Town Hall
February 19, 2026
Takeaways from last night’s town hall meeting featuring Mat Sendzcoe Siscoe, who occupies the office of mayor; Port Dalhousie councilors Bruce Williamson and Marty Mako; and Grantham councilors Bill Phillips and Dawn Dodge:
1. Amazingly, there was a sign at the desk indicating that registration was optional. No overzealous staff members were haranguing resisters like me.
2. As expected, Sendzcoe Siscoe had plenty of his goons on hand. Not for our safety, but for his. And guess who paid for them? Hint: It wasn’t him.
3. Even before the first of rule of conduct about respectful communication was read, Mako violated that rule by reading a nauseating land acknowledgment. They want us to treat them with respect, but they can flip us the bird with impunity.
4. The hall was less than a third full and, aside from the politicians, there were only two people in attendance, including me, who were not collecting Old Age Security.
5. Before getting to the first speaker, Sendzcoe Siscoe invited participants to follow up with his office via email. He should have qualified that by stating that anyone who expresses dissent will be blown off, as I was recently.
6. The first speaker asked what the City was doing about homelessness. I could have answered that one. They’re exacerbating the problem by taxing people out of house and home. But instead, Sendzcoe Siscoe touted some upcoming Master Plan, bragged about giving away the Geneva Street property and talked about incentives (read: taxpayer-funded handouts) geared toward low-cost housing.
7. Two speakers talked about the proposed four-storey development at 704 Niagara Street, mentioning the lack of parking, a potential drainage issue and that the 15 mature trees on the property had already been clear-cut. “I wept the entire time,” said one woman who was home watching as the trees were being cut. Williamson used the occasion to state that he favors a private property tree bylaw.
8. Tree Hugger Woman also stated that she doesn’t know any family that owns only one car. She obviously doesn’t know me.
9. One speaker asked if we would be getting another aquatic facility since the current one is apparently overcrowded as a result of the closure of the YMCA at Fairview Mall. Phillips, ever the walking endorsement for term limits, spoke about another Master Plan in the works and said a consultant recommended that we have three such facilities.
10. In a teary-eyed rant, one woman bemoaned about how many people are on the roads with scooters and not wearing helmets. “We need laws to protect people from themselves,” said Williamson.
11. One speaker lamented the City’s lack and consistency of communication and how difficult it was to navigate the City’s website. I’ve never had a problem with the site, and I’ve found their communication very consistent. Anyone, like me, who disagrees with the staff will consistently be shadow-banned.
12. Two speakers talked about snow clearing, and Sendzcoe Siscoe candidly admitted that the City has done a terrible job. Later, he said, “There’s a massive salt shortage in Ontario right now.” “We ordered 8,000 tons of salt and we only got 5,500 tons. We had to mix it with sand,” added Phillips.
13. One woman brought up how much property taxes have risen, but Sendzcoe Siscoe blamed inflation before touting his value-for-money audits. “Are there things we’re in that we shouldn’t be in?” he asked rhetorically. Yeah, like giving away City property, putting in toilets downtown, DEI, painting rainbow crosswalks, paying poets, paying artists to paint light poles and giving away money for planting gardens. Just for starters.
14. As part of that discussion, Phillips noted that Brantford is spending $250 million to build a new arena, which would pretty much be a carbon copy of the Meridian Center. That same facility, which opened in 2014, cost us $52 million to build.
15. One speaker lamented how unsightly overhead hydro wires are and that we should be burying them instead. Sendzcoe Siscoe pointed out that on a stretch of Main Street that’s scheduled for rehabilitation, Alectra quoted a price of $12 million to bury the wires.
16. The last speaker got into a heated argument with the five politicians over the former GM site, imploring them to use their power to go onto the property and demolish the buildings. As tensions escalated, Sendzcoe Siscoe threatened to have the speaker escorted off the premises.
17. I think there was a five-way tie for the most unimpressive person behind the table. I was, however, particularly unimpressed with both Williamson and Mako. Williamson struck me as a bleeding-heart socialist and Mako had an annoying and artificially cheery grin on his face all night long. I don’t know what his day job is, but Mako would fit right in on a used car lot.
| Previous post |