Meet the four candidates running for mayor of Fort Erie

Four candidates are running for mayor of Fort Erie in the October 26 municipal election.

Mayor Wayne Redekop is seeking re-election. The winner will be Fort Erie’s only representative on Niagara regional council, after the province eliminated the town’s elected regional councillor seat this election.

The profiles below draw on the candidates’ own campaign statements and materials. The Town of Fort Erie lists each candidate’s contact information and campaign website, where available, on its Certified Candidates page.

Wayne Redekop

Wayne Redekop, a lawyer, is seeking a fourth consecutive term and his seventh overall. He served as a councillor from 1991 to 1994 and as mayor from 1997 to 2006, then returned to the mayor’s chair in 2014. He won the 2022 race with 67 per cent of the vote.

Redekop led the town’s fight to keep Douglas Memorial Hospital’s urgent care centre open after the new South Niagara Hospital opens in 2028, and he won unanimous regional council support for Fort Erie’s petition to the province.

Under his leadership, council opposed the province’s regional governance overhaul. He credits the town with becoming the first local municipality in Niagara to win provincial approval for its new official plan, and he expects development charges on new homes to fall by half once council approves a provincial grant.

Mike Campbell

Mike Campbell moved to Fort Erie from Milton six years ago. He watched growth outpace infrastructure in Milton, and he has built his campaign around keeping that from happening in Fort Erie.

Campbell will not support new housing until a neighbourhood’s water, sewer, roads and emergency services can handle it, and he wants developers to cover the cost of growth. He wants duplexes, townhomes and small apartments in Ridgeway, Crystal Beach, Stevensville and along Garrison Road, affordable units required in every major development and more downsizing options for seniors.

He also wants light industry, skilled trades, border businesses and year-round tourism jobs so young residents can work in town, along with access to urgent care.

Tom Insinna

Tom Insinna has represented Fort Erie on regional council since 2018, holding the seat the province is eliminating. He spent 30 years as an RCMP officer and 12 years on the board of the Community Gaming Development Corporation. As acting regional chair in August, he met with Ontario’s health minister about Douglas Memorial’s urgent care centre.

Insinna wants a closer review of town spending and more industrial land secured for new employers. He also wants speed limits on residential streets lowered to 40 km/h from 50 km/h.

His campaign credits him with helping secure funding for the Lions Douglas Heights apartments through the Niagara Regional Housing board. He wants lower development charges for builders who include affordable units, calling Fort Erie’s charges the second highest in Niagara.

Juan Liu

Juan Liu has lived in Crystal Beach for about 10 years and grew up in China’s Sichuan province. She has no political background. She and her husband studied political systems while travelling, and she built her platform with what she calls her “science team.”

Liu wants to shift decision-making and ownership to residents through a “democratic economic system.” Under her plan, residents would help build homes through a “democratic enterprise,” buy them at cost and pay no property tax. Her team has patented what it calls a “movable modular double-story suite,” which she says needs no foundation and supplies its own water and power.

Liu calls current government structures a “parasite system,” and she has targeted homelessness and taxation.

Voting

Online voting opens October 5 at 10 a.m. and closes October 26 at 8 p.m. Advance polls will open at the Fort Erie Leisureplex banquet hall on October 14 and October 17 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., with the same hours on election day.

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