Ontario’s Ombudsman says the Niagara Region should publicly apologize to a St. Catharines Standard journalist for violating his Charter rights when it illegally seized his computer and notes and ejected him from a December council meeting.

Paul Dube’s 60-page report, titled Press Pause, was pointedly critical of the Region’s actions saying they were “unreasonable, unjust, wrong and contrary to law.”

Dube also said the Region should apologize to citizen blogger Preston Haskell, whose digital recorder was also unlawfully seized during the meeting.

The report also found that:

- Regional Chair Alan Caslin and Niagara Chief Administrative Officer Carmen D’Angelo were the chief architects of the decisions made Dec. 7 that resulted in Sawchuk’s rights being violated. Those decisions were made on insufficient evidence.

- The Region needs to acknowledge the seriousness of what happened and private apologies and recent policy changes do not go far enough.

- The external lawyer hired by the Region to represent councillors and staff during the Ombudsman’s investigation attempted to influence the investigative process, challenged the Ombudsman’s authority, and dictate the terms of the report.

- Regional council violated the Municipal Act when staff locked the building’s doors while the public meeting was ongoing, and improperly moved into a closed session.

Dube’s report, published Wednesday, was written following a nearly eight-month-long investigation by the Special Ombudsman Response Team and makes 14 recommendations.

Although the Ombudsman gave the Region 17 days to respond to his recommendations prior to the publication of his report, Dube said he received no reply from the municipality.

“I’ve never seen it. I’ve never seen somebody refuse to respond to the recommendations and say, ’We’re not going respond, and this is not the time,’ ” Dube said in an interview. “We’re kind of stunned, and it’s unfortunate because I’d like to know how the council is going to respond, but I think ratepayers are entitled to know as well how council is going respond to this.”

St. Catharines Standard editor-in-chief Angus Scott said he is pleased with Dube’s report and its recommendations.

“His office has done a thorough job investigating what transpired on the night of Dec. 7 in the regional council chambers,” Scott said. “He has clearly determined that the seizure of personal property from Standard reporter Bill Sawchuk, including his laptop, and his ejection from the regional administration building, was illegal and a violation of a reporter’s and citizen’s rights.”

Sawchuk said he is happy with the Ombudsman’s work.

“I’m relieved. I was worried the incident would be swept under the carpet. It clearly wasn’t. The Ombudsman did a very thorough job," Sawchuk said. "There is a disturbing trend, and it extends far beyond Niagara, of attacking the media for doing its job and asking legitimate questions. I hope we never lose sight of the fact that the only way a democracy can really function is with a strong and independent press that keeps citizens informed."

Caslin and D’Angelo did not reply to multiple interview requests from The Standard Wednesday. Regional spokesman Jason Tamming said it would be “premature” for regional employees or the municipality to comment on the report until council has debated it.

Caslin gave an interview on CKTB 610 AM about the report Wednesday afternoon. He also spoke to CHCH News, and apologized for the "inconvenience" caused by the incident.

A special meeting to discuss the report has been scheduled for July 26.

In a Wednesday press release, the Region said it “co-operated fully in the Ombudsman’s investigation and intends to thoroughly review the final report,” and that the municipality is pleased to have already implemented many of the proposed recommendations.”

The night they drove Bill Sawchuk out

The Ombudsman launched its probe a week after the Region falsely accused Sawchuk of secretly recording a closed session of council. Sawchuk was covering the meeting when councillors decided to move behind closed doors.

The public, including reporters, must leave council chambers during in-camera meetings. Sawchuk left his notes and computer on the media table and waited in the lobby for the open session to resume — something a member of regional staff said he was welcome to do.

Haskell left his digital recorder running on the table when he left to go the bathroom before the meeting moved into a confidential session. When he returned, the closed meeting had begun.

Fort Erie Coun. Sandy Annunziata claimed he found Haskell’s recorder hidden under a hat, something Haskell denies. Asked after the incident why he searched the media table, Annunziata said has a sixth sense to detect “political skullduggery.”

Dube’s report said Annunizata could not “precisely explain” why he searched the table “but said he became suspicious about the possibility of someone recording the session.”

In an interview, Dube said he was unable to verify if the recorder was hidden, but said it was not the focus of his investigation.

“What was far more important to our investigation was the response that followed the discovery of the recorder,” he said.

That response was pandemonium, the report says.

A chamber of chaos

The audio from Haskell’s recording captured a “jumble of voices” as councillors and staff tried to determine a course of action.

Eventually, D’Angelo ordered the acting clerk, Frank Fabiano, to seize Haskell’s recorder and Sawchuk’s computer.

Dube notes that external lawyer hired by the Region, Jennifer Teskey of the firm Norton Rose Fulbright Canada, claimed that D’Angelo “did not direct staff to ’confiscate’ any device. However, the audio recording of the closed meeting ... captures the CAO directing staff to confiscate the recording device.”

The report says Caslin ordered the laptop and “anyone recording” not be allowed back into the council chambers. D’Angelo told Dube he understood Caslin wanted both Sawchuk and Haskell barred from the meeting.

“The acting clerk recalled that when he asked why the journalist had to be removed, (D’Angelo) responded that both device owners had to leave because it wasn’t known who had done what.”

Dube’s report says there was no evidence Sawchuk was recording anything but that “didn’t stop the Chair and the CAO from directing that the laptop also be removed.”

Regional staff called the Niagara Regional Police who were asked to remove both Haskell and Sawchuk.

Haskell left the building by the time the officers arrived, but Sawchuk was still there having been permitted to use his computer briefly to email a story to his editor.

Regional general manager Chris Carter, flanked by two police officers, told Sawchuk to leave. Sawchuk said Carter told him to leave without his notes or calling his lawyer or “you’ll have to deal with these two gentlemen.”

Carter told Dube he said that in a “joking manner,” but Sawchuk understood if he did not leave he would be arrested for trespassing.

Sawchuk’s computer and notes were locked in Fabiano’s office and were returned four hours later after calls by a Standard reporter and the paper’s lawyer.

Haskell’s device was turned over to the police, and regional staff attempted to press charges against the blogger.

No charges were laid, but the police kept the recording during the Ombudsman investigation.

Reached Wednesday, Haskell said he has not received his recorder back and there were other recordings on it that he wanted returned .

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A police spokeswoman said Wednesday the NRP still has the device and are reviewing the Ombudsman’s report.

Questionable Authority

In his report, Dube said citizens are protected by the charter from the unreasonable seizure of property. He also cited case law that showed the Region didn’t have the authority to bar either man from the meeting.

The report says Caslin "told us that he believed that both the owner of the digital recorder and the laptop might have been recording the closed session improperly. Accordingly, he directed staff to remove both devices from the council chamber, and announced to the room that the owners of those devices should not be allowed back into the meeting."

However, Caslin told the Ombudsman he did not use his power to remove someone from a council meeting for being disruptive when he ordered Haskell and Sawchuk removed.

“If that is the case, it is unclear what authority, if any, was used to bar these individuals from attending the remainder of the council meeting,” the report says.

Dube urged regional council to make a public apology to Haskell and Sawchuk. D’Angelo previously apologized for the “inconvenience” the incident caused Sawchuk and Caslin called the reporter in December to offer a personal apology.

Dube said that is not enough, and called for a “frank and full” public apology that recognizes the seriousness of the Region’s wrongdoing.

“I think what we’re calling for in our report is much more significant. And it’s a greater statement of regret, and a greater commitment to do better going forward. Stating that publicly at a meeting, it’s on the record,” Dube said in an interview. “I think it’s a much more substantial commitment and a more sincere form of apology, and just carries a lot more weight. And I think it would be much more appreciated by the parties involved.”

-with files from Karena Walter

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STATEMENT BY ST. CATHARINES STANDARD EDITOR IN CHIEF ANGUS SCOTT:

I’m pleased with the report released by Ombudsman Paul Dube today. His office has done a thorough job investigating what transpired on the night of Dec. 7 in the regional council chambers. He has clearly determined that the seizure of personal property from Standard reporter Bill Sawchuk, including his laptop, and his ejection from the regional administration building, was illegal and a violation of a reporter’s and citizen’s rights.

The 14 recommendations contained in the report are well thought out and should be implemented as followups to what the Region has already done to improve its policies and bylaws.

In particular, I feel apologies are still owed to Bill and to blogger Preston Haskell, as the Ombudsman suggests.

In December we asked the Region to proffer a public apology to Bill, during a televised council meeting. At the time, the Region’s legal counsel informed us the municipality declined to do so, citing the ongoing Ombudsman’s investigation as its excuse. I do hope that this report will spur the chair to offer that well-deserved apology to a reporter whose reputation and professionalism were called into question by the Region’s rush to judgment.

The report clearly lays the blame for what occurred that night at the feet of regional officials, in particular, the chair and CAO. The report stands up for the rights of journalists and citizens through its analysis and recommendations.

What concerns me most now, however, is not only the picture the report paints of the Region’s actions that night but also of the Region’s reaction to the investigation’s contents.

The regional administration still does not seem to understand the gravity of what occurred – that it trampled on the legally-protected Charter rights of citizens and a journalist. Niagara Region has yet to formally acknowledge what it did. The Region was given 17 days to respond to the report’s contents, and while its lawyer and five councillors did so, the Region itself never met to consider a response. The Region’s lawyer responded by taking an “adversarial approach” that was counterproductive, according to the report. The lawyer tried to influence the investigative process and challenge the authority of the Ombudsman’s office. I can only assume this was done at the direction of its client.

This should greatly disturb regional residents – it does disturb me.

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Ontario Ombudsman Report: Press Pause by Karena Walter on Scribd

- Press Pause: Timeline for Dec. 7, 2017

- Press Pause: Ombudsman recommendations for Niagara

- Region's lawyer tried to influence probe, watchdog says

- UPDATED: Niagara Press Freedom