The more than 300 chairs set up for Wednesday evening’s inaugural open house of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Residents Association were filled with those ready to have their voices heard on the issues and topics most important to them as people who call NOTL home.

To open the much-anticipated meeting, which filled the NOTL Community Centre’s main hall, former councillor Stuart McCormack opted to highlight the positive aspects of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

“I know there may be a lot of pent-up frustration,” he noted.

But there are many great aspects to the town, he said, singling out the expansion of Pleasant Manor, and the work of Newark Neighbours and NOTL Palliative Care.

The hour-long meeting started about 10 minutes late to allow people to find parking as the community centre’s lot was at capacity.

Association director Ron Simkus spoke on behalf of Old Town residents during the meeting, which focused on the need for respectful dialogue and informed engagement with local government. 

Simkus told The Lake Report a number of people have asked him why NOTL needs a residents association.

The answer, he said, is that “generally, we’re getting many people who are saying, ‘We’re just not being listened to.’ ”

“You know, there’s a difference between hearing and listening.”

Weston Miller, the president of the Chautauqua Residents Association, is a third-generation NOTLer. He says the town is in dire need of a united resident voice. 

“We are living through an era in our town where our democratic norms are being weakened,” he said. 

Miller cited the appointment of Coun. Andrew Niven and Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa’s vote in favour of the newly implemented strong mayor powers as signals of this weakening. 

“Persistence isn’t optional, it’s essential,” Miller said, adding that change takes time, but it must happen through the pillars of unity, organization and persistence. 

Simkus explained the meeting was not intended to pick a fight with council, but rather to highlight the things that need to be addressed. 

Niven and Couns. Gary Burroughs, Wendy Cheropita, Sandra O’Connor and Adriana Vizzari were among those in the crowd.

“The election’s coming next year and you have to think pretty hard about who you want on council in 2026 because these issues, a lot of them, are not being addressed,” Simkus said in an interview.

Simkus referred to the countless council livestreams his wife tunes into weekly.

Residents come to council to make delegations and are passionate about the issues bothering them.

Councillors sometimes make faces mocking the person trying to speak, or scroll on their smartphones, Simkus said. 

“This kind of behaviour is unacceptable.”

He emphasized that after such presentations councillors effectively check off the box that residents have been heard.

“But the response you get quite often is you are not listened to,” Simkus said. 

“Hearing is an involuntary process that our minds use to accept a sound, but listening requires cognitive attention and focus,” he added.

Simkus addressed the dismissal of some residents as NIMBYs.

“If we were truly doing a good job as NIMBYS we wouldn’t have allowed our only hospital to be closed, our only school to be closed,” he said. 

Other members of the association highlighted their focuses for each respective neighbourhood in Niagara-on-the-Lake. 

Ronalda Clifton spoke on behalf of St. Davids, highlighting issues like the much-maligned proposed roundabout and speeding concerns in residential areas.

Clifton said St. Davids should be a walkable community. 

Norm Arsenault, a former councillor from the last term of NOTL council, spoke on behalf of Virgil, saying the residents association is looking for solutions for things that are important. 

“The intention is to speak as a unified voice — for you,” he said. 

Following presentations from association members, people in the audience were encouraged to ask questions and offer comments.

Terry Mactaggart thanked the organizers of the residents association for coming together for the presentation.

Looking forward, Mactaggart said he is thinking about what can be done proactively to make the town greater.

“We’re a tourist town — we can’t only be a tourist town.”