Council vacancies in three Niagara municipalities leave constituents without representation

Niagara Democracy Watch is The Pointer’s weekly feature aimed at increasing the public’s awareness and political involvement in the Niagara Region by highlighting key agenda items, motions and decisions. 

For the second time in approximately six months, three municipalities in the Niagara region have vacant seats around their council tables. 

St. Catharines Council is working to fill the vacancy left by the December 9, 2024 passing of Port Dalhousie ward councillor, Carlos Garcia. In Niagara Falls, long-time councillor Wayne Campbell vacated his seat on February 25th for medical reasons, passing away two days later. At the Regional Council level, Diana Huson, the member representing Pelham, unexpectedly announced her resignation on February 18, a little more than half way through the 2022-2026 municipal council term.

There was a possibility that Niagara’s municipalities could have experienced even more vacancies as four current sitting municipal politicians unsuccessfully vied in last month’s provincial election: Bill Steele (Mayor - Port Colborne), Sal Sorrento (Regional Councillor - St. Catharines), Robin McPherson (City Councillor - St. Catharines) and Ruth-Ann Nieuwesteeg (City Councillor - Niagara Falls).

The Municipal Act allows councils to fill a vacancy by holding a by-election or appointing a person who meets the criteria of a qualified elector and has consented to accept the office. 

A qualified elector is defined as an individual who is at least 18 years old, a Canadian citizen, a resident, owner of land or tenant in the local municipality, or their spouse, and not currently in prison. 

There is no requirement that the individual to be appointed had to have previously run for municipal office, though it is common for councils to appoint runners-up from the previous municipal election, who have attained an appropriate percentage of votes.

Some municipalities have policies providing council members with guidance on how to fill the vacancy, though councils do not always follow their own policies when they may have issues with a potential replacement, as evidenced in St. Catharines during the previous municipal council term.

In September of last year, West Lincoln, Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake all had council vacancies and all chose different methods of filling them. West Lincoln held a by-election, Niagara Falls went to the runner-up from the previous municipal election held in October 2022, and Niagara-on-the-Lake chose to appoint a qualified elector, who had not contested the previous municipal election, to some public criticism.

Similar to six months ago, the three Niagara councils, currently facing vacancies, have chosen different methods to fill their positions

With the recently announced federal election, conceivably three more municipal vacancies could occur after the results are in on April 28. City Councillor Jennifer Korstanje (Grimsby) and Regional Councillors Fred Davies (Port Colborne) and Andrea Kaiser (Niagara-on-the-Lake) are competing to be federal members of parliament in three different federal ridings in Niagara.

Port Dalhousie voters go to the polls in the three different elections in the span of two months

With the provincial election on February 27th and the federal election just called for April 28th, Port Dalhousie electors will have gone to the polls three times in two months and a day.

On January 13, St. Catharines Council declared Councillor Garcia’s seat vacant and opted to hold a by-election, with voting day scheduled for April 14, 2025.

St. Catharines does have a vacancy policy that allows Council to go to the runner up from the previous election, if the candidate received 70 percent of the votes of the second place ward finisher.  Jonathan Belgrave, the third place finisher in the 2022 municipal election in the Port Dalhousie ward, received 1,991 votes, but it amounted to 63 percent of the votes of second place finisher, Councillor Bruce Williamson.

The most recent iteration of the council vacancy policy was approved in December 2023. The staff report, at the time, outlined that consultation had occurred with the City’s Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion and LGBTQ2+ Advisory Committees in formulating the latest policy.  Further, staff noted that, through a direct appointment, Council had an “opportunity to increase equity and diverse representation among members.”

Williamson, at the January meeting, described the policy as a “good one” that had been arrived at through a “thoughtful and deliberative process”. Nonetheless, he moved the motion for a by-election arguing that it was the most democratic, transparent, inclusive and equitable method. Williamson also speculated that it would have been the method preferred by his late ward colleague.

The only dissenter was Councillor Greg Miller (Merritton), who questioned the “significant” price tag for a by-election, that staff estimated at $90,000. He also pointed out that traditionally, municipal by-elections have low voter turnout and that the turnout in Port Dalhousie had only been 32 percent in the last municipal election with a competitive mayoral race. Finally, Miller concluded by vouching for the legitimacy of the runner-up, Mr. Belgrave.

“We have a candidate very involved, who was just here at Council last month on behalf of the community. I just don't see spending $100,000 of taxpayers' money to have an election with a low turnout and a candidate with no mandate.”

The deadline for nominations was February 28th at 2:00 p.m. Seven individuals have been certified to run for the vacant seat, though the Municipal Elections Act does not require that a candidate has to live in the ward. 

All seven of the candidates are male.

Belgrave is running again. Mr. Belgrave has been involved with various Port Dalhousie committees and has been the Chair of the City’s Clean City Task Force Advisory Committee and the City’s 2SLGBTQ+ Advisory Committee. The other certified candidates are Zach Dykstra, son of former St. Catharines MP, Rick Dykstra, who was also a City Councillor from 1991 to 1997; Patrick Harb, a film director/producer; Nick Kurzawa, a realtor; Jeff Mackie, CEO of T.S.M. Custom Millwork, who has volunteered at the Port Dalhousie Yacht Club and for various Port Dalhousie committees in the past; Marty Mako, an EMS employee who sits on the City’s Heritage Advisory, Recreation Master Plan and Sustainable Advisory committees and Norm St. George, a past chair of St. Catharines Healthy Cities, who has run for the ward seat at least once per decade since the 1990s.

While the voters of Port Dalhousie may experience voter fatigue by the end of April, St. Catharines City Council may have alleviated one negative by-product of elections. At its February 10th meeting, Council amended the municipality’s Election Sign By-law. As a result, election signs are no longer permitted on land that is zoned commercial, industrial, employment, agriculture or institutional. Signs are still allowed on residential and mixed-use properties but are limited to one Election Sign per Candidate or Registered Third Party.

Election Day voting will take place on April 14, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at either Grantham Optimist Club or Port Dalhousie Lions Club.

Advance voting will take place on Thursday, April 3, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Grantham Optimist Club and on Saturday, April 12, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at St. John's Anglican Church.

Pelham Council goes the application route for the vacant Regional Council position

Diana Huson, the Regional Councillor representing the Town of Pelham, vacated her seat on March 15th. In a posting on her LinkedIn page in February, Huson announced, “Big changes ahead! I’ve made the difficult decision to step down from Regional Council to make a career change and prioritize more time with my family.”

Huson was first elected in 2018, when she rode the wave of voter dissatisfaction with Regional incumbents, besting longtime Regional Council Brian Baty, who had served in the position since the 2003 election and 11-year Pelham Mayor, Dave Augustyn. She was handily re-elected in the 2022 election, with 3,461 votes, ahead of Wally Braun (1,026 votes) and Fred Sarvis (495 votes).  

During her time at Regional Council, Huson chaired the Planning and Economic Development Committee and Woman’s Advisory Committee, represented the Region on the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and was active with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM).

Under the Municipal Act, the filling of Huson’s seat is ultimately the responsibility of the Regional Council, however, the Region has a policy that seeks the advice of the lower-tier municipal council on the method to fill the vacancy. Pelham Town Council considered the request for a recommendation at its March 5th meeting.

The related staff report outlined the standard options of filling the vacancy (by-election or appointment). Similar to St. Catharines, Pelham also has a council vacancy policy.

Pelham’s policy, however, has a lower threshold for appointing runners-up from the previous municipal election, with the candidate requiring more than 50 percent of the number of votes achieved by the candidate who finished directly ahead of them. Mr. Braun’s 2022 vote total would not qualify him as Councillor Huson’s replacement.

The staff report detailed the appointment options. While a municipal council is free to select any eligible elector, the report also outlined the option of the municipal clerk initiating a public application process to seek interested and eligible individuals to fill the vacant Regional Council seat.

At the meeting, Councillor Brian Eckhardt (Ward Two) suggested a call for applications. Before his motion was seconded, Wayne Olson (Ward One) announced that he would like to put forward his name for consideration of the Regional vacancy, which was quickly seconded by Councillor Shellee Niznik (Ward Three). 

Olson had been elected to Pelham Town Council during a by-election in September 2020, after the passing of Councillor Mike Ciolfi. Olson was re-elected in 2022 and has been involved at the Region as Pelham’s representative on the Niagara Transit Commission. 

With Olson declaring a conflict from voting on the consideration of his appointment, the vote was lost in a 3-3 tie vote. Councillor Eckhardt’s call for application was also defeated in another tied vote. Facing a procedural morass, a reconsideration vote was necessary. It was also pointed out that if a second vote on the call for applications was successful, there was nothing precluding Councillor Olson from putting his name forward.

There did seem to be a consensus amongst Pelham Council to avoid the costs of a by-election, however, if Olson was to ultimately be appointed to the Region, Pelham would be facing a vacancy amongst its own council ranks. In the 2022 municipal election Olson and Kevin Ker were acclaimed in Pelham’s Ward One, so there would be no runner-up to consider.

Ultimately, the reconsideration motion, followed by the motion for a call for applications passed. Staff detailed the process and timelines that were to follow to abide by the Region’s request that Pelham’s response be received in time for Regional Council on April 18th.

The Town accepted applications from members of the public over a ten-day period, concluding on Wednesday, March 19th at 2:00 p.m. On Thursday, March 20th at 4:30 p.m. the Town released the names of the applicants that had been certified as eligible to fill the Regional Council vacancy.

Nine individuals put their applications forward for consideration. Councillor Wayne Olson did end up putting his name forward. Other familiar names include Brian Baty, 2022 mayoral candidate Frank Adamson and the candidates from the last Pelham Regional Council race, Wally Braun and Fred Sarvis (whose wife Darlene, also submitted an application). Rounding out the list were Nyarayi Forestieri, Randy D. Gananathan,and Georgio Panici.

The Council Vacancy page on the Town’s website outlined the process to follow: Council members would be meeting   in a closed session on March 26th to review the applications. Any vote to either reduce the number of candidates or make a formal recommendation for the appointment to the Region would be conducted in the open Council meeting.

Council could reduce the number of candidates at the March 26th meeting and call a further special meeting to have those candidates make a ten minute presentation to Council on their qualifications for the position. Council members would have an opportunity to ask questions and could hold a final closed session review of the remaining candidates. The final vote to appoint a candidate would take place in an open session.

At the outset of the March 26th Council meeting, during the section where councillors disclose their pecuniary interests, Olson indicated he had declared his conflict at the March 5th meeting “out of caution” but had subsequently sought the advice on the matter.

Olson submitted to the ActingTown Clerk, Sarah Leach, the advice that had been provided in writing from the Town’s Integrity Commissioner - the Councillor did not have to declare a pecuniary interest on the matter. Olson was free to cast a vote for himself for the Regional Council position.

Councillor Eckhardt indicated that he had no objection with Olson being allowed to vote but questioned the fairness of Olson being able to be in attendance in the closed session, as it could create the perception that Olson had an advantage and that the other candidates would be disadvantaged. Nonetheless, Olson indicated that the Integrity Commissioner had not precluded him from the closed session. 

When Pelham Council reconvened from their closed session, Ms. Leach began a roll call of the council members, in alphabetical order.

Councillor Eckhardt voted for Frank Adamson. With Councillor Bob Hildebrandt, Mayor Marvin Junkin, Councillor Ker and Councillor Niznik, next in order, casting their votes for Olson, a majority had been achieved without the councillor having to vote for himself. Pelham Town Council will be recommending to the Region that Olson be the Regional Councillor representing the municipality for the remainder of the Council term. Olson expressed his thanks to his colleagues for their votes of confidence in him.

With the Regional Council vacancy filled, Councillor Ker quickly moved a motion, that was unanimously approved, that applications be sought to fill the Ward 2 vacancy left by Olson’s appointment. 

The Acting Clerk indicated that the Council Vacancy page of the website would remain on the Town’s website and be updated soliciting applications, this time for the Town Council.  Pelham Council will go through a similar process at their next meeting on April 16th.

The Town of Pelham’s Council Vacancy page can be found here.

Niagara Falls sticks with its method of going to the runners-up from the previous municipal election 

For the second time in six months, Niagara Falls City Council lost a veteran councillor. At its February 25th meeting, it was announced that Wayne Campbell would be vacating his seat. He passed away two days later.

Campbell had served 28 years on City Council, first as a City Alderman from 1985 to 1991, returning from 1994 to 2006 and doing his third stint on Council from 2014 until his resignation. Campbell had twice unsuccessfully run for mayor, losing to Wayne Thomson in 1991 and Ted Salci in 2006. Campbell had last attended a Council meeting in October 2024, necessitating a formal leave of absence for medical reasons in January, to comply with Municipal Act requirements.

In September last year, the aforementioned Wayne Thomson resigned having served on Niagara Falls Council for 44 years over the course of seven decades, including two separate periods as Mayor equalling seventeen years as head of council.

Niagara Falls City Council does not have a formal vacancy policy but with both vacancies, Niagara Falls City Council voted to direct staff to reach out to the next runner-up from the 2022 municipal election, which has been the long standing practice in Niagara Falls. Also, the municipality’s at-large electoral system usually means that the runners-up are not far behind the successful candidates from the previous election

For Thomson’s vacancy, ninth-place finish and previous Councillor from 2018 to 2022, Chris Dabrowski was appointed. Dabrowski had 93 percent of the vote of Thomson, who was the 8th place finisher in 2022. With Campbell’s vacancy, 10th place finisher Vince Kerrio was appointed and sworn in at Council’s March 18th meeting. Kerrio had 87 percent of the vote, of the 8th place total from 2022.

Kerrio is no stranger to Niagara Falls City Council. He served from1980 to 1986, returning to Council in 2004, when he remained until his loss in the last municipal election. 

Kerrio, a local businessman primarily in the tourism industry, comes back at a time when the usually cozy relationship between the Council and the local tourism industry has shown signs of fraying. A January 14th Council meeting included a contentious exchange between Mayor Jim Diodati and Doug Birrell, President of the Niagara Falls Canada Hotel Association, over the City’s Municipal Accommodation Tax. 

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