Like the mythical phoenix, former Pelham mayor David Augustyn is attempting to rise from the electoral ashes and return to public office—again.
Repeating his 2022 candidacy, Augustyn will carry the NDP’s banner in Niagara West in the next provincial election, date unknown but given current provincial and federal politics likely to be this year, possibly as soon as this spring.
In an Ontario NDP news release emailed to Niagara media outlets on Thursday, January 9, the party announced its choice of Augustyn, a Fenwick resident.
“I am proud to have Dave on our team,” the release quoted Marit Stiles, Ontario NDP leader. “He has an impressive track record of delivering results for this community — from spearheading construction projects to protecting natural treasures like the Fonthill Kame. I am thrilled to have Dave as a part of our strong Team Niagara as we get to work delivering a better, brighter future for the people of Ontario!”
Augustyn served as Pelham’s mayor and a regional councillor from 2006 to 2018. After initially criticizing the previous council’s purchase of acreage for what would later become East Fonthill, once in office Augustyn switched course to champion the construction of a community centre to replace the dated Pelham Arena, and to shepherd the dramatic expansion of Fonthill through new residential development.
However, controversy over the community centre’s $36 million dollar cost and questions about East Fonthill financing—including a land-for-credits scheme that one prominent developer characterized as evidence of a “corrupted process”—led to increasing public scrutiny, and to a Regional Council committee call in 2017 for an independent financial audit. Pelham’s own regional councillor at the time, Brian Baty, called on Pelham Town Council to conduct a “forensic audit” of the East Fonthill project.
A year later in 2018, the largest turnout in 30 years saw Pelham voters overwhelmingly turf every member of Augustyn’s council (one councillor did not seek re-election), as well as Augustyn himself, who came third in a four-way race for regional councillor.
The Niagara West riding, currently represented by Progressive Conservative MPP Sam Oosterhoff, includes Pelham, Grimsby, Lincoln, West Lincoln, Wainfleet, and a small slice of west St. Catharines.
In 2022's provincial contest, support for Augustyn dropped 38 percent compared to the party’s 2018 candidate, 20-year-old Curtis Fric. (By contrast, Niagara’s three other NDP candidates—incumbents Wayne Gates, Jennie Stevens, and Jeff Burch—retained their seats.) Support for Oosterhoff was also off by 24 percent. Both parties seemed to bleed voters to Liberal candidate Doug Joyner, who ended the night with 64 percent greater support than 2018’s Joe Kanee.
