Dear Board of Directors,
We would have preferred to address this to each of you individually, however, no board member information is currently listed on either of INBDC’s active websites.
We trust that at this point you’ve all had a chance to review the report from the Acting Integrity Commissioner titled “Report to Council on an Inquiry
Respecting the Conduct of a Member of Council and Report to Invest North Bay Development Corporation on an Inquiry Respecting the Conduct of One of its Members” dated December 11, 2020.
The complaint that prompted the Report focused on the relationships between Mr. Burton, Mr. McDonald and Mr. Ferguson.
Specifically to Mr. Burton and Mr. McDonald sitting on the proposal review committee at Invest North Bay Development Corporation that reviewed an RFP from Mr. Ferguson’s company, TWG Communications, without disclosing to the board their relationships with the bidder.
Unbeknownst to us at the time that we filed our complaint with the Integrity Commissioner, Invest North Bay Development Corporation had developed its own Conflict of Interest Policy that was adopted in February of 2017. This was discovered by the Honourable George Valin, Acting Integrity Commissioner, City of North Bay, during his investigation of our complaint.
Up to this point we have still not seen this policy listed on either of your two active websites.
Although the Honourable George Valin noted on page 51 of his report: The jurisdiction of your Integrity Commissioner is limited to a complaint filed under a code of conduct adopted pursuant to Part V.1 of the Act. Your Integrity Commissioner has no jurisdiction to rule on any alleged contravention of the conflict of interest policy INBDC appears to have followed since June 2017.
The Honourable Justice Valin, did also highlight the following on page 50 of the Report in referring to the INBDC Conflict of Interest Policy: The policy contains definitions of “actual conflict of interest”, “perceived conflict of interest”, and “potential conflict of interest”. While the policy requires members to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest at the opening of each meeting, it only requires members to avoid actual or potential conflicts of interest. Members are not required to avoid perceived conflicts of interest.
While we are currently not privy to the definitions of the INBDC Conflict of Interest Policy, The Honourable George Valin did find on page 36 that: I conclude, on a balance of probabilities, that between and during the years 2010 to 2018, the Respondent Mr. McDonald enjoyed a personal and business or professional relationship with William Ferguson. And on page 37 that: 84. I conclude, on a balance of probabilities, that between and during the years 2010 to 2018, the Respondent Mr. Burton enjoyed a personal and business or professional relationship with William Ferguson.
Page 85.Throughout the history of interaction between TWG Communications and INBDC with respect to TWG’s proposal to develop and implement a marketing and promotion plan for the City of North Bay, neither of the Respondents disclosed the existence of a personal and business or professional relationship with William Ferguson. The Respondent Mr. Burton did not declare a conflict of interest at any INBDC meeting to which I have referred. Similarly, the Respondent Mr. McDonald did not declare a conflict of interest at any INBDC board meeting, or City Council meeting, to which I have referred. In light of these relationships, a reasonable person would conclude that both Mr. Burton and Mr. McDonald were in contravention of the INBDC’s own Conflict of Interest Policy under some if not all of the provisions of: -Actual Conflict of Interest -Perceived Conflict of Interest -Potential Conflict of Interest Members are required to disclose any of these conflicts at the opening of each meeting.
No evidence was found that this had occurred as per the Honourable Justice Valin’s exhaustive search through the INBDC documentation.
We would like to point out that we don’t feel it was an accident that the Honourable George Valin made a point of including this note on page 33 of the Report:
- William Ferguson and two associates from TWG Communications made a presentation to the INBDC board of directors on February 27, 2018. Board members requested a breakdown of what TWG had accomplished within the approved budget of $45,000. A subcommittee, which included the Respondent Mr. Burton, was formed to discuss approach and next steps.
- Both Respondents attended that meeting.
- At that same meeting, the Respondent Mr. Burton declared a conflict of interest when the manager of North Bay Jack Garland Airport made a request for funding and the board subsequently passed a motion for funding in the amount of $295,000 for a two-year project focused on increasing business and growth at the airport. So, Mr. Burton shows that he is aware of the Conflict of Interest Policy as it pertains to the airport request but chose to ignore it as far as the TWG Communications issue.
This selective application of the rules and lack of disclosure and enforcement by Mr. Burton and the Board is glaring in this example.
As such, we would like to know what sanctions will be applied to both Mr. Burton and Mr. McDonald for their breach(es) of the INBDC Conflict of Interest Policy.
We realize that Mr. Burton’s tenure has ended, however at the very least an acknowledgement that his conduct was in violation would serve to restore some of the public trust that has been lost.
As far as Mr. McDonald, we expect that your policy must prescribe for a wider range of remedies. An acknowledgement of the breach(es) and the sanction(s) would also serve to restore some of the public trust that has been lost in INBDC which has been determined to be a local board and is 100% publicly funded.
We look forward to an acknowledgement of the receipt of this letter and an update on how you will be enforcing the INBDC Conflict of Interest Policy for these two individuals by January 15, 2021.
Sincerely, Nicole Peltier, North Bay, Ontario Kevin Ferris, North Bay, Ontario
