Is Niagara being governed?

Is there anything constructive and positive going on at Niagara Region these days?

I for one hope that behind the stage of the main show of ‘boondoggles’ there is a little time left for governing this great region of ours. We certainly haven’t heard much about that lately.

It is so much more comforting now that the province’s ombudsman got involved; I guess the big fellows at the province believe that the local governments with all their wisdom, and their Integrity officers, are incapable of solving their own problems.

They may be right about that.

I suppose the regional headquarters building is not quite adequate, or does not possess a suitable office space to conduct these interviews.

Or is it because it will be so much more convenient and comfortable at the Holiday Inn, where they can order room service, maybe a little cheer, so everyone is relaxed and at ease to tell the truth, nothing but the truth.

The whole process would be somewhat justifiable if the ombudsman would get down to the root cause of this ridiculous mess, which stems back to one particular regional councillor, who ironically was elected seven years ago, along with some of the others, one of them now being the appointed regional chair, on a promise to make much needed changes and improvements to regional and municipal governance.

So here we are seven years later, and if there have been any changes made, they have not been for the better.

If it takes the province to correct some of the unpleasant issues that the Region has been dealing with for the past year-and-a-half or so, it would be worth the effort, and perhaps even the cost.

Michael Morra St. Catharines

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