Residents Angered by Council Vote

Niagara Regional council voted to remove motion from Councillor Haley Bateman on Israel/Hamas war from agenda

St. Catharines' Mayor led the charge at Regional council last night to have a motion supporting a ceasefire in the Isreal/Hamas war removed from the agenda.

The motion, from Councillor Haley Bateman, didn't even get any debate.

Mat Siscoe's request was backed by a strong majority in a vote.  "As this matter does not pertain to any area of Niagara region's business, or mandate, and regardless of the outcome of Item 13.2, which the end result would be division in our community."

Council also strongly supported a call to question by Councillor Laura Ip, which ended the discussion without hearing from the many people in the gallery that wanted to speak to the issue.

As a result, Chair Jim Bradley had to call a 10-minute recess after residents yelled and chanted "shame" and "ceasefire now".

A second recess was called later in the meeting for the same reason.  When council returned, it finished some business, but not without Councillor Bateman repeatedly asking for a Point of Order, to speak to the motion.  The Chair forcefully hit the gavel a number of times, directly looking at her and saying the meeting was adjourned.  The chamber feed to watch the meeting was then faded.   

Councillor Bateman's motion called for a ceasefire, allowing for immediate humanitarian aid to impacted areas, as well as for the Canadian government to remove a cap on the number of Palestinians seeking refuge in Canada with their families.  

She also expressed how disgusted she was that Councillors Siscoe and Ip blocked people from speaking, while they claim to be progressive councillors.  Bateman added Siscoe's claims that allowing the motion would be divisive to the community speaks to white privilege, power and control. 

Desmond Sequeira is co-founder of the Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine Israel, who released an email saying how shocking it is this happened, and it's a very sad day in Niagara.  

The email added the 100 people who showed up, many to speak, gave their speeches outside.