Wayne Gates
Special to Niagara Now/The Lake Report

I’m going to be blunt with you: the recent legislative session at Queen’s Park showed us exactly whose interests the Ford government prioritizes, and it isn’t the people in our community here in Niagara-on-the-Lake. 

Firstly, our provincial legislature sat for just 51 days in all of 2025. 

Think about that: decisions that affect your daily life, like your healthcare, your kids’ schools, your community’s future, were debated for less than 15 per cent of the year.  

And now that we are recessed for Christmas break, we are not scheduled to return to Queen’s Park until the end of March 23, 2026. 

To me, this is unacceptable. Niagara deserves a provincial government that works hard for them, not one that chooses to be idle while people struggle. 

The government has plenty of time for photo ops and fundraising tours, but not enough time in the House to seriously address the issues families are worried about every day.

One of the most personal struggles many men face is prostate cancer. Early detection saves lives.

That’s why I’ve been pushing hard to make prostate-specific antigen prostate cancer testing covered by OHIP. It’s a life-saving change that would remove a financial barrier for thousands of Ontario men and their families. 

I stood in the Legislature again this year, urging the government to do the right thing and support this motion.

Let’s be clear, this is not a partisan issue; it’s basic common sense and compassion for men whose lives depend on early detection. 

Yet the government continues to drag its feet while men across Ontario pay out of pocket for tests that could catch the disease early and save lives. 

I’ve also continued to raise my voice in support of eliminating hospital parking fees in our province. 

Many families were fighting battles no one ever should have to endure. Parents driving to the hospital multiple times a week for their child’s cancer treatments shouldn’t be hit with thousands upon thousands of dollars in parking fees just for showing up to help their child.

I’ve stood with parents from Niagara and across the province who are demanding an end to hospital parking fees, fees that add emotional and financial pain to families already under enormous stress. 

Let me be clear: no patient, nurse, doctor, front-line worker or family member should have to pay to access our publicly funded, publicly run hospital system. 

But then there’s the legislation that the government ran through this session, typically bypassing committee, time-allocating bills and shutting out local voices.  

Bill 33, the Supporting Children and Students Act, does nothing to fix the underfunding, overstuffed classrooms, or decaying infrastructure in our public school system.

Bill 60, the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act doesn’t fix a broken Landlord and Tenant Board that isn’t serving tenants or small landlords. 

All these bills do is concentrate more control and power at Queen’s Park. And don’t get me started on the Skills Development Fund scandal, where it’s clear the labour minister has given tens of millions of taxpayer-funded handouts to well-connected donors and insiders. 

I continue to remain concerned about the threat of forced amalgamation from the top-down at Queen’s Park, forced unto residents in Niagara-on-the-Lake. 

We know from other examples across the province that forced amalgamation hurts smaller and rural communities like Niagara-on-the-Lake.

It will lead to higher taxes, worse services, and a loss of local decision-making. I will always stand up against amalgamation and for a local voice here in Niagara-on-the-Lake. 

As we enter Christmas break, I am going to continue working for real solutions for people here in Niagara. 

Wayne Gates is the member of provincial parliament for the Niagara Falls riding.