Niagara Regional Chair Bob Gale resigns suddenly over Hitler-signed book

Niagara Regional Chair Bob Gale has announced he’s stepping down, effective immediately, following allegations that he owns a signed copy of Adolf Hitler’s manifesto.

Two groups, the Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association (NRARA) and Justice 4 Black Lives Niagara (J4BL), circulated a press release to media on March 11 with supporting documents purporting to show that Gale purchased a copy of Mein Kampf from an American auction house for $6,345 in 2010, which had been personally signed by the genocidal former German leader, and then authenticated as a real signature in 2018.

It was appraised then at $16,000 according to the circulated documents.

“Niagara Region Chair Bob Gale needs to explain himself publicly and apologize for owning one of the most notorious pieces of anti-semitic hate,” said Saleh Waziruddin of the NRARA, in that press release.

“It’s shocking but not surprising that Niagara’s highest elected municipal official owns hate literature. It’s been no secret that racism has been a problem here for a long time, this is just one more low,” said Sherri Darlene of J4BL.

While CHCH News worked to verify the documents and to contact Gale, he resigned in a letter dated March 11. This was shortly after a planned Thursday morning press conference in Thorold with Gale and the man who appointed him in December, Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack, was unexpectedly cancelled. 

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In his resignation letter, Gale mentioned other historical works he owns, but never mentions Mein Kampf, Hitler’s vitriolic autobiographical manifesto of racial hatred that served as the ideological blueprint for the Holocaust, originally written in 1925.

“I was deeply honoured to take on the important work of being Chair of Niagara Region, and I took the responsibility to undertake a governance review seriously,” reads Gale’s letter (below).

Gale goes on to describe himself as a passionate historian with a collection of historical artifacts which includes “an 1859 letter from anti-slavery advocate John Brown, a letter from George Washington, a letter from Winston Churchill and Vatican archives. I also have a signed copy of the first book in 1685 about Niagara Falls by Father Hennepin.”

Gale then writes that a “member of the communist party circulated a dated document that listed my name as the owner of a historical book found in many libraries.”

There are likely no signed copies of this book in many libraries, however, and Gale never says in the letter if he owns or has ever owned the signed copy of Mein Kampf.

Gale’s letter lays blame at the feet of those who do not want to see the Niagara region’s governance reformed — a story CHCH News has been following for weeks and something the now-former Regional Chair had championed, with the permission of the province.

“When I undertook the necessary work to start fixing the issues at the Niagara Region, there was a strong vocal minority who decided they would stop at nothing in order to keep their fiefdoms and addiction to power and tax dollars,” his letter reads.

“They wish to paint a picture that is untrue and hurtful to my family, my friends, and those in Niagara that believe in the hard work I have undertaken. This work is bigger than any one person, including me. This is about making the changes for the people of Niagara who desperately need and deserve change.”

Gale did not respond to CHCH News’ request for an interview.

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“I’m disappointed. It’s bad judgement,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

Ford today said the minister made the right call accepting Gale’s resignation, and that they’ll start the process to appoint a new chair.

Gale’s departure comes as he faced a slew of criticism over his push to amalgamate Niagara’s 12 cities and towns into one or four municipalities.

He eventually backed away from the idea, opting instead to advocate for governance reforms and fewer regional councillors – something most municipalities are behind.

Several mayors in Niagara say they were surprised to hear the news, and hope it doesn’t put a damper on their push to reform local government.

“Some people, I think, are using this as an opportunity to stop any kind of governance reform in Niagara and that’s really unfortunate. And so Bob made a decision that he would take one for the team and he would step away because he was concerned he would be a distraction for the good work that’s being done,” said Jim Diodati, Niagara Falls mayor.

“It’s just very disappointing. I don’t think Mr. Gale had any other option but to resign, but it’s frustrating because we’re trying to deal with a lot of really important things. We’re having a governance conversation which I think needs to be had, but this distracts from that,” said Mat Siscoe, St. Catharines mayor.

Several municipalities were already in the process of starting their own governance review, and collecting feedback from citizens on what they’d like to see both locally and in the region.

The mayor of Fort Erie says their process still needs final approval from council but they expect to start shortly — even with last night’s surprise resignation.

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