Niagara Falls Councillor Mike Strange faces April trial after being charged with intimate partner violence

Niagara Falls councillor Mike Strange will stand trial for two days in April on a criminal assault charge, following a court scheduling hearing held last week. The decision marks the latest development in a legal and political saga that has roiled City Hall watchers since his arrest on May 3.

According to police, officers responded to a call in the early morning hours at Strange’s home and found a woman with injuries. Strange was subsequently arrested and charged with assault in connection with the alleged incident, described in the police report as “intimate partner violence”.

He was later released under strict conditions.The charge has not been proven in court.

Strange has denied the allegations.

Despite Mayor Jim Diodati’s claim that Strange was not allowed to address his own criminal case in council, in July the mayor allowed Strange to defend himself during a public meeting.

“I must also emphasize a core value of our legal system,” Strange told those gathered in the council chamber, after Diodati told residents and other councillors he would not allow the case to be discussed during a council meeting. Strange continued without any effort by the mayor to stop him: “In Canada, every individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” he said.

“This is just not a legal technicality, it is a fundamental protection of fairness and justice in our society. To remove an elected official based on an unproven and unfounded allegation would set a dangerous precedent and undermines the very democratic principles that we rely on,” Strange, who has been criticized for refusing to take a leave after his criminal charge, told those in the council chamber. “To my family, friends, supporters and fellow colleagues, your strength, support and knowing that the truth will come out has made the last few months more bearable.” 

He has told local media that he has “never harmed a woman and wouldn’t under any circumstance.” Despite the seriousness of the charge, Strange has continued to sit on Niagara Falls City Council, as Ontario’s Municipal Act does not require a councillor to step down while facing criminal proceedings.
 

Niagara Falls Councillor Mike Strange, a former Olympian, has refused to step aside from his council position, despite the concerns from advocates that it could deter survivors of intimate partner violence from appearing before council.

(Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer files)

As the criminal case proceeds, Strange is simultaneously under investigation by the City’s Integrity Commissioner for a possible breach of the municipal Code of Conduct. The alleged violation, which arose directly from events linked to his May 3 arrest, has deepened the public and political scrutiny surrounding his behaviour as an elected official.

As first reported by The Pointer, Strange emailed friends and members of a social club he belongs to — the Falls View Hose Brigade — encouraging them to attend the July council meeting en masse to block women’s rights advocates from being present. The group he sought to keep out, Women of Ontario Say No (WOSN), is campaigning for stronger accountability measures in cases where elected officials are charged with or convicted of criminal offences. 

The Pointer obtained an email that included a text message from Councillor Mike Strange to supporters, offering them free pizza and drinks in exchange for their help to drown out a group of women that was advocating for more accountability over municipal officials charged with assault. After The Pointer published the message, Strange later admitted he sent it.

(Supplied)

In the email obtained by The Pointer, Strange offered attendees—who he directed to fill the seats so the women’s rights group would not be able to find space—free pizza and drinks afterward, drawing widespread criticism and triggering the citizen complaint to the City’s Integrity Commissioner.

In the email, Strange informed his supporters that Mayor Diodati was in on the scheme to block the women out and “knows exactly what’s going on” with the plan. The Mayor had for weeks denied the same women the ability to address bill 9, proposed provincial legislation related to strengthening accountability mechanisms for local councillors accused of wrongdoing. As the email from Strange indicated, Diodati allowed the councillor who has been charged with intimate partner violence to speak on the charge, while preventing advocates from addressing the broader issue of municipal accountability.

The integrity commissioner will now have to go over the recording of the meeting, review the message sent beforehand by Strange to the community group and interview witnesses.

The commissioner’s office does not comment on active cases or provide updates during the investigative phase, but the results of such investigations are required under provincial legislation to be made public upon completion. If the commissioner finds that Strange breached the City’s Code of Conduct, council could impose sanctions ranging from a reprimand to suspension of pay for up to 90 days.

The complaint was submitted by resident Joedy Burdett, who alleges multiple breaches of the City’s Code of Conduct and Procedural Bylaw, along with potential violations of human rights law and the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.

Burdett is a longtime Niagara Falls small-business owner who ran for council in the 2022 municipal election, and more recently returned to the ballot as an independent candidate in the 2025 provincial election.

His complaint argues that by rallying the Hose Brigade to “silence women and women-led advocacy groups” for his own purposes, and by using his platform as an elected official to influence the outcome of a personal legal matter, Strange committed multiple breaches of the Code of Conduct, his human rights obligations and the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act—actions that, the complaint asserts, undermined council’s authority and eroded public trust in its ability to uphold its own rules.

The complaint further identifies much of the language Strange used in rallying the Hose Brigade as particularly troubling, noting that it directly targeted women for exclusion and created a hostile environment for their participation in the democratic process.

With the integrity commissioner’s report pending and a two-day criminal trial in April, the coming months are expected to test both Niagara Falls’ political leadership and its ethical standards.

Advocates for municipal reform have told The Pointer the Strange case underscores the need for stronger accountability laws to address situations where elected officials face serious charges. Despite the ongoing controversy, Strange continues to maintain his innocence and has remained an active participant at the council table, voting and debating on city issues.

City officials have cited his criminal charges as a reason for blocking delegates, like WOSN founder Emily McIntosh from addressing council related to the proposed bill 9, a piece of tabled provincial legislation that could reform the process for dealing with councillors accused of serious wrongdoing. Protests related to the City’s decision led to the arrest of three advocates in June; a charter challenge in July; and the City and council members have faced increased scrutiny over the numerous barriers to accountability the municipality has put in place. 

For his part, Mayor Diodati has blatantly abused his power, denying the right of women to even address council regarding the need for greater accountability, wildly claiming they were actually intending to address Strange’s case which he said was not allowed (even though it was made clear to him that the case would not be discussed). Then, when Strange did exactly what the mayor claimed was out of bounds, Diodati sat silently and allowed him to proceed—a plan that had already been worked out by the two men prior to the July council meeting now being investigated.

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