The Garden City Refugee

The Shoe has Dropped

July 16, 2026

The shoe has finally dropped.

Today, Mat Sendzcoe Siscoe announced that he’s filed his nomination papers for re-election re-appointment to the mayor’s chair here in St. Catharines. Though the nomination process began on May 1, he was undoubtedly waiting to hear from his Liberal buddy Doug Ford to see if he’d be in line for the appointed regional chair job. Since that’s obviously not in the cards, he’s resorted to Plan B.

“At the start of my first term we laid out an ambitious agenda with the goal of establishing a strong foundation for the future of the community,” he said in his announcement. “Collectively, we met those goals.”

Huh?

Four years ago, he ran on a platform of affordability, accountability and accessibility.

The affordability part went out the window the moment he passed the budget with the largest tax increase in the City’s history. A budget directed by the staff for the benefit of the staff. To paraphrase the late, great Bill King when he was speaking of Ken Stabler, Jascha Heifetz has never played the violin with more dexterity than David Oakes and Erin O’Hoski have played Mat Sendzcoe Siscoe. Go check the Sunshine List for yourself to see where your property tax dollars are going. It’s not for roads and sewers. It’s for bureaucrats who Sendzcoe Siscoe is empowering to rule by decree.

Having goons forcibly escort dissenters out of town-hall meetings, blowing off residents and taxpayers and acting like an arrogant bully at council meetings might qualify as “accountability” to Sendzcoe Siscoe, but it sure doesn’t to me. “One of the most frustrating things residents and businesses face is barriers when trying to access our city’s services,” he said four years ago. What he’s delivered instead is smartphone-only parking downtown and elimination of cash as a method of payment for City services. More barriers, not less.

To say he has failed miserably on all accounts is a mild understatement.

And that’s not all.

“A common complaint from potential investors in our community is that it is too complicated to do business here,” he said. And yet those complications have only skyrocketed under his watch. Case in point is the 30-plus-page PDF of regulations just to put a patio in front of your restaurant.

Let us also not forget about his role as Board Chair of Niagara Transit.

“I have long been a transit supporter and was proud to have played a role in developing our new Regional Transit service. However, launching the service is only the first step. Now the work begins to ensure that the entire system–both regional and city transit services–is meeting the needs of our residents,” he also said four years ago.

Under his watch, where I used to need two (and that was a sore point–I only need one bus when I take GO), I now need four buses to get to Niagara Falls. He thinks that’s “simplifying my ride.” I beg to differ. And just as the case with City staff, he has failed to provide any oversight whatsoever of Niagara Transit staff and management. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to complain about drivers blasting loud music, despite the notice on their website asking passengers not play loud music. And I nearly laughed out loud when I saw the safety tips on their website. The only time I’ve felt unsafe on a Niagara Transit bus is when the operator has been driving like a maniac or tailgating someone.

Mat Sendzcoe Siscoe does not deserve re-appointment.

He deserves to be FIRED.