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Advocates push Ontario council to apologize after women arrested holding signs

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An Ontario municipality is facing the threat of a legal challenge and calls to apologize after advocates were removed from its council chambers and arrested for holding signs.

On June 17, three members of the group Women of Ontario Say No attended a Niagara Falls council meeting, hoping to talk about a proposed provincial law and the conduct of municipal councillors.

Specifically, they wanted to discuss gaining local support for legal changes that would put sitting councillors facing criminal charges on a paid leave.

The city, however, said it would not hear their delegation, suggesting it related to an ongoing legal matter. The advocates then sat in the council chamber, with signs printed on card stock which said, “Women of Ontario Say No.”

Niagara Falls officials say they asked the women to put their signs down and called the police. Officers arrested the trio and eventually released them without charge.

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Now, the group — which has long called for stricter local accountability at councils — is threatening to take legal action against Niagara Falls if they are not allowed to present to councillors.

They’re also calling for an apology.

Emily McIntosh, the founder of Women of Ontario Say No, said her group wanted to appear at a Niagara Falls council meeting to seek support for their changes to the rules that govern councillors.

The group, which has made presentations to various city councils over the year, said it wanted to talk about the possibility of changes to provincial legislation to put any councillor charged with a criminal offence on a paid leave of absence until a court decides on the charges.

The Women of Ontario Say No were told they could not present at the meeting, although they were allowed to submit written statements if they chose.

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“The municipality cited ongoing court proceedings; it is my understanding that currently there is a councillor who has been charged with domestic assault,” McIntosh said.

“But that is not a reason to exclude productive dialogue and democratic engagement when it comes to legislative change that would benefit all Ontarians.”

Niagara Falls Coun. Mike Strange was charged with domestic assault on May 3, according to media reports.


In response to questions about Strange from Global News, Niagara Regional Police said they had charged a 54-year-old man with domestic assault on May 3, but did not name him. Strange did not respond to written questions ahead of publication.

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Despite the delegation request being denied by the Niagara Falls council, three members of Women of Ontario Say No attended a June 17 meeting with small placards showing the name of the group.

They sat with them in the chamber — something a report written by city staff alleges created “an unsafe, unwelcoming, undemocratic and uncivil situation.”

St. Catharines Coun. Haley Bateman was one of the three women attending the meeting and holding the signs. She said the advocates were quiet and did not wave their signs.

“It was peaceful, there should be no reason why a sign — an 8.5 by 11 piece of card stock with ‘The Women of Ontario Ontario Say No’ — should have been intimidating or threatening to them at all,” she said.

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“We sat there peacefully, we didn’t approach, we didn’t get out of our seats, we didn’t shake our signs.”

Officers with Niagara Regional Police were called. The City of Niagara Falls would not confirm to Global News who called the police, but CAO Jason Burgess said it was “staff’s decision.”

Police said they received the call around 4:15 p.m. on June 17 and told the advocates they would be in violation of trespassing laws if they did not leave.

“Following a prolonged discussion, three adult females continued to display their signs and were briefly detained by police,” a spokesperson for Niagara Regional Police told Global News.

“They were escorted from council chambers and off City property. The individuals were released unconditionally after the City declined to proceed with formal charges.”

Burgess said the city was “attempting to get compliance” and therefore was not looking to press charges.

After the arrests and deputation denial, the Women of Ontario Say No retained a lawyer, who wrote to both Niagara Regional Police and Niagara Falls City Council.

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In her letter to councillors, lawyer Susan Toth said the women at the June 17 meeting had been “exercising their lawful right,” holding signs that “were neither offensive nor derogatory.”

The letter called for council to allow the presentation to go ahead and to issue an apology and admission of wrongdoing.

In a report to council, city staff said they would allow the Women of Ontario Say No to submit written information to the council meeting and to protest outside the council building — but not in the room where meetings take place.

“The group has opposed Staff’s enforcement of the decorum policy, and more specifically, of the conditions that signs with messages not be held up inside chambers, and that legal matters outside council’s jurisdiction not be spoken to as part of the deputation,” part of the staff report said.

Toth said she didn’t accept the city’s position.

“Frankly, they’re just not on solid legal ground,” she said. “You don’t get to pick and choose when the rule of law is convenient to you. You don’t get to pick and choose when you like charter rights to what it looks like.”

The Women of Ontario Say No wanted to present to councillors about provincial legislation which, if passed, will make it easier to remove municipal councillors found guilty of serious violations.

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Removal would have to be recommended by integrity commissioners and would ultimately be approved by a unanimous vote of councillors.

Allowing colleagues to make the final decision on the punishment for councillors who face removal is a gap, the group argues, pointing to Strange’s continued presence at Niagara Falls council as an example.

“If this was the judicial system and we were looking at a case there, no council person would qualify to be a juror because the bias is so strong,” McIntosh said.

“So when we’re looking at this legislative development, it’s not just about getting it done, it’s about making sure that it’s done right and we’re modelling it off of best practices. And (Niagara Falls) is a great example as to why it would not be appropriate for a decision like that to come back to council.”

Neither the current Municipal Act nor the proposed new policy automatically deals with what councillors facing criminal charges should do. Strange has been charged. The allegations against him have not been proven.

A spokesperson for Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing said the government had carefully considered its legislation.

“Removal from office is a serious measure, reserved for the most extreme code of conduct violations, and safeguarded by a high threshold and thorough review to ensure it is never taken lightly,” they wrote in a statement.

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Niagara Falls City Council will meet again on Tuesday, July 8, and members of the Women of Ontario Say No intend to attend.

The city told Global News it would be telling anyone going to the meeting to “acknowledge the rules and confirm that they are not going to undertake behavior that will be against the written rules.”

Burgess said, if police are called again, “the City may take a different stand on whether to formally press charges.”

Bateman said the move was “laughable” and said advocates would likely be there again.

“Oh how ridiculous of them, that’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard,” she said of requiring an acknowledgement before entering the chamber. “I can’t even imagine what the thought process is on this.”





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Quebec is the happiest province in Canada, survey finds

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A new poll by Leger has found that Quebec residents are the happiest in Canada.

The web survey of nearly 40,000 Canadians found that Quebecers rated their happiness at an average of 72.4 out of 100, which is well above the national average.

New Brunswick followed Quebec with an average of 70.2, while Manitoba and Prince Edward Island finished at the bottom of the list.

Mississauga, Ont. had the highest happiness rating of the 10 largest cities, while Toronto was lowest.

Montreal finished second in the category.

The survey found that 49 per cent of respondents said their happiness level was unchanged over the past year, while 23 per said they were happier and 28 per cent said they were less happy.

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“These results reveal a population that is both resilient and tested, affected by everyday uncertainty and challenges,” Leger’s executive summary read. “Happiness, while holding its ground overall, shows signs of fragility.”

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The survey found that people in the 18-to-24 and 24-to-34-year-old categories were more likely to report improved feelings of well-being, even if their overall happiness score remained below the national average.

In contrast, people in the 35-to-44 and 45-to-54 age brackets were more likely to report their happiness had deteriorated.


“There is a sense of well-being emerging among younger age groups,” the summary read. “However, this also highlights the importance of supporting adults in mid-life, who are more vulnerable to the pressures of working life.”

Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador were the three provinces with happiness levels above the national average of 68.7. They were followed, in descending order, by Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and P.E.I. The territories were not included in the survey.

In the survey of the 10 largest cities, Mississauga and Montreal finished ahead of Hamilton, Calgary, Brampton, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto, in that order.

Women reported slightly higher happiness levels than men, at 69.4 versus 68.0.

Leger says the overall results confirm “a level of happiness that is relatively high but stagnant or even slightly down compared to the pre-pandemic period.”

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To get the results, Leger surveyed 39,841 Canadians aged 18 and up between March 31 and April 13.

Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

&copy 2025 The Canadian Press





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Police to host town hall in Quadeville after attack on Ontario child

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Ontario Provincial Police are set to host a town hall in Quadeville, Ont., this evening to answer questions from residents about an attack on an eight-year-old child that was initially linked to an animal.

Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy in the case and he faces charges of attempted murder and sexual assault with a weapon.

Members of the small community 170 kilometres west of Ottawa say they were in shock after hearing about the arrest and hope to get clarity at today’s event in the town’s community centre.

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Local resident Christine Hudder says she wants to know how police came up with the animal attack theory and why families were told for days to keep their children indoors.

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The victim was found with life-threatening injuries on June 24 after she was reported missing, and remains in hospital.

Police say they are planning to give as much information as possible to locals given that an investigation is still underway.






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Old photo of Ontario children used in phony fundraiser for Texas flood victims

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A Burlington, Ont., mother was unsettled to discover that an old photo of her children had been used in a fraudulent GoFundMe that attempted to elicit donations in connection the recent Texas floods.

Julie Cole told Global News that a friend had contacted her on social media to say that an old photo of her six children was being used in an attempt to collect ill-gotten gains.

“She reached out to me and she was like, ‘Hey, here’s a link to a GoFundMe. Sorry this has happened to you, but obviously a picture of your kids has been used without your consent and it’s being used for a GoFundMe to raise money, to help a family dealing with the Texas floods,’” she said.

Cole explained that the fake GoFundMe, which has since been removed by the company, was looking for donations to support a widowed mother of six kids in connection.

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At least 120 people have died while more than 100 others remain unaccounted for as a result of the flooding, including 27 children and councilors from Camp Mystic.

“They were trying to raise $40,000 because of the three daughters had been victims of the Texas floods,” Cole said. “And the way it was presented felt very much like they were part of maybe that girl’s camp.”


Julie Cole told Global News that a friend had contacted her on social media to make that an old photo of her six children was being used in an attempt to collect ill-gotten gains.


Provided

Cole said once the listing was sent to her, she immediately contacted GoFundMe to get the fundraiser taken down.

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By Wednesday morning, the company had done so and in a statement to Global News, GoFundMe said that the fundraiser did not receive any donations and the account has been banned from creating any further fundraisers on the platform.

“GoFundMe has the most robust donor protection processes of any platform of our kind. We have round the clock trust and safety support, humans and technology making sure funds will get to where they are intended,” the statement offered.

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After contacting the company, Cole said she shared the incident on her social media pages to raise awareness.

“So I did put it on my Facebook and I put it in my LinkedIn as like a heads-up learning experience kind of thing and there was a lot of outrage,” she said.

Cole also noted that while she is disappointed by the incident, she is well aware that her troubles are miniscule in comparison to those affected by the flooding.


“I do feel a little bit in myself that what I’m feeling is in no way comparable to what the actual families are feeling who have gone through the tragedies of the flooding,” she said.

The photo came from an old blog post she had written 16 years ago. Cole can date the picture as the baby in the photo is now getting ready to go for his driver’s test.

I’m one of those, like, OG mommy bloggers from 20 years ago. So my kids have been on the internet. They have been sort of in the public eye,” she explained.

“And I know the risk is out there. And I think parents need to remember that, that their kids’ photos can be just screenshotted and used without consent. So there’s one lesson.

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I felt a little, well, very unsettled about it, particularly because of what it was being used for.”

In addition to being a parenting blogger, she also helped found Mabel’s Labels, which offers washable labels for kids clothing and other school items, in an effort to keep them out of the lost and found.


Julie Cole and her six kids in 2025.


Provided

Being a spokesperson for the company while raising six kids keeps her in the parenting sphere and she offered some other advice to parents about the images and social media.

“I think parents just have to be mindful and aware that once it’s out there, you know you’d like to think you’ll get consent or you’ll give consent if somebody asks or they want to use it, but people will just take it and they can just take,” she said.

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“You have to be especially careful now with AI, because these photos can be altered.”

She also warned parents to check with their kids as they get older to see if they are OK with pics being posted and that people should be mindful of where they are sharing their donations.

“Another lesson out of this is people need to really be cautious and know where they’re putting their fundraising dollars,” Cole said.

&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.





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