Bob Gale resigned as chair of the Niagara regional government in southern Ontario on Wednesday night “effective immediately,” Niagara Region stated.
“The region’s bylaw to appoint an acting chair outlines how temporary absences in the chair’s office are handled,” it said. “This includes a rotating list of acting chairs, who can attend to all regional chair duties and ensure uninterrupted regional activities.”
The resignation came after demands that Gale apologize for owning an autographed copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
A letter posted on social media that appeared to be a resignation letter stated, “As everyone knows, I am a passionate historian with a broad collection of historical art and artifacts.”
“My collection includes an 1859 letter from anti-slavery advocate John Brown, a letter from George Washington, a letter from Winston Churchill and Vatican archives,” per the letter. “I also have a signed copy of the first book in 1685 about Niagara Falls by Father Hennepin.”
The letter adds that “today, 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.” It adds that there has been a “strong vocal minority who decided they would stop at nothing in order to keep their fiefdoms and addiction to power and tax dollars.”
“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,” it adds.
Jon Jouppien, who has appraised items in Gale’s collection, including an autographed copy of Hitler’s book, told CBC that the book was “collected in the sincere interest of history.”
