A politician we could do without

RE: NIAGARA REGIONAL CHAIR ELECTION SCUTTLED BY PROVINCE, JULY 27

Let us all breathe a sigh of relief. We are getting the “Better Local Government Act” from our new provincial premier. Just look at the benefits.

We, in Niagara and those in three other regions, will not have to vote for the chair of regional council. The poor folks in Halton, Waterloo and Durham regions will still have to choose their chair through the tedious and cumbersome election process. Lucky us.

Also, by not electing a chair we are told that “this will eliminate another layer of politicians and another layer of dysfunction.” We certainly do not need that in Niagara.

Apparently the new premier has a firm grasp on the concept of dysfunction.

And how about the process followed in coming up with this great idea? We were fortunate enough to not have been bothered with any consultation to see what we wanted.

We should have known this was coming because the premier, on the campaign trail, told us, “We’re going to reduce the size and cost of government.” Any fool would have known this meant not electing regional chairs.

My only concern might be the premier’s statements, “We’re going to run city hall a lot more efficiently than before,” and “It’s like a comedy show down at city hall.” I am sure this will get clarified once the premier catches on that the big buildings at Queen’s Park are not city hall.

As an aside, the premier has stated that we have too many politicians and it is hard to argue with that. I can think of one we could do without.

Rob Hay

Niagara Falls