Laura Ip – Regional Councillor
Representing St. Catharines
It’s not uncommon to hear that Niagara has too many politicians. Why on Earth would an area the size of the Niagara region have 126 elected when the province only has 124 MPPs?
Well, I mean, it’s because there are 13 government bodies in the Niagara region. There are several provincial ridings in Ontario that encompass the area of more than one municipal government.
Continue reading “Too many cooks in the kitchen?”I keep reading that “amalgamation is off the table.”
It’s not.
If you read Bob Gale’s letter carefully, it says:
Continue reading “Amalgamation is not off the table”Sitting on Regional Council is a lot of work.
If you reduce Regional Council to just the 12 mayors, who’s going to do all the work?
Continue reading “Who’s going to do all the work?”Let’s have a look.
In Bob Gale’s letter to Minister Flack of Wednesday, March 4, 2026, he recommended the following voting system:
Continue reading “Who will control Regional Council?”Weighted voting based on population
That each mayor’s vote at Regional Council be weighted according to population in increments of 15,000 residents (e.g., a municipality of 100,000 residents would have six votes; a municipality of 6,000 residents would have one vote), reflecting both representation by population and municipal diversity.
This keeps coming up, so I’m hoping the following will clarify.
How did Bob Gale become Chair of the Niagara Region, and why didn’t anyone do anything to stop it?
Continue reading “How did we get here?”
Laura Ip - Regional Councillor 