Bob Gale has written to Niagara mayors and the province, calling the regional government unsustainable
A major signal from the Niagara Region's Chair the future of the body he leads is up in the air.
Bob Gale has written a letter to all Niagara mayors concerning the urgent need for municipal governance reform, the current system leading to unsustainable tax structure, but also job losses and investment.
He tells the mayors he has written to Municipal Affairs Minister Rob Flack outlining his thoughts.
Part of that includes a "deep contemplation of a 4-city or one city model" to maximize efficiencies, as well as reducing the number of regional politicians from the current 126, which is more than the entire number of MPPs in the provincial legislature.
He's asking the mayors for their overall thoughts, by March 3rd.
He says there's too much delayed decision making which hurts transit, housing service delivery and economic development.
He writes the goal is simple... an outcome that's locally informed, and protects tax payer money.
In that letter to Minister Flack, Bob Gale points to a 2026 budget process that has revealed failings of the regional government model.
He quickly writes about waste, abuse and a culture of casualness with taxpayer dollars, which are inconsistent with expectations of municipal taxpayers and the provincial government.
He also refers to three years of tax increases, driving the regional tax levy up by almost 25% in a single council term.... an egregious affront to Niagara taxpayers.
Bob Gale also points out infrastructure costs are being pushed into the future, onto the next generations.
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