Niagara residents are looking for justice and closure following CAO report: Former Chair

Should criminal charges be laid following the public release of the Ombudsman's report into the 2016 hiring of the Region's CAO Carmen D'Angelo?

That's the question on the minds of many after Paul Dube's report confirmed the hiring was "unreasonable, unjust and wrong" and confirmed D'Angelo was privy to confidential information provided by former Regional Chair Alan Caslin's office. 

Regional Council will hold a special meeting Thursday at 3 p.m. to discuss the report. CKTB will bring you details on the outcome.

St.Catharines Regional Councillor Laura Ip tells CKTB there is an appetite from a number of councillors to do much more than accept the report and weigh in, she says the public is looking for council to take action.

She also admits that some councillors will just want the issue to go away.

To hear Ip's interview, click here.

Caslin, who lost in the 2018 municipal election, denies sharing any information with D'Angelo.

Former Regional Chair Debbie Zimmerman says while the Ombudsman office has gone as far as it can go, that doesn't rule out other action.

Zimmerman says other candidates in the running for the CAO position would of had their privacy violated.

She says council now needs to go through the report to see if the region can get any justice and closure for residents.

Zimmerman says the 'grand question' is what was the former council trying to accomplish by getting D'Angelo in that role.

To hear Zimmerman's interview, click here.