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”Who’s going to do all the work?
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?”Who will control Regional Council?
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.
How did we get here?
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?”The math on eliminating representation
Earlier this week, I posted this about the (not at all) *huge savings* to be had by eliminating positions on local Councils.
Yesterday, as I fully suspected was the plan, Bob Gale sent a letter to Minister Flack recommending the elimination of a total of 35 municipally-elected council seats.
Regional Council composition
That Regional Council be composed of the 12 municipal mayors plus a Regional Chair, directly addressing concerns that the current body is too large to operate efficiently while maintaining a clear voice for every municipality.
and
Continue reading “The math on eliminating representation”
