Wainfleet mayor to be acclaimed Niagara Centre Tory candidate
It appears Wainfleet Mayor April Jeffs will lead Niagara Centre Progressive Conservatives into the next provincial election, as the deadline for candidates to apply has come and gone with no one else throwing their hat in the ring against her.
“I think she’s acclaimed at this point,” said Keith Cumming, president of Niagara Centre’s provincial PC Riding Association.
Jeff ’s candidacy will be confirmed at a nomination meeting on Sunday, April 9, at 3 p.m., at Central United Church, 12 Young St., Welland. The deadline for nominations was March 19.
“There were some people that showed a strong interest, but decided to support April as she is a strong candidate,” Cumming said.
Wainfleet will be in the new Niagara West riding during the next provincial election, moving from Niagara Centre to match up with federal riding boundaries. Niagara Centre encompasses Port Colborne, Thorold, Welland and south St. Catharines. The Niagara West riding recently put forth sitting MPP Sam Oosterhoff as its Tory candidate for the 2018 election.
Cumming doesn’t think the fact that Jeffs lives outside the riding will be an issue.
“She’s well-known, well-respected and knows all the players in the riding. I think she’ll make a great candidate” he said.
In an interview, Jeffs said she’d been thinking of running in Niagara Centre because she’s familiar with the people, politicians and issues.
“We (Wainfleet) were in the riding for a long time … I’ve done a lot of work as mayor in Niagara Centre. I have a lot of connections there, I do my shopping there, a lot of my photo clients are there.”
She believes she has a lot of support in the riding, as people know what she did as mayor of Wainfleet. “People seems to be excited about me running, they know what they are getting and have seen me in action for the past seven years.”
Jeffs said there’s unfinished business she’d like to take care of if elected MPP in the June 2018 election.
Some of that includes trying to stop a new hospital being built in Niagara Falls, and the closing of local hospitals in the riding. She’s been working closely with Welland Mayor Frank Campion and Port Colborne Mayor John Maloney on the issue. “It’s still a big issue for me.” Enhancing small- and mediumsized businesses and manufacturers in Niagara Centre, by cutting red tape and removing roadblocks for getting approvals by agencies such as the Ministry of Environment, is something she feels she can accomplish by being at the table as an MPP.
Niagara Centre, she said, hasn’t really been on the province’s radar for a number of years for things like infrastructure funding, and she’d like to change that.
“The only way to do that is to be part of the government, get the riding noticed again. I’d advocate for our fair share of funding.”