Justify sole-source contract: MPP
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Whatever information Niagara’s regional tourism organization used to justify an “exception” from the province’s ban on single-source contracts, it should be disclosed to the public to ensure public confidence in the agency, Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor says.
“I think that the chairman of the board should explain to the media or to the public what they presented to the bureaucrats that convinced them this should be an exception,” Craitor said Th ursday.
The first project by Niagara’s regional tourism organization — a body created last year by Ontario’s Liberal government to promote tourism — led to a controversy after it was revealed it commissioned Niagara Fallsbased Rev Publishing to produce a glossy $500,000 tourism magazine without putting it out to tender.
“This is not a good way for it to start out,” said Craitor, who is also parliamentary assistant to Ontario Tourism Minister Michael Chan.
Related posts:
- Tourism group gets ‘exception’ From the Niagara Falls Review: Some “exceptions” to Premier Dalton...
- Hudak also abandoned tourism From the Niagara Falls Review: It’s ironic to hear Ontario...
- No shakeup at the Parks From the Niagara Falls Review: There are no plans to...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Tourism group gets ‘exception’
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Some “exceptions” to Premier Dalton McGuinty’s 2009 rule requiring all government contracts to be subject to competitive bids allowed Niagara’s tourism agency to spend $500,000 on an untendered contract to publish a promotional magazine, says Tourism Minister Michael Chan.
“There are exceptions in terms of single-source procurement,” Chan said Wednesday in Niagara Falls where reporters asked him why the new tourism organization — created by the Liberals in 2009 — was allowed to commission a promotional magazine without seeking competitive bids from other publishers.
Regional To u r i s m Organization No. 2 — a new agency responsible for promoting Niagara’s tourism offerings — in May hired Rev Publishing, a Niagara Falls publishing company to print 500,000 copies of “Niagara Today,” a 96-page “destination magazine” to promote the region’s tourism options.
Chan’s ministry approved the expenditure by the organization’s “transitional” board, led by Joel Noden, a former Niagara Parks Commission executive, who said they didn’t have time for a “proper” tender if they wanted the magazine out in time to influence vacationers’ 2010 travel plans.
Related posts:
- Parks to lead marketing group From the Niagara Falls Review: Tourism officials in Niagara will...
- Tourism group expands scope From the Buffalo News: The Binational Tourism Alliance, with offices...
- Tourism Minister stops in Niagara for first official visit From Niagara This Week: Ontario’s Minister of Tourism and Culture...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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.
Related posts:
- Tourism minister needs a map to find Falls: Hudak From the Niagara Falls Review: Ontario Conservative Leader Tim Hudak...
- Hudak also abandoned tourism From the Niagara Falls Review: It’s ironic to hear Ontario...
- Tourism minister pushes ’stay-cations’ From the Niagara Falls Review: The provincial government is doing...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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.
Related posts:
- Tourism minister needs a map to find Falls: Hudak From the Niagara Falls Review: Ontario Conservative Leader Tim Hudak...
- Tourism minister pushes ’stay-cations’ From the Niagara Falls Review: The provincial government is doing...
- Hudak also abandoned tourism From the Niagara Falls Review: It’s ironic to hear Ontario...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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.
Related posts:
- Tourism minister needs a map to find Falls: Hudak From the Niagara Falls Review: Ontario Conservative Leader Tim Hudak...
- Open up casino lease: Hudak From the Niagara Falls Review: Ontario’s Liberals have no choice...
- Tourism minister pushes ’stay-cations’ From the Niagara Falls Review: The provincial government is doing...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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.
Related posts:
- Parks open for business From the Niagara Falls Review: When Archie Katzman banged a...
- Minister lukewarm on city’s Parks plan From the Niagara Falls Review: The Ontario government isn’t in...
- No shakeup at the Parks From the Niagara Falls Review: There are no plans to...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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.
Related posts:
- No shakeup at the Parks From the Niagara Falls Review: There are no plans to...
- PARKS CHAIRMAN RESIGNS From the Niagara Falls Review: Jim Williams stepped down as...
- Parks commission needs direction for lease review, Craitor says From the Niagara Falls Review: Unless the provincial government clearly...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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.
Related posts:
- No ‘wrongdoing’ by Parks Commission chairman, integrity commissioner says From the Niagara Falls Review: There was no “wrongdoing” by...
- Williams goes out fighting From the Niagara Falls Review: The way Ontario Tourism Minister...
- No easy way to replace Maid of the Mist, executive warns From the Niagara Falls Review: Swapping the Maid of the...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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.
Related posts:
- Minister lukewarm on city’s Parks plan From the Niagara Falls Review: The Ontario government isn’t in...
- Tourism ministry orders review of Niagara Parks From the Niagara Falls Review: Ontario Tourism Minister Monique Smith...
- Three Parks posts refilled -but no word on Gale’s spot From the Niagara Falls Review: The province has reappointed three...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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.
Related posts:
- Does it call for lease to be reopened? Opinions are split From the Niagara Falls Review: The Maid of the Mist’s...
- Parks to finish review of Maids lease by Oct. 1 From the Niagara Falls Review: Members of the Niagara Parks...
- Gale drops second complaint against Niagara Parks Commission From the Niagara Falls Review: Calling it “time to move...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.