Diodati said what his statement in council was the truth and that he has never seen the application.

“It is their application,” he said. “They are partners with us but they are also in negotiation with other partners. They’ve done this before.”

When contacted by this Week, a Ryerson spokesperson confirmed via email that Diodati “was not a part of the process” and that the University had worked with senior staff.

“We worked with senior city staff throughout the process and shared drafts of the application with them as it was developed and revised,” said Johanna VanderMaas, the university’s manager of public affairs.

Todd confirmed that staff had seen drafts of the application, but only the portions that pertained to the City’s involvement.

“We did see drafts as it moved along,” Todd said. “What we were doing, What was specific to us. I never personally saw a final draft.”

Most of the back and forth concerned economic development, Todd said.

“There was also dialogue back and forth with FedDev people.”

Ioannoni also contends that the Mayor knows the developer behind Niagara Academic and in fact has met with the principal at a meeting facilitated by the Downtown BIA.

“The developer he said he didn’t know was invited by the mayor and Serge to meet with the BIA in May 2014,” she said.

Diodati, meanwhile, said the project is still very much alive.

“The last application process is dead and done,” he said. “But we’ve re-engaged. The original (innovation zone) did not receive funding. We’re not discouraged and we will continue.”

VanderMaas confirmed Ryerson is still working with the City.

“Ryerson University continues to review options to develop the project with the City of Niagara Falls and other potential partners in the region,” she wrote. “Our main focus is developing options for the project that will have strong local commitment and collaboration necessary for its success. As part of that process, we consider a range of funding sources for the initiative including FedDev and other sources.”

VanderMass also confirmed Wendy Cukier, who was the Ryerson pointperson of the previous application, is no longer involved in the project.

“The file is being handled by the Office of the Vice-president, Research and Innovation, which supports Ryerson in the development of many institution-level proposals and funding applications,” she wrote.

Cukier has also been the focus of controversy. She had been named as the new president of Brock University in time for the current academic year but days before she was to take over, Brock announced she and the school’s board of trustees had arrived at a mutual decision not to proceed with the appointment. The announcement was followed shortly by an investigation at Ryerson into accusations of workplace bullying by Cukier.

The topic of the Ryerson partnership came up at the council meeting as city politicians finished a discussion from its November meeting on a resolution brought forward by Ioannoni that called on council to confirm the $10 million had been committed and that it would discuss any future partnership proposals behind closed doors. The latter part of the resolution stemmed from a report from the Ontario Ombudsman’s office that deemed a Feb. 2015 meeting where the funding was discussed was improper.

The resolution was defeated.

But prior to the vote, when Ioannoni was pressing the mayor for answers solicitor Ken Beaman reminded Ioannoni that questions she was asking had been dealt with in the investigation by the Ombudsman.

“There’s already been an investigation into this by the Ombudsman,” Beaman said. “The Ombudsman has made conclusions of facts of what council did and didn’t do in camera. To challenge the findings of the Ombudsman at this point is highly irregular. The fact is the matter has been investigated, the conclusion was made by an independent investigator and that is the fact we should all be dealing with.”

The issue surrounding the Ryerson initiative has been simmering for months and has often resulting in tempers flaring at council. Most notably back in May when Ioannoni accused Todd of muttering “you’re such a bitch” when she was questioning him about the partnership. That led to a third-party investigation that cost the city $50,000. The investigation was inconclusive.

But Ioannoni said she would continue to look for answers.

“I’m not stopping,” she said.