MPP Jennie Stevens believes Niagara residents are being stripped of certain rights following recent governance changes.
On Thursday, The Minister of Municipal Affairs says there will no longer be any directly elected councillors at the regional level.
Instead the council will be made up of the 12 lower tier mayors and one provincially appointed regional chair, reducing the size of council from 32 to 13.
She joined CKTB’s The Drive to voice her major concerns.
“Niagara is going to end up, I think, with a concentration of power given to the same mayors who have already been granted Strong Mayor Powers over their municipality. On top of that, our appointed regional chairs in the future will be given what the government is calling ‘Strong Chair Powers’ too.”
“We definitely have to realize that efficiency should never come at the cost of democracy, and Niagara residents are being stripped of that, their ability to elect our regional representatives, and also being stripped of electing a regional chair.”
All changes will take effect for the upcoming term of council.
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