Hamilton joins growing call for province to investigate Niagara conservation authority

At least three Niagara-areacity councils are demanding provincial reviews or forensic audits of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority's finances, and aNiagara MPP has written to the province as well.

Now Hamilton city council hasjoined the growing chorus of voices who want the province to take a close look at management of the authority.

The public pressure seems to be mounting.- Bruce Williamson, St.Catharinescitycouncillor

Hamilton city council voted Wednesday whetherto ask the province for a "thorough investigation." It's the second such vote in two years.

"Serious questions have been raised about the financial and human resource management of theNPCA," says the Wednesday motion fromCoun. Brenda Johnson of Ward 11.

The Niagara authority watershed includes a large area of Hamilton in Upper Stoney Creek and Glanbrook.

By its own admission, the NPCA hassuffered years of mismanagement and financial confusion, but officials insist it is getting its house in order. Thathasn't been enough for its critics to back down.

Last week, St. Catharines city council asked the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) to do a forensic audit of the NPCA. Port Colborne and Wainfleethave passed similar motions.

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"The public pressure seems to be mounting," said Bruce Williamson, St. Catharines city councillor.

Itvery quickly became apparently thatwe weren't alone.- Cindy Forster, MPP, over concern about the NPCA's handling of a development file

Cindy Forster, an NDP MPP from Welland, has weighed in as well. Shewrote the MNR this year about the authority's handling of a development project on protected Niagara Falls wetlands near the Thundering Waters golf course. She's been working all year with environmentalists concerned about the NPCA.

"It very quickly became apparently that we weren't alone," she said.

Last week, Forster tabled a bill sayingconservation authority boards should be at least half comprised of people with natural resources experience.

• Niagara conservation authority cleans up management, but wants more money

The bill, she said, is to curb authorities who "aren't properly conserving wetlands and natural heritage the way they should be," she said in a media release.

Two otherNiagara's two other MPPs, Liberal Jim Bradley and Wayne Gates of the NDP, support her efforts too, the St. Catharines Standard reported.

An increase of nearly $1 million

In Hamilton, the mistrust startedlast year whencity council calledon the province to temporarily take control theNPCA. This came afterthe authorityasked for $945,000 more a year from local taxpayers. That would bring the levy from$513,473 a year to $1.2 million.

The board and staff at theNPCAhave been following our provincial legislation and internal policies in every respect.- Bruce Timms, NPCA chair

Carmen D'Angelo, who was then NPCA's CAO, delivered news of the levy hike. D'Angelo, a former Hamilton ambulance manager, was a Hamiltonrepresentative on the NPCA board until 2014.

D'Angelo took a leave of absence from the board in 2013 without telling the city because the NPCA hired his private consulting company to advise on the authority's restructuring. Then the NPCA board hired him as CAO. He is now Niagara Region's CAO.

D'Angelo and chair Bruce Timms told city council last year that NPCA suffered years of "casual management" practices but that it was over now.

D'Angeloadmitted, for example, that Hamiltonhad paid the NPCA $2.95 million for capital spendingsince 2006, but the authority hadn't tracked how much of that money went to Hamilton projects. And about $1.2 million was shifted to the operating budget instead.

'I tried to keep a straight face'

Hamilton's levy agreement, D'Angelo said, also appeared to be poorly tracked. NPCA couldn't find any documentation showing its other municipalities Haldimand and Niagara Region were party to the agreement. That means it doesn't follow provincial regulation.

Following the proper guidelines, D'Angelo said, meant other municipalities would pay less, and Hamilton would face a nearly $1 millionincrease.

Councillors were incredulous.

"I listened with great interest and I tried to keep a straight face," Coun. Chad Collins said then.

It just shows thatwe were ahead of the curve.- Sam Merulla, Hamilton city councillor

The city is now pursing its only recourse appealing theincrease to the provincialLands and Mines Commissioner. Haldimand and the Niagara Regionare parties in the hearing. The city is waiting for a hearing date, and in the meantime, pays the old levy amount.

'Accountability, clarity and openness'

In Niagara, meanwhile, people are upset for different reasons. The Thundering Waters development is a big one.

The $1-billion development isled by China-based GR Investments Co. Ltd., the Standard reports. It's near Marineland andcould include houses, restaurants and entertainment complexes.

The NPCA recommended "biodiversity offsetting," a conservation method where three times the amount of wetland lost would be recreated nearby. Local groups decried this.

There are other issues, Williamson said, particularly around hirings and dismissals. But they all point to the same need "accountability, clarity and openness," he said.

At the heart of the criticism is Ed Smith, a retired major fromPort Dalhousie who has spent months compiling a 45-page document called "A Call for Accountability at the NPCA."

Threats of lawsuits

The NPCAhas served two letters of intent to sue, Smith said. Its request, he said, includes handing over a list of everyone who contributed to his document.

Timms, who is also a Niagara regional councillor, hit back publicly at the veracity of Smith's report.Ina Nov. 24 statement, he saidsome of Smith's documents are faked to "support false accusations about the NPCA." (Smith denies this.)

"This is not the first time defamatory statements have been made in the public domain about the NPCA," Timmssaid.

The authority, Timms wrote, is "transforming itself in recent years to reflect the needs of the community."

That transformation, he said, includes the 2012 implementation of the NPCA'sfirst strategic plan, 85 per cent of which the authority hasdelivered. He also cited the 2013 staff restructuring, and a "reprioritization of certain areas." This year, NPCA hired its first certified management accountant.

'We were ahead of the curve'

"The board and staff at the NPCA have been following our provincial legislation and internal policies in every respect," Timms wrote.

"The fact of the matter is, the defamatory statements being made about the NPCA are baseless, false, and half-truths accompanied by misleading and fabricated information. We will continue to do the good work we do as legislated by the province and continue to be a leader in transparency and accountability."

Still, the chorus grows. Last week, Wainfleet passed a motion asking the NPCAto conducta forensic or value-for-money audit. Port Colborneand Niagara-on-the-Lake areaskingthe province to conduct an audit.

In Hamilton, Johnson's motion is an easy sell.

The growing dissent, said Coun. Sam Merulla, "just shows that we were ahead of the curve."

samantha.craggs@cbc.ca | @SamCraggsCBC