Indolence in Action
September 16, 2025
Over the Labor Day weekend, the Somekinda Festival was taking place at Montebello Park. From what little I heard about it, I think it involved some sort of music. Whatever the case, I probably wouldn’t have gone if they had paid me.
But what I did hear about that weekend was that the City (read: unelected bureaucrats emboldened by the weakness of council and the man who occupies the office of mayor) implemented “special event parking rates” specifically for the festival. Whereas parking is normally free on weekends, as it should be, they hiked the rates to $20. Brazen price gouging.
Nice way to welcome visitors, I thought. Especially to a struggling downtown that has little else to offer besides the market.
I wasn’t the only one to notice this and express outrage. There was a growing furor online. As much as they would have liked to suppress all the negative comments and sweep it all under the rug, even CUPE’s censors couldn’t keep pace.
Where was Mat Sendzcoe Siscoe, you might ask? Surely, as the man who occupies the office of mayor, he’d have had something to say. There’s no way he could have avoided hearing about it. It had kind of become the talk of the town.
Yet he was silent. Not a word on any of his social media channels. As I asked him directly on X, “Too busy stumping for the Niagara Falls basketball team?”
Which brings us to our friends at the St. Catharines Downtown Association. The BIA whose sole function is to advocate on behalf of their involuntary members–the struggling downtown business owners who need every shot in the arm they can get.
Where were they, you might ask? Surely they were in Siscoe’s ear. Screaming from the rooftops. Doing their utmost to “represent” their members, as they vehemently claim.
Nope.
All we heard from them were crickets.
It was only a week and a half later that they finally addressed the issue in one of their emails.
“We heard from many of you that this created challenges for both businesses and employees. We’ve shared this feedback with City staff and councilors, who have been receptive to our concerns.”
Then they went on to talk about how they’ve identified parking as a key advocacy priority and formed a parking advisory group.
How incredibly underwhelming. Maybe, like Siscoe, they were too busy with, well, something.
All the while, they continue to boast about their “advocacy in action.”
More like indolence in action.
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