Apology demand dispute
A week after publicly demanding apologies from his critics, Niagara Police Services Board Chair Bob Gale is denying he demanded the apologies.
During an open session of regional council on Feb. 8, Gale, a Niagara Falls regional councillor, said St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik, former Niagara Regional Police deputy chief Joe Matthews and police union president Cliff Priest should apologize for criticizing the board’s decision to pay former NRP chief Jeff McGuire $870,000 to retire early.
All three men spoke to The Standard for a Jan. 31 expose on the politics behind the hefty payout and were critical of the board’s decision.
In a letter sent Friday to Niagara Regional council and all Niagara mayors and municipal councillors, Gale said at no time has he demanded anyone apologize.
But during the council meeting — which can be seen in the Region’s video archive — Gale read a prepared speech in response to questions about McGuire’s retirement package that he said was written by board staff and approved by lawyers.
Gale said Sendzik’s comments that the payout to McGuire was an indication of “shocking mismanagement” were both “uninformed and untoward” to the board and all of its members.
“He should apologize,” Gale said, turning to look at Sendzik’s empty chair in council chambers. “I’m sorry he’s not here.”
Gale then turned to the subject of retired deputy chief Matthews and said it was inappropriate for someone who held the second highest office in the police service to comment on his perception of confidential personnel matters under any circumstances.
“These comments are harmful to the board, all services members and to retired Chief McGuire. He should apologize as well,” Gale said.
He then spoke about Priest, the police association president, criticizing his take on the matter.
Gale said given Priest’s position, and given that he is often on the opposite side of issues when dealing with the police board and senior management and feels it necessary to “attack one or the other to further his agenda,” his comments should be “taken with a grain of salt.”
“He too should apologize, but I doubt that he will,” Gale said.
However, in his Friday letter, Gale denied he made the demands.
“At no time did I ever demand that anyone apologize,” Gale wrote. “And at no time did I suggest that any member of the media apologize, contrary to a Twitter comment by a reporter.”
It is not clear what tweet Gale, who often says he does not use so- cial media, is referring to. Journalists at The Standard did not tweet that Gale demanded an apology from the press.
Gale was not immediately available for comment Friday.
Gale wrote that his letter was written to “highlight some important information that seems to have been overlooked by my colleagues who serve on Regional Council and our local municipal councils as well as various media outlets.” The letter comes while the board is facing political criticism over McGuire’s retirement package and its 2017 deficit of $7 million, which it is offsetting by raiding police reserves and is asking the Region for the remaining $2.4 million.
McGuire retired in June in the first year of a three-year contract extension that would have seen him serve until 2020. He has told The Standard he did not want to retire and intended to stay in uniform until the end of his contract. The board’s offer was one he couldn’t refuse, he said.
Sources familiar with NRP management told the Standard that some board members were frustrated that McGuire’s contract extended beyond the next municipal election and therefore robbed them of a chance to hire a police chief.
In his Friday letter, Gale said he would not discuss McGuire’s retirement but he did address the former chief ’s contract extension, which he said was signed 40 days before the 2014 elections.
“I recognize the Board had jurisdiction to do so, but in my opinion, that was done without sensitivity to the upcoming election, and to the fact that over half of the Board’s membership could be replaced – which in fact happened.”
If McGuire was a municipal chief administrative officer, a “lame duck” provision in the Municipal Act would have prevented the extension from being signed, Gale wrote.
Policing in Ontario is governed by the Police Services Act, which has no such provisions.
In his letter, Gale said the police board is not getting credit for what he regards as important accomplishments, including a projected savings of $800,000 by redeploying eight officers on administrative duty to the front line, and the hiring of eight additional officers to reduce overtime.
Gale, whose letter does not address the NRP budget deficit, says these actions, which are part of the NRP’s $143.5 million 2018 budget, were not reported by the press however the Standard did publish a story about the NRP redeployments, hires and efforts to reduce costs on Oct. 27.
Gale also said the media hasn’t reported that the board has ended the long practice of allowing senior police offices to keep their police vehicles when they retire.
McGuire was allowed to keep his modified Buick Enclave — valued between $50,000 and $60,000 — as part of his retirement agreement with the police board
The letter also continued Gale’s criticism of news media, and The Standard specifically without naming it, which he called a “negative media outlet.”
During his Feb. 8 council speech, Gale made the claim that The Standard’s reporting on McGuire’s retirement contract “hurt” frontline officers.
In his letter, Gale modified this accusation by saying a Standard reporter “is determined to create a negative impression of the police board and by association, policing in the region generally, by only reporting what he wants to and not the full story.”