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.

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