Update: One councillor 'surprised and shocked' by nasty insults

An angry mob spent about two hours outside town hall before Tuesday’s council meeting. Some protesters with homemade signs, shouted at the top of their lungs, hurling rude, personal comments at councillors, and others stood back quietly and chatted with each other.  

They were there to show opposition to council’s recent approval of a 129-room hotel at the former Parliament Oak school site in Old Town, which includes a conference centre, restaurant and other amenities, located in a residential neighbourhood.

Cheropita told The Local on Wednesday afternoon that she was “surprised and shocked” by the “nasty” insults being thrown by the crowd as they made their way into the council chambers. “What on earth would that do to help in any way achieve a better democratic outcome?” she asked. 

But she’s also proud of how local politicians handled the situation, and thankful for the statement later released by Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa.  

“I’m certainly glad we al behaved as professionals,” said Cheropita, adding that she drove to town hall with Mavridis in the same vehicle, and that they were given a warning about how large and rowdy the crowd was – and that they needed to park behind a locked gate at the town’s operations centre.  “That shocked me,” she said.  

Cheropita said the Parliament Oak decision, as well as other projects that have been approved that residents were up in arms about Tuesday were all difficult files.  

“Change is not always easy,” she said. 

But following the rally, which the Local estimated to attract about 500 people, none of the protesters were in the council chamber during the meeting that followed, and none of the councillors raised the Parliament Oak issue to try to have it reopened for discussion..

Council had approved the controversial project in June by a 5-4 vote and the politicians who supported it were the targets on Tuesday night as they arrived outside and got out of their vehicles.  

Couns. Erwin Wiens, Maria Mavridis and Cheropita in particular were heckled with insults, some of them too inappropriate to publish.  

Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa was also swarmed by protesters as he entered town hall, a few minutes after one had loudly announced to the crowd that Zalepa had pulled into the parking lot.  

An organizer of the event also encouraged those in attendance to stand near all the entrances to town hall to give councillors a piece of their mind as they entered the building.  

Councillors had also approved a bylaw on June 25 to move ahead with it. The minutes from the June 25 council meeting were on Tuesday’s council agenda, and were approved without any discussion related to the Parliament Oak decision.

But despite this large crowd, no individuals were registered to speak at the meeting, nor did anyone enter the council chamber after the meeting was called to order at 6 p.m.  

Other news outlets suggested the crowd was about 200, as did The Local initially, but the number of protesters grow, spreading out to cover entrances councillors were using — however a more exact count was not taken.

By about 6:30 p.m., only a handful of people were outside, packing up and leaving.  

Two Niagara Regional Police officers were among the crowd Tuesday night.  

Simcoe Street resident Perry Quinn is one person who went up to Coun. Erwin Wiens as he arrived.  

He said he told Wiens, who voted in favour of the project, that a four-storey development is “completely inappropriate."  

Quinn said the large crowd is a testament to how much opposition there is to the project, brought forward by local developer Benny Marotta and his company Two Sisters Resorts.  “It’s obvious by how many people are here to protest,” he said.  

Local resident Bon Bader said there is a “cabal” of five councillors who he alleges are “not paying attention to the development that’s happening in town,” and that they are “rubber-stamping everything,” referring to multiple proposals and not just the hotel at the former school. “Unfortunately, a lot of our heritage is threatened by what’s going on,” he said.  

 Amendments to the town’s Official Plan and zoning bylaw were approved to allow the hotel development to move ahead. An Official Plan amendment changes the property from its open space and community facilities designation to general commercial use.

Karen Taylor Jones was the lead organizer of the protest. She told The Local she was pleased with the turnout.  

“I think it’s time they started to listen,” she said. Her daughter, Jen Jones, used a megaphone to explain that protestors had to stay on the grass of the town hall property, but also coached them to swarm the entrances to the building as councillors arrived.  

Parliament Oak was the focal point of the protest, but other people held signs making reference to other projects.  

Steve Hardaker, a vocal opponent of the White Oaks development in Glendale, was also at the rally. That project, recently shut down and then given an approval by the local government with some changes, involves 17, 18, 21, and 23-storey buildings. He said these buildings will be “overshadowing” the low-density buildings in that area. 

Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa,  Coun. Erwin Wiens and Cheropita were contacted about the protest, but only Wiens had responded by the time of publication on Wednesday.

Wiens told The Local he is troubled by how the protest was handled. “If residents knew how some members of our community acted yesterday (Tuesay), they would be ashamed,” he said.  “It was abhorrent behaviour.”  

Peaceful protesting is encouraged, but that isn’t what he considered the rally to be. Staff and councillors were “intimidated” and “bullied,” he said.  

But he wasn’t surprised about the swarming or hurled insults, he added, because of the town’s “engaged, not always informed electorate.”  

“That’s not the free and democratic process I want to be a part of,” said Wiens, who also pointed to a number of other strides the town took on Tuesday’s agenda – such as reports on water and wastewater, as well as the heritage trail. 

One issue critics of the Parliament Oak decisions were vocalizing on Tuesday is protection of the town’s heritage.  

Wiens pointed to the town hiring an additional heritage planner and taking recent steps to designate properties.   “This council has taken heritage incredibly seriously.”

An appeal process related to Parliament Oak has already expired, and there is no mechanism in the municipal or planning acts to overturn what has been approved, said Wiens.  

Asked about no member of council mentioning the protest during Tuesday night’s meeting, Wiens said it wasn’t the time or place — meetings are meant to strictly take care of town business. “We had a full agenda that needed to be dealt with.”

In a statement issued Tuesday, Zalepa said his council, as well as staff, respect and recognize the constitutional protection of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression through the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  

Members of the public have a right to gather and protest, and open, constructive dialogue is essential for creating a thriving democratic community, he said. “Protest should be used as a method of making opinions heard in an attempt to influence government policy in a democratic society. This is constructive,” he said.  

“Protest should not be used as a method of attempted intimidation and attack on individual character. This is not constructive,” added the lord mayor.  

He said he is “deeply disappointed” by the actions of some protesters, whose behaviour toward council members and staff was an “unacceptable form of engagement in our democratic process.”  

In recent months, councillors have been spat on and accosted in restaurants and grocery stores, among other things, said Zalepa in his statement.  

“While this behaviour is not reflective of the whole community, its negative impact undermines Niagara-on-the-Lake's longstanding legacy as a welcoming, inclusive and respectful community for all. While aspects of criticism and various challenges are expected in this role, the recent behaviour of some community members is unacceptable and must stop,” he said.  

Editor's note: We can't be sure how many people were at the protest — there was no count taken — however all there would agree it was hundreds.