“Ford says He Listened. Niagara Said No. He’s Pushing The Merger Anyway.” – Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates
Like his soulmate, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is taking a wrecking ball to our local democratic and publicly owned institutions and too few politicians in Niagara, other than Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates,Niagara Cenre MPP Jeff Burch, Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop, Port Colborne Regional Councillor Vance Badawey and St. Catharines Regional Councillor Haley Bateman are showing the courage to speak out forcefully against it.,
“For people in our community, it is getting pretty clear that this (Doug Ford) government (in Ontario) has a pattern,” says Gates. “They appoint regional chairs right across the province instead letting communities make their own local decisions, they weaken transparency by going after access to information, and now they want people to believe they listened to conservation authorities feedback when the comments said the opposite. Niagara needs a government that respects local decision-making, not one that keeps removing it.” – Wayne Gates
A Call-Out to Ontario’s Ford government from Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates
Posted April 10th, 2026 on Niagara At Large
NIAGARA FALLS — MPP Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) is calling on the Premier to release a full public summary of the consultation results, including how many comments supported or opposed the merger of Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA).
A review by the office of MPP Gates<https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11etullIqL3bXF7laDP8xp6VcZw6UZ0va/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117901393620860448231&rtpof=true&sd=true> found that 94% of Niagara-related submissions made through the registry were opposed to a merger.
“What this looks like is that you are telling people you listened when you already decided – it makes no sense,” said Gates. “With the Bill now being referred to committee, the Premier must commit to seeing it through and not use the legislature to bypass in-person and public input with experts, municipalities and local residents.”
On March 10, the Ford government said its final plan to merge Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities into 9 regional bodies followed consultation, that public feedback helped shape the plan, and that it had “listened”, but the plans to merge the NPCA remains unchanged.
“If this merger goes through then Niagara will be absorbed into a Toronto-centric conservation authority, meaning we will make up almost half of the land area, but will have a fraction of the say,” says Gates. “We have some of the most beautiful shorelines, unique farmland, and local expertise. These changes make it easier for Queen’s Park to move decisions away from Niagara and into the hands of government officials and developers outside our community.”
The Ministry is proposing to fold Niagara into a new Western Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority stretching from Niagara through Hamilton and Halton into Peel-area watersheds – a body that would cover 28 municipalities and about 2.8 million people, with Niagara making up only about 17% of that population.
“For people in our community, it is getting pretty clear that this government has a pattern. They appoint regional chairs right across the province instead letting communities make their own local decisions, they weaken transparency by going after access to information, and now they want people to believe they listened to conservation authorities feedback when the comments said the opposite. Niagara needs a government that respects local decision-making, not one that keeps removing it.
This is not just about one merger. It is about a government that keeps trying to move local decision making closer to Toronto and making it harder for local communities to protect their own greenspaces and local environments,” said Gates.
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: Ontario Nature Magazine<https://ontarionature.org/news-release/broad-coalition-of-civil-society-organizations-calls-for-halt-to-consolidation-of-ontarios-conservation-authorities/>, publicly reported on March 25th, on page 3 of their media backgrounder that 97.5% of total public comments to the Ministry were in opposition to merging conservation authorities.
NIAGARA AT LARGE Encourages You To Join The Conversation By Sharing Your Views On This Post In The Space Below and by sharing the Niagara At Large site at www.niagaraatlarge.com with all of your friends and associates.
Visit us every day on www.niagaraat.arge.com and on Doug Draper’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/doug.draper.180 and encourage everyone else you know to do the same. Let’s build media outlets for local news and commentary!
Niagara At Large 