Niagara mayors reject amalgamation as Gale proposes weighted voting

Eight Niagara mayors, including Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop, delivered a joint letter to Premier Doug Ford on Wednesday calling for a regional governance overhaul while rejecting immediate municipal amalgamation across Niagara’s 12 municipalities.

Hours later, Niagara regional chair Bob Gale sent a separate letter to Ontario Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack, where he retreats from his earlier proposal to collapse the region into one or four cities and instead proposes a different structural change that would shrink regional council and introduce population weighted voting.

The duelling proposals follow weeks of dispute over if and how Niagara’s two-tier municipal government should restructure.

Regional councillors voted February 26 to launch a governance and service delivery review and to restrict Gale from further action on amalgamation discussions after criticism that earlier letters to the province lacked council direction. The review was first proposed by Redekop and regional councillor Laura Ip.

Mayors from Thorold, West Lincoln, Port Colborne, Fort Erie, Grimsby, Pelham, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Wainfleet now want the restructuring debate to proceed through that council mandated review rather than through immediate amalgamation proposals.

Their letter proposes an “evidence-based” review that would examine how Niagara Region delivers services and whether structural changes could lower costs and reduce duplication between the region and local municipalities.

The eight mayors say the review should examine the creation of one or more public corporations to manage regional water and wastewater services under Ontario’s Water and Wastewater Public Corporations Act, 2025.

The agenda also calls for reviewing whether services now delivered by Niagara Region should move to locally governed public service boards. Those services include the regional road network, social services, public health and emergency medical services.

Another focus would be reducing the number of elected officials across Niagara’s municipalities through smaller local councils. The mayors’ letter states any structural change would proceed only where financial analysis shows clear savings for taxpayers.

The restructuring debate intensified after Premier Doug Ford said during a February 25 news conference in Niagara Falls that the region has too many politicians and that the province would consider amalgamation if a proposal originates locally and gains broad support.

Niagara currently has 126 municipally elected officials across 12 municipalities and 31 members on regional council.

Instead of merging municipalities, Gale proposed reducing regional council to a smaller body made up only of the 12 municipal mayors and a directly elected regional chair.

Each mayor’s vote at that council table would carry more or fewer votes depending on the municipality’s population.

“That each mayor’s vote at Regional Council be weighted according to population in increments of 15,000 residents…reflecting both representation by population and municipal diversity,” reads Gale’s letter to Flack.

Gale’s letter also proposes weighted council sizes across Niagara’s municipalities beginning with the 2026 municipal term.

Under that plan, St. Catharines would have 12 councillors plus the mayor and Niagara Falls would have eight councillors plus the mayor. Municipalities such as Fort Erie, Grimsby, Pelham, West Lincoln, Lincoln, Port Colborne, Thorold, Welland and Niagara on the Lake would each have six councillors plus the mayor, while Wainfleet would have four councillors plus the mayor.

“It was widely acknowledged that the current structure of 126 municipally elected officials across 12 municipalities and 31 members at regional council is not as lean, efficient or affordable as it should be,” said Gale in his letter.

Gale argued that the changes could streamline decision-making and discussed feedback he’s received in favour of restructuring but acknowledged the lack of support for full amalgamation as he previously proposed.

“This package reflects what we have heard: Niagara needs meaningful governance reform, smaller and more effective councils, and a more efficient regional decision making table, while avoiding the disruption and risk of full amalgamation at this time,” said Gale.

“I have also heard from several major private sector employers, representing more than 12,000 employees across Niagara, who have written in support of streamlined, more decisive local governance.”

Fort Erie council publicly confronted Gale during a February 23 meeting after learning the letters had been sent without a mandate from regional council. Councillors questioned the absence of financial analysis or consultation behind the proposal.

Planning for that review is expected to proceed through regional council committees over the coming months.

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