On Friday we attended the Ontario Professional Planners Insitute disciplinary hearing for Chris Pidgeon, planner for the City of Stratford’s Xinyi project in 2018-21.
The hearing was a result of Get Concerned Stratford’s complaint of 2021; in an agreed statement at the hearing, Pidgeon admitted that he had violated sections 2.12 and 3.5 of the OPPI Professional Code of Conduct:
2.12 not, as a consultant to a public planning agency during the period of contract with the agency, give professional planning advice for compensation to others within the jurisdiction of the agency without written consent and disclosure to the agency in situations where there is the possibility of a conflict of interest arising;
3.5 not in professional practice, extra-professional activities or private life, engage in dishonourable or questionable conduct that may cast doubt on the Member’s professional competence or integrity or that may reflect adversely on the integrity of the profession;
Get Concerned Stratford learned that Pidgeon had been paid for services by both Xinyi and the City of Stratford on the issue of the annexation of land. The tribunal agreed that this conduct was a violation of the rules and the parties agreed on discipline to be a one month suspension, (reduced to two weeks if he undergoes mentoring) a reprimand, and a publication of the decision with names removed. Pidgeon’s lawyer also requested that the name of the City involved be withheld in the public report.
It was quite refreshing to see how seriously the OPPI regarded our complaint. The decision should not be seen as a slap on the wrist; suspensions are very serious consequences.
Chris Pidgeon unilaterally resigned from the GSP Group on December 31, 2023.
Mike Sullivan has been working tirelessly on this complaint. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that these hearings are quite rare; it is fairly difficult to learn how to bring an action against a planner, but GSC Steering Committee member Doug Tripp argued in 2021 that we should attempt it. And, of course, we thank all of you who have encouraged us over the years.
Still, we are left with a question. Stratford was the first city to face an MZO issue. Mayor Mathieson wrote letters requesting the MZO in November 2018 and March 2020, and was refused. He was finally successful in his letter of April, 2020 (see documents), This seems to suggest that Queen’s Park was not keen on the plan. Where did the idea of using the MZO originate? After all, until it appeared in Stratford, it was a rarely-used procedure, designed for special circumstances in mostly rural areas. After Stratford, it became a major weapon in the provincial government’s war on thoughtful planning.
As always, we welcome your comments.
Thank you to Mike Sullivan for his tireless work on these matters from confirming massive violations of the Municipal Act to the fact the Mayor acted alone in regards to MZO applications and now to the Planners discipline.
Thank you Mike Sullivan!
You are truly a Warrior!!!
I can’t imagine the amount of time and frustration you must go through to accomplish this.
Also many thanks to GCS and Doug Tripp fighting for the Good! Don’t let up!
Cheers Frank
Thanks, Frank.
The offence was to work for two parties – without permission! Had he got permission from the city…it would have been ok.
As to whether it was ‘under the table’ Pidgeon admits to having a contract with the city. But my FOI request turned up no contract. He was paid his invoices, so far as i can tell. Pretty sloppy but unlikely to prove fraud.
Mike
The City’s name should NOT be removed from the public notice of the decision. Unless there are exculpatory facts that aren’t discussed in this story, the Mayor and the City were willing partners to the planner’s conflict of interest.
Working on it…
Well done to Mike Sullivan and Doug Tripp! Persistence and hard work paid off with this precedent set and message sent! You may want to invite national media to cover this story as a heads up!
Excellent work! Each city and town needs a group like GCS so that WINS (and the methods used to get there) can be shared.
This is an important precedent.
Now, if those responsible were sued personally for breaking rules and laws, that would be the start of something bigger and better!
Consequences are sorely lacking in all our systems at the moment.
Putting them back could be a game-changer.
Yes you make an excellent and important point. Acc. to the article money was exchanged here under the table/illegally! How about the OPP/RCMP looking into this. Actually they should have been Right From The Beginning!
Best Regards Frank
Has anyone from the city been questioned about paying Pidgeon?
The city’s former mayor, Dan Mathieson?
The current mayor, Martin Ritsma (and all members of city council, dating back to 2017/18)?
The city’s top bureaucrat, Joan Thomson (CAO)? Thomson’s predecessor?
Not to overstate things, but this seems to be a huge story. Do newsrooms such as CBC Radio, specifically, Colin Butler, know about this? Butler did a fair amount of reporting on Xinyi, the MZO, Pidgeon, Mathieson, etc. (This type of story gives the now-gutted Beacon-Herald hives.)
Good that Pidgeon had his wrist slapped, and kudos to Get Concerned Stratford for pursuing this, but isn’t the more explosive story about someone at City Hall paying the guy?
The state of our media is pretty depressing. We did send the story to local outlets, but none have taken us up on it. We are talking with other reporters on how to take this story one step further. Another thing to ask is why it can be legal that people can have their names suppressed in the recording of a tribunal, and how they can manage to eliminate any mention of the town in which the infraction occurred. If they can do that, what’s the point of a tribunal?
Thanks for the Kudos. We need cheering up. And we are not giving up.
Update: A well-written article in the Beacon Herald was published on January 19. Good work, Cory Smith!
https://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/news/local-news/stratford-glass-plant-planner-disciplined-for-conflict-of-interest
Hopefully this tarnishes the reputation of those high up remaining at GSP. What kinda culture, morals and ethics is this corporation distilling in its “professionals”…