Burroughs entry into race for Council marks his tenth election
Updated: Aug 3
Gary Burroughs relishes his role as the elder statesperson of Niagara-on-the-Lake Council, but he reminds The Local that he is not the region’s longest-serving current politician.
He posits that St. Catharines regional councillor and former mayor Tim Rigby may have served longer. Alas, his fellow Ridley grad (“I used to have to wake him up every morning and lay out his clothes for him,” laughs Burroughs) won his first election in 1997, while Burroughs was first elected to NOTL Council in 1989. The title actually belongs to St. Catharines’ councillor Joe Kushner, who was first elected in 1976 and has won 14 elections.
On June 1, Burroughs became the first incumbent councillor to officially seek re-election in October 2026, marking his tenth election campaign.
“I care deeply about this community and the people who call it home,” said the longtime community leader and public servant in a press release. “Niagara-on-the-Lake is facing important decisions about its future, and I believe experience, perspective, and steady leadership matter.”
In 1992, after serving his first term on council, Burroughs stepped away from politics to concentrate on his role running the Oban Inn. He returned in 2000, succeeding Art Viola in the lord mayor’s seat, which he held through two more elections, until 2010 (since then, there has been a steady succession of one-term leaders of the council).
.Burroughs instead ran successfully for NOTL’s seat at the Region that year and was voted by his peers to the chair position, which he held until 2014. He was reelected as NOTL’s regional councillor in 2014, then shifted back to town council in 2018. In the 2022 municipal election, only Erwin Wiens earned more votes than Burroughs in a field of 13 candidates.
In an interview with The Local, Burroughs listed threats from the province to the Greenbelt and NOTL’s heritage as two of his most pressing issues.
“Those are two of the many things that I worry about,” said Burroughs, who is one of two council representatives on the Municipal Heritage Committee, which recently dealt with a staff report about Solmar-Two Sisters Resorts’ latest proposal for the Randwood Estate.
“It’s frustrating that it’s back,” Burroughs laments. “We spent well over two million dollars on Randwood, We went through four (legal) cases, and here it is again”
Groups such as Save Our Rand Estate (SORE) and the NOTL Residents Association (NOTLRA) have been vocal about Rand, the Parliament Oak hotel development, the Royal George Theatre rebuild and other projects. Burroughs feels that the council should give a little more weight to their concerns.
“It's important that we understand the residents’ opinions,” says Burroughs, who is a chartered accountant. “Our population includes so many people with experience and ability, and we've never found a way to tap into it. They don't want to run for council, but we should find a way of using their expertise to the town’s advantage.”
With his experience on both Regional and Town councils, Burroughs has been a strong opponent of any form of amalgamation and has been frustrated with the heavy burden NOTL taxpayers have been paying for services they may not get full value from.
“We represent our residents at both the provincial and regional levels,” he says. “The Region has control over many things in our town, like roads, sewers and water, and we're not really getting a big say in it.”
If it’s happening in NOTL, Burroughs insists that NOTL should have a say in the decision-making. As an example, he mentions the DSBN’s shifting of boundaries, which is resulting in the transfer of almost 70 students from St. Davids Public School to Crossroads this coming September.
“I think we need to be more involved in those decisions. It's not just what's coming from (Premier) Doug Ford with his new Vegas North approach. It's other levels where we need to be representing the residents on whatever it is.”
The reorganization of Niagara Regional Council under Ford’s Bill 100, the Better Regional Governance Act, doesn’t sit well with the former chair, who worries about the proposed weighted voting system and how it might affect NOTL’s say in decisions.
And he wasn’t happy with the reduction of councillors in NOTL from eight to six.
“All we've done is reduce the representation, so I'm not in favour of that,” he says. “But it happened. And it doesn’t change my goals at all.”
Asked why residents should vote for him, Burroughs goes beyond just experience in his answer.
“I'm focused and always have been,” says Burroughs, who celebrated his 80th birthday in December 2025. “I listen to residents, and I feel that is really important. I always have my cell phone and my email published, and I try to respond to everyone.”
He held off for a month before announcing his candidacy because, he says, he wanted to respect his supporters.
“You need to have 25 signatures,” he explains of the paperwork that must be submitted to the clerk’s office. “I had my 25, but I had people who wanted to sign, and I wanted to make sure they had the chance. We ended up with 52, but it took a bit longer.”
Once August 27 rolls around, the lawn signs can go up, and campaigning can swing into top gear. And Burroughs plans to do something that, in all his years in politics, he hasn’t really done before.
“My daughter is helping plan and promote some sessions, where I'll be in a location for an hour or so on a specific day, and if you want to talk or let me learn from you, you can come and join me,” he explains. “I want to reach out to the people that we're supposed to be representing.”
