WARNING: This story references allegations of domestic violence.

The assault trial for an Ontario city councillor is scheduled to begin today in St. Catharines.

Mike Strange, 55, turned to politics and was first elected to Niagara Falls council in 2014, after representing Canada as a light-welterweight boxer in three Olympics. 

In May, Niagara Regional Police Service officers responded to a call at a home and reported finding a woman with injuries. Strange was charged with domestic assault.

His case is set to be heard in the Ontario Court of Justice and is expected to last at least two days. 

He has maintained his innocence and continues to serve on council.

Strange remaining in his job as the criminal case plays out caused a stir in the council chambers in June, when members of the women-led advocacy group Women of Ontario Say No (WOSN) requested to speak before council. 

Advocates push for leave for councillors facing charges

WOSN had been advocating across Ontario for an addition to the Municipal Accountability Act, stipulating that any councillor charged with assault be placed on automatic, paid leave until a case is resolved in the courts.

City staff blocked WOSN from speaking about Bill 9. On June 17, Niagara police officers arrested three women in the council chambers after they refused to put away signs that said the name of the advocacy group.

“There is, of course, an obvious and painful irony in women being arrested for peacefully holding objectively inoffensive signs, while a sitting councillor was able to remain and participate in his public role in this official capacity despite being charged with serious violent offence involving assaulting a woman and released,” lawyer Susan Toth, representing WOSN, wrote in a July letter to the city.

Integrity head found no wrongdoing by Strange

Around that time, Strange came under fire for a July 6 email a friend sent on his behalf inviting members of the Falls View Hose Brigade, a local fundraising group, to “fill the chambers so there is no space for the women’s group to sit” on July 8.

At the time, Strange told CBC Hamilton he didn’t send the email directly and it was “taken out of context.” 

“I felt targeted by the protesters [during the June] meeting, and asked my friends and supporters to be there,” he told CBC in an email. “I am confident that the truth will prevail in my proceedings and I am committed to my responsibilities in my elected office.” 

In August, a local resident lodged an integrity commissioner complaint against Strange, accusing him of breaching the code of conduct by inviting Hose Brigade members to the chambers. 

However, a December report by integrity commissioner Michael Maynard found Strange did not breach the city’s councillor code of conduct, saying the code does not stop “normal political activities, such as rallying support for an individual or an issue.”

If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. If you’re affected by family or intimate partner violence, you can look for help through crisis lines and local support services. ​​