Mayor Grant’s statement on governance in Niagara

Thank you for your open letter addressed to the Mayors of Niagara. On behalf of Wainfleet Council and our residents, we welcome this conversation about the future of governance in Niagara.

The Township has a long tradition of independence, fiscal responsibility, and close connection with the people we serve, and our position remains clear: our residents want their voices heard locally, their tax dollars spent responsibly, and their rural way of life preserved. In Wainfleet,    municipal services are personal – we know our neighbours, and they know us. Protecting that is non-negotiable as we navigate regional reform.

Wainfleet has a track record of collaboration where it makes sense, such as shared drainage, Niagara Emergency Management, shared legal representation, mutual aid for Fire, and the South Coast Tourism Group. We are not resistant to partnership and are aligned with the majority of Niagara’s mayors on a shared agenda. And we intend to stay that way.

We are prepared to be a constructive partner in an open and transparent public process that would focus on the following aspects:

• Establishing one or more Water and Wastewater Public Corporation(s) under the Water and Wastewater Public Corporations Act, 2025.
• Subject to a financial review, reforming local and regional services to drive savings and deliver better value for every tax dollar – such as transitioning the Regional road network and            remaining services such as Social Services, Public Health and EMS to locally-governed Public Service Boards.
• Reducing the number of politicians by streamlining councils to reflect the needs and scale of each community.