From Bullet Media: The view from 10,000 feet is often brilliant and rarely detailed. And that pretty much sums up the meeting Friday between Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati and Ontario Tourism Minister Michael Chan: A relaxing get-together with nothing on the agenda, and few if any expectations. “It was just a chance to get…
From the Niagara Falls Review: The public has “high expectations” of the Niagara Parks Commission and its employees want to live up to them, Ontario Minister Tourism Michael Chan said in a visit to Niagara Falls Friday intended to rally the employees of the beleaguered government agency. “They want to do their job. They want…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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,…
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…