A developer concerned within the venture hosted a fundraiser for Stephen Lecce and organized for Wasaga Seaside politicians and employees to go and make their case, in keeping with an integrity commissioner report obtained by The Trillium
In Might, Stephen Lecce visited Wasaga Seaside to announce practically $58 million in provincial funding for a brand new kindergarten to Grade 12 Catholic college for the city.
The college — Wasaga Seaside’s first highschool — could be constructed subsequent to the city’s new Wasaga Stars Enviornment and public library, with native officers saying it might present college students with “a dynamic learning environment and offer residents a hub for education, sport and community engagement.”
On the announcement, Lecce, Ontario’s training minister on the time, highlighted the advocacy of the venture’s proponents.
“I do know extra about this venture than I ever signed up for,” mentioned Lecce, now the power and electrification minister, on the Might 1 occasion, as reported by CollingwoodToday. “However that simply speaks to the amount of advocacy and the eagerness that you’ve.”
Almost two months earlier, a developer proudly owning many of the land the place the varsity shall be constructed hosted a $1,000-per-plate fundraiser for Lecce, paperwork obtained by The Trillium present.
The paperwork shed some gentle on the behind-the-scenes push main as much as the varsity venture’s approval, together with the developer assembling a contingent of city representatives to go to the March 7 fundraiser.
“I was reaching out regarding a small group fund raising event I will be hosting this Thursday March 7 with the Honourable Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. I know and also apologize for the short notice, however, this is all coming together very quickly,” Bob Schickedanz, a companion with FarSight Houses, wrote to Wasaga Seaside’s chief administrative officer (CAO) Andrew McNeill on March 3.
“Considering how important our joint efforts are to secure funding for the new combined school in Wasaga Beach it would be beneficial if you and another key staff member and perhaps the Mayor and Deputy Mayor (can you canvas them on their availability?) could join us for the event,” acknowledged Schickedanz’s e-mail, which was included in a report written by the city’s integrity commissioner that The Trillium obtained a replica of.
FarSight Houses owns greater than 100 acres of land beside the sector and library and has proposed a residential growth of greater than 400 townhomes and indifferent properties, in keeping with a presentation made at a city council assembly in March 2023. The minutes from the March 10, 2023 assembly included issues from a few residents about “the amount of residents in this area and no additional schools being built.”
“While this is a fund raising event there would be NO cost to any of you and I would greatly appreciate if we could get a good Wasaga Beach contingent in the room … Just let me know what works and I will make sure everyone is registered,” Schickedanz wrote.
The group that attended included Deputy Mayor Tanya Snell, councillors Joe Belanger and Richard White, CAO McNeill and deputy CAO Gerry Marshall, in keeping with the report.
Ian Stedman, an assistant professor at York College’s Faculty of Public Coverage and Administration who labored within the provincial integrity commissioner’s workplace from 2011 to 2014, mentioned the scenario raises some questions.
“If you’re a lobbyist developer and you’re asking for something from the province, effectively, then to hold a fundraiser for that provincial minister is putting them in a position that could lead to a conflict of interest,” mentioned Stedman, who additionally famous this is able to solely apply if an individual or agency is definitely lobbying the province.
As for municipal officers, he mentioned there are “appropriate channels” to undergo when lobbying the province for funding, together with having a direct line to the minister’s workplace and authorities officers accountable for speaking with municipalities.
“At the municipal level, you’re not supposed to be partisan. So the perception to the public will be that you have made a donation or a contribution, or that you are showing support by attending a political fundraiser for anyone, provincially or federally, and I don’t like that, I don’t think that’s appropriate,” mentioned Stedman.
“I understand that official meetings may happen before or after a fundraiser, because people are busy and they might have to pull off to a side and have a chat, but I don’t like the idea of actually attending a fundraiser as an elected official who’s supposed to be non-partisan, no matter what you’re asking for.”
The Trillium reached out to all three members of council who went to the March 7 occasion and the city’s communications staff.
Sandra Watts, Wasaga Seaside’s director of strategic communications and intergovernmental affairs, mentioned the occasion organized by FarSight was “completely separate” from the city, which acquired a “last-minute invitation.”
“Town representatives did not pay to attend the event,” Watts acknowledged in an e-mail.
She mentioned they bought to talk with Lecce for a couple of minutes earlier than his speech after which left after his remarks.
“They took the opportunity to reiterate the general need for a high school in Wasaga Beach – any high school,” Watts mentioned, including that in addition they harassed that Wasaga Seaside is without doubt one of the quickest rising communities and the most important and not using a highschool.
“The also reminded him that hundreds of elementary and high school age kids get bussed outside our community every day to attend school, which puts strain on families and students, and really limits students’ ability to participate in extra-curricular activities and develop the strong sense of community pride that kids gain through participation in school sports teams,” she mentioned. “At no time did Town representatives speak to the Minister about the K-12 proposal.”
She added that city officers’ attendance on the fundraiser was “cleared by the integrity commissioner, who determined that it was ‘ordinary activity’ for the municipality.”
The city’s integrity commissioner wrote within the report that McNeill, Wasaga Seaside’s CAO, indicated the group had a “pleasant but brief chat with Minister Lecce for about 10 minutes.” The report additionally mentioned the contingent “treated the opportunity as a further delegation” to at least one the city had “in collaboration with their partners Simcoe County, the Simcoe County Catholic District School Board, and FarSight Homes” with Lecce on the Rural Ontario Municipal Affiliation convention in January.
“Their attendance was clearly part of a lobbying effort, attempting to persuade Minister Lecce to make a decision they believed would be for the Town’s benefit,” the integrity commissioner wrote of the city’s representatives, including that “there was no undue use of influence.”
“I settle for that the delegation did not truly attend or take part within the fundraiser itself – they have been solely there to delegate on behalf their trigger, and I settle for that no one within the delegation paid to attend,” the report acknowledged.
Reached by cellphone final week, Schickedanz, who was president of the Ontario Residence Builders’ Affiliation (OHBA) from 2019-22, mentioned the varsity board will purchase the land to construct the varsity and that that is topic to a “confidential agreement between ourselves.”
Schickedanz hung up as The Trillium tried to ask concerning the March fundraiser. The Trillium referred to as again and left a message outlining some questions concerning the fundraiser, attendance and prices, and requested remark in response to issues raised by some residents about it. The decision was not returned.
Lecce’s workplace declined an interview.
“This decision was recommended by the non-partisan public service. Minister Lecce did not discuss government business at this event,” Isha Chaudhuri, Lecce’s spokesperson, mentioned in response to a number of questions together with how the Okay-12 college was authorised, whether or not there have been any further hosts of the fundraiser, whether or not the minister spoke with the contingent from Wasaga Seaside concerning the college proposal on the occasion, if he inquired about whether or not anybody was paying for them to attend and whether or not the lobbying effort performed a job within the venture’s approval.
Edyta McKay, spokesperson for Schooling Minister Jill Dunlop, who took on the cupboard position on Aug. 16, provided an identical response.
“Impartial public servants really useful the Wasaga Seaside college for approval. Proposals for the 2023-24 capital priorities submissions started in October 2023 and the choice to approve the varsity was primarily based on the explosive development throughout Simcoe area, as they’ve among the many highest variety of overpopulated colleges in your complete province,” McKay mentioned. “Our government doubled the school building fund to build modern new schools, faster.”
A spokesperson for Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District Faculty Board (SMCDSB) mentioned they weren’t invited to attend the fundraiser.
“We had no idea about the fundraiser, we weren’t aware of it, we didn’t attend it,” mentioned Pauline Stevenson, the board’s communications supervisor.
“The town came to us with a proposal that we thought was interesting. We explored it on its merits, it had a very strong business case. We followed every process to the letter … that we were meant to follow, and we actually really think this is a really exciting opportunity,” Stevenson informed The Trillium.
The board anticipates the varsity will open in 2027 and that it is anticipated to have round 516 elementary college students and near 500 highschool college students.
The SMCDSB would want about six acres of land, which shall be transferred to it via the city. Most of this is able to come from the land owned by FarSight Houses, with a small portion of the land coming from the parcel that the brand new area and library sit on.
Stevenson mentioned the board and developer are figuring out the small print of the sale.
Watts, Wasaga Seaside’s spokesperson, mentioned the city is acquiring some land as “park land dedication,” the place a portion of a growth is “reserved as park land for the municipality,” and for free of charge. It’ll be shared by the city and the board and can embrace the sports activities fields that college students and members of the group can use.
She mentioned the venture happened because of the city wanting to seek out methods to “leverage” the $60 million funding in the sector and library facility to create a “community hub with a school and other assets that would benefit the Town and its full-time residents.”
“The Town invited partners to collaborate on turning this vision into reality, including the school boards and a local developer who owns the land adjacent to the Town’s new arena/library facility,” Watts mentioned.
Some residents have raised questions concerning the approval of the Catholic college, with one public college board trustee claiming it “doesn’t meet the needs of the community” given there are extra highschool college students underneath the general public board — there are at present round 675 college students — and the quantity is anticipated to extend.
“So what this town needed was a public school, because the bulk of students are not Catholic, and that’s the part that doesn’t make sense,” mentioned the trustee, who was granted anonymity so they may communicate freely.
Stevenson, the Catholic board’s spokesperson, mentioned approval of the Okay-12 college “doesn’t presuppose that there isn’t a need for another thing. We have no say over that. We just are worried about what makes sense for us and our students and our families and our staff and our board.”
-With information from Erika Engel
