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Xinyi project manager disciplined by regulator following complaint by Stratford citizen group

According to a Jan. 20 London Free Press report, Chris Pidgeon, the sometimes outspoken project manager for the failed attempt to bring a Xinyi float glass plant to Stratford, Ont., has been found by his professional governing body, the Ontario Professional Planners Institute, to be in violation of two sections of its code of conduct and suspended from practice for a month. The suspension follows a complaint from Get Concerned Stratford, the citizen’s group that fought the Xinyi proposal. Pidgeon retired from his company, GSP Group, on Dec. 31, 2023.

Xinyi Glass, a primary glass manufacturer headquartered in Hong Kong, abandoned its attempts to build a float glass plant in southern Ontario following failures to get municipal approval for the project in two jurisdictions. Councils in the Guelph area and  Stratford either rejected the proposal outright or put consideration on indefinite hold, blaming COVID.

Pidgeon came out strongly in public in defense of his project, going so far as to suggest racism lay at the roots of opposition arguments in comments to CBC and in newspapers.

According to the Free Press report, the tribunal found Pidgeon in violation because GSP received money both from Xinyi and the city of Stratford. Get Concerned Stratford also referenced a section prohibiting “dishonourable or questionable conduct” but it is unclear how Pidgeon is alleged to have violated that. OPPI has said it cannot comment on a specific disciplinary case.

More Glass Canada coverage of this story here.