Submitted by the Campaign for Wayne Gates
(A Brief Note from Niagara At Large – NAL is posting this, followed by a statement from Conservative Opposition Leader Tim Hudak on the results of this February 13th by-election in Riding of Niagara Falls, as well as the Thornhill Riding in the Toronto area where the Conservatives were expected to win.
NAL will post its own commentary on the fallout from these by-elections later this February 14th.)
Niagara Falls, Ontario, February 14th, 2014 – New Democrat Leader
Wayne Gates made good on his promise. The Niagara Falls NDP candidate stopped Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak from winning a seat in the riding – defeating Hudak’s candidate Bart Maves, a former MPP colleague from the Mike Harris era.
Andrea Horwath congratulated Wayne Gates, the newly elected NDP MPP for the riding of Niagara Falls.
“The people of Niagara Falls riding have chosen a strong leader in Wayne Gates to put their priorities at the top of the agenda at Queen’s Park. Wayne is the strong voice we need to join our NDP team to deliver results for the Niagara region,” Horwath said.
Wayne Gates said he is grateful to the people of the riding of Niagara Falls for electing him and looks forward to joining Andrea Horwath’s NDP team to deliver results.
“Thank you to the people of Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake and the surrounding communities for putting your trust in me. It’s time to take Niagara’s voice to Toronto. I look forward to joining Andrea Horwath and the NDP who have delivered results for the people of Ontario, and I am proud to join a team committed to the priorities of the people who live in the riding of Niagara Falls.”
Gates said he looks forward to getting to work to make the government deliver on its byelection promises and tackle the challenges facing Niagara families.
“I will press the government to keep its promise to build a new hospital in Niagara Falls and will make sure it gets built by local workers, tradesmen, engineers, architects and contractors. Together with the community, we will keep the Fort Erie Race Track open permanently. In Niagara-on-the-Lake, we will keep Parliament Oak Public School open and make it a model for the region,” Gates said.
“The NDP’s jobs plan, to provide tax credits to local employers for each new job they create, is a practical way of increasing employment in Niagara. Together with Andrea Horwath and the NDP we will help make life more affordable by bringing down hydro bills and reducing auto insurance rates,” Gates said.
ONTARIO PC LEADER TIM HUDAK’S STATEMENT ON BYELECTIONS IN THORNHILL AND NIAGARA FALLS
NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario, February 13th, 2014 – “This evening’s results prove that the people of this province want change. They sent the McGuinty-Wynne Liberals a clear message. They want leadership that will take decisive action, implement a plan to balance the budget and create jobs.
The majority of voters chose an Ontario PC plan to bring jobs and opportunity back to our province. My Million Jobs Plan will create more jobs with better take-home pay by making energy affordable, lowering taxes, and reducing government debt.
Tonight, I am pleased to congratulate Gila Martow on her election victory in Thornhill. I look forward to welcoming Gila to the Ontario PC caucus, and to working closely with our newest MPP to bring jobs and opportunity to Thornhill.
I want to thank Bart Maves and his team of dedicated volunteers. Bart has represented Niagara for 11 years and has a proven track record of creating jobs. He ran a great campaign and I know he will continue to fight for his community.
Tonight, hardworking Ontario families should be worried about the willingness of the Liberals and NDP to side with and protect special interest unions rather than Ontario families. Those special interest groups make no distinction between the high tax, high-spending policies the Liberals have used to drive jobs away, and the high tax, high-spending approach the NDP would take to drive away even more jobs.
Once again, the Ontario PC Party received the most votes of any party. Ontario will have two choices in the next election: a Liberal/NDP coalition that will raise taxes, increase spending and debt, or an Ontario PC Party with a Million Jobs Plan that will create jobs and opportunities for families across our province. Our message remains the same. We will stand up for more jobs and a better Ontario.
(Niagara At Large invites you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.)
Niagara At Large 
Ontario is in for a period of Minority Governments.
Hudak must learn to work in such a scenerio _ he cannot continue to be the “spoiled little boy” who takes his toy and goes home if he doesn’t get his way. Secondly, he must cancel his “RIGHT to WORK for LOWER WAGES” policy.
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By the way Bill, in a democratic society I should be able to work wherever I want and NOT have to pay union dues if I do not believe in their mantra and all that they are!
Recap —- Unions…. amongst other things have gotten us to where we are as a nation economically and I say that in a bad way. They have eroded our competitiveness, increased our taxes and shown that they have truly outlived their usefulness. Do I need to get into specifics?????
Just sayin…….
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Congratulations Wayne and the NDP on your commitment to the Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, and NOTL by showing how to behave in a Minority Government scenerio.
Perhaps now the Wynne Liberals will pay more than “lip service” to how a Minority Government survives.
Hopefully the Hudak Conservtives learn how to manage in a Minority Government situation not simply say “NO” and walk away
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Great!!!!! Ever heard of fox in the hen house! You people that voted for Gates, voted for higher public and Union employee wages, benefits, perks and increased wanton spending across the board because that is the NDP/UNION way.
I guess you get what you deserve….. let the sunshine list grow at the expense of all us OTHER tax payers.
Here’s hoping in the next election the NDP get beaten into oblivion.
Just sayin……..
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The huge growth of the Sunshine list happened under a Liberal government. Less hysteria and more facts, please.
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Yes you are right it did Fiona. All part of McSquinty’s attempts to buy votes away from the NDP. However, and please answer this question, do you think that trend will change with the NDP and its UNION/Communist agenda if there were to ever get the big seat? I think not. Come on….. NOTHING is ever good enough for a UNION worker so until we are broke paying for their incessant demands, their ridiculous wage and benefit demands will continue indefinitely.
We should ALL be taking note of this type of leadership within the NDP and know that it is still a UNION voice. A voice that needs to be stifled!
Just sayin…..
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Greg’s fox is Hudak’s Conservatives. His hens are the majority of Ontarians. Fortunately, the hens protected themselves from the vicious attacks of the fox. If Hudak has his way, the middle class is downtrodden to the poverty level. Hudak’s shouts “Give tax breaks to the wealthy on the backs of the workers”.
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With all due respect, Greg, your characterization of the NDP is inaccurate. How do I know? Because I’m a party member, Greg, that’s how. So I can speak from the inside. The NDP is a lot more diverse than you think. (That’s true of all the major parties — and that’s a good thing, IMHO. That’s called democracy.) While organized Labour often supports the NDP, that isn’t always the case, as we saw when the CAW’s Buzz Hargrove endorsed the Liberals. And, hard as it is for many non-union folks to grasp, the fact is that nobody can tell a member how to vote. Take the teachers. Their leaders may be NDP-friendly, but teachers still tend to vote Liberal. And how about the police, Greg? Now fought here’s a strong union — look at the escalating salaries of their members. Think they vote NDP??
Unions can be a strong voice inside the NDP, sure, but they don’t lead it, and they don’t always get their way, either.
I was President of my union local at Brock University when we went into contract negotiations with the university administration. That local represents part-time faculty (as I was then) and teaching assistants. It’s a group of people who do 40% of the teaching on Canadian university campuses, and yet is incredibly exploited, in terms of wages and benefits. (One of my colleagues, who has a Ph.D., had been doing this work at Brock for over thirty years, and still made barely enough money to keep himself: no benefits, no pension, no guarantee of being able to teach the course the next time it was offered.) Well, that contract brought in the start of a pension plan for the members of that local. That was 2005; Brock opened in 1964. So — don’t tell me we don’t need unions, Greg. Those who have will exploit those who don’t. That hasn’t changed. In fact, it’s getting worse. Look at income inequality.
And the anti-union, anti-tax rhetoric? Whom does it serve, in the long run? Who benefits? The 1%, that’s who. Those who have, and who always want more.
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I never dreamed I would be brought into this debate, but here goes. I am a stereotypical librarian (excuse me while I adjust my bun), serious, dour sometimes, wear glassed, educated, (graduate degree) and from a union-busting background. When my fellow librarians unionized, I was unsure. It saved my bacon, let me tell you. In a professional life of over 35 years, I never made more than $34,000 a yr. Really poor pay. Yet, had I not been part of that union, I would have lost my job —what for? Too much political activism is what — the chair of the library at the time of my demotion, was Rick Dykstra, who wanted me gone. Just gone. I accepted my demotion and saved my job, at lower pay forever.
So, Mr. Middleton, allow me to tell you that there are some ‘special interests’ — anyone who is not voting the way one does — and that includes union members, single parents, workers working way below poverty lines. I can tell you for a fact that most of my fellow CUPE union members never voted NDP, if they voted at all. Despite their lousy pay, they showed a lack of interest in politics at any level, and probably (one cannot be sure of course) likely voted liberal or PC.
McCurran’s remarks about the cops, teachers, and firefighters is so spot on. They almost assuredly do not vote NDP.
Just sayin’
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