Niagara West

Niagara West is a largely rural and small-town riding stretching across six municipalities—Grimsby, Lincoln, Pelham, Wainfleet, West Lincoln, and the western part of St. Catharines—with a population of over 90,000. The riding sits in the heart of Ontario’s wine country and tender fruit belt, where two-thirds of the province’s tender fruit orchards are located. Sam Oosterhoff won a November 2016 by-election to replace Tim Hudak at age 19, becoming the youngest MPP in Ontario’s history. He was re-elected in 2018 and sought a third term in 2022. The riding recorded the third-highest voter turnout in the province at 53 percent.

Candidates

Sam Oosterhoff (Progressive Conservative) — Oosterhoff was born in the Niagara region and was homeschooled before attending Brock University, from which he took a leave during his first year to campaign for the by-election. An outspoken social conservative, he served as Parliamentary Assistant to several ministers during the Ford government’s first term.

Dave Augustyn (NDP) — Augustyn served as mayor of Pelham for 12 years and as a Niagara Regional Councillor. During his time as mayor, he orchestrated the donation of land to Wellspring Niagara for a regional cancer support centre and helped attract a new long-term care home and retirement residences to the town. He also worked as a policy consultant helping to prevent human trafficking in the Niagara Peninsula.

Doug Joyner (Liberal) — Joyner is a former two-term mayor of West Lincoln and Niagara Regional Councillor who served from 2010 to 2018. He described himself as a centrist and ran on a platform emphasizing local pragmatism.

Laura Garner (Green Party), Dan Dale (Ontario Party), Chris Arnew (New Blue Party), Stefanos Karatopis (Libertarian), and Jim Torma (People’s Political Party) also ran.

Local Issues

Transit infrastructure was a key issue in Niagara West, centred on the long-promised Casablanca GO station in Grimsby. Originally slated to open in 2021, the station was repeatedly delayed after the province and Metrolinx shifted to a third-party delivery approach in December 2018. The Ford government announced during the election campaign that the station was moving ahead, though infrastructure work on the Casablanca Boulevard corridor had proceeded even as the station itself remained in a holding pattern.

The tension between agricultural preservation and residential development was a persistent concern. The Niagara region is responsible for 90 percent of Ontario’s grape production and is Canada’s largest wine-producing region, yet farmland area in several municipalities within the riding had decreased significantly between 2011 and 2016. Residents debated whether growth should be accommodated through intensification or whether Greenbelt and agricultural protections were adequate.