissioner John Mascarin.
The motion names Mascarin, a Toronto lawyer hired by council to investigate code of conduct complaints, and 24 of 31 regional councillors as respondents.
Petrowski and Bracken are claiming that Petrowski’s rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms are being violated by Mascarin’s reports and the regional code of conduct.
In addition to attempting to block the release of Mascarin’s reports, the motion is asking that the courts prevent the integrity commissioner from “adjudicating any further complaints using the Region of Niagara’s code of conduct policy pending a full application hearing at trial.”
Neither the notice of motion filed with the courts, nor the accompanying 24-page affidavit written by Petrowski, specify how the yet-tobe released reports violate his charter rights. In the affidavit, Petrowski said he has received draft copies of the reports from Mascarin.
The motion does claim that, if released, the reports will do damage to Petrowski’s reputation.
“In this case, if interim relief is not granted, applicant Petrowski will be forever known as a ‘bully’ as respondent John Mascarin has declared in his final report that applicant Petrowski ‘bullied’ another regional councillor named Dave Augusytn,” the notice of motion reads. “If interim relief is not granted, applicant Petrowski will have little chance of procuring any private sector employment as he will be known all around the region and beyond as a bully.”
I want to know how many tax dollars, how much of the public’s money, has been wasted on (Petrowski) and his stupidity?” St. Catharines Coun. Kelly Edgar
In his affidavit, Petrowski says he wants an injunction against “the Region or any other person or entity from making public my three integrity commissioner reports. The public release of the three integrity commissioner reports would cause me to suffer irreparable harm.”
Petrowski and Bracken’s motion is scheduled to be heard in court on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
The notice of motion was met by confusion and amusement by councillors listed as respondents. Councillors contacted by The Standard over the weekend say they were not properly served with paperwork. In some cases copies of the motions were left on door steps and in mail boxes. In at least one case, the papers were left with a councillor’s young child.
Others named in the notice of motion, including Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati, say they were never served at all.
“I am 100 per cent in the dark about this,” Diodati said Sunday.
Diodati said he didn’t know about Petrowski’s motion until contacted by The Standard.
“I guess I need to make some phone calls,” he said.
Asked about the notice of motion after Saturday’s Niagara Folk Arts Festival opening ceremony, St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik burst out laughing and walked away.
Others, including St. Catharines Coun. Kelly Edgar found the situation less than amusing.
“Why am I even being served? Why are any of us? We haven’t seen the reports yet. I don’t even have anything to do with the reports, although I am completely in favour of having them released,” Edgar said. “I will tell you what I want to know. I want to know how many tax dollars, how much of the public’s money, has been wasted on (Petrowski) and his stupidity?”
Edgar said he ran for office because he “believes fully in Niagara Region. That is why I wanted to be a regional councillor and not city councillor. I believe in the Region and I wanted to make a difference. I didn’t run for office to have to deal with this.”
In addition to Mascarin, Edgar, Diodati, Darte and Sendzik, the motion names Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn, Welland Mayor Frank Campion, Grimsby Mayor Bob Bentley, Lincoln Mayor Sandra Easton, Port Colborne Mayor John Maloney, Thorold Mayor Ted Luciani, Wainfleet Mayor April Jeffs and West Lincoln Mayor Doug Joyer as respondents. The motion also names regional Couns. Brian Baty of Pelham, Henry D’Angela of Thorold, Tony Quirk of Grimsby, Bill Hodgson of Lincoln, Bob Gale of Niagara Falls, Gary Burroughs of Niagaraon-the-Lake, Brian Heit, Tim Rigby, Debbie MacGregor and Bruce Timms of St. Catharines, and Paul Grenier and George Marshall of Welland.
Not named in Petrowski’s motion are regional chair Alan Caslin, Port Colborne Coun. David Barrick, Niagara Falls Couns. Bart Maves and Selina Volpatti, Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop and Fort Erie Coun. and Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority chair Sandy Annunizata.
The Standard asked Petrowski several questions about his notice of motion, including why a handful of councillors were not included, how he feels his charter rights are being violated and why the notice of motion was co-filed with Bracken — a Fort Erie resident who has been escorted from regional council chambers in the past and is best known for following local politicians, police officers and reporters around with a video camera and occasionally conducting one-man protests on street corners.
Petrowski responded by calling The Standard “fake news.”
“I am tired of your personal attacks, Mr. LaFleche,” Petrowski wrote in an email. “The court will deal with real facts unlike the fake news Standard and the integrity commissioner’s kangaroo court.”
Caslin declined to be interviewed about the situation. On Saturday he sent an email statement saying he will not get involved.
“Regional council has been distracted by special interest groups and council in-fighting. I won’t involve myself in matters that are before the courts and distract from the important work of our council. Creating and saving Niagara jobs, developing Niagara’s transportation systems, and implementing council’s strategic plan continue to be my top priorities, and I invite all members of council to make these their priority as well.”
Caslin did not respond to followup questions about what special interests he is referring to, nor to questions about how council will be able to address its business if the majority of councillors have a legal action brought against them by one of their own.
St. Catharines Coun. MacGregor said a woman she didn’t recognize left the package of documents on her front porch Friday afternoon. She didn’t open them until she got to the Folk Arts ambassadors ball Friday evening.
“So I am there at the Folk Arts event, reading this and thinking ‘What is this?’” she said. “This is my first term on council and I ran to make a difference for my city and for my region. I really, truly do love Niagara and I wanted to do my part to make it better. I certainly didn’t sign up for this.”
The court action is the latest attempt by Petrowski to block the release of Mascarin’s reports. During last month’s corporate services committee meeting, committee chair Barrick accepted a suggestion by Petrowski that Mascarin’s activities be placed “in abeyance” pending a legal opinion on the constitutionality of the Region’s code of conduct.
However, during the April 28 council meeting, councillors voted on a motion to bring the integrity commissioner’s reports forward on May 18.
Mascarin is looking into 20 code of conduct complaints brought against regional councillors. Petrowski said in his affidavit that he is the subject to three of them — one filed against him by Augustyn and two regarding Petrowski’s social media activity.
The reports have yet to be released, but Augustyn and Petrowski have locked horns several times, including an incident last year when Petrowski was asked to leave a Pelham town council meeting by Augustyn.
Petrowski has often courted controversy through his Twitter account, including a tweet in 2015 when he said former United States President Barrack Obama had a “twisted mind” for singing Amazing Grace in a church the same day that same-sex marriage was legalized. In an interview with The Standard about the tweet, Petrowski said from his religious point of view there was a moral equivalence between murder and gay marriage.
The ensuing political storm resulted in council passing a motion to review its code of conduct. That review is still ongoing.
In 2016, Caslin asked Petrowski to apologize for a tweet about gay pride that the regional chair deemed to be “homophobic.”
Mascarin’s investigations are not the first code of conduct probes into Petrowski behaviour. In his affidavit, Petrowski said he was subject to four previous investigations during the past term of regional council. Two were investigated by Robert Swayze and two by George Rust D’Eye. The document notes D’Eye dismissed one case and found the code of conduct did not apply in the other.
Petrowski’s affidavit does not mention that in 2013 Swayze found that Petrowski violated the Region’s code of conduct by bullying regional staff. Swayze did not impose any sanctions against Petrowski at the time, saying he wanted to give the councillor a chance to improve his behaviour.
Augustyn said he is concerned the court action is an attempt by Petrowski to derail or delay the integrity commissioner’s reports.
“Those reports have been ready since February and they still haven’t been released to the public,” he said.
Augustyn said he isn’t sure how council will be able to proceed under these circumstances and wondered if Petrowski should have to take a leave of absence from council while the court proceedings are ongoing.