Marie Trainer, born circa 1946 , is the former mayor of Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada after having been defeated on October, 25th 2010 by Mayor Elect Ken Hewitt. Hewitt finished with 6,984 votes, Trainer 5,748 and third-place finisher Buck Sloat with 2,929 in unofficial final results. She took office after defeating the incumbent, Lorraine Bergstrand in the 2003 Ontario municipal elections. The residents of Haldimand County re-elected Marie Trainer as mayor in the 2006 Ontario municipal elections. Trainer received national attention after making controversial comments while being interviewed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during the Caledonia land dispute.
Education and early career
Trainer was first elected to municipal office in 1985 as the councillor for the Hagersville Ward in the former Town of Haldimand . In 1988, she was elected a councillor for the short-lived Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk .
1991 Election campaign and ouster of Edith Fuller
In November 1991, through "a stunning upset" Trainer defeated incumbent Edith Fuller, in office since 1980, in the Town of Haldimand mayoralty race . Trainer had campaigned with two main platform points: her opposition to "a proposed $500-million waste station to be located near Cayuga", and her opposition to a "$3.5-million recreation centre" called LeisurePlex, proposed for Caledonia – as councilor for Hagersville, she had withdrawn her support for the later "when it came time to award the building contract" . Fuller "took no stand on Enviromax ... because she didn't believe she had all the information" and "supported the ... recreation centre" although the Haldimand chapter of the Ontario Taxpayers' Coalition was opposed to it.
In the post-election analysis, "fear of rising taxes" was considered one reason for Fuller's ouster; Trainer offered her opinion that "Fuller lost because, 'I think she forgot to listen to the people'" .
Fuller "termed the race 'one of the most unpleasant campaigns I've ever been involved in' ... accused some of her opponents of spreading nasty rumors about her" and misleading "voters about the issues" . Trainer:
"... denied running a dirty campaign, although she admitted she had heard rumors about the mayor. But, she said, she told her workers to ignore them and not to spread them.
'We didn't run anything like a dirty campaign at all,' said Mrs. Trainer."
2000 Election campaign
The Township of Haldimand was a municipal entity that ceased to exist with the creation of the municipality of Haldimand County on 1 January 2001. Municipal elections were held in November 2000 to determine the mayor of the new county; there were two candidates and both were mayors of one of the county's constituent townships, Trainer (of Haldimand) and Lorraine Bergstrand (of Dunnville). Trainer announced her candidacy on March 28, 2000, and initially campaigned on "her record at the helm of 'one of the best-run, financially stable municipalities in Ontario with no debt, more than $6 million in reserves and only one minor tax increase'" . Trainer later adopted the slogan "The People's Mayor."
"Godly" candidate controversy
On October 31, 2000, Trainer wrote a letter to 55 church ministers within the new county boundaries which "was typed by municipal staff on the letterhead of the existing town of Haldimand, signed by Trainer as mayor of the existing town of Haldimand and mailed using the town's postage meter" . The Hamilton Spectator was contacted anonymously by town staff who "said they were uncomfortable about the fact the letter was produced and sent by staff at election time" although "Gerry van der Wolf, Haldimand's chief administrative officer, said it's not up to individual employees to determine the appropriateness of work generated by the mayor's office" .
In the letter, Trainer asked the church ministers "for prayers for 'governmental leadership with high moral standards'" and urged "ministers to encourage the 'churched people of our community' to get out to vote to ensure a 'Godly influence in our governments'" .
reported that "several of the 55 ministers who received the letter say the implicit message is that a vote for Trainer is a 'Godly' vote" and quoted Rev. Jeff Veenstra of Dunnville's Knox Presbyterian Church:
"Although it's not explicit, it is implied that she (Trainer) is the Godly candidate, the right moral candidate, the candidate with the right values, ... I found the timing of this letter very opportunist."
The Rev. Ian Kirby-Smith of Grace United Church in Dunnvile also saw "the letter as an effort by Trainer to garner votes" .