A ‘slap in the face’ to Niagara candidates
Niagara’s opposition NDP MPPs are slamming Premier Doug Ford’s planned cancellation of the Regional Chair election in Niagara, calling it “dictatorial” and “an abuse of power.”
“Mr. Ford has made it undemocratic, autocratic and unfair to any candidate that put their name on the ballot moving forward in Niagara,” said St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens.
Stevens said she sympathized with the people who put their names on the ballot for Niagara chair and have done all the legwork over the last year, only to find out there will be no election because of a “backroom” decision by Ford.
“Now, at the 11th hour they’re being put on pause and that’s what’s been happening with the Ford government. They’re putting a lot of decisions on pause and not consulting with the people,” she said. “I find it very undemocratic that they’re not consulting with anyone here in Niagara.”
Nominations for the 2018 municipal election opened on May 1 and closed at 2 p.m. Friday. Ford announced Friday morning that his government will introduce legislation to halt the elections for chair in Niagara, Peel, York and Muskoka.
Four candidates in Niagara had signed up to run for the position – Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn, Niagara Falls resident John Ringo Beam, current chair Alan Caslin and former Welland Mayor Damian Goulbourne.
They had to scramble to decide if they wanted to run for something else and gather 25 signatures of support in five hours.
Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates said cancelling the election on the last day of nominations showed a “total disrespect” to candidates.
It also disappointed voters. “We’ve had a lot of issues in here down in Niagara around the Region, Regional chair, some of the stuff that’s gone on, and I think people are looking forward for the first time having the opportunity to elect a regional chair rather than having the council pick whoever they want,” Gates said.
“I think the people of Niagara are very, very disappointed that they’re not going to get that opportunity.”
Gates said equally disturbing was that it was being done with
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“I find it very undemocratic that they’re not consulting with anyone here in Niagara.”
St. Catharines MPP Jennie
Stevens
absolutely no consultation and without P.C. candidates running on it. He said Ford was abusing his provincial power to interfere in a municipal election.
“He’s acting like a dictator,” said Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch. “It’s obviously something that’s been cooked up in a backroom and he didn’t consult anyone which is in line with the way, quite frankly, the legislature has been going up to this point.”
Burch said Niagara was caught up in a personal attempt by Ford to punish his political enemies and seeing a government official wield power in that way is “chilling.”
“Here in Niagara, I don’t know what’s been cooked up in the backroom,” he said. “We’re kind of used to a lack of transparency here in the region, unfortunately, so people in Niagara may be a little less surprised by this kind of behaviour since they’ve been witnessing it with our regional council for some time.”
Burch said the cancelling of the election is not fair to candidates that filed their papers. He said people make decisions based on what decisions they see other people making, so there’s a ripple effect among candidates.
“It’s not easy putting your name forward and get your family’s support and raise money,” said Burch, who has previously served as a city councillor in St. Catharines and was a mayoral candidate.
“There’s a lot of people who have stepped forward in good faith to serve their communities. This is a slap in the face to all of those people in Niagara.”
Niagara West PC MPP Sam Oosterhoff could not be reached for comment Friday.
Stevens said when the issue is brought before the legislature, the NDP will be vocal.
“We’re going to be loud and we’re going to make sure we’re heard,” she said. “We will be discussing this going forward and saying we’re not standing for
backroom decisions.”