Caslin stays silent on his expenses, attacks newspaper
Regional Chair Alan Caslin says he won’t discuss pricey lobster dinners and bills he expensed to taxpayers, accusing The Standard of refusing to “report on the good things in Niagara” and of playing “I gotcha politics.”
Caslin made his comments during a brief interview with The Standard during the Toque Tuesday event at Market Square in St. Catharines. The unscheduled interview was the first time Caslin took questions on his expenses since they were released online Jan. 16.
The Standard asked Caslin about his expenses, including meals such a $ 222 bill in St. Catharines listed as a “meeting with constituent.”
“Well, the bigger question of why is, why isn’t the media reporting on the positives that are happening in Niagara?” said Caslin, who did not answer any questions put to him about his expenses. “For instance, the economic momentum story that came out.”
When Caslin was informed The Standard published a story about the recent National Bank of Canada report on Jan. 30, he said it “got such a small, small section in your paper.”
The regional chair also said he would not co- operate with the newspaper because its representatives did not attend a hastily scheduled meeting in December to discuss a media “protocol.”
The Region sent an email to local media outlets, including The Standard on Dec. 13, asking them to attend a meeting on short notice to discuss the aftermath of the Dec. 7 regional council meeting during which Standard reporter Bill Sawchuk’s computer and notes were unlawfully seized.
The Region did not consult with local outlets about a meeting time or an agenda. Local media outlets, including The Standard and CKTB 610 AM, refused to attend the meeting. Standard editor- inchief Angus Scott said he was concerned by the lack of consultation by the Region. The Standard, in a letter from its lawyers outlining its concerns with the events of Dec. 7, offered suggestions on an in- camera protocol. CKTB’s assistant program director Tom McConnell said the news media hadn’t done anything wrong and it wasn’t up to the press to fix a problem created by the Region.
The Ontario Ombudsman’s office is investigating the Dec. 7 incident, which was decried by media advocacy groups as an attack on freedom of the press, and said last week that its probe is reaching its end.
Ombudsman Paul Dube will issue a report that makes recommendations. A release date for the report has not been issued.
During Tuesday’s interview, Caslin said he would answer questions by email. Asked why he would not engage in an on- therecord interview, he said “what you are doing is playing I gotcha politics in the news media. And I am tired of it, quite frankly.”
He then said he is not doing interviews with The Standard because the paper did not attend the Dec. 13 meeting.
Caslin said there were mistakes made on Dec. 7 and that “I had apologized for those mistakes, but in going forward really what we need to do is establish the protocol that makes sense for both the media and for the council to get the message across, both positives and negatives.”
Asked if attending a protocol meeting was a condition of his answering questions about his expenses, Caslin said that “it makes sense for us to establish how to move forward because, again, it’s the I gotcha news reporting that is happening.”
The Standard asked how asking questions about his expenses is “gotcha politics,” but Caslin did not answer the question. The interview ended when an aid ushered Caslin away to pose for a photograph.
The Standard has made multiple attempts to interview Caslin about his expenses, those of council and council’s policies since the release of the data.
Most of those requests went unanswered. Caslin has repeatedly emailed a short statement praising the release of the documents. The statement also says voters can judge his expenses by his record, and cited the Canada Summer Games and the Welland GE plant as successes.
Caslin did not say how his expenses related to those issues.
Caslin’s accusations are the latest directed at the paper since the Dec. 7 incident.
On Dec. 14, Niagara Falls Coun. Bob Gale told CKTB that Sawchuk was “collateral damage” and that public outrage over the incident is being manufactured by online commenters and journalists with “negative agendas.”
Grimsby Coun. Tony Quirk, who recently accused a Standard reporter of “collaborating” with politicians to “undermine the Region,” told a citizen by email that he was certain the ombudsman “may have a different characterization of the events than The Standard.”
And at a council meeting a week after the incident, Port Colborne Coun. David Barrick suggested the newspaper could be exchanging “positive coverage” for confidential information from sources within the municipal government.
The Standard does not trade information for favourable coverage.