As Canada’s busiest publicly owned tourist attraction took a multiyear dive into unprecedented financial losses, its top executive in charge of bringing in revenue spent nearly $400,000 on flights, high-end hotels and pricey restaurants between 2006 and 2009, a Globe and Mail investigation has found.
Joel Noden, who left his $130,000-a-year job at the Niagara Parks Commission on Nov. 9 amid questions about an untendered publishing contract, was clearly not shy with his corporate MasterCard, according to monthly statements obtained through a freedom-of-information request.
Less clear is who approved the expenses at the Ontario government agency. Mr. Noden’s former boss and the agency’s corporate services director each say the other was responsible.
The expense records, which took several months and $1,800 in processing fees for The Globe to obtain, have surfaced in a frosty climate around public-sector spending. Ontario’s Liberal government has struggled to contain expense scandals at other agencies, and Toronto voters have elected a new mayor, Rob Ford, on promises to “stop the gravy train” at city hall. In Ottawa, the Conservatives have moved to slash employee perks and trim the federal bureaucracy in line with private-sector restraint in a slowly recovering economy.
As Niagara’s parks suffered a steep decline in visits from Americans, Mr. Noden jetted to Asia, the Middle East, the United States and Mexico, charging $395,751 to his corporate credit card between October, 2006, and October, 2009. Among hundreds of transactions were an $1,800 nightclub tab, a $199 liquor-store purchase, plane fares worth $9,665 each and a $10,729 hotel stay in London, England.
In the same period, the Crown agency reimbursed Mr. Noden for $23,950 in out-of-pocket expenses from roller-coaster rides in Las Vegas to health supplements in Korea to a pound of Starbucks coffee in Niagara Falls, which he claimed as a meal.
Errors in these out-of-pocket entries, including a duplicate claim for U.S. currency, appeared to work in Mr. Noden’s favour to the tune of more than $800.
The Globe has not yet received copies of the receipts Mr. Noden submitted to support his credit-card purchases, and the statements do not say who he was entertaining or for what purpose related to his parks position. Mr. Noden paid roughly $1,500 back to the agency over the three-year period, or 0.38 per cent of what he spent, parks officials said. Repeated attempts to reach Mr. Noden for comment have been unsuccessful.
Niagara’s policy when Mr. Noden made his purchases stated that expenses had to be “modest and appropriate” and that “the most practical and economical arrangements for travel, meals, accommodation and hospitality must be made.” But it also granted broad leeway to managers to make exceptions “on a case-by-case basis.”
John Kernahan, the agency’s general manager and top bureaucrat, had authority as Mr. Noden’s boss to approve his travel plans and expenses, but said he delegated that authority “years ago” to the agency’s corporate services director, a position equal to Mr. Noden’s in the corporate hierarchy.
“They didn’t ever come across my desk,” Mr. Kernahan said of the MasterCard bills, referring questions to Robert McIlveen, the current corporate services director. “I don’t think I’ve signed Joel’s expense accounts in years.”
Mr. McIlveen disputed Mr. Kernahan’s claim and cited the commission’s policy on corporate credit cards, signed by Mr. Kernahan himself, which says credit card statements “shall be approved by the general manager upon review by the executive director, corporate services or designate.”
“I can’t approve them,” Mr. McIlveen said. “It wouldn’t be good governance practice.”
Fay Booker, chairwoman of the commission’s publicly appointed governing board, was incredulous when told of Mr. Kernahan’s comments.
“John Kernahan is Joel Noden’s boss; it’s the person’s boss who is responsible to approve the expenses of their subordinate,” Ms. Booker said. “So did the general manager just say he shirked his responsibilities?”
Joel Noden, who left his $130,000-a-year job at the Niagara Parks Commission on Nov. 9 amid questions about an untendered publishing contract, was clearly not shy with his corporate MasterCard, according to monthly statements obtained through a freedom-of-information request.
Less clear is who approved the expenses at the Ontario government agency. Mr. Noden’s former boss and the agency’s corporate services director each say the other was responsible.
The expense records, which took several months and $1,800 in processing fees for The Globe to obtain, have surfaced in a frosty climate around public-sector spending. Ontario’s Liberal government has struggled to contain expense scandals at other agencies, and Toronto voters have elected a new mayor, Rob Ford, on promises to “stop the gravy train” at city hall. In Ottawa, the Conservatives have moved to slash employee perks and trim the federal bureaucracy in line with private-sector restraint in a slowly recovering economy.
As Niagara’s parks suffered a steep decline in visits from Americans, Mr. Noden jetted to Asia, the Middle East, the United States and Mexico, charging $395,751 to his corporate credit card between October, 2006, and October, 2009. Among hundreds of transactions were an $1,800 nightclub tab, a $199 liquor-store purchase, plane fares worth $9,665 each and a $10,729 hotel stay in London, England.
In the same period, the Crown agency reimbursed Mr. Noden for $23,950 in out-of-pocket expenses from roller-coaster rides in Las Vegas to health supplements in Korea to a pound of Starbucks coffee in Niagara Falls, which he claimed as a meal.
Errors in these out-of-pocket entries, including a duplicate claim for U.S. currency, appeared to work in Mr. Noden’s favour to the tune of more than $800.
The Globe has not yet received copies of the receipts Mr. Noden submitted to support his credit-card purchases, and the statements do not say who he was entertaining or for what purpose related to his parks position. Mr. Noden paid roughly $1,500 back to the agency over the three-year period, or 0.38 per cent of what he spent, parks officials said. Repeated attempts to reach Mr. Noden for comment have been unsuccessful.
Niagara’s policy when Mr. Noden made his purchases stated that expenses had to be “modest and appropriate” and that “the most practical and economical arrangements for travel, meals, accommodation and hospitality must be made.” But it also granted broad leeway to managers to make exceptions “on a case-by-case basis.”
John Kernahan, the agency’s general manager and top bureaucrat, had authority as Mr. Noden’s boss to approve his travel plans and expenses, but said he delegated that authority “years ago” to the agency’s corporate services director, a position equal to Mr. Noden’s in the corporate hierarchy.
“They didn’t ever come across my desk,” Mr. Kernahan said of the MasterCard bills, referring questions to Robert McIlveen, the current corporate services director. “I don’t think I’ve signed Joel’s expense accounts in years.”
Mr. McIlveen disputed Mr. Kernahan’s claim and cited the commission’s policy on corporate credit cards, signed by Mr. Kernahan himself, which says credit card statements “shall be approved by the general manager upon review by the executive director, corporate services or designate.”
“I can’t approve them,” Mr. McIlveen said. “It wouldn’t be good governance practice.”
Fay Booker, chairwoman of the commission’s publicly appointed governing board, was incredulous when told of Mr. Kernahan’s comments.
“John Kernahan is Joel Noden’s boss; it’s the person’s boss who is responsible to approve the expenses of their subordinate,” Ms. Booker said. “So did the general manager just say he shirked his responsibilities?”
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