Proposed Weir winery questioned

Pro golfer Mike Weir’s proposed Niagara Falls winery has been caught in the middle of a maelstrom of controversy over how the Niagara Parks Commission conducts business.

The self-financing provincial entity that controls about 4,300 acres along the Niagara Parkway has been criticized in recent weeks for failing to open up the bidding process for a 25-year Maid of the Mist tour boat deal and other activities.

This week, the Canadian-born PGA star’s winery was pulled into the throes. Last November, Weir and Barry Katzman, who runs the golfer’s Niagara wine operations, announced the winery was to be located on a 15-acre plot next to the Whirlpool Golf Course, which is also run by the parks commission.

But several winery owners are now calling the deal into question because Barry Katzman is the son of Archie Katzman, a St. Catharines businessman and longtime parks commissioner and head of its golf committee.

Donna Lailey, owner of Lailey Vineyards on the Niagara Parkway, said she wants to know why all wineries weren’t given the same chance to pitch a proposal to the commission.

“Why does one winery have this opportunity?” said Lailey, who served as a Niagara Parks commissioner from 1996 to 2002.

“If you’re going to do something like that and you want to promote a winery, you should open it up to everyone.”

Both Katzmans and commission officials say Archie Katzman was not part of any discussions about the project and recused himself from any dealings around the issue.

Archie Katzman, who has been part of the commission since 1971, said he even offered to resign from his post as vice-chairman.

“He’s stepped so far away from this you don’t even know that he’s in the same town,” said John Kernahan, the commission’s general manager.

“He’s done everything by the book.”

Kernahan said Barry Katzman approached his staff with the idea — which is still well in its infancy — and the commission voted unanimously to support the concept of the idea.

Kernahan said the commission is in the golf business, not the wine business, and supported the Weir plan because of his status as a noted golfer.

“Mike Weir is the biggest name in Canadian golf today,” said Kernahan, adding the project is still in the conceptual stage and no business plan has been finalized.

“The marketing opportunities for us to associate ourselves with Mike Weir are absolutely huge.”

But John Neufeld, owner of Palatine Hills Estate Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, said because the Weir winery is being built on public property, other wineries or businesses should have been given the chance to put a proposal together.

“There needs to be a different process than just allowing one individual to be involved in a program like that,” Neufeld said.

Both Kernahan and Barry Katzman argue no other winery can offer the same thing — bringing together golf and wine.

“Who would we open it up to?” Kernahan asked.

“Everyone who is Mike Weir and who has a Masters Championship can come in and talk to us. That makes no sense.”

Hillary Dawson, president of the Wine Council of Ontario, said she hasn’t heard any complaints from wineries about the proposed Weir winery.

If anything, there’s a buzz around it, with many winery owners saying Weir would be a draw for tourists to Niagara, Dawson said.

“Certainly the way people have been talking to me about it is it’s good news, especially if it gets more bodies down to our area,” Dawson said.

Barry Katzman said that’s the hope. Katzman added that the winery is unique because it has Weir’s name attached to it and the benefactor is the Mike Weir Foundation, which helps disadvantaged children.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which represents more than 600 parks workers, called out the parks commission on Wednesday for mismanagement and secrecy in business dealings.

The commission’s Maid of the Mist decision has caused a prospective bidder for the lucrative tour boat operator contract to request a judicial review of the lease, and kick-started an investigation by Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner after Bob Gale, a Niagara Parks commissioner, filed a complaint about the Maid contract and other issues.