‘A vehicle for unchecked abuse’: Firing of popular CAO latest example of strong mayor powers wreaking havoc in small town Ontario

Leaked emails, political rivalries, an independent investigation and a fired CAO. A scandal in Haldimand County continues to raise fresh questions about the PC government’s roundly criticized strong mayor powers.

Meant to facilitate the fast-tracking of PC housing goals for municipalities, a recent report by StrategyCorp—along with slumping housing starts across Ontario—shows the strong mayor powers have mostly failed. Instead, they have led to sprawling controversies like the one currently playing out in Haldimand County. 

On February 28, a day after the Ontario election, pictures of confidential documents appeared on a local Facebook group’s page containing letters and email correspondence between Haldimand and Norfolk County officials. The contents of these documents related to the contentious merger of public health boards in Haldimand-Norfolk and Brant-Brantford in late 2024. According to an independent investigation, the release of these documents was clearly meant to “discredit” Amy Martin, the Mayor of Norfolk who was also running provincially for the PC Party. 

The contents of the letters are not detailed in the investigation report, but it explains that the social media post claimed to show “what Amy Martin is really like” and “the content proves Amy Martin’s disdain for Haldimand County”. 

The independent investigation, carried out by security firm Glacis, was initiated by Haldimand County CAO Cathy Case alongside Norfolk CAO Al Meneses in an attempt to determine who was responsible for leaking the confidential information. 

The Glacis report concluded the documents were printed out on behalf of Haldimand County Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley by her assistant Kendle Columbus. With the health unit merger wrapped up in late 2024, Glacis investigators concluded there was no “official or legitimate reason” for the confidential information to be printed in February 2025.

Bentley refused to take part in the investigation, going as far as obtaining a lawyer and sending a letter to Glacis claiming “the investigation is outside of the parameters of the Municipal Act, the Code of Conduct and the Municipal Freedom of Information Act”. The claim was dismissed by the County’s own lawyers. Ontario’s Ombudsman has repeatedly advised municipalities to use their own investigative powers to probe allegations and evidence of wrongdoing by local officials. 

The investigation report concluded: “Without Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley’s participation in this investigation, there are several unanswered questions. It was not determined why Mayor Bentley asked for the documents to be printed. It was not determined who, if anyone, Mayor Bentley shared those printed versions with. It was not determined who took the photographs of the printed versions of the documents (which were eventually shared on Facebook). It was not determined if the documents were intentionally or accidentally leaked.”

The findings make it clear the confidential information was shared by someone with either an axe to grind against Mayor Martin or someone looking to damage her campaign to benefit her competitor, incumbent Haldimand—Norfolk Independent MPP Bobbi Ann Brady.

Mayor Bentley has close connections to Brady, who defeated Martin in the recent election to retain her seat at Queen’s Park. Through other Facebook posts and images, the Glacis report provides numerous recent examples of Mayor Bentley and Brady socializing in both professional and personal settings. While not explicitly drawing the conclusion that Bentley shared the confidential information to benefit Brady in the election, the inference is clear. 

While the images appeared the day after the provincial election, the investigators spoke with the administrator of the group who explained that anonymous posts are vetted and must be approved before being published, a process that can, at times, take several days. 

TOP: A screengrab from the Glacis report showing Haldimand—Norfolk MPP Bobbi Ann Brady (circled left) and Haldimand County Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley having drinks following an all-candidates debate in a late March during the provincial election campaign. 

Bottom: A post from Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley’s Facebook page of her attending the swearing-in ceremony for MPP Bobbi Ann Brady. (Glacis)

The Glacis report is dated May 9, 2025. It was presented to council in closed session on May 20. On June 27, Mayor Bentley used her strong Mayor powers to fire Case, who launched the external investigation. She had been a popular employee with nearly 30 years of experience in the civil service, eventually rising to the top bureaucratic job. No explanation was provided and Mayor Bentley has not answered questions from The Pointer. 

Bentley, along with her fellow councillors, voted unanimously in October 2023 to reject the PC government’s push to extend the strong Mayor powers to Halidmand. It’s a stance Bentley reversed in April this year—about two months after the controversy with the leaked emails began. 

This type of flip-flopping has been seen in other municipalities as well. The StrategyCorp report reveals “mayors who said that they wouldn’t use the new powers or felt them unnecessary have grown comfortable with their use on a selective basis.”

Case’s firing has been widely described as retribution for launching the investigation. It has sparked backlash from councillors and the public. 

According to comments made by members of council following her firing, Case is described as a highly respected CAO, not just in Haldimand but among her fellow CAO’s across the province.

The 30-year employee had just received a glowing performance review a couple months prior to Bentley firing her. Councillors publicly described the widespread backlash among residents after news of Case’s sudden dismissal by the mayor, just as the scandal was engulfing Bentley, spread across the municipality west of Niagara Falls along the shores of Lake Erie.

On July 14, Haldimand County councillors called a special meeting to discuss Bentley accepting and then quickly using the strong mayor powers. They tried to find out why she fired Case.

Bentley did not attend the meeting with a county official explaining she was away on vacation.

The council chamber was packed with angry residents who had strong words for the mayor and council.

“I am here to speak on behalf of many residents that can’t, about the misuse and consequence of the use of strong mayor powers,” Lesley Powell, a local registered nurse said. “On paper they were intended to fast track development to meet community needs, but here in Haldimand County, in the wrong hands; these powers are not a pathway to progress but a vehicle for unchecked abuse.”

StrategyCorp surveyed CAOs from across Ontario, revealed that while many have not seen strong mayor powers become “the affront to local democracy some had feared”, many CAOs “remain unconvinced that the legislation has led to major movement on the housing front” as envisioned by the PCs. 

One CAO, whose identity is not used, is quoted in the report: “Strong mayor powers were always a set-up. There aren’t enough houses. So, let’s give the Mayor all the power and you can have planning. Then when you don’t achieve your targets, that’s your fault. I don’t think the Mayors recognized that.” 

Marianne Kidd, a lifetime resident of Haldimand County and current president of the local chamber of commerce, demanded council introduce a motion urging the Province to rescind strong mayor powers in the municipality. 

“It was our own mayor that said she did not know why the council needed a dictatorship from our provincial government,” Kidd said. “That they are just going to tell her what to do and she would rather have conversations with her councillors about what the county should be doing to bring progress to Haldimand County.”

Deputy Mayor Rob Shirton said outrage over the mayor’s decision to fire Case is widespread across the municipality. 

“People are talking to me about this everywhere I go, even the Beer Store and they are pissed, quite frankly.”

Haldimand council only found out that Bentley was offered strong mayor powers in April through a letter from Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack, after the decision was made by Mayor Bentley to accept the powers without consulting her fellow municipally elected colleagues.

John Mascarin, a lawyer with Aird & Berlis and local government and municipal law expert, participated in the July 14 meeting over Zoom, providing a tutorial about strong mayor powers. While providing an explanation of the extended authority the legislation provides to the mayor, including the ability to hire and fire certain municipal employees, like the CAO and other department heads without explanation, he made his opinions quite clear. 

“I have been very public that I do not like this legislation,” he said. “I am not a fan of this Bill, I believe it is atrociously dangerous to democracy.”

The clear blending of the political and administrative sides of municipal business playing out in Haldimand County is the concern for many CAOs who fear it could happen in the cities and towns they oversee. 

The StrategyCorp analysis details the concerns. “Looking ahead to the future, senior leaders are still mostly wary of the possible long-term effects of this new political tool, mainly as it relates to the potential politicization of the public service. They also worry about the election cycle and the creation of a governance model that places a premium on one individual. A strong mayor system could work effectively … but that often comes down to the Mayor’s personality and leadership style.”

In the words of one CAO: “While the experience [with strong mayor powers] to date may have been fairly neutral, there are more frequent reports of destabilizing actions affecting the ability of CAOs and senior professionals to do their jobs. The long-term effect on a professional civil service may be the loss of professional objectivity and neutrality.”

Councillor Dan Lawrence questioned whether council had “any recourse to turn back time and fix a wrong?”

Mascarin responded: “No, not unless there is a change in the (provincial) act.” 

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