Time for a Change Rules Niagara

Winds of change blew through Niagara municipal politics on Monday night.

In Niagara Falls, four-time mayor Jim Diodati was soundly defeated by two-time naysayer City Councillor Lori Lococo.  

Out of over 27,000 votes cast Lococo took 14,058 (51%) to Diodati’s 11,401 (42%).  She established an early lead and it widened all night.  

Conversely, the city councillors elected all fell in line with incumbency and the adage, ‘name recognition’ matters most in municipal politics.  

Incumbents Tony Baldinelli (not the MP but the MPs cousin), Ruth-Ann Nieuwesteeg, Mona Patel, Chris Dabrowski and Mike Strange were all comfortably returned to council chambers. They will be joined by former Liberal MPP and recent Region Councillor Kim Craitor, regional councillor Joyce Morocco and newcomer, retired firefighter Fred Audibert.

If the voting public was mad at Council for taxes, or public safety or development (or lack thereof) they decided to take their anger out on Diodati and not the others. Niagara Falls again had a disappointing total turnout of just 34% of eligible voters.

In Niagara-on-the-Lake, it was another “throw them all out” night – a repeatable four-year tradition in the town. There, transplant Vaughn Goettler took 55% of the votes cast to defeat NOTL lifers and Deputy Lord Mayor Erwin Wiens who grabbed 31% of the vote and regional councillor Andrea Kaiser who only garnered 14%.  

Incumbent councillors Maria Mavridis and Adriana Cater-Vizzari were shown the door.  Weathervane Gary Burroughs was returned yet again and led the polls, followed by returnees Sandra O’Connor, Andrew Niven and Tim Balasiuk.  Newcomers are Weston Miller and Steve McGuinness.

Pundits will try to figure out what happened here. Was it the Doug Ford curse?  Diodati, Wiens, Bill Steele in Port Colborne and April Jeffs in Welland all lost elections for Mayor – all were close to Ford.  

Or was it the NDP juggernaut with their strong campaign structures that won the day.  The NDP were solidly behind Lori Lococo and Fred Audibert in Niagara Falls.  Supportive of Burroughs, Goettler and the anti-development brigade in NOTL.  In Welland, new Mayor Pat Chiocchio has deep NDP roots.  

The NDP have continuously won provincial seats in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland.  This despite the Ontario PCs and Doug Ford winning three successive majorities at Queen’s Park.  

Ford can govern until February 2030. With many municipal allies falling by the wayside, and no hope on the horizon of winning any of these three seats, will he make an example of Niagara and simply cast a one city wand over it?  Will he look to another model like the four-city model that eliminates the region and the smaller town like NOTL?  The next three weeks when Ford is expected to appoint seven regional chairs across the province, including in Niagara, might tell the tale.