Future cloudy for Falls favorite Maid of the Mist
From the Washington Examiner:
Deliberations in Canada over the future of the Maid of the Mist sightseeing boats at Niagara Falls are being closely watched in the United States, where elected and tourism officials want to avoid disruptions to an iconic draw that brings millions of tourists to the Falls each year.
The double-decker boats ferry people from both sides of the Niagara River to the base of the Horseshoe Falls under separate agreements with New York state and Ontario, Canada. The tours have run continuously since 1846.
The Niagara Parks Commission, an arm of the Ontario government that controls the land and buildings around the Canadian falls, approved a 25-year contract with the Maid of the Mist Steamship Co. in 2008. But the lack of competition for the deal drew criticism, so the commission called for bids from competing boat tour operators for the first time.
The multimillion-dollar bids are under review; the commission is expected to make its recommendation to Ontario’s tourism minister in February, though at one point it had anticipated choosing a company by the end of last year.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/entertainment/travel/2012/01/future-cloudy-falls-favorite-maid-mist/2147516?utm_source=feedburnerdcexaminer%2Fwheels&utm_medium=feedWheels&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dcexaminer%2Fwheels+%28Wheels%29%24%7Bdistribu&utm_content=%24%7BdistributionCha#ixzz1kx3vjMZd
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Wallenda getting second chance to woo Niagara Parks Commission
From the Niagara Falls Review:
There are people on both sides of the Nik Wallenda fence, but everyone now seems to agree that it’s an international walk or no walk at all.
Wallenda, the American aerialist who has proposed walking across the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope, is now waiting for a second meeting with the Niagara Parks Commission in hopes of getting the commission to reverse its earlier decision not to allow the walk.
After meeting with Ontario Tourism Minister Michael Chan Friday, Wallenda said he was encouraged to hear the minister’s interest in the proposal, which would see Wallenda walk across the Horseshoe falls this spring or summer.
Wallenda was denied permission by the NPC last month, and was hoping Chan would overrule that decision. While the minister didn’t reverse the NPC’s call, he did suggest a second meeting between the aerialist and the commission.
Chairwoman Janice Thomson said Monday she would sit down with Wallenda for a longer meeting than the formal 10-minute forum he was given on Nov. 16.
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Wallend to meet with tourism minister
This happened on Friday, but I neglected to post the articles leading up to it. It is always interested to see how things are presented before in the news, and then afterwards. I’ll have a posting later with the articles after they met.
- Niagara Falls Review – Wallenda to meet tourism minister Friday
- Niagara This Week – Wallenda to meet with tourism minister
- Buffalo News – Wallenda making second pitch for Canadians’ permission
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Wallenda taking his case to tourism minister
From the Niagara Falls Review:
The Niagara Parks Commission slammed the door on Nik Wallenda Wednesday, but a day later Minister of Tourism Michael Chan opened it up just a bit.
Speaking with the Niagara Falls Review Thursday, the Ontario tourism minister invited Wallenda, a seventh-generation aerialist who wants to walk across the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope, to come and speak with him.
“My door is always open. I welcome the opportunity to meet Mr. Wallenda,” said Chan, who confirmed he had nothing to do with the NPC’s decision to reject Wallenda’s proposal. “This particular project is under the watch of many, many people. It has huge interest around the world.”
Asked if he would stand behind the NPC’s ruling, Chan seemed to leave the door open, saying there are big issues at play.
“One of the major factors is economics. These are uncertain economic times. Jobs are important, the economy is important. That’s why, my door is open to listen to people,” he said.
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Ontario tourism minister didn’t force people-mover deal on Parks Commission: Niagara Falls MPP
From Bullet News Niagara:
A pending deal between the City of Niagara Falls and the Niagara Parks Commission to create a new people-mover bus system to service the millions of visitors to the Honeymoon Capital each year was no shotgun wedding.
While Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor acknowledges he and Ontario Tourism Minister Michael Chan were asked to help resolve an impasse in negotiations between the parties in recent weeks, the minister did not force a deal on the provincial agency, whose chairwoman Fay Booker continues to raise concerns about the impact the new system could have on Niagara Parks’ revenue stream.
“No – I don’t think that’s true,” said Craitor, when asked if the ministry put pressure on Booker and the commission to get the deal done.
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Setting sail under cloud of uncertainty
From the Buffalo News:
Maid of the Mist workers Tuesday hurriedly prepared for the start of the upcoming tourist season — hoping it won’t be the last on the Canadian side for an iconic tour boat company that traces its roots back 126 years.
The Maid of the Mist Steamboat Corp. has owned exclusive rights from its Canadian docks below the falls since the company began, but Ontario’s tourism minister has ordered the lease on the Canadian side be opened to competitive bidding, in effect putting the long-term future of the company into question.
Charter boats will keep ferrying visitors between the docks at Table Rock and the American, Bridal Veil and Horseshoe falls, but they may belong to a different company and not be part of the small fleet called the Maid of the Mist.
“Everything is up in the air,” said John H. Percy Jr., president and chief executive of the Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp. on the U.S. side of the border. “Right now, I’m just looking forward to 2011 season and continuing to work with them.”
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Confidentiality oath should stay: Minister’s office
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Ontario’s Tourism Minister appears ready to accept decisions by Niagara Falls and Fort Erie to reappoint their same representatives to the Niagara Parks Commission, despite his request for fresh faces.
“Ultimately, the nomination of representatives is a decision that rests with the individual municipality,” Liberal Tourism Minister Michael Chan said through a spokesman Tuesday.
His office was reacting to news Niagara Falls had re-appointed Coun. Vince Kerrio as the city’s representative on the government agency and Fort Erie had named Mayor Doug Martin.
His fellow councillors want Kerrio — and other municipal politicians who serve as parks commissioners — to have the freedom to talk more openly about what goes on at the government agency. All commissioners must take an oath of confidentiality that prevents municipal councillors from updating their council on some issues.
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Chan seeks clean sweep of board
From the Niagara Falls Review:
The Ontario government doesn’t want the same municipal politicians — including Fort Erie Mayor Doug Martin and Niagara Falls Coun. Vince Kerrio — reappointed to the Niagara Parks Commission board.
The Niagara Falls Review learned through sources the Ministry of Tourism is looking to follow up its purge of four provincially appointed commissioners by asking Niagara Region, Niagara Falls, Fort Erie and Niagara-on-the-Lake to appoint different members to the board than during the last term of council.
A spokesman for Ontario Tourism Minister Michael Chan confirmed the province doesn’t want familiar faces returning after the four municipalities swear in their councillors this month.
“We are encouraging the municipalities to put forward new names for these appointments,” Mukunthan Paramalingham, the tourism minister’s senior communications adviser, said in an email response to questions posed by The Review. “Our goal is to establish a strong board with members who will bring forth new ideas and qualifications to move the commission forward.”
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Booker ‘rattled’ by attack on credibility
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Fay Booker says she’s “rattled” and disturbed by what she calls attempts to undermine her credibility as chairwoman of the Niagara Parks Commission at a time Ontario’s Liberal government is looking to her to fix historic problems and lead the agency in a new direction.
She tackled head-on an anonymous e-mail sent to The Review suggesting she helped a friend get a contract as project manager with the commission, helped her former accounting firm secure a contract as its auditor and doubled the pay commissioners get.
“I’ve never had my credibility undermined like this,” she said Wednesday. She is in Calgary on a teaching contract. She didn’t have time to cancel before Tourism Minister Michael Chan shook up the parks commission Monday by turfing one-third of its members.
“What I’ve come to realize is we’ve got to resolve the past before we can address the future,” Booker said.
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4 Niagara Parks Commission members turfed
From the Niagara Falls Review:
The Niagara Parks Commission, which has recently been plagued by scandal and controversy, is in for quite the shake-up.
Late Monday night, the Ontario Ministry of Tourism announced it was removing four commissioners from the Niagara Parks board.
An interim board, composed of chairwoman Fay Booker, vice chairwoman Janice Thomson, four municipal appointees and six senior Ontario public servants will operate until a new permanent board is appointed.
Booker and Thomson will continue to provide leadership and guidance “as we work with the interim board to strengthen the integrity of the commission,” Tourism Minister Michael Chan said in a statement released late Monday.
“Our government is taking action to move the Niagara Parks Commission forward and to restore public confidence in this important government agency. We recognize the concerns that have been raised and are taking decisive steps to set the Niagara Parks Commission in a new direction with stronger governance and greater accountability,” Chan said.
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