During an April 8 meeting, the Niagara Falls City Council voted unanimously in favour of a motion brought forward by Mayor Jim Diodati to formally request membership in the Ontario Big City Mayors (OBCM) organization.
OBCM is a group of mayors from across Ontario that represent municipalities with populations of at least 100,000. It seeks to cultivate a setting in which mayors can collaborate to forge strategies and generate solutions to matters of mutual interest.
At this juncture, St. Catharines is the only OBCM member from the Niagara Region. The city is represented by Mayor Mat Siscoe.
In the 2021 census, Niagara Falls had a population of 94,415 people. In Diodati’s motion, it is stated that Statistics Canada now measures the population of the city to be 111,793.
When the motion was carried toward the end of the April 8 meeting, it received widespread, immediate support and was a subject of minimal discussion. However, Councillor Lori Lococo was curious about why an invitation had not yet been extended to Niagara Falls upon reaching the 100,000 population threshold.
“I was wondering as well, usually, it’s just your 100,000, and then you apply, and you said we haven’t received an invitation?” Lococo asked Diodati. “Why wouldn’t they send an invitation? Why would we apply? Why do we have to give a formal request? It’s a great organization, and there’s lots of benefits I do get that.”
Diodati said that the answer was not entirely clear.
“So, I asked a number of years ago (when we were at 94,000), and I said, when you couple the amount of tourists we get, we’re actually over 100,000 when you look at a daily number,” he explained. “And one of the mayors had said ‘Well put it forward,’ but then I thought ‘Okay, maybe we’re stretching it a bit…we’ll wait till we hit 100,000.’”
“Well, now, we’ve surpassed 100,000 and nobody’s inviting… I had heard, in fact, and I don’t know if this is true or not, that there was a motion put forward to not allow any more cities entry, which I don’t know if that’s true or not… I don’t know… I had heard that from one of the mayors.”
“So regardless, I thought so we’ll just suggest (that we would) be honoured to be a part of that group and see where it goes.”
Lococo also questioned if OBCM might be measuring the city’s population by the most recent census, which was completed in 2021, that would, therefore, still indicate a number which is under the 100,000 benchmark.
Diodati said that the website “didn’t seem to be that specific, but, who knows?”
The motion was then passed unanimously.
Those interested in learning more about OBCM can do so at the following link: Ontario Big City Mayors.
Nick Redekop completed his Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Labour Studies at Brock University. He has previously served in municipal and federal politics. In his free time, Nick enjoys following sports, taking part in outdoor activities, and reading biographies. Nick resides in Niagara Falls
