Niagara Region sparks more outrage from Palestine Coalition

Niagara Region council has again drawn the ire of a Palestinian organization, this time by making changes to its procedural bylaw and code of conduct for councillors.

Councillors approved a recommendation Thursday that members of the public, including delegates, are prohibited from have signs, props, placards or flags of any kind at meetings of regional council or its committees. 

Another change includes prohibiting members of the public from applauding, heckling, making other audible demonstrations of support or opposition, or engaging in conversation or other behaviour which may be considered to be disruptive, inconsiderate, disrespectful or intimidating to others.

Opposition from the Palestine Coalition first surfaced in January when regional councillors voted to update its flag-raising and sign-lighting policy despite outcry from the local Palestinian community vocalizing their concerns about the Region not allowing imagery representing their home country, such as flags and on digital signage, to be displayed at Niagara Region sites.  

They had come to council because regional headquarters had previously been lit in the colours of Israel’s flag as a symbol of solidarity with Israel, and Niagara’s Jewish residents.In a presentation to regional councillors, this Thursday Daryl Barnhart, chair Jim Bradley’s executive officer, said the discussion about the changes being recommended started around the time of that meeting in January. He said the ongoing conversation since then, which involved working with the region’s integrity commissioner, has been so that the region “doesn’t experience those types of challenges again.”

In that January meeting, St. Catharines representative Haley Bateman had a motion on the agenda asking the regional government to call on the federal government for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestine-Israel conflict, which caused an uproar when St. Catharines mayor Mat Siscoe made a motion to have her recommendations removed from the agenda. After some discussion, councillors voted to strike that item from the agenda, causing commotion in the gallery and resulting in delegates and audience members gathering outside to make the speeches they were prohibited from making at the council meeting. 

The January meeting was “considered by many to be an exceptionally challenging meeting that revealed numerous opportunities to strengthen the Region’s policies and procedures in the interest of more efficient meetings, stronger agenda management and more appropriate decorum from both elected officials and members of the public who were observing the meeting from the gallery,” reads the report before council on Thursday night.  

Another change passed by regional council Thursday discourages members of council from “fraternizing” or engaging with members of the gallery while meetings are in session. 

St. Catharines Regional Coun. Laura Ip asked how this could be enforced, with Barnhart responding it would be similar to a councillor putting forward a point of personal privilege, resulting in the chair asking the member to “come have a seat.” If the problem persists, the integrity commissioner might need to be consulted, he said.  

Several delegates were registered to address the report at this Thursday’s meeting, some of whom were called out on points of order by council when delivering their remarks.  

Zeina Othman of St. Catharines offered a rebuttal, saying “point of order is always being used by people who are uncomfortable with what we speak about.”

Gabriel Gebril, a spokesperson for the coalition who also addressed council Thursday night, said in the coalition news release that regional council was “unserious” and said that in an “attempt to shut down one community and its allies, they have twisted the whole system into knots.”  

The changes were approved by a wide 27-2 margin, with only Bateman and Pelham Mayor Marvin Junkin voting against them.  

Another recommendation brought forward by Pelham Regional Coun. Diana Huson, that delegates provide advanced briefing notes to prove relevance to an agenda item before addressing council, was also approved.

Niagara-on-the-Lake Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa asked to have that recommendation deferred to the next procedural bylaw committee meeting, but was defeated, and when St. Catharines Regional Coun. Sal Sorrento made a comment later in the discussion that it should have been deferred, Zalepa, who had unknowingly left his microphone on, used a profanity when saying as an aside he had tried. He quickly apologized.

The Niagara Palestine Coalition says in its news release it was founded in the wake of the October crisis in Palestine in 2023 and has members from diverse backgrounds including Palestinians, Jews, Indigenous peoples, academics, union activists, students, youth, retirees, of various faiths, across the Niagara region of Ontario. It has organized weekly demonstrations in Niagara on Sundays as well as fundraisers and educational events.