Dear editor:
I recently attended the NPG Planning Inc. open house at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Community Centre, expecting to see a presentation of the online survey results and an opportunity to ask questions in a public forum.
Instead, the consultation consisted of a series of storyboards, each summarizing portions of the data. While the materials were visually well presented, the event felt more like a display than a discussion.
In the hour I spent there, only a handful of people came through, and few opportunities were provided to engage in meaningful dialogue.
What was not immediately clear from the information presented is how limited the participation actually was.
Only eight people took part in the community walks. The morning town hall session in the summer was cancelled because too few participants attended, and the later session drew only 18 people.
If town council and the lord mayor intend to base major decisions on this consultation, the process should truly reflect the views of the broader community.
There were also no safeguards in place to prevent individuals or interest groups from submitting multiple surveys, and nothing in the presentation addressed how this risk was mitigated.
Even more concerning, 80 per cent of survey respondents were aged 54 or older and reported having no children.
Considering that only 54 per cent of the community is aged 54 and older, these survey results are not representative.
While older residents are a vital part of our community, this demographic alone does not represent the full spectrum of Niagara-on-the-Lake residents.
We should be cautious in treating this data as a definitive measure of community opinion. It is incomplete and skewed toward retirees.
Council would be wise to weigh these results against other recent surveys, studies, and public feedback gathered over the last few years.
The former hospital at 176 Wellington St. is far too important, both the building and the public land, to determine its future based on such limited and unbalanced information.
True consultation means listening to the whole community, not just a fraction of it.
Jennifer Reimer
Old Town
