Niagara mayors, residents divided over proposed regional amalgamation

Recently appointed Niagara Region Chair Bob Gale is calling for “urgent” changes to regional government.

In a letter to the province and the region’s mayors, he outlined changes which include getting rid of elected officials and the possibility of amalgamation.

The Niagara region consists of 12 cities, towns, and townships and 13 governing bodies including the Niagara region. There are now talks that those 13 governments could become four.
“If we were going to start from the very beginning today and we had all the people living where they lived now, nobody would design the government the way it is currently designed,” said said St. Catharines mayor Mat Siscoe.

In a letter to Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack, Gale outlines the urgent need for governance changes in the region. He points to “an increasingly difficult budget process”

In a separate letter to the region’s mayors, Gale points to a lack of coordination on priorities.

He suggests two changes:

• Reducing the number of municipal elected officials in the region, which currently sits at 126;
• And amalgamating the region into a one or four-city model.

The mayors of St. Catharines and Niagara falls are both on board.

READ MORE: Niagara Region Chair Bob Gale seeks mayors’ input on potential municipal amalgamation

“Its the matter of too many cooks in the kitchen and we have a hard time making decisions, focused decisions, the proofs in the pudding,” said Niagara Falls mayor Jim Diodati. “High property tax increase, poor status of our infrastructure, too much red tape where developers don’t like coming down here.”

“I think four cities makes the most sense. I tell people if you look at a map of Niagara, you identify where people live, you identify where the economy is growing,” said Siscoe. “You would think there are already three urban municipalities with rural areas in between them, then a larger rural community to the west.”

Niagara-on-the-Lake Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa said he wants better consultation.

“Updating and modernizing the regional government particularly is a good thing to do, but I think they are conflating the issue by bringing amalgamation into the discussion,” Zalepa said. “As the mayor of Niagara-on-the-Lake, I am strongly opposed to any amalgamation that includes the absorption of the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.”

Meanwhile, some residents say they’re on board with the changes if they actually make a difference.

“The layers of bureaucracy, it just discourages the creation of business cooperation,” said one resident. “Yes, amalgamation, I would have to read exactly what they plan to do with it and how they plan to implement that,” said one resident.

“If it works absolutely, if you wanna lower people’s taxes, that’s what we need, our taxes here in Niagara Region are crazy.”

In a statement to CHCH News, the office of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing says in part they support any conversation by local Niagara leaders that will keep taxes low, help attract investments to create jobs.

A State of the Region meeting is being held in a week where the topic will be discussed.

WATCH MORE: ‘I think it is necessary’: St. Catharines mayor on Niagara amalgamation