On November 6, St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe exercised powers given to him by the provincial strong mayor legislation when he instructed City staff to conduct a planning initiative.
He ordered them to skip the City’s usual procurement protocols and move forward with a single-source contract valued at $250,000. There was no bidding process, and the contract was awarded to a favored vendor.
This action is one of several moves made by Mayor Siscoe under his strong mayor authority that have sparked concern.
When strong mayor powers were rolled out, Premier Doug Ford and the PC government suggested that granting mayors the ability to override certain council decisions would help speed up housing development, streamline approvals, and eliminate bureaucratic hurdles. First introduced in November 2022 in Toronto and Ottawa, these powers became active in St. Catharines in July 2023.
The legislation is intentionally limited: mayors can issue formal directives to staff only to further “provincial priorities,” mainly housing, without overriding council or administrative power.
Siscoe’s directive (2025-29) on November 6 told the City’s Chief Administrative Officer to:
“Commence a single source procurement process to retain a land use planning consultant and any necessary sub-consultants… to a maximum upset limit of $250,000.”
The City later announced that NPG Planning Solutions of Niagara Falls received the contract to “reinitiate the Ontario Street Corridor Secondary Plan policy exercise.” The planning for this area started in 2022 but was put on hold indefinitely in April 2024 when the owners of the former GM site stated they couldn’t afford required studies.
After withdrawing from the process, Director of Planning and Building Services Tami Kitay informed council that work would stop, saying:
“Before meaningful work on visioning and the creation of alternatives can proceed, the background studies must first be completed to identify development constraints within the study area.”
Those background studies haven’t begun yet, and there has been no word from the owners about their plans. This raises questions regarding Siscoe’s choice to restart municipal planning and why he opted for an expedited single-source contract.
Since the mayor directed a single-source process, residents can’t know if this consultant was truly the best fit for the job. This isn’t even the first study done on this area that includes the contaminated GM site. It’s unclear why other consultants with relevant experience weren’t considered for this contract or why an open bidding process wasn’t conducted.
A single-source decision means procuring goods or services from one specific supplier without going through normal competitive channels. While St. Catharines’ procurement policy allows for such contracts under strict conditions, it’s only permitted if:
only one supplier can deliver service,
no bids came back from solicitations,
specialized expertise isn’t available elsewhere,
or urgent circumstances arise. The responsibility lies with staff-not with the mayor-to determine if those criteria are met. The City’s Procurement Division is solely responsible for managing acquisitions across all departments under its financial management framework. Elected officials shouldn’t interfere in this process. Following a motion from Mayor Mat Siscoe using his strong mayor powers, a consultant has been selected to kick off a secondary plan study for Ontario Street corridor. The inclusion of what used to be GM property in this study-and its significance-remains uncertain. (Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer files) A comparison shows another single-source procurement worth $162,474.02 was completed on December 8, 2025. This contract aimed at upgrading fire department automated dispatch systems. Staff prepared an extensive three-page report detailing project needs and reasons for recommending a single-source approach which included: “Under Part VI 18(e) of Procurement By-law No. 2023-178, sole or single source contracts exceeding $150,000 require Council approval due to absence of competition based on technical reasons where Goods and/or Services can only be provided by one vendor.” This report went onto consent agenda for council approval-with room for discussion if requested-and passed unanimously. No similar report concerning Ontario Street Secondary Plan was presented to council; questions posed to Mayor Siscoe remained unanswered at publication time. A spokesperson from St. Catharines claimed that Mayor Siscoe didn’t breach any rules. “The City’s procurement policy allows for single-source contracts which were properly followed here; this project was outlined as such in his budget presentation for 2026 budget supported by Council.” A review of council meeting records reveals discussions about single-sourcing happened during special meeting held on November 5, 2025; however council didn’t vote approval since it served just as platform where mayor presents budget proposals without actual voting taking place after amendments made by councillors under strong mayor powers-they simply endorse his proposal thereafter without full evaluation nor acknowledgement around unusual use case involving directorial influence over procurements like these through legislative leeway indicated above-but neither staff nor mayors drew attention towards anything exceptional surrounding such matters during sessions either thus raising eyebrows towards city claims suggesting total support existed amongst members representing broader public interests instead... . . . Source link// Rest omitted due space limitations
no bids came back from solicitations,
specialized expertise isn’t available elsewhere,
or urgent circumstances arise. The responsibility lies with staff-not with the mayor-to determine if those criteria are met. The City’s Procurement Division is solely responsible for managing acquisitions across all departments under its financial management framework. Elected officials shouldn’t interfere in this process. Following a motion from Mayor Mat Siscoe using his strong mayor powers, a consultant has been selected to kick off a secondary plan study for Ontario Street corridor. The inclusion of what used to be GM property in this study-and its significance-remains uncertain. (Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer files) A comparison shows another single-source procurement worth $162,474.02 was completed on December 8, 2025. This contract aimed at upgrading fire department automated dispatch systems. Staff prepared an extensive three-page report detailing project needs and reasons for recommending a single-source approach which included: “Under Part VI 18(e) of Procurement By-law No. 2023-178, sole or single source contracts exceeding $150,000 require Council approval due to absence of competition based on technical reasons where Goods and/or Services can only be provided by one vendor.” This report went onto consent agenda for council approval-with room for discussion if requested-and passed unanimously. No similar report concerning Ontario Street Secondary Plan was presented to council; questions posed to Mayor Siscoe remained unanswered at publication time. A spokesperson from St. Catharines claimed that Mayor Siscoe didn’t breach any rules. “The City’s procurement policy allows for single-source contracts which were properly followed here; this project was outlined as such in his budget presentation for 2026 budget supported by Council.” A review of council meeting records reveals discussions about single-sourcing happened during special meeting held on November 5, 2025; however council didn’t vote approval since it served just as platform where mayor presents budget proposals without actual voting taking place after amendments made by councillors under strong mayor powers-they simply endorse his proposal thereafter without full evaluation nor acknowledgement around unusual use case involving directorial influence over procurements like these through legislative leeway indicated above-but neither staff nor mayors drew attention towards anything exceptional surrounding such matters during sessions either thus raising eyebrows towards city claims suggesting total support existed amongst members representing broader public interests instead... . . . Source link// Rest omitted due space limitations
