A Foreward by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper
Niagara At Large recently posted a story about a bylaw Niagara, Ontario’s outgoing regional council posted late this September that limits members of the public from speaking at full meetings of the council.
Walter Sendzik, St. Catharines-Thorold Chamber of Commerce chief, fighting to keep doors open for public at regional council meetings.
This media outlet and others in Niagara have received numerous letters and calls from residents who believe that the section of this bylaw that requires individuals and organizations to either receive a formal invitation or receive a two-thirds vote from the council before being granted an opportunity to speak defies the principles of democracy and claims of transparency and accountability by our regional government.
In that spirit, Niagara At Large is posting the contents of a recent media release by Walter Sendzik, the chief executive of the St. Catharines-Thorold Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest business groups in Niagara, vowing to press a newly elected regional council in the weeks and months ahead to overturn the restrictions on public delegations as currently written out in this bylaw.
Following is the Chamber’s release and we encourage you to share your own comments on this issue in the boxes available at the end of this post. Please remember to attach your real name to your comment or, under our transparency policy, it won’t see the light of day on this site.
Regional Council Closes Door On Public Input – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 20, 2010
(Niagara) – The St. Catharines – Thorold Chamber of Commerce is disappointed and concerned with Regional Council’s decision to dramatically limit public input at regional council meetings.
“In a time of increasing accountability and transparency in government, this is a big step backwards,” states Walter Sendzik, CEO of the St. Catharines – Thorold Chamber.
“The fact that this decision was made behind closed doors and ratified by Regional Council at a meeting that ended at 2 a.m. in the morning is quite disconcerting.”
Regional Council voted on an amendment to a by-law that governs public delegations at Council meetings. The new by-law, recommended by members of the Council’s Organization Review Committee, severely restrict the ability for the public to appear before Council.
Under the approved bylaw, “delegations shall not be permitted to appear at Council meetings unless specifically required by law.”
Under the new rules members of the public and stakeholder groups will only be able to present to standing committees. Based on a review of the past four years standing committees met during the day, there have been issues with quorum and information on committees is not available in a timely manner.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” continues Sendzik. “As a business organization, we have been very proactive in working with regional government, and we can’t understand why elected officials would want to shut the public out of its decision-making process.”
With the municipal election (this past) Monday, October 25, the Chamber is committed to working with the new Regional Council to reverse the current Council’s actions regarding public input. Members of the Council Organization Review Committee that approved the changes to the bylaw include: Regional Chair Peter Partington, St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan, Mayor of Pelham David Augustine, Niagara-on-the-Lake Lord Mayor Gary Burroughs, Wainfleet Mayor Barbara Henderson, St. Catharines Regional Councilors Judy Casselman, Brian Heit, Tim Rigby and Bruce Timms, Pelham Regional Councilor Brian Baty, Fort Erie Regional Councilor Shirley Cordiner, Niagara Falls Regional Councilors Barbara Greenwood, Norm Puttick, and Bill Smeaton, NOTL Regional Councilor Dave Lepp, Port Colborne Regional Councilor Bob Saracino, Welland Regional Council George Marshall.
With over 1,160 members representing more than 28,000 employees, (the St. Catharines-Thorold Chamber of Commerce) is the largest chamber (of its kind in Niagara, Ontario.) (Visit Niagara At Large at http://www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to resident in our greater binational Niagara region.)
(Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary of interest and concern to residents in our greater binational Niagara region.l)
Niagara At Large 
Why the meeting was behind closed doors, is my first question regarding this breach of trust amendment to a by-law that governs public delegations at Council meetings. It is hard to believe that they would amend that by-law in a closed door session instead of in an open session.
They kept us in the hallway for several hours when the police department issue was being debated, because of the restricted private information; however the changing of a by-law is certainly not in that category.
This is Canada where we are all supposed to have equal rights and not only given to the “special few”.
The same night as the marathon, behind doors session regarding where the new Police Department would be built, the issue was brought to the floor again regarding the petition to investigate the NHS. Some of the council members were willing to let the NHS speak to the debate, although they were not scheduled speakers, and were just visitors like the rest of us. The public gallery was certainly not given the chance to speak to the issue at any time and believe me; we had issues and questions that were never brought forward by the councilors.
The new amendment now took away what little rights we had, and I was very disappointed when I saw the member’s names that voted for it.
YES IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE!
Joy Russell – Ridgeway.
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This is just another in your face example of “exclusivity”that allows the elected few to make decisions for the majority without any consultation because they know very well they wouldn’t have the citizens permission to do so. We are going backwards in our system if “WE ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN”!! Hopefully we have some people who will stand up for democracy and not allow the few to destroy our input into our way of life. We are dead in the water if this doesn’t change!!
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The problem lies with the fact we as a region are over reprensented. Restructing regional council should be given immediate attention long before the next election. Mayor Doug Martin missed the opportunity to effect positive change.Time restrictions should given to councillors to free more time for public input. Good for the St Catharines and Thorold Chamber of Commerce for their iniatives in their efforts to curb this by-law.
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Kudos to Mr. Sendzik for speaking out on this issue. This shameful and undemocratic bylaw must be overturned.
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