Ford Government Appoints Bob Gale Chair of Niagara Parks’ Board of Commissoners

A News Brief by Doug Draper

Posted April 23rd, 2024 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Ontario’s Ford Government has appointed Bob Gale, a third-term Niagara Regional Councillor for the City of Niagara Falls, to a one-year term as Chair of the Niagara Parks’ Board of Commissioners..

Gale was a Ford Conservative Party candidate for the riding of Niagara Falls in the 2022 provincial election where he was beaten by the riding’s incumbent, NDP MPP Wayne Gates. He  returned to Regional politics in the fall ofthat year after earlier declaring to a reporter at a Niagara Falls newspaper that, as the newspaper put ithe “doesn’t belong in a crowd of politicians.”

“I found that politicians are different from me,” he was quoted saying in the same a June 18th, 2022 Niagara Falls Review article.

However, on November 24th, 2022, less than six months after loss to Gates for a provincial government seat, there Gale was, being sworn in to serve a third term on the Niagara Regional Council where he holds a seat on a council with more than 30 other politicians.

In his new part-time job as Chair of the Niagara Parks Board of Commissionersand along with his job as a Niagara Regional Councillor, Gale now finds himself working on a board where the up to 12 members currently  include  four other politicians serving  municipal councils in Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie.

Gale has had earlier experience as a representative on the Niagara Parks board member for the City of Niagara Falls.

Bob Gale engaged in a debate in his role as Niagara Regional Councillor

A profile of Gale, circulated for his run as a Ford candidate in the 2022 provincial election includes the following; “He is known for fighting for fairness as a past Niagara Parks Commissioner and credited with saving provincial taxpayers up to $300 million when the lease for the Maid of the Mist was fairly tendered out. As a result, he was asked to be an advisory on a National watchdog group over government waste.”

Gail follows April Jeffs as Niagara Parks Chair. Jeffs was appointed to the Chair’s position by the Ford government after serving as Mayor of Wainfleet and running unsuccessfully as Ford Conservative candidate in the Niagara Centre Riding in 2018.

Bart Maves, a former Niagara Regional Councillor for Niagara Falls and a r Conservative MPP under the former Ontario Conservative government of Mike Harris in the late 1990s and early 2000s, was appointed by the Ford government to serve as Vice-Chair of the Niagara Parks board until his sudden departure late last year.

Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates demanded to know from the Ford government the reason for Maves’ sudden departure  from the vice-chair position but has yet to receive an answer.

For a list of current members of the Niagara Parks board, click on – https://www.niagaraparks.com/corporate/about-us/our-board/ .

About Niagara Parks – Since its establishment in 1885, Niagara Parks has remained a self-financed agency of the Ontario Ministry of Sport, Tourism & Culture, entrusted to preserve and protect the land surrounding Niagara Falls and the Niagara River. Today, Niagara Parks boasts gardens, a horticulture school, recreation, golf courses, restaurants, heritage and historic sites, gift shops and, of course, Niagara Falls. In short, natural landscapes, history, family fun, hiking, culinary delights, attractions and adventure.

For a related post from the Niagara At Large archives, click on –https://niagaraatlarge.com/2023/11/27/niagara-falls-ndp-mpp-questions-ontario-premier-doug-ford-ford-about-quiet-removal-of-public-appointee-from-niagara-parks-niagara-falls-bridge-commissions/#:~:text=Former%20Ontario%20Conservative%20MPP%20and,political%20insiders%20to%20important%20boards.

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