If you spend time on social media — especially on NOTL’s politically focused platforms or groups — besides reading ongoing posts mainly from Conservative supporters re-litigating the federal election and Mark Carney’s minority win, you’ll often see comments critical of the attitudes of NOTLers.

To many online warriors, Niagara-on-the-Lake residents are an entitled, privileged and self-absorbed group who enjoy nothing more than to whine and complain about how great things used to be.

And, unfortunately, on occasion, that is an apt caricature.

We saw it again this past weekend when heavy spring rains turned the fields at the newly opened TASC tulip farm into a mud bowl. And long lines of traffic dangerously snarled the concession roads near the rural Virgil attraction.

Residents, who posted justified concerns about congestion and safety (what if emergency vehicles couldn’t get through?), were in turn blasted as being too quick to complain. It was unfortunate, especially since the weather is obviously beyond the control of entrepreneurs operating an outdoor attraction.

At this point, we’re not sure who to blame, other than perhaps Mother Nature, circumstance and bad luck, for what was indeed a messy, muddy situation.

But in 2025, everyone has an opinion.

Regular themes among many community commenters are that NOTL is going to hell in a handcart; that the hordes of “bloody tourists” are here enjoying our little slice of heaven yet again; and “we’ve lived here for 50 years and why can’t it be the way it used to be?” And then there’s the plague of rampant development.

Those are all interesting sentiments but, really, the truth — and the road to a future where maybe we can take Rodney King’s advice and agree to get along — lies somewhere in the mushy middle.

Whether you want to retain NOTL as an idyllic place to live and wish we could pull up the drawbridge to keep outsiders away, or you embrace it as “wine country” (or, as the new town strategy sees NOTL, a destination known for natural beauty, food and wine, plus cultural experiences), the reality is our wee town is growing, it is changing and it will never be what it once was.

To many, that is negative. To others, it is an exciting prospect. To some, we need more control over how the town is going to change.

Which brings us to the subject of the NOTL Residents Association, a new group focused on ensuring the town’s leadership pays more attention to the desires of residents.

Its official coming out party is next Wednesday evening at the community centre and whether you’re politically inclined or just curious, we urge you to attend and hear what the organization’s leaders have to say.

Chances are it will be the biggest outpouring of public emotion since the unprecedented protest outside NOTL’s town hall last July.

Passion is never a bad thing. It shows people care.

Looking ahead, perhaps the association will manage to float a slate of candidates in the October 2026 municipal election.

Meantime, maybe it will come up with some ideas or suggestions that our current mayor and council will embrace.

All that remains to be seen. But what do NOTLers really want? It’s difficult to know.

Let’s not forget that on Oct. 24, 2022, voters opted for substantial change and rejected incumbent Betty Disero, installing Gary Zalepa in the lord mayor’s chair, giving him almost 50 per cent of the votes cast.

That was a decisive mandate.

But four years before that, Disero knocked off incumbent Pat Darte, as she garnered 50 per cent of the votes. And in 2014 Darte ousted 2010 winner Dave Eke by taking 57 per cent of the votes. All this turnover started after Gary Burroughs’ mayoral reign from 2000 to 2010.

So, on one hand, NOTLers have actively embraced change — by rejecting their municipal leader when someone else offers an alternate vision.

What does it all mean? We’re not sure yet, but, given the latest discontent, it seems the NOTL Residents Association might be destined to have some influence over who sits in the new “strong” mayor’s chair after 2026.

Will it make a difference and satisfy the desires of NOTLers? Impossible to know.

But stay tuned and get involved, if you care about the town’s future.

kevin@niagaranow.com