The bungled response to L’Affaire des Oafs

Once again, Niagara regional council has proven to be its own worst enemy.

Comically incapable of getting its story straight on what happened The Night They Drove Bill Sawchuk Out, council has now been tossed to the sidelines as the provincial Ombudsman’s Office takes control of the investigation.

Such an outside intervention might have been avoidable had councillors immediately recognized the idiocy, impertinence and illegality of seizing Bill Sawchuk’s computer and notebook, an egregious action that was further compounded by the knuckleheaded decision to eject the Standard reporter from the council meeting.

If the following morning the Region confessed to its tragicomedy of errors, explained how and why things went awry, identified the individuals responsible, promised corrective action and made all the key players available for media interviews, then maybe the growing furor would have been nipped in the bud.

Nothing like that happened, of course.

Instead, some time the next afternoon, the Region issued a defensive, details- starved news release — presumably approved at the highest levels — that included a woefully inadequate apology for any “inconvenience” Sawchuk may have suffered.

A short time later, after much prodding, the Region’s CAO Carmen D’Angelo consented to an interview with The Standard during which he provided no insight of consequence and evaded on 17 separate occasions the request to explain what legal authority the Region had to seize reporters’ property. Interviews with several councillors conducted that afternoon revealed a confused understanding of events and a disinclination to distinguish between an active recording device and a laptop that had no such capability.

Rather than the fire being extinguished, kerosene was poured on it.

This dismal, collective response dispelled any notion the Region was capable of or interested in conducting a thorough, credible examination of L’Affaire Des Oafs.

A day or two later, widespread disgust over the aforementioned actions finally penetrated the insular world in which the Region operates.

Unequivocal apologies were offered, errors were admitted and promises were made to implement proper protocols.

If you’re wondering whether any of this fessing up would have occurred without the cavalcade of outside derision directed at the Region, you’re not alone.

And already some councillors are tiring of the attention being given the topic.

Niagara Falls Coun. Bob Gale, a man of some influence with the ruling conservative cabal on council, says it’s time to get over it and move on.

Right.

Regional council can spend months engaging in embarrassing and blatant, politically partisan attempts to concoct an imaginary financial crisis for the Town of Pelham, yet a week after dictatorially shutting down the freedom to publicly report on its activities, some members want to change the channel.

Well, that’s fine by me. It’s clear council was never going to get to the bottom of this.

So, yeah, bring on the Ombudsman. With its involvement, something closely approximating the truth will hopefully emerge.

Its report and, perhaps more importantly, councillors’ reactions to the findings will presumably come in early 2018.

Count on some potential fodder being provided for the municipal election campaign later in the year.