FOI documents reveal St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe used municipal tax dollars for Ford campaign event which is prohibited

St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe used municipal assets and senior staff to coordinate his attendance in a staged campaign event for Doug Ford during last month’s provincial election campaign. The apparent violation of rules that govern Siscoe’s conduct was revealed in documents obtained by The Pointer through a Freedom of Information investigation.

The documents show that Siscoe either cancelled or moved meetings related to his commitments as mayor in order to attend Ford’s political campaign event, which was not a Government of Ontario function.

The City’s Code of Conduct—a document Siscoe helped create and that all elected officials swear to uphold—prohibits the use of public assets for campaign purposes. The Code sets a high standard for elected officials “in order to provide good governance and a high level of public confidence.” The policy states it is incumbent on “duly elected public representatives to ensure that they each operate from a foundation of integrity, transparency, justice, truth, honesty and courtesy.”

Section 13 of the Code deals with election activity and states council members are “strictly prohibited” from using “City resources, including both property and staff time, for any election-related activity” and this not only applies to the council members reelection campaign but “any other election campaigns for municipal, provincial or federal office.”

Documents obtained by The Pointer show that prior to attending a campaign event for Doug Ford where he endorsed the PC leader for premier, Siscoe appeared to be using his City-issued cell phone to discuss the event over WhatsApp with other local mayors. Siscoe also used his City email account to coordinate his attendance, which his Chief of Staff, Brianne Whitty, worked on. Senior staff members who do not work for Siscoe were also engaged about the Mayor’s attendance.

The Pointer reached out to Mayor Siscoe for comment. He did not respond.

An email from Mayor Mat Siscoe’s Chief of Staff to the mayor suggests municipal staff were spending work hours coordinating Siscoe’s attendance at a campaign event for Doug Ford, and that meetings that were part of the mayor’s local duties were either cancelled or moved so he could promote Ford at the campaign stop.

(FOI document from the City of St. Catharines)

The Pointer has learned that a number of complaints have been filed with the City’s integrity commissioner regarding the Ford campaign event.

As The Pointer previously reported, the mayors of Niagara’s three largest cities—Siscoe, Jim Diodati (Niagara Falls) and Frank Campion (Welland)—joined Ford at a public event to formally endorse him at the end of January. One of the campaign stops was in St. Catharines. 

Documents show Siscoe used City resources to coordinate and plan messaging with Ford and Diodati—in apparent contravention of Section 13 of the St. Catharines Code of Conduct.

The FOI documents reveal that City Hall staff began discussing and coordinating the event at least 48 hours prior to its scheduled time on January 31 at 1 p.m.. Three City employees are named in the emails including the mayor's administrative support staff, as well as CAO David Oakes and Director of Economic Development Brian York who were emailed about the event by Whitty, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, on January 30.

Oakes and York do not work for Siscoe. In Ontario’s municipal government landscape, bureaucratic staff are expected to work independently from elected officials, with no involvement in the political affairs of council members.

It is unclear why Oakes and York were being engaged about Siscoe’s participation in a political event during work hours.

In response to questions from The Pointer both Oakes and York said they played no role in organizing the event nor did they attend. York said it is common for event itineraries to be shared with staff.

While most of the coordination and planning appeared to fall on the Mayor’s office staff, which is not allowed, the engagement of other City officials raises further concerns about the extent of staff time used for the event. The Code strictly prohibits the use of staff, who are paid by municipal taxpayers, for such campaign activities. 

According to the 2024 Sunshine list Oakes salary in 2024 was $271,758, while York’s was $182,770. They are not paid to be engaged about political activities and are expected to handle their bureaucratic responsibilities in service to taxpayers, not the Mayor. The documents do not suggest that York and Oakes had any involvement in the planning of any engagement by City Hall in Ford’s event.

FOI documents show staff in the mayor’s office communicating with senior City staff regarding the January 31 campaign event for Doug Ford. 

(FOI document from the City of St. Catharines)

Correspondence between Mayor Mat Siscoe’s chief of staff and members of Doug Ford’s campaign team prior to the event. 

(FOI document from the City of St. Catharines)

Though the City’s Code of Conduct strictly prohibits the use of City assets for political campaign purposes, the FOI documents show that emails, computers and phones were used, on top of all the staff time.

Documents released in the FOI package include messages between Siscoe and Niagara Falls Mayor Diodati, in which they discuss the event. Diodati begins the conversation by informing Siscoe, “Frank (Campion) and I are endorsing DF on Friday. You in?” Siscoe responds: “Yeah—I already talked to Sam, I will give you a call later. I have some language I want included.” The “Sam” referenced is presumably Sam Oosterhoff, PC MPP for Niagara West. 

The use of City resources did not stop after the event ended that Friday afternoon. Siscoe’s office received at least twelve emails from residents critical of the Mayor endorsing Ford, prompting Siscoe to discuss the messages regarding his attendance at the event with his office staff. 

"We voted for you in the last election, but we will not do so again. You lack the good judgment we thought you had,” one resident wrote.

Samples from other emails include:

“Perhaps I am naive, but I expected a display of non-partisanship in our Mayor,” one resident wrote.

“You are to be mayor of all the people. Come next civic election, I will not vote for you,” wrote another.

Concern was also raised by residents about the way Siscoe was using the mayor’s office, including resources paid for by taxpayers, for political purposes.

(FOI document from the City of St. Catharines)

The names of those who complained are redacted in the FOI documents.

Siscoe spent at least some portion of his work hours on several days between January 31, the day of the Ford campaign event where Siscoe endorsed him, and February 18, sending lengthy emails—many of them including the same information to residents, defending his decision to endorse Ford. He detailed what he saw as Ford’s accomplishments and strengths, explaining why he believed Ford was the right leader for the province. However, he did not address the broader question of whether it was appropriate for him, as Mayor, to make an endorsement at all, or whether he was violating the Code of Conduct by spending work hours, using municipal staff and City assets first to plan his attendance at the event and then to defend his political decision to endorse Ford.

The messages from residents and the internal City emails in the FOI package can be read in their entirety using this link.

 An email sent to St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe following his endorsement of Doug Ford for Premier in January. 

(FOI document from the City of St. Catharines)

Siscoe’s actions may have violated Section 10 of the Code, which explicitly states that elected officials must not use their office’s influence for any purpose other than 'official duties in the public interest.' The FOI documents suggest he violated Section 13 as well, which bars the use of city resources for election campaigns.

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