Ford Insists His Government Is Doing a Better Job for Niagara than Any Ontario Government Before It

Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff is “A Champion” For Niagara, Tory Premier Says

“You are finally getting a voice down at Queen’s Park that you have never had before.” – Ontario Premier Doug Ford during a short visit to Pelham this August 8th, 2019

A News Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted August 8^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Ontario Premier Doug Ford. file photo

Pelham, Ontario – Before heading to a fund-raising dinner at a Niagara area winery in the evening, Ontario Premier Doug Ford made a brief stop at a hardware store in the Pelham, Niagara town of Font hill to announce that his Tory government was investing $1.67 million in infrastructure funding to upgrade a stretch of Pelham street running through Fonthill and southward to Welland.

Upgrades to the street, said Ford, will help ease congestion and improve road safety.

Ford punctuated the announcement with one of his more repeated catch-phrases since becoming Premier a year ago this June – “Promise made, promise kept.”

In an accompanying news release, Ford’s government noted that the project will involve “full roadway reconstruction of 2.5 km of Pelham Street, new pedestrian sidewalks, on-road cycling lanes and new street lighting worth about $1.67 million in provincial funding.”

during this August 8th’s Niagara visit, Ontario Premier Doug Ford called Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff (shown here at Queen’s Park earlier this year) as “a champion” for the region.

During a brief news conference in the Fonthill hardware store, Ford went on to address a question about the ongoing public controversy over provincial funding for programs for helping people diagnosed with autism by noting that he saw only “two protesters” outside the store. He went on to say that his government is consulting with professionals in autism care and plans to create services in that field that are a model for the world.

Asked about a review his government is doing on municipal governance and about what may be in store for the future of municipalities in Niagara, Ford noted that there are now 136 municipal politicians for a total population of about 400,000 in the region, and called that “almost comical.”

“That is way too much for 400,000 people,” Ford said. “When you go door knocking and you tell the locals that they have 136 politicians and that is where their tax money is going, they are not too happy about that.”

There is widespread speculation among municipal government watchers across Niagara that the Ford government will one way be demanding a significant reduction in the number of municipalities (there are now 12 local municipalities and the Region), and the number of municipal politicians.

Ford set the tone for that speculation more than a year ago when his government used the Ontario Municipal Act to cut the size of Toronto’s city council almost in half.

With Niagara West MPP and Ford Tory representative standing at his side during this August 8^th’s stop in Pelham, Ford said that the Niagara people “have a champion here in Sam.”

“I love Niagara. I love the region,” Ford went on to say. “You are finally getting a voice down at Queen’s Park that you have never had before.”

To watch the entire news briefing Ontario Premier Doug Ford held in Pelham, this August 8^th, click on the screen below  and give Ford a moment or two to appraoch the podium –

For the full news release on the Pelham Street announcement and related matters around infrastructure funding in the province, click on – <http://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2019/08/ontario-government-funding-critical-road-reconstruction-in-pelham-and-transit-throughout-niagara.html?utm_source=ondemand&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=m>

NIAGARA AT LARGE encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie sanders quote below.

A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For more news and commentary from Niagara At Large – an independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at http://www.niagaraatlarge.com .

“A politician thinks of the next election. a leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders