No record of Caslin’s Liberal membership
Regional chair claimed on TV he was a member of Liberal party since 1994; party records do not show him as a member
Is Niagara Regional chair Alan Caslin a “card-carrying” member of the Liberal party?
Not according to Liberal party records.
On Wednesday night during an interview with TVO journalist Steven Paikin on The Agenda news program, Caslin declared he was a member of “team blue” — meaning a supporter of Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford and his party — but then said that he is a non-partisan politician who is a Liberal party member.
After telling Paikin he could send Ford a text message and get a reply or phone call within eight hours, the journalist asked if that was because Caslin is a Tory supporter.
“Is that because you are on Team Blue?” asked Paikin
“I am on Team Blue. I have typically voted in that capacity,” replied Caslin. “But I’ve been a card-carrying member of the Liberal party since 1994. So when you talk about what team I am on, I can go either way.”
However, The Standard has learned that Caslin is not a registered member with either the Liberal Party of Ontario or its federal counterpart.
Members of the Ontario Liberal party pay a $10 a year membership. Party sources say digital records do not go back to 1994 — so it is possible Caslin had a membership then — but he does not appear in party records as a member over the last decade.
The federal party no longer has paid membership fees, but members are registered as Liberals. Caslin is not currently registered as a federal Liberal member.
Records do show that Caslin
and his wife Anita Caslin have made donations to the Progressive Conservative party, The Conservative Party of Canada and local Tory candidates.
During his appearance on The Agenda, Caslin claimed that the Region had uploaded so many services, Niagara cities have increasingly less to do and were “typically just parks and rec.” Caslin, supporting Ford’s move to slash the size of Toronto’s city council and the cancellation of regional chair elections, said Niagara should be reduced from 12 municipalities to four.
He falsely claimed the Region had uploaded transit services from St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland. The three cities have an agreement with each other and the Region to build a regional transit system, but the services have not been uploaded.
Caslin, who is under fire for his role and that of his staff in the tainting hiring process of the regional CAO and is seeking reelection as a St. Catharines regional councillor, did not respond Friday to interview requests from The Standard for this story.