The Lake Report asked the nominees for trustees what their top three priorities would be as a school board trustee, why they decided to run and what they would like to change or fix at the school board level.
During the latest debate for council candidates hosted on Friday, the six participating candidates were asked about developers, post-flooding plans and their approach to strong mayor powers.
"Dig beyond the rhetoric and promises — because given our electoral track record since 2010, every time we’ve bought what was being sold, buyer’s remorse has set in pretty quickly," writes Kevin MacLean.
"How would Canada fight the guys across the river? And if it were to happen (which it won’t) what might you do to protect yourself and your assets?" writes Garth Turner.
"Is it any surprise that several smaller Ontario municipalities, with limited budgets and much tighter staff constraints, might opt for a draconian 'hard line in the sand' in their bylaws that denies access to any and all electoral activities?" writes Brian Marshall.
"When it rained on them, it rained on them. Sometimes almost endlessly. Imagine being in a canoe with perhaps a dozen other paddlers, digging the paddle blades into one of the Great Lakes for one long monotonous day after another," writes Ross Robinson.
"One of the most important must-dos is to assess the space in which you live for risks of falling — getting in and out of bathtubs and showers, climbing and especially descending stairs," writes Dr. William Brown.
What happens in America does not necessarily stay there, especially for a border town like Niagara-on-the-Lake. So, The Lake Report asked NOTL’s municipal election candidates a blunt question: What do you think of Donald Trump? Here's what they said.
Two of the most talented, up-and-coming young Canadian golfers are growing up in Niagara-on-the-Lake’s tiny hamlet of St. Davids (pop. about 3,000). Eli Perng and Kaige Zhu are off to high school after a whirlwind summer in which they played more than a dozen high-level tournaments across Canada and North America.
For 11 years, Andrea Kiaser was a NOTL councillor and has represented the municipality at regional council since 2022. Her supporters say they believe that's why she's the person for the job of NOTL's next lord mayor.
In the era of Trump nastiness and trade wars, “It was just time to be Canadian,” said longtime club member Martha Cruikshank, who helped organize this year's event.
"A&M are pumping their latest project. It’s a whopper. If the sisters get their way with local politicians (once again), the old Rand Estate will turn into a five-storey, 111-room luxury Ritz-Carlton hotel," writes Garth Turner.
"Should any future council enact an interim control bylaw, underwritten by a duly compliant study, it will be largely legally unassailable," writes Brian Marshall.
"Niagara-on-the-Lake should not be treated as an extension of a 'Vegas North' casino economy. We are not a desert entertainment strip," writes Keith McNenly.
"I have heard that during his 26 years as mayor, Henry Paffard advocated for the planting of over 1,000 trees. By any measure, that’s a lot of limbs and leaves and shade and oxygen. And with trees come squirrels," writes Ross Robinson.
A St. Davids resident who stopped a Niagara-on-the-Lake all-candidates debate Wednesday to demand action on sewage backing into homes said not one candidate on stage had earned his vote.
About 100 people attended Wiens' campaign barbecue in Virgil, where supporters put development and property taxes at the top of their list of priorities for the next council.
Monday night's debate moved through 14 questions on growth, taxes, transparency, tourism, climate change and how the next mayor should lead. The forum also exposed clear differences in how each candidate would approach the job.
When the Canadian Community Newsmedia Award winners were unveiled Monday, The Lake Report garnered 22 more national awards, bringing its provincial and national total to 192 since 2020, when the paper started entering industry award competitions.
The lifelong NOTL resident is speaking publicly about what he sees as NOTL’s biggest threat: overdevelopment. "I think that it needs to be reined in — and reined in responsibly," he says.
Last Thursday, the stars all rightly aligned for Niagara-on-the-Lake native Quinton Spagnol, who has only been playing the game regularly since the COVID pandemic.
"Signs matter in this process. They convey a message about the candidate. They remind you who’s running and show who supports them," writes Garth Turner. "Well, what do some of the current signs tell us?"
"In short, we have two candidates who, should they become lord mayor, will support and perpetuate the current system and one candidate who is willing to take what we’ve got and work toward something different," writes Brian Marshall.
"Who were these famous and groundbreaking Jewish women? What did they have to overcome to succeed? What drove them forward? Ambition, drive, resilience for certain," writes Penny-Lynn Cookson.
"Rick Hansen had been paralyzed in a car crash when he was only 15 years old. The years have gone by, and if he had been bilingual English/French, he just might have been the Governor General of Canada. What a life to reflect upon."
"We have to be clear with every level of government — arts and culture are important and they need government support to thrive. Arts, culture and heritage bring people to Niagara-on-the-Lake, but that doesn’t happen by accident," writes Wayne Gates.
"Thank goodness for prizes such as the Nobel Prize and now many other prizes which highlight the best of science — something urgently needed in these days of social media and ramped misinformation," writes Dr. William Brown.
The stories of Americans and Canadians who witnessed the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 came together Friday at Queen's Royal Park at a ceremony to mark 25 years since that day.
John Scott shares how his wife, Michelle Scott, helped dozens of Americans who were in Canada the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, find their way across the border and home safely after all flights were grounded and airspaces closed.
