Bob Gale resigns as Niagara Region chair amid Hitler book controversy
· Toronto Sun
Bob Gale has stepped down as chair of the Regional Municipality of Niagara amid the revelation he owns a copy of Adolf Hitler’s political manifesto “Mein Kampf” — signed by the Nazi leader himself.
Gale submitted his resignation letter on Wednesday to Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack.
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“Today, a member of the communist party circulated a dated document that listed my name as the owner of a historical book found in many libraries,” Gale wrote in his letter to Flack.
Gale did not apologize in the letter, explaining that he is a “passionate historian with a broad collection of historical art and artifacts,” some of which includes an 1859 letter from anti-slavery advocate John Brown, Vatican archives, and letters from George Washington and Winston Churchill.
What anti-racism groups said
Earlier Wednesday, the Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association and the Justice 4 Black Lives Niagara issued a news release claiming a concerned individual notified them that Gale “owns a copy of such well-known, antisemitic literature.”
Sherri Darlene of Justice 4 Black Lives Niagara said in the release: “It’s shocking but not surprising that Niagara’s highest elected municipal official owns hate literature. It’s been no secret that racism has been a problem here for a long time, this is just one more low.”
Both groups demanded an explanation and apology from Gale, who was not elected but rather appointed chair by the province in December.
Leading move to amalgamate Niagara
Gale has been among those pushing to amalgamate Niagara’s 12 municipalities into four larger cities, but the issue has divided the region’s 12 mayors.
He told the province the region has far too many tax increases, a growing capital backlog in the billions and an inability to be fiscally prudent.
“This governance structure has resulted in a decision-making process that has led to successive tax increases of roughly 7%, 9.6%, and 6.3% over the past three years, driving the regional tax levy up by almost 25% over a single council term,” Gale wrote in a previous letter to Flack about the situation in the region.
“This is an egregious affront to Niagara taxpayers and is not sustainable.”
The now-former chair had proposed reducing the number of councillors and restructuring the region, “including potential amalgamations.”
What Doug Ford said
Ford agreed with Gale that taxes in the region are too high, there are too many politicians and that amalgamation would save taxpayers money, however, he ultimately sided with whatever the majority decides.
Any move toward amalgamation “has to be led by Niagara, simple as that,” Ford had said at a news conference in Niagara Falls.
“If it’s not led by Niagara, well, we move on and I guess the people in Niagara are going to pay double digit tax increases for quite some time.”
– Additional reporting from the Canadian Press