Caslin apologizes for illegal seizure
Region CAO, legal staff under fire from councillors
Regional Chair Alan Caslin has formally apologized for the illegal seizure of equipment of a Standard reporter and local blogger.
During a special meeting of regional council Thursday, Caslin said he apologizes “wholeheartedly and unreservedly” for the seizure of the computer and notes of journalist Bill Sawchuk and digital recorder of blogger Preston Haskel, and for their expulsion from the regional building during the Dec. 7, 2017, meeting.
Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dube recommended regional council apologize during an open session of council for the seizure which he said was “unreasonable, unjust, wrong and contrary to law.”
Prior to Thursday’s meeting both Caslin and chief administrative officer Carmen D’Angelo offered personal apologies for the “inconvenience” for the incident, which Dube said was a violation of the reporter’s rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Caslin’s apology was the first public apology for the incident.
Dube also found the Region violated the Municipal Act during the December meeting when staff locked the doors to the building while the meeting was going on and failed to properly pass a motion explaining why the meeting was moved into a confidential session.
He made 14 recommendations in his report. Along with the apologies, Dube recommended a number of changes to how council
conducts itself, including ensuring there are recordings of closeddoor meetings.
Council had not provided any formal response to Dube’s draft report, which is usually how a municipality responds to an Ombudsman report before it is realized publicly. Thursday’s meeting was the first time council had gathered to discuss Dube’s suggestions.
When the meeting began Grimsby Coun. Tony Quirk and Niagara Falls Coun. Selina Volapatti attempted to prevent discussion on Dube’s recommendations by asking for a vote to accept them.
Their motion was defeated. D’Angelo and Caslin faced pointed questions from some councillors who wanted to know why council did not offer a response to Dube’s preliminary report in June.
Dube has told The Standard that municipalities usually meet to discuss his draft report and offer responses that are included in his final report. Regional council did not do that, but rather some feedback was given by the Region’s external lawyer.
Dube’s report said that lawyer, Jennifer Teskey of the firm Norton Rose Fulbright Canada of Toronto, provided responses that was contradicted by evidence and in doing so attempted “to influence our investigative process, challenge our well-established statutory authority and dictate the content of my report.”
St. Catharines Coun. Kelly Edgar asked D’Angelo Thursday why council did not meet to discuss the Ombudsman report and recommendations before its public release.
“I don’t have an answer for that,” said D’Angelo, who said the Region’s external legal council offered to take in any council responses to the report.
Later in the meeting, D’Angelo said that he and regional staff provided “collated feedback” from staff to Teskey, who later provided a response to the Ombudsman.
St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik said the external lawyer had no business attempting to change the content of Dube’s report.
“For me, that is the biggest red flag,” he said.
“I am fine with everything else. We made mistakes on Dec. 7. We can’t take that back but we can say we are sorry. I don’t want to fixate on Dec. 7. I want to talk about the interference. Someone was trying to influence the report.”
Sendzik asked who was directing Teskey, and regional director of legal court services Donna Gibbs, who said she and D’Angelo were the primary contacts with Teskey.
However, she said further discussion about staff direction given to Teskey would be moved behind closed doors.
Sendzik asked how Teskey’s firm was chosen, to which D’Angelo replied the firm was recommended by “colleagues” who he did not identify.
When Sendzik said Teskey did not have the appropriate qualifications to represent the Region during and Ombudsman investigation, that prompted D’Angelo and Gibbs to say discussion of an “identifiable individual” must be behind closed doors.
Council did hold a closed-door meeting to discuss the external lawyer, including an explanation from Teskey as to why she adopted what Dube called “an adversial approach” in her response to his recommendations.
Councillors voted to defer a vote on the Ombudsman’s recommendations until after the closed session.
‘‘ “I want to talk about the interference. Someone was trying to influence the report.”
WALTER SENDZIK Mayor of St. Catharines