Concerned citizen Kevin Ferris says that efforts to close down Invest North Bay by not having any further meetings amounts to a cover-up of allegations of conflict of interest against Mayor Al McDonald and Canadore President George Burton.
Invest North Bay had a closed meeting Monday evening and decided not to extend its five-year operating agreement with the city which expires this July.
It comes on the heels of allegations by Ferris and Nicole Peltier that McDonald and Burton broke Invest North Bay's own conflict of interest policy when they voted to give a $1.2 million dollar marketing contract to TWG Communications, which has extensive relationships with the two, without declaring a conflict. The Board's own policy clearly spells this out and what constitutes conflict of interest and perceived conflict of interest.
That contract was later broken by INB with no explanation why, nor any accounting of where the $1.2 million dollars went.
"It appears to be a deflection tactic to shift the emphasis over to the proposed advisory committee," Ferris told BayToday. "It seems to be part of an effort to cover this whole thing up."
Interim board chairman Coun. Dave Mendicino claims with just eight members left on its 15 person board, that it no longer has a quorum to discuss the conflict of interest issue.
"Mendicino's comments about quorum and not being able to address the conflict of interest allegations are not correct and the Board can still address this if they choose to do so," explains Ferris. "It seems they are choosing to sweep this all under the rug instead of addressing the issue before them. He doesn't even have the power to say they will not be having any further meetings. They need to hold meetings going forward to address their financial statements, and their AGM etc.
" I don't think councillor Mendicino is very well informed on the procedural matters as they relate to his new position as the chairman of Invest North Bay and he should probably inform himself a little more on his own conflict of interest policy as well as the Municipal Act and the other requirements of his position," added Ferris.
A report by Integrity Commissioner George Valin recently outlined relationships between McDonald, Burton, and TWG co-owner Bill Ferguson after investigating allegations of the City's Code of Conduct breaches.
Valin found that "In the municipal elections conducted in North Bay in 2010 and 2014, Mr. Ferguson acted as campaign manager for the Respondent Allan McDonald, who was elected mayor on both occasions. The Financial Statement-Auditor’s Report filed by the Respondent Mr. McDonald pursuant to the Municipal Elections Act for the 2010 municipal election reveals that he paid TWG Communications the sum of $26,366.25 for advertising and marketing-related expenses. That amount represents 93% of Mr. McDonald’s total election expenses.
"The Financial Statement-Auditor’s Report filed by the Respondent Mr. McDonald pursuant to the Municipal Elections Act for the 2014 municipal election reveals that he paid TWG Communications the sum of $22,600.00 for advertising and marketing related expenses. That amount represents 91% of Mr. McDonald’s total election expenses. Mr. Ferguson also acted as Mr. McDonald’s campaign manager for the office of mayor in the 2018 municipal election.
"I conclude, on a balance of probabilities, that between and during the years 2010 to 2018, the Respondent Mr. McDonald enjoyed a personal and business or professional relationship with William Ferguson."
As for Board Chair George Burton Valin said, "The Respondent Mr. Burton has been President of Canadore College since 2010. William Ferguson became a member of the Board of Governors of Canadore College in 2010. In 2015, he was Board Chair, as well as Chair of the Executive Committee. In September 2015, Mr. Ferguson announced that the Board of Governors of Canadore College had awarded a five-year contract extension to Mr. Burton as President. The value of that extension over the five years was well in excess of $1million.
"From as early as June 2016, Mr. Ferguson and the Respondent Mr. Burton were, and continue to be, members of the Board of Directors of the Canadore College Foundation whose primary object is to provide leadership in meeting the long-term development and fundraising objectives established by the College Board of Governors to benefit students, programs, and applied research at the College. It is reasonable to infer that the President of a community college works closely on a regular basis with the Chair of the Board of Governors and the Chair of the Executive Committee. I conclude, on a balance of probabilities, that between and during the years 2010 to 2018, the Respondent Mr. Burton enjoyed a personal and business or professional relationship with William Ferguson."
Burton resigned from the board five months ago.
The Chair may have changed but not Invest North Bay's reputation for lack of transparency.
Despite Valin's findings, interim board chairman Coun. Dave Mendicino is quoted in The Nugget as insisting he has the “utmost confidence” McDonald and Burton “did not have a conflict of interest, period.”
BayToday reached out to Mendicino twice by telephone to get an explanation but was told by text message that he would only respond to questions that were submitted by email in advance. Asked if he would answer those questions by telephone, Mendicino did not respond.
BayToday offered to wait for a time of Mendicino's choosing, and also provide an overview of the subject matter but got no response.
We declined the offer of submitting emailed questions in advance.
"I’m not going to engage in the game of submitting questions in advance by email so you can cherry pick the ones you choose to answer and ignore others. This denies me the opportunity to ask follow up questions. I guess we’ll leave it up to the readers to judge. I’m still very much open to a telephone interview but you owe it to the citizens of North Bay, to be open, honest, and transparent. This clearly is not your intent."
BayToday also reached out to Al McDonald by text and through the city's communications officer to get the Mayor's side of the story, but got no response.
See related: Invest North Bay conducting closed meetings in violation of Municipal Act says Ferris
And: Invest North Bay must enforce its own conflict of interest policy or disband says Ferris
