Ontario NDP Leader Pushes New Deal For Municipalities At AMO Conference

News from the Office of Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Leader Marit Stiles, followed by a Brief Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper on last June’s “Women of Ontario Say NO’ arrest incident at Niagara Falls city council 

Posted August 19^th, 2025 on Niagara At Large

Ontario’s NDP Leader Marit Stiles

OTTAWA – Marit Stiles, Leader of the Official Opposition, along with the Ontario NDP caucus are meeting (this week) with mayors, councillors, and municipal leaders from across the province at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario annual conference to hear about real solutions from those who know their communities best.

“People aren’t asking for miracles,” said Stiles. “They’re simply asking for a partnership that works. And that is exactly what our team is fighting for.”

“Municipalities are on the front lines here. They’re keeping our roads safe, our water clean, and our communities healthy.

“But for years, Queen’s Park has been pushing more costs onto them without the funding to match. It’s time for a real partnership where the province pays its fair share, listens to local leaders, and stops forcing communities to do more with less.”

“Municipal leaders have been clear: they need the province to be a partner, not an obstacle,” said Stiles. “A new deal will strengthen communities, protect public services, and make life better for people in every corner of Ontario.”

BACKGROUND

Marit Stiles and the Ontario NDP are all in for stronger and more resilient communities with commitments that will empower municipalities to make life better for Ontarians with:

• Social and Economic Prosperity Review: Comprehensive Social and Economic Prosperity Review to modernize Ontario’s fiscal framework to ensure municipalities have the tools, resources, and respect they need to serve their communities
• Buy Ontario, Build Ontario: We are pushing the government to prioritize Ontario-made goods and materials in infrastructure projects, create good local jobs, and support communities impacted by U.S. tariffs.
• Get back in the business of building homes: We are bringing bold solutions like Homes Ontario, to get the government back in the business of building affordable homes, in partnership with municipalities. We are also calling for action to protect the existing stock of rental homes with real rent control and tenant protection.
• Delivering reliable, affordable transit: Our new deal will reinstate 50-50 cost-sharing between the province and municipalities when it comes to delivering transit. This means that the province pays its fair share, and communities get reliable, frequent, and affordable public transit.
• Predictable and permanent infrastructure funding: We are calling for a formula-based provincial funding to support municipal infrastructure including roads, bridges, sewers, water treatment, with added support for rural and Northern communities managing large areas with a shrinking tax base.
• Upload provincial highways: We are pushing to reverse the downloading of highway costs by previous Conservative governments that left municipalities with unfair costs. An Ontario NDP government will upload the full cost of maintaining connecting links and provincial highways, ease pressure on local budgets, and restore fairness.

A Commentary by Doug Draper at Niagara At Large – 

Police move in on women holding up cardboard signs at a June 2025 City of Niagara Falls council meeting.

What follows is an excerpt from Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles’s August 18^th, 2025 AMO address to representatives of municipalities across the province that, in recent weeks, is particularly relevant to a shameful incident that occurred at a municipal council meeting in the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario.

At one of the city’s June council meetings, city representatives called Niagara Regional Police on a handful of local members of the Women of Ontario Say No group for doing nothing more than holding up cardboard signs reading ‘Women of Ontario Say No’ after they were told that – for some reason that has nothing to do with free speech and democracy – holding up signs at a council meeting violates a city bylaw.

The women were protesting the fact that they were refused a request to speak to the council about their concerns that one of the city councillors, Mike Stranges, who had been arrested and charged with domestic assault, was allowed to continue sitting on council instead of being made to stand down until his charges were dealt with in a court of law.

The women also wanted to express their view that a piece of Ontario government legislation – Bill 9 – should be amended to mandate that any individual  in political office, charged with a serious  offence, should be made to stand down until the charge or charges are dealt with.

At the June meeting, three of the women, including St. Catharines Regional Councillor Haley Bateman,  were arrested by Niagara Regional Police for continuing to hold up the signs, but were released without being slapped with charges themselves after police removed them from the council chambers.

Since the arrests, a civil rights group called the Canadian Constitution Foundation, has launched an action against  the City of Niagara Falls for allegedly  violating the women’s constitutional rights to free speech.

Now here is the excerpt from Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles’ address to Ontario municipalities that gives a “shout out” to the Women of Ontario Say No movement and that calls on the province to table a Bill 9 that demands more accountability for the kind of issues the Niagara women were requesting from the Niagara Falls council –

 “Whether you work in a factory, or a hospital or for a municipality –  everyone deserves to feel safe at work. Women—and the next generation of municipal leaders—must be able to thrive without fear.

“I want to give a shout out here to Women of Ontario Say No for the fierce advocacy that got this issue the attention it deserves.

“And our own NDP Shadow Minister for Municipal Affairs, (Niagara Centre) MPP Jeff Burch, who’s been a steadfast champion too—calling not just for stronger accountability, but for a standardized, professional model where complaints are handled fairly, without political interference.

“Bill 9 isn’t quite there yet, but we will keep pushing to make sure the legislation is made stronger, and that every elected representative in this province is held to the same standard as every other working Ontarian, right?!”

For related news on this issue, click on the following links –

City of Niagara Falls Faces Constitutional Challenge Over Sign Ban & Arrest of Women At June Council Meeting | Niagara At Large

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIee2YOppD4

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