Region recognized as Canada’s most secretive government
Niagara’s regional government has been recognized by a quartet of national journalism and free expression organizations as the most secretive municipality in Canada.
During a Monday morning news conference in downtown St. Catharines, Jim Turk, director of the Centre for Free Expression at Ryerson University, announced Niagara Region the winner of the annual “Code of Silence” award for “outstanding achievement in government secrecy.”
The award was jointly given by the CFE, the Canadian Association for Journalists, News Media Canada and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.
Delays and denials of freedom of information requests, a lack of transparency about councillor expenses, illegal seizure of a journalist’s computer and notes, a tainted CAO hiring process and frequent refusal by senior regional leaders to speak to the press were cited as reasons for the shameful distinction.
“We are presenting this certificate to them in recognition of their dishonour,” said Turk.
The organizations formed a jury that examined nominated municipalities across Canada for the award for federal, provincial and municipal governments and agencies. It settled on the Region as this year’s winner in the municipal category.
Last year’s winner was Toronto Hydro, and Turk said governments and agencies around the nation are considered.
He said he doesn’t expect any government to be on hand to accept the certificate — the Region did not send a representative to Monday’s news conference at the Mahtay Cafe on St. Paul Street — but the point is to inform the public.
“In a democracy, the public has a right to know. It has a right to expect transparency from its public institutions. We have access to information laws to ensure that, but those laws are inadequate,” he said. “We hope to shine as bright a spotlight as possible on government agencies
that fail in their responsibility to the public.”
He said the default position of any government should be to err on the side of releasing information, and all four agencies advocate for better freedom of information legislation, shield laws for journalists and whistle blower protections.
Turk specifically pointed to coverage by The Standard that exposed local government secrecy.
Councillor expenses were among those stories and found that politicians were billing taxpayers for pricey lobster dinners, charitable donations and trips to Toronto to appear on Toronto radio programs.
Regional Chair Alan Caslin has repeatedly refused to discuss his expenses or council’s policies. When The Standard filed a freedom of information request to access a full set of councillor expense data, the Region asked the paper to put aside the request so that one filed later by Caslin could be processed first. The paper refused and its request for information was denied.
The Region now publishes councillor expenses online, but the data is stripped of receipts and other documentation. To access that information, the Region requires someone to file a freedom of information request.
A Standard freedom of information request for the contract of embattled regional CAO Carmen D’Angelo was recently denied because it is currently part of an ongoing Ontario Ombudsman investigation — the third time the Ombudsman is investigating the Region this term.
Caslin unilaterally extended D’Angelo’s contract in 2017. Before and during the CAO hiring process, D’Angelo downloaded six documents, including confidential information on other CAO candidates, written by members of Caslin’s staff. D’Angelo and Caslin have denied repeated interview requests to discuss both issues.
Turk said Canada is lagging behind many other nations regarding access to information, including countries such as Guatemala.
“We really rely on the press to be the public’s eyes and ears and if they have difficulty getting access to what rightfully should be in the public domain then it’s a problem for all of us,” he said.
The Standard reached out to Caslin and D’Angelo for this story, but the paper’s interview request was met with silence.