Dave Augustyn for Chair

A Better Region for You

Integrity • Prosperity • Compassion
12 July 2018

Over the last 12 years as Mayor of Pelham, I have had the honour of leading and working with Town
Council and the community to transform Pelham into one of Niagara’s best and brightest local
communities and a true success story.

Working together, we have improved the overall quality of life and made the community more walkable,
bikeable, active, caring and vibrant. We future-planned new development areas and invested in
infrastructure that helped provide the environment for businesses to prosper and create hundreds of
new jobs. We rebuilt and revitalized our downtowns, our playgrounds, our libraries, our parks and our
trails. This Fall we will officially open a new, state-of-the art Community Centre – on time and under
budget – that will be the gathering place for “memories that matter.” We also look forward to the new
Wellspring Niagara Cancer Support Centre on lands donated by the Town and a new medical centre and
a Long-Term Care Home.

Serving on Regional Council, I chaired the $1 billion budget review committee for four-years (2011-14),
delivering responsible budgets which kept increases below inflation – and less than our current term.
I’ve championed incentives to encourage downtown and brownfield re-developments and industrial
expansions across Niagara, helping to create hundreds of additional jobs. I continue to work for an
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integrated transit system, a greater range of housing that’s affordable, more livable communities that
allow families to thrive and seniors to age in place, and more innovation for the delivery of services.

I’ve also stood up at the Region for you and your interests. I have been one among very few that have
stood up against the wasting of tax dollars for personal gain, the backroom deals, the paving over of
wetlands, the cost overruns, and the baseless attacks on those that dare question these and other
matters.

Because of these successes and my principled approach, I am humbled by the hundreds of people who
have encouraged me to run as Chair for Niagara Regional Council.

With your support this Fall I will work with a new Council and serve as your Chair for a better Region.

I look forward to speaking with you about how we might achieve your hopes and dreams for the Niagara
Peninsula. I also would like to hear your views about how to improve this blueprint for integrity,
prosperity and compassion so that we might work for A Better Region.

Thank you very much for considering me to serve as your Chair.

Sincerely yours,

Dave Augustyn
Dave Augustyn for Chair
A Better Region for You
Integrity • Prosperity • Compassion
 Dave Augustyn for Chair
Blueprint for A Better Region for You
Integrity • Prosperity • Compassion
12 July 2018 – V1.0

Leading with INTEGRITY for You

Sadly, a cloud hangs over the Niagara Region. Too often we have read negative headlines of big projects
with major cost overruns or cases of personal expense abuses by Councillors. Countless reports
highlighted questionable hiring practices – like the Police-chief buy-out – and showed how attacks by
some Councillors went unchecked. These and other issues point to a leadership void at Regional Council,
which has led to a loss of public confidence and a lack of meaningful Council progress.

As Mayor and Regional Councillor, Dave Augustyn questioned these matters and stood up for you and
your interests. He stood up and fought for his community against the attacks – attacks he was subjected
to just because he stood up for what was right.

Now, Mayor Dave Augustyn is running to serve as Regional Chair so that together we can lift that cloud
and return our government to a position of trust and integrity. His proven experience, dedication,
integrity and strong leadership will successfully advance the Niagara Peninsula for your benefit.

Together with a new Council and the community, Dave Augustyn will:
 Hire and employ qualified and professional staff to help manage the Region efficiently and 2
effectively.
 End the back-room deals by standing up to special interests that have taken control of the
Region and the NPCA.
 Ensure accountability at the Niagara Police Services Board and ensure that special interests are
not playing politics with our police.
 Crack down on Councillor expenses, end Councillors’ lobster lunches at your expense, and stop
Councillor self-promotions on the public dime.
 Finally fix the messes that led to the huge overspending on the Burgoyne Bridge and other major
projects.
 Govern for you, stand up for your interests, and continue to be a leader who works with people
for the benefit of the entire Niagara Peninsula.
Dave Augustyn has shown he’s a leader with integrity who stands up for what’s right.

That’s why a vote for Dave Augustyn is a vote for A Better Region for You.

Dave Augustyn for Chair

A Better Region for You
Integrity • Prosperity • Compassion
Increasing PROSPERITY for You
During his 12-years of service as Mayor, Dave Augustyn worked with Council to turn Pelham into a
thriving, prosperous town that is growing for the benefit of all.

Dave Augustyn and Town Council invested in quality-of-life improvements – like a new Community
Centre, a dozen new parks and playgrounds, a renewed library, downtown revitalizations of Fonthill and
Fenwick, and two new fire halls. He also focused on people-centred developments that helped make the
Town more walkable and bikeable and won awards for community design excellence and planning.

Taxes Below Inflation & the Lowest Water Rates

Dave kept the Region’s and the Town’s tax increases below inflation. Under Dave’s leadership, Pelham
boasts Niagara Region’s lowest water and sewer rates.
 Dave chaired the Region’s $1 billion budget review committee last term (2011-14) and delivered
fiscally responsible budgets, with increases coming in below inflation (at 5.77%). That’s 4% lower
than this current Regional Council (at 6.04%).
 The Town’s total residential property tax increases are below inflation – meaning the average
Pelham homeowner pays a lower level in taxes than they did 12 years ago.
 The average Pelham homeowner also pays $360 less (or 36% less) per year for water and sewer
costs than those in other Niagara cities and towns.

Creating Jobs: Roll-Out the Red Carpet & Targeted Incentives 3

Over the past 12 years, Dave and the Town of Pelham cut red tape and rolled out the red carpet to make
it easier for responsible private sector investments to help improve the community. These millions of
dollars of investments have created hundreds of full- and part-time jobs.

Across Niagara, Dave has championed incentives for downtown and brownfield re-developments, which
have helped clean up and improve our communities. He also encouraged hundreds of new jobs by
helping to develop industrial (“Gateway”) incentives and making the motion to exempt new industrial
developments – like GE and many others – from paying development fees.

These incentives helped encourage millions of dollars of private sector growth and create thousands of
high-quality jobs.

Dave has shown what it takes to lead a community and to help businesses create jobs, manage growth
and share prosperity. Dave has the track record of success needed to build a better Region.

As Chair, Dave Augustyn will help businesses create good jobs.

Together with a new Regional Council and the community, Dave Augustyn will:
 Focus on bringing quality jobs back with targeted industrial and business incentives.
 Roll out the red carpet for responsible development.

Dave Augustyn for Chair

A Better Region for You
Integrity • Prosperity • Compassion
  Establish a “one-window approach” to make it easier for private sector investments to help
improve our communities.
 Cut unnecessary red-tape and outdated regulations that stall and prevent great projects.
 Work toward common zoning across Niagara’s cities and towns.
 Protect our forests, wetlands, rivers and shorelines from harmful development and stop
developers from bulldozing Niagara’s valuable farmland.
 Encourage greater economic viability of agriculture and the Greenbelt.
 Finally take full advantage of the Welland Canal and canal lands for economic development.
 Help revitalize and rejuvenate our unique downtowns for businesses, residents and visitors.
 Bring back a Niagara Sports Commission type-agency that should never have been starved of
funding after the Canada Summer Games bid.
 Get the garbage picked up when it’s supposed to be picked up, and protect our world-class
recycling facility from being sold for no good reason.
 Encourage youth entrepreneurs and focus on 21st-century jobs.
 Partner with Brock University and Niagara College to welcome out-of-town students and
encourage them to settle in the Niagara Peninsula.
 Fix and maintain our crumbling roads and bridges.
 End basement backups and sewer spills into the natural environment by systematically replacing
our old, leaky combined sewers with new, modern, efficient systems.
 Improve purchasing so the Regional Government “buys local” whenever and wherever it can.
 Collaborate closely with Niagara’s Provincial and Federal members and work together with the
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new Doug Ford Government of Ontario and the Justin Trudeau Government of Canada.

Transportation: Accelerating Regional Transit & GO Rail

Most people recognise that transit and rail connections are important for Niagara’s prosperity, access to
school and jobs, and overall future success.
With Provincial funding, Dave Augustyn and Pelham Council established the Town’s own community
transit service in 2015 and linked it with the Regional system. While publicly funded, the private sector
operates it. And, thanks to increased ridership and additional Provincial funding, Pelham is currently
expanding the service by adding another bus and routes. Much can happen when there’s a
commitment to transit!
Yet, the Region remains stalled on inter-municipal transit and GO Rail.
Not much has changed for transit riders since Dave helped establish the Regional Transit pilot in 2010
(as co-chair of the transportation sub-committee). While it’s now legal for the Region to help fund the
pilot and the various systems share the same policies, the Region missed another deadline. Regional
Council was forced to approve a three-year extension (to 2021) just to keep the 8-year-old pilot alive.
This lack of focus and these delays have meant that Niagara’s share of Federal and Provincial funding –
only $148 million over 10 years – pales in comparison to the billions given to other communities like
Hamilton, Ottawa, and Waterloo.

Dave Augustyn for Chair

A Better Region for You
Integrity • Prosperity • Compassion
Meanwhile, the Region also dropped the ball on the 2016 commitment for GO Rail connections by 2021
(to Grimsby and St. Catharines) and 2023 (to Niagara Falls). When first announced, Dave called for the
Region to accelerate this schedule. Now, with a change of Provincial Government, there’s no
guarantee on the timing for GO Rail to Niagara.
It’s time to stop the idle talk and lack of significant action toward an integrated transit system and GO
Rail.

As Regional Chair, Dave Augustyn will help accelerate public transit and GO Rail.

Together with a new Regional Council, City & Town Councils, and the community, Dave Augustyn will:
 Fight to secure year-round GO Trains in time for the 2021 Canada Summer Games.
 Finally deliver an integrated regional transit system.
 Seriously explore next steps for connectivity – like Light Rail Transit from Port Colborne to St.
Catharines – or Bus Rapid Transit.

Dave Augustyn for Chair

A Better Region for You
Integrity • Prosperity • Compassion
More CARING and COMPASSIONATE for You
Prosperity and compassion go hand-in-hand. The people of Niagara are compassionate and giving and
the Niagara Peninsula has always been a caring community.
As Mayor, Dave Augustyn worked with local seniors and Town Council to ensure the development of 90
new units of seniors’ affordable housing, a new 130-unit retirement home, and a new 192-bed long-
term care facility. This will ensure seniors can age-in-place – in the community they love. Because of
these and other efforts, the World Health Organization designated Pelham as an “Age-Friendly
Community.”
Dave also led Pelham Council to donate two acres of land to Wellspring Niagara to build their new
12,000 square foot regional Cancer Support Centre. Currently under construction, that regional facility
will be ready this fall.
He also routinely welcomes new medical students and resident-doctors to Niagara and secured a new
medical centre with eight family physicians and allied professionals. That facility will break ground this
fall.
Dave has consistently supported initiatives like these to build a caring, compassionate community across
the Niagara Peninsula.
It’s time for leadership that cares about you and puts people first.
As Regional Chair, Dave Augustyn will help create a more compassionate Niagara.
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Together with a new Regional Council and the community, Dave Augustyn will help create a more
compassionate Niagara and focus on these initiatives:

Health Care:
 Improve our overall health care system by working with the Niagara Health System and the
Province to:
o Reduce ambulance back-ups at our emergency departments.
o Build and renew hospital facilities – in Niagara Falls, Welland, and Grimsby.
o Secure and build hundreds of new Long Term Care beds.
o Increase supports for mental health, addictions, and housing.
Housing & Homelessness:
 Combat homelessness by encouraging more “housing that’s affordable”:
o More social and rental housing;
o Secondary units and “in-law” suites;
o Micro-housing pilot projects;
o The construction of traditional neighbourhoods with a greater range of housing types.

Dave Augustyn for Chair

A Better Region for You
Integrity • Prosperity • Compassion
  Ensure seniors can stay in their own community by working with the private and not-for-profit
developers to build new senior’s residences and long-term care homes.
 Refuse to sell Niagara Region’s 1,000 public Long Term Care beds and redevelop our outdated
Homes for the Aged.
 Prioritize “age-friendly” projects to make Niagara a better place for our seniors to enjoy and
contribute in the neighbourhoods they love.
Poverty & Mental Health:
 Make sure our police and paramedics have the tools to help people with mental health issues
and addictions.
 Expand the Niagara Prosperity Initiative so there are more resources to help our most
vulnerable citizens.
 Fight to combat and help solve the opioid crisis.

It’s up to you to choose A Better Region!

For the first time ever, you and the other residents of Niagara have a chance to choose our Regional
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Chair. Finally, you have the power to make a truly democratic choice. Let’s take this opportunity to reset
the Region and focus on what matters across the Niagara Peninsula.

Dave Augustyn has shown he has what it takes to lead a community built on the values of integrity,
prosperity and compassion. That’s the kind of leadership Niagara needs to end the embarrassment that
Regional government has become. Dave has worked to help create thousands of jobs across Niagara and
make the community a better place to live. Dave will work together with you and all citizens of Niagara
for our combined benefit.

Only strong, experienced leadership can stand up for you and restore Niagara’s reputation, increase
prosperity, encourage people-centered growth while protecting the environment, and create more care
and compassion for you, your children and your grandchildren.

Vote Dave Augustyn for Chair.

It’s time for integrity, prosperity, and compassion in the Niagara Peninsula.
It’s finally time for A Better Region.

V1.0

Dave Augustyn for Chair

A Better Region for You
Integrity • Prosperity • Compassion