Bob Gale

Niagara Falls boat tours dumped by Parks Commission

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Emily Jackson – March 9, 2012

To the delighted tourists clad in blue ponchos, the Maid of the Mist ships were charmed vessels spiriting them toward the thundering Niagara Falls.

But the 166-year-old relationship between Niagara Falls and boats bearing the Maid name came to an end last month when the Niagara Parks Commission chose a new company to operate the lucrative tours.

Lucrative deal for Niagara Falls all down to one person

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Bob Gale
Bob Gale

Peter Conradi – February 24, 2012

There was a distinct lack of high-level political representation at Wednesday’s announcement that Hornblower was coming to town for 30 years, waving the promise of $500 million for the Niagara Parks Commission and, by connection, the Ontario taxpayers.

That’s serious money. It’s the kind of money that would normally bring out all the heavyweights – Regional chairman, mayors, MPs, MPPs, government ministers – even an appearance by the premier would have been in order – all of them jockeying for the usual smiling pictures and self-congratulatory statements from the podium about the government doing the right thing, about openness, about a new day for tourism in Niagara Falls, about the great deal.

Whistleblower Bob Gale saved Ontario taxpayers $300 million: will the government finally thank him for his efforts?

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FAIR Media Release – For Immediate Release

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Whistleblower Bob Gale saved Ontario taxpayers $300 million: will the government finally thank him for his efforts?

Case also demonstrates that Ontario's whistleblower protection system needs strengthened.

OTTAWA—When Niagara Parks Commissioner Bob Gale began to question a secret deal that some board members had struck with the Maid of the Mist tour operator, he had no inkling that he would face a 2-year pitched battle – against the very authorities who are supposed to be guarding the public purse in Ontario.

Gale was vindicated last year, when the controversial contract was finally cancelled, several board members replaced and the Maid of the Mist lease put out to competitive tender. But today we learned how much he has benefited Ontario. The increase in revenue to the taxpayer is at least $300 million – without taking into account the likely boost to local tourism because of much-improved services to be provided by the new operator. None of this would have happened without Gale’s persistence.

Auditors find ‘inappropriate’ conduct at Niagara Parks Commission

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One employee charged mileage while on vacation, another billed $275 for laundry during eight-day stay in Japan

Peter Conradi – July 30, 2011

Ontario Tourism Minister Michael Chan says he is angry and disturbed that provincial auditors have found the Niagara Parks Commission engaged in ‘inappropriate and unacceptable’ conduct in regard to staff expenses, procurement policies and revenue generating projects.

In an interview with Bullet News Friday, Chan said he has asked NPC interim chairwoman Janice Thomson to review the audits “and determine whether any of the findings warrant further investigation and potential pursuit of the recovery of funds.”

Maid of the Mist lease finally out to competitive tender

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Frank Parlato Jr. – February 22, 2011

After 40 years, it finally may be over for Maid of the Mist boat tour operator James. V. Glynn of Lewiston, N.Y. The multimillionaire's fortunes sank like the Titanic following an expose on his secretive dealings with the Niagara Parks Commission (NPC) published in the Niagara Falls Reporter.

The Ontario government ordered the longtime boat tour lease out to competitive bidding last year. Glynn never faced competitive bidding before.

Sweeping changes at NPC may impact Maid of the Mist lease

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Frank Parlato Jr. – December 14, 2010

Two years ago, the Niagara Falls Reporter started digging into secret lease arrangements between the Niagara Parks Commission (NPC) of Ontario and Lewiston businessman James Glynn for his Maid of the Mist boat tours.

A lot has changed since then. For 40 years, Glynn's boats launched from both sides of the Niagara on parkland owned by Ontario and New York. The public never knew what they were getting for leases on park property.

Heads roll as Ontario Parks attempts cleanup of Maid of the Mist mess

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Frank Parlato – December 7, 2010

Chalk up a victory for justice and the Niagara Falls Reporter -- whose articles on Ontario's Niagara Parks Commission (NPC) and their secret arrangements with James Glynn, longtime owner of the Maid of the Mist -- led to more than the unraveling of his lease.

Last week, four NPC commissioners, including staunch Glynn ally Archie Katzman, were fired by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism. Katzman sat on the board for 40 years. The others were Fred Louws, Italia Gilberti and Ed Werner.

Forgery allegation raises questions about suspected impropriety at Niagara Parks

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Anthony Reinhart – November 29, 2010

A detailed allegation of forgery involving a Niagara Parks Commission employee arose during a government investigation of a complaint to Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner in 2008, but it is unclear what, if anything, ever came of the allegation.

The suspected forgery, in which an employee allegedly signed a parks executive’s name to a contract to stage a concert in Niagara Falls, was disclosed on Sept. 16, 2008, to two investigators probing an unrelated complaint concerning an untendered lease the commission had approved for the Maid of the Mist tour-boat operation.

MPPs told about alleged Niagara Parks improprieties in 2005

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Anthony Reinhart – November 25, 2010

Allegations of financial impropriety at the Niagara Parks Commission reached the Ontario cabinet as early as 2005, years before public controversies surfaced at the Crown agency in charge of Canada’s top tourist attraction.

James Bradley, now Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, said that when he was tourism minister, he received what he called “an anonymous letter that contained a number of allegations of financial improprieties” at the parks commission in 2005, but nothing came of a subsequent forensic audit by Tourism Ministry officials.

Cleaning up the mess at the Niagara Parks Commission

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Niagara Parks Commissioner Headquarters

Peter Conradi – November 18, 2010

Niagara Falls businessman Bob Gale said he has more information on controversy and mismanagement at the Niagara Parks Commission. And new NPC chairwoman Fay Booker said she wants to hear it.

Booker, who took over the top job at the Commission in May only to find herself in the midst of a seemingly never-ending maelstrom, told Bullet Media Wednesday she would welcome the opportunity to meet with Gale to listen to anything he has to tell her.

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