Tourism Minister stops in Niagara for first official visit
From Niagara This Week:
Ontario’s Minister of Tourism and Culture has finally made his first official visit to Niagara.
Michael Chan was named tourism minister in January of this year and recently came under fire from the opposition party for not visiting Niagara Falls — one of Ontario’s largest tourism destinations.
Last month, Tim Hudak, Opposition leader and MPP for Niagara West-Glanbrook, visited Niagara Falls and asked why Chan had yet to do the same after more than 100 days in office.
On Wednesday, that all changed when Chan spent the day visiting sites around Niagara and meeting with important leaders in the tourism industry.
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Falls important for Ontario tourism: Minister
From the Niagara Falls Review:
As Michael Chan met with several of Niagara’s tourism officials this week, he said one thing became abundantly clear.
“I think the Niagara region is in a really good position moving forward. I’m very hopeful for the future of tourism in the area,” Ontario’s tourism minister told The Niagara Falls Review during his day-long tour of the peninsula Wednesday.
While mayors, economic development officers and others with a stake in the local industry continue to raise concerns about the economy, currency exchange fluctuations and border-related challenges, bright lights can be seen on the horizon, Chan said.
Construction of the Niagara Convention and Civic Centre in Niagara Falls, a motor speedway proposal in Fort Erie and the formation of a regional tourism organization will put the area in good stead come the future, he said.
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Hudak also abandoned tourism
From the Niagara Falls Review:
It’s ironic to hear Ontario Conservative Leader Tim Hudak accuse the Liberal government of “abandoning” tourism in Niagara Falls, but that’s politics.
Hudak and Conservative tourism critic Ted Arnott blasted Liberal Tourism Minster Michael Chan for not visiting Niagara Falls since he became the provincial cabinet minister responsible for the industry in January.
While Hudak met last week with business leaders from Niagara’s industry, Arnott emailed (for at least the third time) a press release saying “McGuinty Liberals abandon Niagara tourism.”
But when it comes to abandoning Niagara, Hudak seems to have a short memory. In 1995, he was part of the Mike Harris government that scrapped plans to move the entire Ministry of Tourism headquarters to Queen Street, Niagara Falls from downtown Toronto.
If the Tories had relocated the ministry office to the Honeymoon Capital from the provincial capital, every tourism minister would have visited Niagara Falls regularly to check in with the bureaucracy staff.
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New chairwoman at parks
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Fay Booker, a Burlington business consultant who specializes in how corporations govern themselves, is expected to become the next chairwoman of the Niagara Parks Commission at a time the provincial agency is under scrutiny for the way it operates.
Tour ism Minister Michael Chan’s office announced in a 5 p.m., news release the Ontario Liberal government nominated Booker to lead the $80-million-a-year agency responsible for preserving the area around the Horseshoe Falls and running its attractions. Chan was not available to comment, his office staff said.
Booker, a chartered accountant, will fill the vacancy created by the abrupt December resignation of Jim Williams, who quit over a dispute with then-minister of tourism Monique Smith about how to handle an ongoing controversy surrounding its lease with the Maid of the Mist boat tour company.
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Williams goes out fighting
From the Niagara Falls Review:
The way Ontario Tourism Minister Monique Smith wants to tender the right to run boat tours on the Niagara River will harm the Niagara Parks Commission, Niagara Falls’ tourism industry and tourism provincewide, says former Niagara Parks Commission chairman Jim Williams.
He’s not going quietly after resigning his $250-a-day government- appointed job Thursday over a dispute with Smith, the cabinet minister responsible for the parks commission.
“If she’s willing to jeopardize the parks in this cavalier a fashion, I don’t want any part of the organization. This is a bad decision by the government and this minister,” Williams told The Review Friday.
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PARKS CHAIRMAN RESIGNS
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Jim Williams stepped down as Niagara Parks Commission chairman Thursday over a dispute with Tourism Minister Monique Smith’s support for him, and over his “grave concerns” about an historic bidding process she ordered that could see the Maid of the Mist Steamboat Co., replaced as operator of boat tours on the Niagara River.
“Given … your unwillingness to defend this commission against the false accusations levied against us, I can only conclude that I no longer have your confidence in this matter,” Williams wrote in a four-page resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Niagara Falls Review.
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No shakeup at the Parks
From the Niagara Falls Review:
There are no plans to shake up the Niagara Parks Commission, Tourism Minister Monique Smith says.
In an interview Tuesday, she brushed off a Conservative critic’s claim that replacing the whole board is the only way to restore public confidence in the government agency.
“We have no intention of replacing the board,” Smith said about how the Liberal government is responding to 11 pages of recommendations in a report she requested looking into how the parks commission is run.
The Niagara Parks Commission Governance Review called for “fundamental changes” in who is appointed to the parks commission and the process for appointing them.
Smith, however, was not specific about how the Liberal government will handle that recommendation or when.
“We’ll be working with the commission to determine the implementation,” she said.
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Province orders lease for Maids reopened
From the Niagara Falls Review:
For the first time in years, the Maid of the Mist will have to fend off competitors to hold onto the right to run boat tours in the Niagara River.
Ontario Tourism Minister Monique Smith announced Wednesday the Niagara Parks Commission will solicit competing bids from companies interested in leasing the property needed to provide the tours.
“For once, the taxpayers have won. It’s unbelievable,” said Bob Gale, the former commissioner whose concerns about the attempt to renew the lease in 2008 led to a year and a half of intense scrutiny for Niagara Parks.
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Province orders lease for Maids reopened
From the Niagara Falls Review:
For the first time in years, the Maid of the Mist will have to fend off competitors to hold onto the right to run boat tours in the Niagara River.
Ontario Tourism Minister Monique Smith announced Wednesday the Niagara Parks Commission will solicit competing bids from companies interested in leasing the property needed to provide the tours.
“For once, the taxpayers have won. It’s unbelievable,” said Bob Gale, the former commissioner whose concerns about the attempt to renew the lease in 2008 led to a year and a half of intense scrutiny for Niagara Parks.
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