A divide emerged over whether Niagara-on-the-Lake municipal funding should lean toward young residents or remain age-neutral at a discussion on Tuesday about updates to the town’s discretionary grant policy.
Council voted to add language to the policy that places particular emphasis on youth and rejected an amendment from Coun. Wendy Cheropita that would have softened references to youth before approving the revised policy, which will require final approval at a regular council meeting, scheduled for Feb. 24.
The updated framework will guide how $167,443 in discretionary grants are distributed in 2026.
It removes capital projects from eligibility and gives priority to applications that support community-led programs and events that “enhance youth development, engagement and leadership opportunities,” language that did not appear in the previous version of the policy.
This year’s grant pool includes $112,357 from the 2026 budget and $55,086 in unspent 2025 funds. Applications will open March 2 for four weeks. The discretionary grant working group is expected to meet in April, with final funding recommendations returning to council in May.
Cheropita objected to the phrase “particularly for youth,” proposing it be changed to “including.”
“Otherwise I’m very supportive,” she said, describing her amendment as “just that term.”
Cheropita said while it’s important to include youth and council has acknowledged “we have not focused enough on youth in the past,” she would not want that focus to come “at the exclusion of adults and seniors.”
Coun. Sandra O’Connor said she could not support prioritizing one age group over another.
“There should be no priority given to particular age groups,” O’Connor said. “Everyone should be equitable when applying for this.”
In response, Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa said equity does not necessarily mean equal distribution.
“Programming is not equally distributed in our community,” said Zalepa, adding that the town has often leaned toward “legacy programming that has historically missed the youth.”
O’Connor later clarified that she had “absolutely no intention” to bring up “anything to do with the dispersion of the finances,” suggesting her concern was about the policy language.
Coun. Tim Balasiuk said the youth wording was meant as encouragement, not a directive.
“Hockey and junior hockey, and baseball and softball — a lot of them didn’t come forward looking for funding,” Balasiuk said.
“We just wanted to encourage them and let them know that there is funding available, through the town.”
Coun. Adriana Vizzari said the policy aligns with what council has been trying to accomplish and reflects the direction it wants to take the community. “We have to support the youth,” she said.
She added that the policy “doesn’t necessarily discriminate against other demographics.”
Coun. Maria Mavridis said previous funding had been “very senior-focused and tourism-focused” and supported bringing the program back toward youth, while Coun. Erwin Wiens said the revised policy aligns with council’s strategic plan and the town can “always fine tune it.”
Coun. Gary Burroughs said the application timeline is “rather tight” and warned “I don’t think we’re being fair to the very groups that we’re trying to support.”
He also said council should have more input into how applications are assessed before final decisions are made, to “get a good feel for the community that we’re trying to look after.”
