Reaction continues to come in following the shocking resignation of Niagara’s Regional Chair Bob Gale.
Gale stepped down last night after documents show he bought a signed copy of Adolf Hitler’s nazi handbook, Mein Kampf, in 2010 for $6300.
Gale has not admitted to owning the book, but in his resignation letter, claims a ‘dated’ document was being circulated by a member of the communist party.
The Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association say the documents came from an anonymous source.
“There were a disturbing number of people who knew about this and who — when I’ve talked to them — said ‘oh yeah…he just has this thing.’ There’s some people who dismiss it as not significant, or just a history book, it’s not. It’s a piece of hate material that drove a genocide against Jews and the holocaust….so it’s not just curiosity.” Saleh Waziruddin Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association
Lincoln Regional Councillor Rob Foster says the resignation leaves the region in limbo.
“I hope we hear something from the province soon, and we go from there, we just need to get through the next little bit of time.”
Foster will serve as the Acting Regional Chair for the remainder of the month as the position will then rotate each month until the province makes an announcement on the next steps.
St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe says the region has faced rough waters before and they once again need a steady hand at the wheel.
“The Region has gone through a lot of disfunction over the last decade, and this doesn’t make the situation any better. In 2018 we were very lucky that Jim Bradley came and as the Regional Chair he righted the ship and calmed things down and unfortunately we are in a situation where that’s who needs to be the next chair, someone who can calm things down and right the ship.”
Gale was appointed by the province following Bradley’s death.
He was only in the position for a few weeks before starting a firestorm of controversy when he sent a letter to the province asking for change to the government structure and possible amalgamation.
Council eventually voted to keep Gale from moving forward on his agenda, however Gale went on to suggest the province eliminate all regional councillor positions, and limit city/town councillor positions, in time for the next election.
Gale’s resignation, first reported by 610 CKTB last night, has now made international headlines.
The St. Catharines Standard newspaper was the first to report the allegations yesterday.
Reporter Bill Sawchuk joined CKTB today to say he was surprised the documents didn’t become public sooner.
“This story is like a fun house mirror, there are so many different aspects. It would seem to me that it would have something to do with the push for amalgamation, and the fact he has been a politician and ran provincially for the Progressive Conservatives, and this never came out….but it did now.”
Story Credit: Bonnie Heslop
Image credit: Niagara Region
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