A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper
Posted November 2nd, 2026 on Niagara At Large
Outgoing Niagara Falls, Ontario Mayor Jim Diodati
I certainly had my briefcase full of blues – to put it mildly as I can – by the time Jim Diodati finished serving his 16 years as Niagara Falls, Ontario’s mayor.
Like many of you out there across our Niagara region, I found his tenure as mayor to be in more harmony with the interests of big-time developers and others than it did with the concern of everyday citizens when it came to designating and protecting the Niagara River watershed as the globally significant natural treasure that it is and protecting and preserving other green space in the Niagara Falls area from potentially destructive development – not to forget his open declaration of allegiance to Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
And yet, having lost his bid for another term as mayor to veteran Niagara Falls Councillor and one of his most vocal critics on past councils to now incoming mayor Lori Lococo, I could not help but be impressed with the outgoing message he posted on his Facebook page this past week.
At a time when politics almost everywhere has turned so divisive and ugly, Jim Diodati’s sign off showed some real calls and, in my view at least is a model for how I wish more defeated politicians would behave.
So I am including it on the following link here, knowing that at least some of my readers may wish that I didn’t. Here is the link you can click on to hear and watch it – https://jimdiodati.ca/
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