Niagara Regional Council takes a pass on mental health state of emergency declaration

A letter from Niagara Region’s two Conservative MPs – Niagara Centre’s Dean Allison and Niagara Falls’ Tony Baldinelli – asking the region to declare a mental health state of emergency in order to qualify for more provincial and federal funding got shot down quickly at the last Council meeting.

In the letter (below) sent last week, the Conservative duo said, “It is apparent, however, that the pandemic has negatively impacted each and every resident across the region in one way or another. Illness, fatigued front-line workers, unprecedented job losses and skyrocketing inflation have all taken a tremendous toll.”

It was brought forward as a full motion by Councillor (and West Lincoln Mayor) Dave Bylsma but ultimately didn’t get the two-thirds (21 vote) support from councillors needed to advance beyond that, shutting it down entirely.

One councillor said a declaration like that from the region would be pointless because “There’s no teeth behind it, there’s no bite.”