January 25th Niagara Regional Council Meeting Was A Disgrace

Listen to a Sunday, January 28^th CKTB Radio Interview with St. Catharines Regional Councillor Haley Bateman by Clicking on a Link at the End of this Commentary

A Commentary by Niagara At Large journalist/publisher Doug Draper

Posted January 28th, 2024 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – In my 45 years as a journalist in Niagara, starting with my close to two decades at The Standards before moving on to Niagara This Week, The Thorold News and now Niagara At Large, I have viewed few meetings of Niagara’s regional council that I have found more disappointing and disturbing than the one that took place this past Thursday, January 25^th.

I would have to go back more than six years ago, to the dark times when then-Niagara Regional Chair Al Caslin and what was rightfully called his cabal of councillors and some of the Region’s senior staff. to dredge up examples of meetings that were as bad or worse than this January 25^th meeting was.

It was a meeting where St. Catharines Regional Councillor Haley Bateman wanted to table a motion asking her fellow councillors to recognize, in so many ways, the ongoing slaughter of mostly Palestinian civilians (a disproportionate number of the more than 24,000 killed to date women and children) in the Gaza strip – just as the current Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley released a statement and ordered that the Region’s headquarters be lit up in blue and white following the brutal butchering by Hamas terrorists of some 1,200 Israeli citizens last October.

Instead, Bateman’s motion was quickly swept aside for, another St. Catharines Regional Councillor Mat Siscoe, who is also mayor of that city, being way out of line with the business the Region council focuses on.

Siscoe tabled a motion of his own to bar  Bateman’s motion and it was seconded by yet another St. Catharines Regional Councillor, Laura Ip, who also used “procedural rules” to “call the question” which effectively shut down further discussion, including discussion from a total of `18 citizens from across Niagara who came as “delegations” to speak.

Siscoe’s motion was approved by the Regional Council by a vote of 26 to two, and at the end of the council meeting Bradley, who I have never seen look so stern,  moved to adjourn it, even as Bateman called out four times for a “point of order” so she could speak.

In summary, this veteran news reporter believes that the optics of this Regional Council meeting were horrible and may only serve to worsen the negative feelings many citizens in this country and the one to the south of us have for politicians and government.

I have to join those residents at the meeting who were not allowed to speak by echoing the following chant  from them as they were leaving the regional council chambers – “SHAME, SHAME, SHAME!”

• Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

This Sunday morning, January 28^th, St. Catharines Regional was interviews by a CKTB Radio host Karl Dockstader about this whole sorry affair.

I urge you to listen to this interview and come to your own conclusions, if you haven’t already, about the way things fell down at that council meeting, by clicking on the following link – Karl Dockstader with Niagara Regional Councillor Haley Bateman on Palestine ceasefire motion – Newstalk 610 – Omny.fm

If you missed the January 25^th Regional Council meeting and want to see it, click on the screen immediately below –

https://youtube.com/watch?v=oHB27Unva8U%3Fsi%3DzrDzhOeoHSpaIRu6%3Frel%3D0%26autoplay%3D1

Finally, here is the full text of a news release on the council meeting that was circulated this January 28^th by the Niagara Palestinian Coalition –

*Niagara Palestine Coalition Statement Regarding January 25th Niagara Regional Council Meeting*

We are extremely disappointed by the conduct of Niagara Regional Council with regards to the motion calling for “Support for Israelis and Palestinians Living in Niagara”.

Despite an attempt to silence our voices,we are determined to be heard. Mat Siscoe and Laura Ip struck down this motion that brought together people from across the region of Niagara, including Palestinian, Jewish, and Indigenous residents. They all came together to bring their concerns to Council regarding the killing and forcible displacement of Palestinians from their land and asking the Region to acknowledge the pain and suffering of Palestinian-Canadians living in Niagara.

We thank Councillor Bateman for bringing this motion forward and Councillor Kaiser (Niagara-on-the-Lake) for joining her in voting against the motion by Councillors Siscoe and Ip.

We are also extremely disappointed by the conduct of Chair Jim Bradley who, in an effort to silence any discussion on the resolution in council chambers, repeatedly ignored points of order that were brought forth by Councillor Bateman.

The conduct of this council speaks to a clear double-standard, indicating that some lives and voices matter more to it than others. It is shameful that this council only shows empathy for people that look like its own members. There is clearly a blatant disregard for the more than 25,000 people that have been killed and for the residents of Niagara, many of whom have personal loved ones killed or trapped inside Gaza.

It is also disappointing that, while this council has readily chosen to address other international issues, notably the Ukraine-Russia war, and to light up the Niagara Regional headquarters in the colours of the flag of Israel (one of the parties in the current crisis) it has not acknowledged the genocide of Palestinians  and has even rejected the opportunity to hear the voices of Niagara residents calling for a Ceasefire that would save both Palestinian and Israeli lives.

It is telling that this council chose to stand against this motion just one day before the International Court of Justice ruled in favour of South Africa’s case against genocide. History will remember how this council stood silent on genocide.

Niagara Regional Council still has an opportunity to make amends. We call on:

1. Mat Siscoe to issue a formal apology for choosing to silence the voices of Niagara residents and devaluing Palestinian lives by bringing forth a motion to strike down the motion brought forth by Councillor Bateman;

2. Laura Ip to issue a formal apology for choosing to silence the voices of Niagara residents and for devaluing Palestinian lives by seconding Councillor Siscoe’s motion;

3. Laura Ip to step down from her role as the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee Chair, to make space for silenced voices to take a lead and be heard; amd

4. Niagara Regional Council to apologize and light Niagara Region in the colours of the Palestinian flag to acknowledge the grief and suffering of Palestinian-Canadians in Niagara Region who have collectively lost more than 100 family members since the war on Gaza began.

• Niagara Palestine Coalition

For a related post on Niagara At Large, click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2024/01/24/a-motion-for-israeli-hamas-ceasefire-is-sure-to-trigger-some-heated-discussion-at-niagara-regional-council-meeting/ .

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