An Address by Niagara Resident Ed Smith to St. Catharines City Council with a Brief Foreword by Doug Draper at Niagara At Large
Posted March 3rd, 2026 on Niagara At Large
Niagara community activist Ed Smith tells it like it is on Doug Ford pal Bob Gale’s bid for forced municipal amalgamation
A Foreword by Doug Draper – At a special meeting St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe and his city council held this March 2nd, 2026 to give citizens a chance to share their views on letters circulated late last month by Ford Government appointed Niagara Regional Chair Bob Gale that call for forced municipal amalgamation, more than 20 residents spoke – a majority of them against any kind of local government reform that is not based on solid evidence that it would benefit the community at large and that is not considered for approval without full and open public consultation.
One of those who spoke at the meeting was St. Catharines resident and long-time community activist Ed Smith who at least some of you might remember as a leading critic a decade ago of the wrongful conduct of the former Niagara regional government of Al Caslin and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (then run so corruptly by members of Caslin’s so-called cabal).
Many of the speakers at the March 2nd special meeting made good points that I hope to feature in upcoming posts on the ongoing amalgamation debate but Ed Smith, as he has often done in the past, has a stand-out in summing up in a way that is very well worded and cuts to the core of what so many others are saying about about this issue.
As I listened to Ed Smith speak, I could not help but think how great it would be if we could have Niagara-wide elections for Regional Chair and he ran. What a fantastic contrast he would be to Doug Ford’s man Bob Gale.
Oh well, I can dream, can’t I? Although, maybe if enough of us stand up for democracy in our region it will happen.
Now here is Ed Smith’s address to St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe and his Council on the topic of forced municipal amalgamation –
Mayor Siscoe and Members of Council,
I am alarmed by what I am seeing unfold around amalgamation in Niagara.
I need to stress that this is not about whether change is good or bad. Structural reform can be debated, but it can’t be debated without us.
What cannot be debated is the need for democracy. This night does not meet the bar for debate or democracy.
What is happening right now feels less like thoughtful governance and more like a DOGE-style approach. A small group of “powerful” insiders deciding they know best, moving quickly, bypassing broad consultation and treating due process as an inconvenience.
We have seen this model elsewhere: appoint a strong central figure, align a few supportive leaders, sidestep messy public debate, and start swinging at democratic institutions with a chainsaw in the name of efficiency. No independent data. No mandate. No referendum. No comprehensive cost-benefit study made public. Elon Musk would likely approve of the approach being used in Niagara right now.
That is not reform. That is consolidation of power.
The Ford government’s recently appointed Niagara Regional Chair Bob Gale, right, with his master, Premier Doug Ford
Regional Chair Bob Gale is driving this process forward with the backing of a handful of mayors — including our own. Mayors who have no doubt been assured of their position in the new governance model. And instead of expanding opportunities for residents to be heard, we have seen efforts to control, limit, or compress public engagement, starting right here in these chambers. Over the past two weeks, the mayor — with the support of one member of this council — has taken extraordinary and highly unusual steps that effectively prevented any meaningful dialogue from taking place.
When residents feel shut out, when timelines are accelerated, when questions are brushed aside, it reinforces the perception that the outcome has already been decided.
If amalgamation is truly in the public interest, it should withstand scrutiny. It should survive independent financial modelling. It should be openly debated in every municipality. And it should be put clearly to the people who will live with the consequences.
Residents of St. Catharines did not vote in the last election to dissolve their local government for some new model derived by our mayor and his clubmates. They did not give a mandate for sweeping structural change. They certainly did not endorse a process that sidelines them. If our mayor feels amalgamation is the right answer then I look forward to him making that case to us when his campaigning starts in 6 months.
This is not about personalities. It is about principles.
You do not restructure democracy from the top down. You do not centralize authority first and consult later. And you do not treat public input as an obstacle to be managed.
Democracy may be slow and messy, but that should be seen as a strength— when it is managed by the right people.
If this Council believes in transparency and representation, and I believe the majority of you do, then demand a pause. The mayor has overstepped his authority and has insulted all of your positions in his attempts to circumvent your participation. Demand independent analysis. Demand real public consultation, not a procedural checkbox.
We deserve better than a dimly thought out, elitist, chainsaw approach to governance.
To watch the special meeting St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe and his council held this March 2, click on the screen immediately below to hear what members of the public had to say to the council about any gkind of forced municipal amalgamation being pushed by Regional Chair Bob Gale. After clicling on the screen, use your cursor to move the little red ball in the bottom left-hand concern of the screen to the right until you get to the beginning of the meeting and use it to move forward to any speaker you wish to hear –
Niagara At Large will have more on this meeting and a vote by St. Catharines city councillors to join Niagara Regional Councillors in slamming the brakes on Gale’s amalgamation drive. For a recent story NAL posted on the Regional Council vote, click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2026/02/27/niagara-regional-councillors-slams-brakes-on-gale-drive-for-forced-municipal-amalgamation/
To read a piece Niagara At Large ran in 2018 about Ed Smith being exonerated by the Ontario courts following lawsuits filed against him by members of the Caslin cabal, click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2018/01/07/ontario-court-judge-orders-npca-to-pay-niagara-citizen-ed-smith-131000-in-costs/
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To drive this amalgamation the Ontario government dangles a golden carrot to the municipalities. Our tax dollars they take from US. Funny how we continually fund our demise while the prostitutes of G have no problem filling their pockets. The pot is simmering and the frogs are still sleeping.
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