Municipalities across Ontario need to create war chests to fund legal battles against police associations over budget requests, say Niagara Region politicians who worked the room at Tuesday's Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference. As politicians flocked to a seminar on police costs — so popular the conference ran two back-to-back — Selina Volpatti discreetly passed out flyers announcing a post-conference huddle to discuss the benefits of arming themselves with ready-to-use cash. Continue reading

After cutting nearly half a per cent from next year's recommended 2.99 per cent tax hike, Niagara's budget committee members referred the Region's $1.1 billion 2018 budget back to staff to cut it even more. Continue reading

With a final nip here, and a tuck there, politicians were able to bring the 2018 Niagara Region budget in line with where they originally wanted it. Continue reading

With a final nip here, and a tuck there, politicians were able to bring the 2018 Niagara Region budget in line with where they originally wanted it. Continue reading