Government
The current mayor of Welland is Barry Sharpe. The Welland city council is made up of the mayor and 12 councillors, each elected in his or her ward. There are currently six wards in Welland, each of which elects two councillors. The mayor and two regional councillors, currently George Marshall and Peter Kormos, also represent the city on Niagara Regional Council.
The city is responsible for fire protection, libraries, parks and recreation and secondary streets, but many municipal services come instead from the broader level of government, the Niagara Region. Regional responsibilities include social welfare, community health, and policing through the Niagara Regional Police.
The chief local political issue is the redevelopment of the downtown core area, which has been deteriorating in the years following the Welland By-Pass project. The Civic Square project has been completed after spanning the terms of three city councils and three mayors. The new building, facing both East Main Street and the old canal, houses the city hall and the Welland Public Library. The project is proving to be a catalyst for development, as several new establishments have been opened downtown and some current business are expanding.
Welland is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by the NDP MP Malcolm Allen, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by the NDP MPP Cindy Forster, representing the federal and the provincial ridings of Welland.
Read more about this topic: Welland
Famous quotes containing the word government:
“If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“I heartily accept the motto, “That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe,—”That government is best which governs not at all”; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of the government. The history of government is a history of resistance. The history of liberty is the history of the limitation of government, not the increase of it.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)