Niagara Business Leader Bob Gale Joins National Advisory Board For Blowing Whistle On Niagara Parks Commission

By Doug Draper

 Bob Gale, a Niagara business many on the Ontario side of the Niagara River may know as the owner of Gale’s Gas Bars, may not seem the most likely guy to get recognized nationally as a whistleblower for the public good.

But he most certainly has by The Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR), a nationally supported charity group that includes among its members David Kilgour, one of the longest-serving federal MPs from Alberta,  Bob Stenhouse, a highly decorated member of the RCMP who found his future on the line a decade ago for blowing the whistle on the ineffectiveness of federal investigations into outlaw motorcycle gangs.

FAIR has appointed Gale to join Kilgour, Stenhouse and others on its advisory board in the wake of his revelations, in the wake of his service on the board of the Niagara Parks Commission, that the commission was not placing a contract for the Maid of the Mist ride out for competitive bidding in a way that might ultimately benefit a taxpaying public that is the ultimate custodian of lands along the Canadian side of the Niagara River corridor.

Since Gale blew the whistle on the Maid of the Mist business and ultimately parted ways with the NPC’s board, the provincial government has directed the commission to put the contract for that iconic ride out for competitive bidding. The commission has also opened its board meetings to the public for the first time in its 124-history as a steward of one of Canada’s natural gems.

In a brief interview with Niagara At Large after Gale learned about his appointment to the national whistleblowers’ advisory committee, he said “if my being appointed to this advisory board means I stand for the truth, then I am proud to be appointed to this board.”

Niagara At Large now features a short story on Bob Gale’s appointment, prepared by FAIR’s executive director, David Hutton.

 By David Hutton,

OTTAWA, March 10, 2010 –The Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR), Canada’s whistleblower charity, is pleased to announce the appointment of Niagara Parks Commission whistleblower Bob Gale to its Advisory Board.

“I’m proud to be a part of what FAIR is trying to accomplish.” said Gale. “Employees are often the first to know about wrongdoing that threatens the public interest, but in Canada, as I found out, there is little to protect them if they speak out. We need to change this absurd situation and I’m confident that we will.”

“We are delighted to have someone of Bob Gale’s calibre supporting our efforts,” said David Hutton, Executive Director of FAIR.  “Through his personal example he has demonstrated that whistleblowers can prevail even when the official channels that are supposed to protect them don’t work. We hope to learn from his effective use of the media to expose unacceptable behaviour by officials and, most important, to get it put right.”

In 2008, while serving on the board of the Niagara Parks Commission, Gale objected to a sweetheart deal that the commission signed with the current operator of the Maid of the Mist boat tours. Worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the operator, this 25-year extension of the lease shut out other potential bidders offering more favourable terms. When Gale’s complaints through official whistleblower channels failed he alerted the media and more damaging revelations emerged. Finally the commission was ordered to conduct an open competitive tender process for the lease – a rare victory for the whistleblower and for the public interest.

Gale is the owner and president of Gale’s Fuels, the Niagara regions only locally owned oil company and an employer of 130 people. He is well known and highly respected for his contributions to the local community.

He has involved himself in various local charities and provided generous financial support to worthy causes with a particular focus on helping children and the disadvantaged. An arena that he helped fund is named for him – the Gale Centre – and he played a leading role in the creation of an ER unit at the Greater Niagara General Hospital.

For more information on the Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR) visit http://fairwhistleblower.ca.

(Click on www.niagaraatlarge.com for Niagara At Large and more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater binational Niagara region.)