Sean Marshall

Tag: Niagara Region

  • Ontario municipalities over the barrel, again

    Ontario municipalities over the barrel, again

    Once again, Doug Ford wants to mess with local democracy. This time, it’s in Niagara Region.

    With the recent news overload — yet another war in the Middle East, rising fuel costs, another municipal mayoral race — not to mention the flood of news from Queen’s Park (a new mega-convention centre on Lake Ontario, moves to let bigger passenger jets on an expanded island airport, and legislation to increase secrecy within the highest levels of provincial government), you might be forgiven for missing yet another bit of news.

    In what has become a tradition for failed mayoral candidate and current Progressive Conservative premier Doug Ford, there’s another move to disrupt local democracy, this time in Niagara Region. Since his party was elected to government in 2018, Premier Ford has been busy tinkering with local governance. First was the sudden interference in Toronto’s municipal election, introducing election to force the city to reduce the number of elected councillors from 47 to just 25. That was soon followed by the cancellation of new open elections for regional chairs in Peel, York, Niagara and Muskoka Regions (who are normally appointed by those councils), the introduction of “strong mayor” powers, the aborted dissolution of Peel Region, the consolidation of conservation authorities, and the takeover of elected school boards.

    In the last few weeks, the Ford government set its sights on Niagara Region, pushing for the quick amalgamation of its 13 municipal governments ahead of municipal elections this coming October.

    Niagara Region municipalities, with former Lincoln County townships in blue and Welland County townships in red

    Niagara Region is one of eight regional governments in Ontario, a specialized level of government introduced by an earlier Progressive Conservative government in the 1970s, following on the success of Metropolitan Toronto created in 1954. Regional governments had more powers and responsibilities than counties, including regional planning and the provision of water and wastewater systems deemed essential for smart urban growth. Most regions formed their own police services, and many took on responsibility for household waste management and public transit (Durham, Waterloo, York, and most recently Niagara). Other services, such as fire departments, libraries, local planning, parks and recreation, and local public works remained the responsibility of the cities, towns, and townships.

    The Mike Harris-led PC government, elected in 1995, was a big proponent of municipal amalgamations. After amalgamating the City of Toronto in 1998, it replaced regional governments in the Hamilton, Ottawa, and Sudbury areas with amalgamated cities in 2001, and broke up the former region of Haldimand-Norfolk creating two stand-alone municipalities. Dozens of other amalgamations took place in those years, including Chatham-Kent and Kawartha Lakes (formerly Victoria County). On top of that, provincial costs were downloaded to those new creations, including social and health services and thousands of kilometres of provincial highways.

    That era of drastic municipal change came to an end in December 2003, when a new Liberal government was elected, with relative calm for nearly fifteen years, until June 2018. During that time, the status quo prevailed, without a full review of the operations, finances, and role of municipal governments that would inform good faith reforms.

    Niagara Region is made up of twelve lower tier municipalities: the cities of St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Welland, Thorold, and Port Colborne, the towns of Fort Erie, Grimsby, Lincoln, Niagara-on-the-Lake, and Pelham, and the townships of Wainfleet and West Lincoln. The current region is a result of that earlier wave of regional government establishments in much of Ontario; prior to 1970, Niagara was made up of two counties — Lincoln and Welland — with fifteen townships and nearly a dozen smaller cities and towns between them.

    As with all remaining regional governments, Niagara Region Council is made up of municipal politicians who also sit on their local city or town councils. Each mayor sits on the regional board, and to make up for population disparity between urban centres and rural townships, the larger municipalities send additional councillors who already sit on their local councils. Though some regions have chairs elected by the region’s populations, others have a non-elected chair, typically chosen by the regional council.

    The Niagara problem started when the provincial government used its new authority to appoint its own preferred chair to Regional Council after the previous chair, former Liberal MPP Jim Bradley, died in office in late 2025. Bob Gale quickly promoted regional amalgamation, backed by Premier Ford, citing tax increases and too many local politicians. The idea is unpopular amongst Niagara residents, especially those in smaller communities such as Niagara-on-the-Lake, which under a four-municipality model, would be joined with Niagara Falls (whose mayor backed the idea).

    Repeatedly, it has been shown that municipal amalgamations fail to save taxpayers’ money but only make municipal government more distant to the residents it serves. Though the number of municipal politicians would decrease (there are 126 across the 12 lower-tier municipalities), in smaller towns and rural townships, these are part-time positions. In Toronto, the moves from seven councils down to one in 1998 and from 44 councillors down to 25 in 2018 failed to save operating funds, as the number of paid employees to support each councillor increased to manage their greater workloads. Even the conservative Fraser Institute found no tax savings when studying the effects of amalgamation on smaller Ontario municipalities. Furthermore, with many services already the responsibility of the region, what savings could be had if police, transit, social services, housing, and major roads are already amalgamated?

    For now, the idea of amalgamation in Niagara Region is stalled, but not because wiser heads prevailed. Chair Bob Gale resigned just three months into his term after local anti-hate organizations found he had in his collection of historical artifacts a copy of Mein Kampf signed by its author, Adolf Hitler.

    One of the other problems with a quick amalgamation of such a large area is that there is no study on what boundaries actually make sense. Does the combination of 12 municipalities into just four actually work? Should the new boundaries just lump existing towns together, or more intelligently redraw existing boundaries completely? For example, should the City of Thorold be just thrown in with a neighbour as is, or could be split into three, with the urbanized area joining St. Catharines, the area east of the canal joining Niagara Falls, and the southern rural area joining Pelham and Welland?

    Unfortunately, as hospitals face funding and staffing crises, as students face increasing debt loads to complete post-secondary education, and the economy continues to face headwinds, Doug Ford manages to get bogged down into distractions like shiny new buildings on Toronto’s waterfront, municipal restructurings, and needless new highways. The next provincial election will not come for another three years, and yet the premier wants to play mayor.

  • An idea with merit

    An idea with merit

    Looking east on the CN mainline from Merritt Street in St. Catharines towards the Welland Canal

    The case for reviving Merritton Station

    On the morning of Saturday, July 9, a GO Transit train filled with hundreds of passengers heading from Toronto to Niagara Falls, was stuck at St. Catharines when a lift bridge over the Welland Canal was unable to lower the deck to allow trains to pass.

    After over an hour of holding at the St. Catharines VIA Station, GO Transit was forced to send the train back to Toronto. In an advisory on Twitter, GO informed customers that they “will need to make their own accommodations” for getting between St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, and would not be sending any shuttle buses.

    Needless to say, this left many families disappointed. With GO Transit understandably unable to muster enough buses on a summer weekend to quickly transfer 1500 passengers (which would require at least 25 coaches), the decision not to provide alternate transportation is understandable, if unfortunate.

    The summer weekend Toronto-Niagara train service is incredibly popular, especially the Saturday and Sunday morning departures from Union Station, and the evening return trip. Specially-outfitted bicycle coaches allow for dozens of bicycles to be transported by train; Niagara Region is an excellent cycling destination.

    Recent fare innovations, including the $10 weekend day pass and a special GO Transit-Niagara Parks package have only contributed to the route’s success. As GO Transit is able to carry 1500 passengers on each train between Toronto and Niagara, it is invaluable not only for supporting the local tourism industry, it provides an alternative to driving on the congested Queen Elizabeth Way.

    Unfortunately, the CN Grimsby Subdivision, which runs between Hamilton and Niagara Falls, is hardly ideal for frequent commuter and excursion service. Trains crawl through Hamilton, and much of the line is single-tracked, limiting capacity. Furthermore, trains to and from Niagara must back in to Hamilton’s West Harbour GO Station, which still does not have a direct connecting track to the east.

    But the Welland Canal lift bridge is the greatest barrier for providing frequent and reliable rail service to Niagara Falls. During the Great Lakes shipping season, train traffic must yield to the busy St. Lawrence Seaway. Constructing a bridge or a tunnel is difficult and costly as railways are limited to typically no more than a 2% grade, and the freighters require a high clearance (as evident with the nearby QEW Garden City Skyway). Constructing a tunnel is also difficult, as the railway begins climbing the Niagara Escarpment just east of the canal, and would need to climb an even longer distance from canal. (A railway tunnel south of Welland has no such constraints as it is well above the escarpment.)

    Looking east towards the Welland Canal lift bridge from Glendale Avenue. The disused CN Thorold Spur disappears into the weeds at right.

    As a short-to-medium term measure, Metrolinx should look at constructing a new station at Merritton, located southeast of Downtown St. Catharines and approximately three kilometres east of St. Catharines Station. Until 1961, Merritton was an independent town, an industrial centre served by both the Grand Trunk/CN and the electric Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway. With amalgamation with St. Catharines, the closure of the passenger railway stations, and the loss of the historic paper and textile mills, Merritt Street has seen better days.

    Merritt Street, just south of the CN Railway. The stone building at right is the former town hall.

    Merritton’s CN Station was located on the east side of Merritt Street. Passenger service ended by the 1960s, and industrial switching activity between the former NS&T and CN’s Thorold spur line declined, so the building was eventually abandoned. It burned down in 1994, and there is little trace of its existence.

    https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1dW50Hx4nw1L8M8iydngyCekfi6AA2nU&hl=en&ehbc=2E312F

    Unlike the active VIA station on the west side of St. Catharines, Merritton is quite close to the Welland Canal and the Niagara Circle Route. Merritt Trail, which follows the original Welland Canal route, is within a short walk from Merritton. It is also much easier for buses arriving from Niagara-On-The-Lake, Thorold, and Niagara Falls to access a station site at Merritton than the awkwardly-located St. Catharines Station, with four to five minutes saved, especially if there were direct access from Glendale Avenue.

    St. Catharines VIA/GO Station, off of St. Paul Street West. Awkwardly located for bus access, the station platform is a 25 minute walk to Downtown St. Catharines.

    Not too far from Merritton is St. Catharines Museum and Lock 3 Centre, which tells the history of the region and the Welland Canal; a platform provides excellent views of passing ships. Niagara College and the Outlet Collection are also close by, via Glendale Avenue. Whenever there’s a delay or failure at the lift bridge, there are more options at Merritton, especially if a proper bus transfer point is constructed.

    Ideally, a grade-separated Welland Canal crossing would become an integral part of a frequent Toronto-Hamilton-Niagara-Bufffalo rail service. In the meantime, a stop at Merritton for GO commuter and excursion trains would provide new transit and cycling connections, while serving passengers in eastern St. Catharines, Niagara-on-the-Lake, and Thorold.

    St. Catharines: where the Bruce Trail is at its least Bruce Trail-ish

    I travelled to St. Catharines on a lovely July Friday, taking GO Transit’s Route 18K bus from Aldershot Station through Hamilton, along the QEW, and to Brock University in St. Catharines. The university campus is at the top of the Niagara Escarpment, boasting direct connections with the Bruce Trail.

    Statue of General Brock at the main university entrance

    The walk eastwards towards Merritton from Brock University started out promising. The thick tree cover provided welcome shade, and apart from a rather dangerous crossing of Glenridge Avenue, felt little different than anywhere else on the southern part of the famous trail.

    A promising start
    Being watched by a young red-tailed hawk

    At Tremont Drive, the trail suddenly enters a subdivision, with only the tell-tale white blazers to assure hikers that yes, in fact, this is part of the Bruce Trail.

    Bruce Trail blazers are the only hint that this is part of Ontario’s greatest hiking trail

    The trail continues to busy Glendale Avenue, and crosses Highway 406 at the interchange. At each traffic light, pedestrians are required to press the “beg button” to get a walk signal, even if one is crossing in the same direction as the through traffic. In most other places, the walk signal comes on automatically in conjunction with the dominant traffic flow.

    Though the Bruce Trail also passes through Hamilton, a city nearly four times the size of St. Catharines, the trail there manages to remain separated from traffic and even from the city as a whole, much like Toronto’s ravine park systems.

    Glendale Avenue at Highway 406: the lowpoint of the 900 kilometres of Bruce Trail

  • Ontario’s land use scandal: Another greenfield hospital for Niagara

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    Recently, I discussed the greenfield locations of new hospital and post-secondary institutions in Ontario, focusing on the new St. Catharines Hospital site and the Orillia campus of Lakehead University, but also mentioning the proposed sites of a new hospital for Windsor, and an university campus in Milton. Hospitals and educational institutions are primarily funded by the province, which likes to promote sustainable development policies such as the Greenbelt, and mobility hubs at major transit nodes.

    The trouble with these new sites, located far from each city’s urban centre, is that they are difficult to reach by walking, cycling, or public transit. They don’t support downtown businesses, they ignore other potential urban land parcels (often former industrial sites), and are not in accordance with the province’s own land use policies.

    I recently returned to Niagara Region to examine Niagara Health’s plan to consolidate health services outside of St. Catharines (where it already merged two urban hospital sites to a single suburban location). It proposes consolidating most health services located in five municipalities (Niagara Falls, Welland, Port Colborne, Fort Erie, and Niagara-on-the-Lake) into one site, at the corner of Biggar and Montrose Roads, south of Niagara Falls’ urban area, but adjacent to an interchange with the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW).

    Niagara Falls, like most of urbanized Niagara Region, is de-industrializing, with modest population growth. Employment is largely dependent on public sector jobs, such as the education and health services, and the city’s tourism industry. As a large employer, the hospital should be as accessible to its employees, as well as its patients, as possible.


    Map of current Niagara Health sites and proposed new hospital

    The proposed hospital site is at the corner of two two-lane country roads, in an area without sidewalks. To the north and west is a golf course; to the south is a Hungarian community hall, farm fields, and a few exurban ranch houses. The land was donated in 2013 by a local business family, but last fall, Niagara Falls City Council was considering purchasing an additional 20 acres for staff parking. (more…)

  • Cycling the Greater Golden Horseshoe

    IMG_4179You never know who you might meet when you ride through Toronto’s ravines

    Spring is here!

    One of my favourite things to do is go for a ride, either within town, or on a day trip or an overnight excursion. Toronto’s ravines are a treat; and the further away from Lake Ontario you get, the quieter the trails are.

    Two years ago, I was riding up the Humber River Trail north of Highway 401 when I saw a deer wandering down the path. I stopped, and the deer passed by, within metres of where I was standing. Not much further north, I saw two deer — a fawn and its mother — fording the Humber. Tommy Thompson Park, better known as the Leslie Street Spit, is another favourite place to go. The Spit was created from clean landfill to create a new outer harbour in anticipation for St. Lawrence Seaway shipping that never came. Instead, it has become an important migratory bird sanctuary. The views of Downtown Toronto are great, and there are no ferry lines to wait in.

    For longer distances, GO Transit is especially helpful. All of their buses are equipped with bike racks and their train (outside of rush hour, of course) can handle over 25 bicycles each. (The seasonal Niagara trains have dedicated bike coaches as well.) GO Transit can get you out of the city for more rural rides, or for longer one-way rides to or from Toronto.

    At least twice a year, I ride out to Hamilton on the Waterfront Trail, opting to enter that city by going around Burlington Bay and taking Cannon Street in from the east. It’s an 85 kilometre trip that takes the better part of the day. I’ll have dinner and drinks at one of the many Downtown Hamilton establishments before loading my bike on the bus at the Hamilton GO Centre. Other times, I have used GO Transit to get out to rail trails in Peterborough, Uxbridge, Guelph, or Barrie.

    I prefer rail trails as they’re more relaxed than rural roads or highways; I’m not able to keep up with roadies, and I’m okay with that. Rail trails are flat, but they’re also usually unpaved, and some sections are very quiet. (I have gone 20 or 30 minutes without meeting another trail user in some rural areas.)

    Here is a summary of some of my favourite long-distance rides.

    (more…)

  • GO Transit’s Grimsby problem

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    The Bruce Trail near Fifty Road, November 6, 2016

    On Sunday, November 6, I took advantage of an unseasonably warm November day to go hiking on the Bruce Trail. I started in Grimsby and hiked for 23 kilometres west to the Stoney Creek Battlefield Monument in Hamilton. The hike was lovely as there was still some fall foliage left to enjoy, and the views above the Escarpment over Niagara vineyards and Lake Ontario were spectacular.

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    View of Downtown Grimsby and Lake Ontario from the top of the Niagara Escarpment

    In order to do this six hour, one-way hike, I took the train to Grimsby, and began my trip from there (enjoying a coffee and snack at a great local coffee shop first). Upon arriving at Stoney Creek, I took a Hamilton Street Railway bus downtown for dinner before taking a GO bus back to Toronto.

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    View from the lookout at Devil’s Punch Bowl Conservation Area towards Hamilton Harbour

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    The Stoney Creek Battlefield Monument, where I ended my hike as the sun began to set

    When I go for a bike ride or a hike, whether it be a solo trip or a hike with friends, I like to plan the trip in advance, and to think about the transportation options for getting there. And so I come once again to thinking about Grimsby, GO Transit, VIA Rail, and local transit.

    There is currently only one train each way between Toronto and Niagara Region — Amtrak’s Maple Leaf, which is operated by VIA crews on the Canadian side of the border. The Maple Leaf takes 12 hours and 30 minutes to get from Toronto’s Union Station to New York’s Penn Station, including a stop at the border for customs and immigration checks. Other delays, such as freight traffic and even ship traffic on the Welland Canal, make this train commonly late for Niagara passengers headed to Toronto in the evening. There was once a second daily VIA train between Toronto and Niagara Falls, scheduled to serve commuters, but it was cut by the Stephen Harper-led Conservative government in 2012.

    img_6547-001Downtown Grimsby

    GO Transit operates a summer weekend train service between Toronto and Niagara Falls, making stops at Port Credit, Oakville, Burlington, and St. Catharines, but not at Grimsby. GO Transit also operates a year-round bus service — Route 12 — that follows the QEW between Burlington GO Station and Downtown Niagara Falls, stopping at several park and ride lots and at Fairview Mall in St. Catharines, a secondary hub for local transit in that city.

    The Maple Leaf Train leaves Union Station at 8:20 AM, 7 days a week, and arrives at Grimsby just after 9:30 AM, stopping only at Oakville and Aldershot. Taking GO Transit, it takes nearly two hours to get to the park and ride at Casablanca Boulevard, including the transfer time at Burlington Station.

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    GO Transit Route 12

    The Grimsby Amtrak/VIA station is located on Ontario Street, at a site picked by the Great Western Railway in 1853. It is a mere 5-10 minute walk to Downtown Grimsby, located in the centre of that community’s population. The GO Transit park and ride is located at the west end of town, at Casablanca Boulevard. The planned GO Transit Rail Station is located nearby. The bus stop and proposed rail station is located 3.5 kilometres from Downtown Grimsby, or a 45 minute walk.

    img_6544-001Grimsby Station

    The current railway station at Grimsby consists of only a small shelter and indoor waiting area, along with a small parking lot for VIA customers. The platform is small, about one rail car’s length. The VIA Rail Canada sign is almost as large as the station building itself. But for me, the railway station’s location was far more convenient than the GO bus stop at Casablanca Boulevard.

    A new station at Casablanca Boulevard offers several advantages for GO Transit: easy access to the Queen Elizabeth Way, plenty of undeveloped land for a parking lot, and room for a platform for GO Transit’s 10-car and 12-car trains. But the location is not friendly for customers who wish to walk or cycle to the train, and without a local transit system, it’s inaccessible for many potential Grimsby commuters unless they were to take a taxi, get a ride, or drive their own car.

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    Overlooking the QEW/Casablanca Boulevard interchange and the proposed location of the Grimsby GO Station. GO buses serve the park-and-ride lot in the middle ground. Note the clear view across the lake to Toronto.

    I have argued here before that GO Transit has an unfortunate record of catering to motorists while mostly ignoring the needs of many of its current and potential customers. GO Transit’s need for large parking lots often precludes locating stations in more urban locations. By providing ‘free’ parking, GO forces all passengers to subsidize those who drive alone to its stations.

    Of course, GO Transit is going to build Grimsby Station at Casablanca Boulevard; it was announced earlier this year as part of a GO service expansion project. But a useful local transit system, scheduled to connect with GO trains and buses, offering fare integration, can mitigate this problem. Transit riders shouldn’t be told to take a hike.