In Ontario, the Maid of the Mist lease is going out to bid.

James V. Glynn of Lewiston has held the lease for 39 years on both sides of the border.

So how did it happen that the secretive Glynn finally got to be treated like any other individual who deals with public assets - in Ontario, at least?

It began in January 2008, when Tim Parker, general manager of the world-famous Ripley Entertainment company expressed an interest to then Niagara Parks Commission Chairman Jim Williams in bidding on the Canadian boat tour lease.

Williams, claiming confidentiality, refused to tell Parker anything.

Parker filed a freedom of information request.

He could hardly be expected to bid on a lease he had not seen.

Suddenly, John Kernahan, general manager for the NPC, started drafting a new lease for Glynn, more than a year and a half before it was due. And wrote to Parker that his Freedom of information request would be answered by April 17, 2008.

Williams and Kernahan then, working silently, hurriedly scheduled a "due diligence" meeting with the other Niagara Parks commissioners - on renewing the Maid of the Mist lease – then canceled it and scheduled a vote directly to renew Glynn's lease instead.

That vote was scheduled on April 18th one day after Ripley was supposed to get a copy of the lease.

Williams and Kernahan declined to tell other commissioners about Ripley's interest.

One commissioner, Bob Gale, sensed something was wrong. The day before the board was to vote,  he sent e-mails to other board members telling them, "We're rushing the Glynn renewal way ahead of schedule. Why?"

Later that morning, Ripley's Tim Parker called Gale and asked if he was aware of his interest in bidding on the lease.

"I had a deep sick feeling in the pit of my stomach," Gale told PoliticsNY. "Now I knew why they were rushing the Glynn lease." 

Gale came to the board meeting the next day and asked the commissioners to wait for the next meeting to allow Ripley's a chance to compete.

Williams became enraged. Kernahan said a delay might cost the NPC a lawsuit or a disruption of boat service. The commissioners -- without knowing the full terms or seeing the actual lease -- voted to renew Glynn's lease and left it to Kernahan and Williams to work out the details.

Gale filed a disclosure of wrongdoing with the Integrity Commission of Ontario.

Meanwhile, the Niagara Falls Reporter exposed the details of the hidden machinations of the secretive NPC for the first time.

It was soon discovered that Alcatraz Media had attempted in 2005 to be considered for a chance to bid on the

Maid of the Mist lease, a fact not disclosed to other members of the NPC.

With the publication of successive stories in the Reporter, a growing number of Canadians began to call for the lease to be sent back for bidding, including the powerful citizen's group Preserve Our Parks, whose members regularly distributed the Reporter in Ontario.

Kim Craitor Member of Parliament for Niagara Falls said the lease should go to bid.

The Niagara Falls city council passed a resolution supporting the same.

After all, why wouldn't you try to get the most you can. The Niagara Parks Commission (NPC) was losing money.

Since 2004, when Williams took over as chairman, the NPC plunged from a $3.7 million profit to a $4.3 million loss last year. The NPC laid off a third of its workforce devastating many local families.

The president of the Parks Union (OPSEU Local 217), Bill Rudd officially called for a tender. And the Niagara Parks employees marched en masse to the falls to protest the NPC.

Then, in a striking event, after posting the Reporter's articles on the home page of union Web sites, the mammoth Ontario Public Service Employees Union called upon the minister of tourism to dissolve the NPC. Union president Warren "Smokey" Thomas said the parks are "deteriorating while the commission (decides) to renew the lease of the Maid of the Mist without going to tender."

Soon afterward the Toronto Globe and Mail -- after the Reporter's series -- began a series of its own. The Hamilton Spectator, the Niagara Falls Review, Niagara This Week, the St. Catharines Standard, the Toronto Star and other Canadian publications came out with stories. As did The New York Times.

Then the bombshell exploded. The Reporter discovered that not only did the NPC refuse to allow other bidders, but they actually secretly dropped Glynn's rent. It went from a flat 15 percent to a "sliding scale" that reduces the percentage as Glynn makes more money. It drops as low as 5.5 percent.

Why would you drop his rent when others were willing to pay more?

The Reporter’s discovery made Canadian national news.

Shortly afterward the Minister of Tourism ordered the Maid of the Mist lease out to bid.