Most Of Niagara Stays NDP Orange While Ford Wins A Third Big Majority

And Now Here We Are, Facing Another Four Years Of What We’ve Had With Ford For The More Than Six Years Gone By

A News Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper

Posted February 28^th, 2025 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch greets jubilant supporters this February 27th after beating his closest rival, Ford candidate and Port Colborne Mayor Bill Steele. photo by Doug Draper

First the good news.

In little more than an hour after the polls closed yesterday (this February 27^th) in Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s 189 million dollar snap election, all three NDP incumbents in Niagara – Jeff Burch in the riding of Niagara Centre, Wayne Gates in the riding of Niagara Falls which includes Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie, and Jennie Stevens in the riding of St. Catharines – won their seats back.

All of Niagara’s incumbent NDP candidates won back their seats. From lett, Niagara MPPs Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre), Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) and Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines).

In the other provincial riding in our region, Niagara West, NDP candidate Dave Augustyn, as qualified as he is as a former Pelham mayor and Niagara regional councillor to serve in government, was buried in a race against Ford government incumbent Sam Oosterhoff where, for most of that riding’s history, only a Conservative Party candidate can win.

From left to right, Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati, St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe and Welland Mayor Frank Campion. All three mayors openly endorsed Doug Ford and his Conservatives in cities where a majority of the voters voted for New Democrats.

All in all though, a majority of Niagara voters in the most populated communities in the region sent out message to Ford, to the three mayors in Niagara who endorsed him – Jim Diodati of Niagara Falls, Mat Siscoe in St. Catharines and Frank Campion in Welland – and to Port Colborne Bill Steele and St. Catharines Regional Council Sal Sorrento who ran and lost as Ford candidates in the ridings of Niagara Centre and St. Catharines, are not happy with what the Ford government has been doing and is promising to do in the future.

It’s a message that should see our municipal representatives to show more of backbone than they have in the past when it comes to putting the interests and concerns of Niagara residents ahead of whatever the Ford government throws at us.

Whether they will or not remains a wide open question given their tendency to roll over for Ford to date.

And now, for at least some of us, the bad news.

Doug Ford is back again with 80 seats across won from across the province. He only won one of the four seats in Niagara, sending a message, that at least in this region, a majority of voters aren’t impressed with his record.

Despite all of the concerns raised over the past almost seven years about the way Ford and his Conservatives have addressed or more often have failed to address such key issues as education, affordable housing, the growing homeless crisis access and lineups at food banks, not to mention issues like environmental protection, climate change and shifting to greener, more renewable sources of energy, they won a commanding 80 seats compared to a total of 44 seats won by the NDP, Liberals and Greens collectively.

During his victory speech at the end of the night, Ford bragged about having a solid mandate to continue doing what he is doing.

But what kind of a mandate is it really.

Although the numbers are not yet official  and may be subject to change, the total voter turnout across the province was a pathetic 45 per cent – not too much better than the record low of about 43 per cent in the last provincial election – and of that, Ford chalked up about  43 per cent.

The other three parties combined won a total of about 51 per cent of the votes cast, according to early figures.

But to hear Doug Ford boasting about the support he received during his “we made history” victory speech,  you would think that the vast majority of people across the province have given him a great big bear hug to go on doing whatever he wants.

We already have the political pundits speculating why, in the face of an ongoing RCMP investigation over Greenbelt land dealings and so many other questions and controversies dogging him, Ford has lived to serve a  third term as Ontario’s premier.

The low voter turnout, possibly due to the wicked winter weather and lack of inspiration for most, if not all of the  party leaders,  may very well have been one factors.

Doug Ford portrayed himself, apparently quite successfully, as the best politician in the province to punch back against Trump’s threats

And Trump’s tariff and “51^st state” threats certainly handed Ford a golden opportunity to act like he is the only political leader in Ontario who can work  effectively with the federal government and other provinces to save Canada.

Whatever the reasons for his victory, for those of us who care about all of the issues that we’re overshadowed by the Trump threats in this election, we are now facing a challenging four years, to say the least.

• Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

(A Final Note – There will be more news and commentary on this election and what it may mean for our future in the days and weeks ahead. Stay Tuned.)

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