Protesting residents want council to understand the 'vocal majority'

Councillors arriving at Niagara-on-the-Lake's town hall last Tuesday for their monthly meeting were greeted by the sound of dozens of residents gathered outside, some calling them liars and calling for their resignations.

It was the culmination of escalating tensions between municipal leaders and many NOTL residents fed up with what they see as the rubber-stamping of new developments that don't belong in town, whether it be the proposed Parliament Oak hotel or Glendale highrises.

Organized by resident Karen Taylor-Jones, the rally attracted about 200 people who met outside town hall at 4:30 p.m., before the 6 p.m. council meeting. 

“To put out an official plan and then to ignore it is shameful. That’s shameful,” resident Janet Rody told The Lake Report.

“Do they have no vision for this town and what its needs are in the future?” she said. 

Protesters stood outside town hall with signs and petitions, garnering attention, honks and cheers from oncoming traffic. 

When councillors began arriving for their meeting, the crowd followed them, chanting "liar" and "resign."

Peter Rand walked up to Councillor Erwin Wiens to question him about his council decisions as he was walking in from his car. 

Rand went up to Wiens simply because he had the chance, he said.

“He was standing there talking to another protester and I thought I’d go and listen."

Wiens said Rand was respectful during their interaction, unlike some of the others at the rally.

When it comes to communication, Wiens said that he is happy to speak with residents if they do so in a peaceful way.

"In regards to communication, I pick up the phone and meet with anybody who wants to talk to me. Like when Mr. Rand spoke to me. If somebody comes up and speaks with me in a respectful manner, I'll speak to anybody," Wiens said.

"I believe that if the majority of our residents saw how some residents behaved yesterday, they would be astonished — it was abhorrent," he said.

Rand said Wiens didn’t give a straightforward answer to his question of why he votes the way he does — approving the contentious Parliament Oak and Glendale developments — and instead gave other reasons that “didn’t make sense at all.”

“It’s the same way he’s made decisions in council. He has a hidden agenda. He can give you the logic that he uses for why he votes the way he does,” he said.

Rand said he hopes the five councillors who voted in favour of the Parliament Oak hotel project — Wiens, Councillors Maria Mavridis, Wendy Cheropita, Adriana Vizzari and Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa — will resign.

Jeannie Manning has a similar goal.

“I want public awareness and I want the councillors themselves who have assumed the silent majority are supporting them to understand that there’s a very vocal group — and perhaps we’re the majority. We want the recognition,” Manning said. 

Councillors have stated the cost of running the town is going to increase and the only way to manage that without increasing taxes is with development, Manning said.

“I think if that is the argument they are using, to lose our heritage and to build hotels in residential areas, then a lot of us would be happy to pay more taxes,” she said.

“Exactly. They never asked us,” resident George Herman added.

All of the councillors were quoted as supporting the Official Plan and wanting to engage the public during their run for office in 2022, Manning said.

“They have not done it. And they are not giving us the right reason or any reason to justify what has changed their minds,” Manning added. 

Following the rally, council met as usual, but kept the chamber's curtains drawn for the entire meeting.  

Cheropita said she was happy the meeting went on as usual.

“While they’re all mad at us, we’re still working on their behalf,” she said. 

Wiens said a lot of great things were done during last night's council meeting that will go ignored due to the protest.

"We're moving in a direction where we're supporting our youth, we're supporting our economy, we're supporting agriculture. All these things we said we were going to do, we are doing," he said.

Councillor Gary Burroughs, who voted against the Parliament Oak project, said the rally was well-organized and that he supports residents voicing their concerns.

"Certainly, I try to respond to anybody who comes to me with a concern and I'm hoping all of council does that," he said.

In response to the rally, Burroughs doesn't think there will be much more discussion about Parliament Oak, though.

"The councillors, on whichever side they're on, understood that the residents are upset, but that particular issue is almost over," he said.

The lord mayor released a statement Wednesday morning thanking those who were respectful during the protest and expressing disappointment in those who were not.

The statement said protests "should not be used as a method of attempted intimidation and attack on individual character," adding that intimidating behaviour is "not constructive."

"On behalf of our community, I am sorry that town council and staff were subject to some of the offensive conduct displayed during last night's protest," Zalepa said in the release.

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