Review could mean revamp
Review on regional government could lead to overhaul: Prof
An in-depth review of how Niagara’s regional government does its business could result in a significant overhaul of the embattled region, changing expense policies, the councillor code of conduct and committee meetings.
But one particular issue Western University political science professor Andrew Sancton says his review likely won’t change is how the Region handles leaks to the press.
“I haven’t heard anything particularly useful in that regard,” said Sancton, who was hired by the outgoing regional council to do a comprehensive review of regional governance. “Certainly, leaking confidential information is a violation of the code of conduct, but I’m not sure what you can do about it.”
Sancton’s mandate, for which he is being paid $78,000, was expanded by regional council in August following several Standard stories on the tainted 2016 hiring process that resulted in Carmen D’Angelo becoming the Region’s CAO, as well as stories about his lucrative contract extension unilaterally awarded to him by out-going regional chair Alan Caslin.
During an Aug. 23 council meeting, outgoing Port Colborne regional councillor David Barrick decried leaks to the press, and wanted the Ontario’s Ombudsman to investigate them.
“There is a problem with the process when after every meeting, certainly this year, there is confidential information going to the local press.
It hurts the corporation as a whole, which translates to hurting taxpayers, and that’s my concern,” said Barrick, who in December falsely accused The Standard of exchanging “positive coverage” for information from regional sources.
Other outgoing councillors, including Selina Volpatti of Niagara Falls and Tony Quirk of Grimsby as well as Caslin, decried leaks to the news media and wanted them investigated.
Rather than ask the Ombudsman to launch a probe, council voted to have Sancton look into leaks as part of his review.
In an interview with the Standard Thursday, Sancton said he understands some politicians do not like leaks to the news media. However, he said he was also aware that some serious issues the Region is currently facing — such as the CAO hiring, which is under investigation by the Ombudsman — only came to light because of leaks and whistleblowers.
“I wouldn’t want to try and craft a solution to a problem the voters of Niagara may have already solved for themselves,” said Sancton, referring to the high number of councillors defeated in the Oct. 22 municipal election. “Perhaps with a new council, the culture will change and there will be less of a need to leak information.”
The bulk of Sancton’s review delves into several issues where he says Niagara Region is not in line with other Ontario municipalities. For instance, he said Niagara regional councillor expense policies are more permissive than those of most other municipalities. Niagara also does not have a spending cap on how much councillors can expense, something common in most municipal governments.
Sancton also said regional committees meet on a three-week, rather than four-week cycle as it done in most local governments. The result is more staff reports, more meetings and more costs.
He is also looking into council’s code of conduct and how members of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority board of directors are chosen.
Sancton said he has already interviewed outgoing councillors, regional staff and some of the incoming councillors. He has more interviews to complete and said is holding a public feedback session next week.
His first report and recommendations are focused on the committees and the NPCA and will be part of the new council’s first meeting on Dec. 6, and he will make a presentation to council at the Dec. 13 meeting.
The rest of his findings will be presented to council in two reports to be issued in January.
The public can provide input on regional governance during a meeting on Nov. 28 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Niagara Region headquarters at 1815 Sir Isaac Brock Way in Thorold.