Marie Elaine Trainer (April 9, 1946–October 31, 2024), was the mayor of Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada from 1991 to 2000 and from 2003 to 2010, after having been defeated on October, 25th 2010 by 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 the daughter of Wilbert and Erie Rowntree.
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a "$3.5-million recreation centre" called LeisurePlex, proposed for Caledonia – as councilor for Hagersville, she had withdrawn her support for the later "when it came time to award the building contract" .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" .
Trainer claimed the letter "was merely an effort to get people out to vote at a time when restructuring has caused confusion among municipal voters" .
Trainer ultimately lost the election.
2000–2003
Between 2000 and 2003, Trainer "assisted in the family beef operation", sat on the "management boards of Cottonwood Mansion and Ruthven Park", and was a member of the "Haldimand-Norfolk-Brant Ontario Trillium Foundation review board" .
2003 Election campaign
In 2003, Trainer again campaigned as "The People's Mayor" , noting in interviews that "she always talks to people as equals" . On commencing her run for office, Trainer's primary criticism of the incumbent council was that "council [was] not listening to the taxpayers...It just seems it's a dictatorship" . She also noted that in "her opinion, too much council business is kept from the people. 'There is an awful lot of P and C (private and confidential business),' Trainer said. 'I would have a more open council and not so much P and C and I would let the public speak when they wanted to'" . During December 2004-February 2005, she would be criticised for her role in offering for sale, without first holding a public meeting, the municipal hydro utility, Haldimand County Hydro.
Trainer also commented on concerns she had regarding a "bitter" Canadian Union of Public Employees contract negotiation with the Haldimand County council that occurred in 2002. Trainer "recalled contract settlements that were completed amicably in the former Town of Haldimand" although she did not explicate her role in these previous negotiations. "Trainer also relayed concerns about union and non-union raises. Union wages were increased 2.5 per cent but non-union wages went up a little more, she said, referring to information provided to her by union members" . A significant pillar of her platform was her condemnation of a summer 2002 council approved "increase in councillor remuneration" at the time of the CUPE contract negotiation .
Trainer received some criticism of her 1991–2000 tenure as mayor of the former Town of Haldimand, in particular with regard to "penny pinching" on infrastructure maintenance—mainly roads, which were, by 2003, in poor repair . Trainer responded and:
"defended those caps. 'Yes there were zero increases but not less dollars,' she said. 'The additional tax base from new residents and businesses was used to finance additional budget items,' she said. Trainer also emphasized that the former town reviewed its roads and set a priority for maintenance" .
Trainer "collected $13,190.44 in contributions compared to Bergstrand's $18,080" during the campaign and won by a 1111 vote margin, with 7303 votes cast for Trainer. noted that in "Caledonia, Bergstrand tripled Trainer's haul ($300) but Trainer more than doubled Bergstrand's donations ($1,250) in Hagersville" and that "Trainer secured most of her large donations from businesses with four from Dunnville. They are HydroVac Industrial, Silverthorne Refractories, 1276340 Ontario Inc, and Lundy Complex Inc. The former Cayuga IGA owner, Greg Potter, donated $750 as did former Dunnville MP Bud Bradley. Among smaller donations from area businesses and prominent citizens were $200 from former Dunnville Mayor Bob Blake and $200 from War Memorial Hospital CEO Paul Mailloux. CUPE Local 4700 put their money ($500) where there mouth was. After a bitter strike and angry words between Bergstrand and union workers in 2002, union leaders promised to see [Bergstrand] ousted."
"Strange" voter turnout patterns and strength of mandate
In the November 10, 2003 municipal elections in Haldimand County "the council voter turn out exceeded the mayoral balloting in every ward" . The strength of Trainer's mandate from the community was unclear and surveyed "county political observers", who offered the following "possibilities for the voting trend":
Dunnville Chamber of Commerce president Marg Clark suggested "there was a preconceived notion that there was not much to choose from in the slate of candidates running for mayor. 'I would not be surprised that (those with this opinion) chose not to vote,'... People were soliciting candidates to enter the mayoral race up to the nomination deadline and this is another indication of dissatisfaction with the options" . Catherine Berry Stidsen surmised that voters noted "Trainer's personal approach and ... Bergstrand's business like approach ... and nobody could get a feel for Marlowe ... With all these factors in play, some people opted not to vote for mayor" . Stidsen further commented that "[because] of the low voter turnout in this election and the past, she [felt] neither Bergstrand nor Trainer had a real mandate from the community" . Dunnville farmer Merv Watkins noted that ward candidates can campaign at every home while it is "impossible" for the mayoral candidate to cover the county; he also observed that "people are generally uninformed. ... 'There are not a whole lot of people reading newspapers'" .
2003–2006 Term in Office
Mayor Marie Trainer and the Haldimand ward councilors elected in the 2003 Ontario municipal elections were inaugurated on December 1, 2003 (for three year terms).
Role in the attempted sale of Haldimand County Hydro in 2004–2005
The council of the corporation of Haldimand County discovered, "during [May] 2004 budget discussions", that Haldimand County Hydro would likely fail "to provide a forecast dividend of $280,000." Council met with the utility and "despite low profits due to a rate freeze, the utility did provide the original dividend amount" .
However, according to statements made by Trainer to the Dunnville Chronicle in November 2004, "council felt it was getting a poor return, one per cent, for their $23 million investment" . Haldimand County Hydro is the county's biggest asset; the utility's sole shareholder is the Haldimand County corporation, acting on behalf of the county taxpayers . Trainer gave the value (after debts are deducted, the shareholder's interest) as $23 million while the chief administrative officer for the Haldimand County corporation, Bill Pearce, noted "Haldimand Hydro has 20,000 customers and the book value of the utility is $20 million. 'But we're hoping to get more than that thanks to competition,'" . Trainer noted that "if that kind of money was in the bank, council could do more for residents. ... If the utility is sold, staff will recommend using the proceeds to finance hard assets like buildings, roads and equipment" . Ward 3 (Caledonia) councilor Craig Ashbaugh later offered a third set of numbers and stated that "With $1.5 million interest on the $25 million sale proceeds, the county can install community center water system upgrades, purchase defibrillators, replace the Dunnville arena floor or construct a Cayuga ambulance base and a new Lowbanks fire hall" at which point another councillor, Lorne Boyko noted that "this is the first time he's heard this list and that there has been no direction from council about it" .