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TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday he is still keen on amalgamations in the Niagara Region despite not meeting his previously stated threshold for moving forward, though his office later poured some cold water on the idea.
Niagara’s now-former regional chair Bob Gale, appointed by the Ford government, caused a stir last month with a proposal to consider amalgamations as a solution to what he called high tax increases and too many elected officials.
Ford said at the time that he would respect whatever the majority of Niagara mayors decided, and eight of the 12 mayors sent him a letter backing certain governance reforms but not amalgamations.
Gale also shied away from amalgamations after facing local opposition but he resigned a short time later after being accused of owning an autographed copy of Adolf Hitler’s manifesto.
Ford said Tuesday he is still keen on the idea of amalgamations because there are too many politicians.
“They have 126 elected officials with about 500,000 people, which is staggering,” he said.
“I put it out there. Do you want four cities? You want one city? I said you have to get the majority of the mayors plus one, 50 per cent plus one, and they weren’t able to do it. But I always say it’s like asking the turkeys to vote for Thanksgiving. They don’t want to lose their jobs.”
When asked if he might still move ahead with amalgamations, Ford said his government is going to review regional governance and make any appropriate changes.
Ford’s office later said that the premier will continue to respect the will of the majority of Niagara mayors and the governance review will look at proposals other than amalgamation.
The letter from the eight mayors mentioned support for looking at reducing the number of politicians by streamlining councils, finding savings in local and regional services, and establishing public water and wastewater corporations.
Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop said he would be surprised if the government pushes it forward ahead of the upcoming municipal elections this fall because such moves take time to get them right.
“This doesn’t happen in 12 days, which was the start of chair Gale’s initiative, and it doesn’t happen in seven months, which is the time when the next term of council would begin,” he said.
“So I would think if Bob Gale has given up on amalgamation and the province hasn’t set anything in motion yet it would be fairly chaotic for them to do it now.”
In 2018, Ford’s government cut the size of Toronto city council in half while the municipal election campaign was already underway.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the people of Niagara are not interested in amalgamation.
“They have bigger priorities,” she said.
“How about you end hallway health care in Niagara-area hospitals? How about you stop closing the urgent care centres in the Niagara region? When I go to Niagara, that’s what people want to talk about.”
Mayors of the larger Niagara regional municipalities, such as Niagara Falls and St. Catharines, were not signatories to the letter from the eight mayors. Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati has said he is in favour of amalgamating the region into four cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 17, 2026.
Allison Jones, The Canadian Press
