As Doug Ford’s government worked behind the scenes on plans to rejuvenate Niagara, the lobbying firm run by a controversial ex-aide to the premier helped Niagara Falls fine-tune its vision while also working on behalf of a developer set to play a big role.
In the fall, The Trillium first revealed Ford’s Progressive Conservatives’ plan to attract more casinos to Niagara Falls. Soon after, the premier and minister in charge explained that it is part of wider ambitions to realize the region’s potential as the “Las Vegas of the north.”
By then, a developer had already made significant inroads. Companies run by James Ciancone and other members of his family were chosen to transform a provincially owned historic building into Niagara Falls’ first five-star hotel, which the lease they signed will allow them to manage and operate for nearly a century.
According to information from several well-placed sources, Ciancone is also involved with groups seen as a favourite to win a couple of other major provincial contracts in Niagara Falls and has been in talks aimed at making an even bigger splash by potentially purchasing Marineland.
Since at least June 2023, lobbying firm Atlas Strategic Advisors, run by former longtime Ford aide Amin Massoudi, has been enlisted to Ciancone’s cause.
Atlas has also been paid since April 2023 to help the City of Niagara Falls craft its own outlook for its tourism sector, which its mayor — a political ally of Ford’s — said is “very aligned with what we have heard thus far about the province’s vision.”
Near the end of last year, The Trillium reached out to everyone mentioned in this story, plus some of their associates, to comment on the reporting in this article. Neither Ciancone nor Massoudi responded. Provincial officials wouldn’t say much in response to questions about procurements that haven’t been publicly announced.
Some sources are referred to anonymously in this story because they provided information they were supposed to be barred from disclosing.
Players at the table
Information from Elections Ontario shows Aaron Ciancone, James’ brother, bought a ticket to a September 2021 PC Party fundraiser that Ford attended, hosted by developer Sergio Manchia, who had land removed from the Greenbelt. Aaron Ciancone did not respond before this story’s publication to questions about the fundraiser, including whether he attended or hadn’t, despite buying a ticket. No Ciancone-owned land was involved in the Greenbelt scandal.
In September 2022, Massoudi attended the premier’s daughter’s wedding at the Pearle Hotel and Spa. The wedding and stag-and-doe fundraiser Ford hosted beforehand later became synonymous with the Greenbelt scandal, given the attendance of developers who stood to benefit from the government’s changes to the protected swathe of land.
Around April 2023, Atlas Strategic Advisors, Massoudi’s firm, began its contract work for the City of Niagara Falls, according to public spending disclosures. The municipality has paid Atlas $190,000 in total in 17 almost-monthly payments since.
Niagara Falls finance director Tiffany Clark said in an email that Atlas “was engaged by the City to provide advisory services related to policy and communications advice,” including to offer “support for a Niagara tourism growth strategy” called “Destination Niagara.”
In June 2023, two months after Atlas received its first payment from the City of Niagara Falls, the firm’s first lobbyist registered to advocate to provincial officials on behalf of Veyron Inc., James Ciancone’s company.
Massoudi and two other Atlas lobbyists are now registered to lobby the provincial government for Veyron Inc. Goals included in their lobbyist registry filings include, "Discussing proposals to re-purpose public assets and expand tourism in the Niagara Region.”
Their lobbying registrations have also listed Pearle Hospitality and Society Developments — other companies run by Ciancone and other members of his family — as either each a “subsidiary” of Veyron Inc., or as having “a direct interest in the outcome of (its) lobbying.”
Early movers
In April 2022, the commission launched a procurement process to find developers to transform a pair of decommissioned power stations into revenue-generating assets. The Toronto and Ontario Power Generating Stations have deteriorated into “$14-million liabilities” for the commission, according to its latest annual report.
Pearle Hospitality and Society Developments made a joint submission to redevelop each of the decommissioned power-generating stations, according to four well-placed sources.
In November 2023, the Niagara Parks Commission announced the Ciancones’ companies' proposal for the Toronto Power Generating Station as its preferred one, and that they’d signed a letter of intent. A year later — this November — Ford’s cabinet formally signed off on the commission’s lease with a newly incorporated James Ciancone-headed company, paving the way for the former power station atop the cliffs of the falls to be transformed into a $200-million luxury hotel.
The province’s selection of the Ciancones’ pitch miffed some existing hoteliers in Niagara Falls, according to four well-placed sources. They hadn’t expected the commission to get into business with a competitor, the sources said.
An overview Niagara Parks made available to its finalists said the commission's goals in redeveloping the former power stations were to preserve them for the long-term, create “a sustainable, new guest experience” with a “significant tourism impact,” and to “generate new, sustainable revenue for Niagara Parks.” The only mention of the word “hotel” in the 450-page-long document that isn’t referencing different projects noted it was one of more than two dozen potential uses for the former Toronto Power Generating Station that participants in workshop consultations beforehand came up with.
A spokesperson for the Niagara Parks Commission said the approximately 169 hotel rooms in the planned Toronto Power Generating Station hotel “only represents a small percent of the total hotel rooms in Niagara.” Other planned components, including a spa, restaurants, wedding and event venue, theatre, publicly accessible museum, art gallery and viewing areas, will “benefit the entire destination of Niagara Falls,” the commission's spokesperson said.
The Niagara Parks Commission’s lease with Toronto Power Hotel Inc., the company Ciancone incorporated for the project, will also see it rent a commission-owned parking lot across the street to build and operate its own “parking structure,” according to a cabinet order. Niagara Parks' paid parking lots have long been one of its important revenue generators.
The Niagara Parks Commission hasn’t announced its preferred proponent to redevelop the Ontario Power Generating Station, located within the gorge near the falls. The commission has said it’s been delayed due to the complexity of the site. Four well-placed sources said the commission plans to relaunch a procurement process to find a redeveloper for the second station.
The Niagara Parks Commission warned in its latest annual report that the power station redevelopment projects risk becoming "potential political sensitivities" for the government.
Four well-placed sources also said a Ciancone-involved business is a contender for a contract to create a new “visitor transportation system” close to the former power stations. The commission accepted bids from companies interested in building and operating the system in the latter part of 2023. A winner hasn’t been announced.
“The intent of the visitor transportation system is to link Niagara Parks’ key guest experiences, heritage sites and commercial nodes,” the commission's overview said. It’s looking to partner with a private company for this system as another way to generate revenue.
The Niagara Parks Commission wouldn’t provide much more information beyond what's been published about either the Ontario Power Generating Station or its visitor transportation system projects.
Niagara Falls’ mayor didn’t say in response to The Trillium’s questions whether he participated in the Niagara Parks Commission’s decisions impacting Ciancone-involved businesses while Veyron Inc. and the City of Niagara Falls each contracted Atlas.
“The (city’s) CAO has authorized and signed off on the compliance with the procurement of the service (it pays Atlas for),” Diodati wrote. “That is his responsibility.”
Everyone loves Marineland
Three well-placed sources said James Ciancone is also part of a group seeking to buy Marineland and the massive amount of land it owns in Niagara Falls.
After The Trillium sent Marineland a list of questions about this group last month, its lawyer sent back a one-sentence response from the company.
“We continue to work through the sales process to transition our property to new ownership,” Marineland’s statement said.
Aaron Ciancone, James’ brother, said that he — personally — and Pearle Hospitality, “Are not involved with this purchase.”
Neither Marineland’s lawyer nor Aaron Ciancone had responded before this story’s publication to attempts to seek clarity about their earlier statements.
Marineland, which opened in Niagara Falls in the 1960s as one of the region’s first large-scale attractions, has struggled in recent years, as changes to laws and public attitudes toward its business have affected its ability to attract visitors. Its founder and then-owner died in 2018. It’s been for sale since at least 2023. Marineland's founder’s widow, who inherited it, died in the fall.
The ‘Niagara Destination Strategy’
Tourism has for decades been crucial to Niagara Falls and the wider region’s economy, meaning it felt the impacts of the pandemic and restrictions that came with it harder than many other cities in Ontario.
The Ford government promised to support its economy’s recovery as the pandemic waned and has announced a few major Niagara-focused initiatives since, like increased GO Rail service and a new $3.6-billion hospital.
The provincial government has also been renegotiating a 2018-signed deal with the company holding the exclusive casino-operating rights in the area. In early October, Ford said of the negotiations, “I’ve been working with the region, along with Mayor (Jim) Diodati, and just coming up with a different way.”
"It's not about gambling, it's about the destination. It's about bringing families there. It's an incredible tourist attraction but we have to clean it up and make it more modern," the premier added on Oct. 2.
“We have everything we need,” Tourism, Culture and Gaming Minister Stan Cho said later in October of the Niagara region’s beaches, wineries, connection to the Great Lakes, theatrical programming, and more. “We just need to unlock it,” he added, singling out things like “amusement parks” and “five-star dining” as what could help draw more tourists there for longer stays.
Some provincial government records reference in-the-works plans as a “Niagara Destination Strategy.”
The City of Niagara Falls’ finance director, in her Dec. 9 email to The Trillium, said Atlas Strategic Advisors' work for it on its similarly named "Destination Niagara" project is "setting the foundation for increasing investments to create a competitive world-class destination.”
Diodati, the city’s mayor, expanded in his Dec. 13 statement, saying the municipality's "Destination Niagara" project evolved from a "Niagara Falls Gaming Resort Destination Strategy” that another company helped it develop before the city contracted Atlas.
“The project ‘Destination Niagara’ and the years of work by the city and various stakeholders that has been undertaken, we believe, are very aligned with what we have heard thus far about the province’s vision,” Diodati wrote. “The nature of the relationship is the City and many stakeholders are presenting our strategy to the province and the province appears to be listening.”
