MPP Wayne Gates- Mar 4, 2026
The last two weeks in Niagara politics have been upended by Doug Ford’s appointed Regional Chair Bob Gale sending off letters to the twelve mayors across our Region, calling for urgent governance reform, including forced amalgamation of our twelve Niagara municipalities into potentially four cities or one city.
No Mayors or Councils were consulted in advance of this letter, and cities and towns were given less than two weeks to provide written feedback before Chair Gale sends off his recommendations to the province.
Let me clear: I’ve been ringing the alarm bells about this issue for a long time, and I am opposed to any plan of forced amalgamation of municipalities in Niagara, including Fort Erie.
Anybody and everybody are open to plans that cut costs for taxpayers. But what the data and research tell us is that forced amalgamation leads to higher costs and fewer savings.
Other municipalities that have amalgamated, like Toronto or Hamilton, have seen costs rise and services decline. According to a report titled “Toronto Ten Years After Amalgamation” by Harvey Schwartz, “One of the justifications given by the provincial government in support of amalgamation was that it would reduce costs by eliminating duplication and simplifying municipal government. The evidence indicates that amalgamation has not reduced costs. On the contrary, it has increased costs.”
If municipalities decide democratically to reduce the number of politicians they have, they can do so without amalgamating, just like Fort Erie and other places like Niagara Falls have done in the past.
Ford’s appointed Chair presented to Town Council here in Fort Erie on Monday, and he brought forward absolutely no evidence, research or data to support his arguments. Town Council asked reasonable questions about his plans, and he had no convincing answers.
I have been proud to see so many residents standing up and raising their voices against this scheme, and I was proud to see Niagara Regional Council adopt a motion Thursday night that stops Ford’s appointed Chair from moving forward with any more rushed decisions without Council’s collaboration.
But the threat of forced amalgamation remains a possibility. We all know Chair Gale was appointed directly by Premier Ford, and we must remain vigilant if Premier Ford’s hand-picked Chair decides to push forward more decisions made in the Premier’s office in Toronto, not by local voices in Niagara.
