Humane Society received matching right before Centennial Park lobbying rules took effect

The Sarnia and District Humane Society publicly asked supporters to contact council in June while seeking a matching right on Centennial Park land, which council later granted. The City’s Aug. 19 Expression of Interest includes lobbying rules covering media communication and unsolicited expressions of support.

The Sarnia and District Humane Society publicly asked supporters in June to contact Sarnia city councillors and urge them to grant the organization a right of first refusal in the proposed sale of land in Centennial Park. Six days later, council granted the requested right in an 8-1 vote.

When the City opened the same property to competing proposals on Aug. 19, it issued an Expression of Interest, or EOI, a process used to invite prospective purchasers to submit proposals for the land. The document included lobbying rules covering activities that may include communicating with news organizations or asking outside groups to express support to council. The Humane Society's campaign took place before the EOI opened.

At stake is approximately 2.14 acres of City-owned land within Centennial Park, immediately east of the Humane Society's existing Exmouth Street shelter. The City says an appraisal valued the property at $1.225 million, assuming the land is severed and vacant.

The Humane Society's interest in the site goes back several years. In 2022, Sarnia changed its Official Plan and zoning to permit a new animal shelter and Humane Learning Centre on the Centennial Park lands and directed staff to negotiate a lease with the organization.

The project did not proceed. The Humane Society later said its board and major donors were unwilling to invest approximately $10 million in a new facility on property it would not own.

It instead purchased 1615 Wellington Street in September 2023 for a proposed new shelter. That project also did not proceed after the City's Development Area 2 planning affected the property. A 2025 City report said Sarnia was unaware when the road network was approved that the Humane Society had purchased property that would be directly affected.

Council later directed staff to negotiate an acquisition at fair market value. The City obtained an appraisal of approximately $1.05 million and agreed to purchase the property for $998,000. The Humane Society has described the resolution as a legal settlement that allowed it to recover its land and legal costs.

By this spring, the organization had again turned its attention to Centennial Park. In a June 16 media release, the Humane Society said representatives had met with council in closed session in May seeking a direct purchase of the adjacent property.

According to the organization, council would not proceed with a direct sale because municipal policy required the land to first be declared surplus and offered through a public process. The Humane Society said it supported that process but asked council to grant it what it called a Right of First Refusal.

Its June 16 release included a section titled "Standing Together: A Call to Action for Our Community." The organization asked volunteers, donors, adopters, friends and supporters to contact Mayor Mike Bradley and councillors before the June 22 meeting, support its proposed purchase of the property and urge council to grant the requested right.

Bradley filed notice of a motion the following day proposing that the Humane Society receive a first right of refusal. The Humane Society had already formally requested the right before issuing its public appeal.

On June 22, council declared the approximately 2.14 acres surplus and approved Bradley's motion 8-1. Coun. Terry Burrell was the lone opponent and argued the right of first refusal could reduce the amount the City received for the property.

Coun. Bill Dennis sought to go further by proposing that the property be provided directly to the Humane Society at cost, but his amendment failed. The Humane Society welcomed council's decision, with executive director Donna Pyette citing the public support the organization had received.

The EOI opened on Aug. 19. Its lobbying provisions say they exist "in order to ensure fairness to all Proponents" and to prevent an "unfair advantage created by lobbying."

The City reserves the right to disqualify a proponent for lobbying "with respect to this EOI," including during the process or after the selection process has been completed.

Examples listed in the document include communication with members of council or City employees other than the contacts authorized under the EOI. They also include directly or indirectly asking "any person, organization or group" to provide an unsolicited expression of support to council or the evaluation team.

The EOI also lists "verbal or written communication with or to media organizations" as activity that may constitute lobbying.

The Humane Society's June campaign included asking supporters to contact council and communicating its position publicly through a media release. Those activities took place before the Aug. 19 EOI and its lobbying rules took effect. The right granted by council in June remains part of the competitive process.

Although the City describes that right as a "First Right of Refusal," the mechanism set out in the EOI gives the Humane Society an opportunity to match the economic terms of the highest submission received.

After submissions are evaluated, the Humane Society will be provided with those economic terms, but not the full competing proposal or other confidential details. It may then submit an offer matching them.

A match does not automatically give the Humane Society the property. The EOI says the City is not required to accept the highest offer and may consider other municipal objectives when deciding whether and how to proceed with a sale.

Proponents are asked to provide information including their intended use for the property, anticipated building size, development timeline, investment, job creation and other economic impacts. The published EOI does not contain a numerical scoring matrix or weighting showing how those factors will be assessed against price.

A proposed purchase price is also not expressly listed among the mandatory information proponents must provide. The City's July report to council noted that purchase price is not typically required during an Expression of Interest process and said proponents would be encouraged to provide one in this case so the Humane Society could exercise its right to match the highest submission.

Substantially the same lobbying language appeared in a 2023 Sarnia EOI seeking proposals related to UNDRIP welcome signage. That document also referred to unsolicited expressions of support and "verbal or written communication with or to media organizations."

Sarnia has since adopted a new Procurement Policy and Protocols Manual. The 2025 policy says City procurement should be conducted through open, fair and transparent processes, while its provisions concerning unfair advantage include communications intended to influence preferential treatment.

The policy does not specifically identify communication with media organizations as lobbying and expressly states that it does not apply to agreements for the sale, purchase, lease or licence of land or existing buildings.

The Centennial Park process is instead being conducted under Sarnia's Sale and Disposition of Land Policy. The City's July report says that policy is intended to promote "transparent, accountable and equitable processes" while obtaining fair market value and allowing council to consider other municipal objectives.

Sarnia has previously examined municipal land transactions involving a right of first refusal through a judicial inquiry arising from deals undertaken by the former Town of Clearwater shortly before amalgamation.

In March 1989, MacPump Developments purchased property that later became Lottie Neely Park for $575,000. Approximately six months later, Clearwater agreed to purchase the property for $1.2 million and, as part of the consideration, granted MacPump a right of first refusal over approximately 142 acres of other municipally owned land known as the Parklands.

The Parklands were subsequently put out to public tender and sold to Consortium Developments. Questions about the transactions continued after Clearwater amalgamated with Sarnia, and Sarnia council first authorized a judicial inquiry into them in November 1992.

The OPP Anti-Rackets Branch separately investigated and reported in 1993 that it had found no evidence of a criminal offence. Law Society investigations also found no evidence of professional misconduct in the matters they examined.

The dispute over Sarnia's authority to hold the inquiry eventually reached the Supreme Court of Canada, which upheld the City's authority to proceed and described municipal judicial inquiries as an "important safeguard of the public interest."

The inquiry's terms of reference called for examination of the consideration exchanged in the transactions, the granting of the right of first refusal, mortgage arrangements, the timing and relationship of the transactions, information available to the parties, relationships between municipal and private participants and professional advice received by Clearwater.

The current Centennial Park process includes a public declaration that the property is surplus, a disclosed appraisal, a public EOI and an opportunity for other prospective purchasers to submit proposals.

The EOI remains open until Oct. 1. Once submissions are received, the Humane Society will be provided with the economic terms of the highest submission and given an opportunity to match them.

The lobbying rules will remain in effect throughout the process. They identify communications with media organizations and soliciting unsolicited expressions of support among activities that may constitute lobbying.

The Humane Society's June campaign and council's decision to grant its matching right both predate those rules.