Sometimes we wonder if our political leaders think the people they serve are ignorant fools.

Sometimes their actions unintentionally speak volumes.

And sometimes their words belie their intentions as they say one thing, promote another and then deny they ever said the former.

Politics can make your head spin, as we are seeing in a fresh effort to shrink the number of municipalities in Niagara Region.

Tuesday night at Niagara-on-the-Lake’s council meeting the gong show was on full display.

The ring leader was a guest — the newly appointed chair of Niagara Region and Tory political henchman Bob Gale.

Gale’s presentation was, to be frank, embarrassing. It offered mainly self-serving anecdotes and tales from his long career in Niagara politics, with no data or details to support his effort to possibly amalgamate Niagara’s 12 local municipalities into one, three or four larger cities.

It was so poorly done we almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

At one point he insisted the whole charade of giving area municipal leaders barely two weeks to respond to the amalgamation proposal was solely his idea.

Two weeks, why bother? Well, in Gale’s view, people have been complaining and musing about blowing up Niagara’s governance model for “the last 27 years.”

So, there’s already been plenty of debate.

Later Gale seemingly misspoke and said he has been “tasked” with solving Niagara’s regional conundrum — as if perhaps Premier Doug Ford had given him that “task.”

(Asked about that on Wednesday in Niagara Falls, Ford dodged the question but wisely said it would be up to Niagara’s leaders to decide whether to amalgamate or “continue to pay double-digit” tax increases. So, we know where he stands on the subject.)

Meanwhile, back at NOTL council, Gale denied ever saying he’d been “tasked” with the amalgamation assignment. But our own ears and the meeting video, as Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa reminded him, would tell the tale of his utterance.

A predictable scenario, perhaps. Just another minor, annoying example of how powerful people often try to steamroll through issues to get their own way and, in some cases, tell you that you didn’t actually hear what you just heard.

We’ve grown so used to it, many just assume that politicos twist the truth as a matter of habit. Such cynicism.

The night before the farce in NOTL, Gale made a similar ill-prepared presentation to Fort Erie council, which subsequently voted to pursue a code of conduct complaint against the regional chair for citing a litany of regional waste while being unable to provide any examples of such.

At the NOTL meeting, Gale had to admit several times that he was “not aware” of numerous facts related to amalgamation, especially regarding how the practice never brings the windfall of cost savings predicted by proponents.

This whole seat-of-the-pants, back-of-the-napkin approach to blowing up a regional system that dates back to the days of Progressive Conservative premiers John Robarts and Bill Davis seems intentionally rushed, with a pre-ordained outcome.

Ontario has a municipal election on Oct. 26. Is Gale’s big push on amalgamation being driven by that?

The regional chair’s presentations and arguments thus far have made for a low-grade “Bob and Doug” tragicomedy. It might be humorous if so much was not at stake.

Yes, many feel the regional model of governance needs improvement. So, by all means, let’s look at it.

But to make an informed decision, we need relevant data and evidence, not simplistic, anecdotal arguments.

We must rely on more than just the mantras of “efficiencies” or “we have too many local municipalities” or “all these councillors cost way too much” (uh, well, in NOTL, where they earn barely $20,000 a year, that’s hardly the case).

Yes, NOTLers already pay a lot in local and regional taxes — way more than we should, especially for policing (as we have argued previously).

But let’s take a careful and thoughtful approach toward amalgamation. Niagara’s entire system of local democratic representation hangs in the balance.

If we’re going to change it, let’s make sure it is for the better.