Jeff Burch
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Burch in 2020
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| Caucus Chair of the Ontario New Democratic Party | |
| Assumed office July 13, 2022 | |
| Leader | Peter Tabuns (interim) |
| Critic, Municipal Affairs | |
| Assumed office September 6, 2018 | |
| Leader | Andrea Horwath and Peter Tabuns (interim) |
| Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Niagara Centre | |
| Assumed office June 7, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Cindy Forster |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | New Democratic |
| Residence(s) | Thorold, Ontario |
| Occupation | Non profit executive director / CEO, President of Steel Workers Union |
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Jeff Burch is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 provincial election.[1] He represents the electoral district of Niagara Centre as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party.
Prior to his election to the legislature Burch was the executive director of Niagara Folk Arts, a non–profit social services agency, and served as city councillor for Merritton Ward for St. Catharines City Council.
Jeff Burch is a graduate from Brock University, with an honours BA in philosophy. Burch then spent three years as a graduate student and teaching assistant at Brock, teaching seminars in social issues and women's studies. He left his studies in 1996 after being elected president of a United Steelworkers local union.[2]
Burch ran as the Ontario New Democratic Party's candidate in St. Catharines in 1995, losing to Liberal Jim Bradley.[citation needed] He was elected as a city councillor in St. Catharines, Ontario, in 2006. He served from 2006 to 2014, including four years as budget chair.[3] He ran for mayor of St. Catharines in 2014, losing to Walter Sendzik by fewer than 2000 votes.
In February 2018, Burch won the NDP nomination in Niagara Centre.[4] The riding has been an NDP stronghold for 44 years[citation needed] with Mel Swart, Peter Kormos and Cindy Forster holding the seat. On June 8, 2019, Burch won the seat.[5] Burch currently serves as the Official Opposition critic for Municipal Affairs.[6]
Three months after his election in 2018, he scored a major victory by winning unanimous support for his motion to bring two-way all-day GO Transit rail service to Niagara.[7]
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Jeff Burch | 16,360 | 39.70 | −4.53 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Fred Davies | 15,506 | 37.63 | +0.12 | ||||
| Liberal | Terry Flynn | 5,492 | 13.33 | +1.50 | ||||
| Green | Michelle McArthur | 1,865 | 4.53 | +0.84 | ||||
| New Blue | Gary Dumelie | 1,148 | 2.79 | |||||
| Ontario Party | Vincent Gircys | 837 | 2.03 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 41,208 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 194 | |||||||
| Turnout | 41,402 | 43.37 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 94,966 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | −2.32 | ||||||
Source(s)
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| 2018 Ontario general election: Niagara Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Jeff Burch | 21,618 | 44.23 | −3.65 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | April Jeffs | 18,333 | 37.51 | +10.87 | ||||
| Liberal | Benoit Mercier | 5,779 | 11.82 | −8.60 | ||||
| Green | Joe Dias | 1,803 | 3.69 | −0.34 | ||||
| None of the Above | Joe Crawford | 623 | 1.27 | |||||
| Libertarian | Patrick Pietruszko | 368 | 0.75 | −0.27 | ||||
| Independent | Steve Soos | 217 | 0.44 | |||||
| People's Political Party | Dario Smagata-Bryan | 133 | 0.27 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 48,874 | 98.63 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 680 | 1.37 | ||||||
| Turnout | 49,554 | 56.13 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 88,287 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | -7.26 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[8] | ||||||||
| Mayoral Candidate [9] | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|
| Walter Sendzik | 13,147 | 40.19 |
| Jeff Burch | 11,321 | 34.61 |
| Peter Secord | 6,571 | 20.09 |
| Mark Stevens | 1,135 | 3.47 |
| Jim Fannon | 535 | 1.64 |
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total vote |
|---|---|---|
| Jennie Stevens (X) | 2,294 | 32.96% |
| Jeff Burch (X) | 2,064 | 29.66% |
| David Haywood | 1,134 | 16.29% |
| Garry Robbins | 817 | 11.74% |
| Sam Sacco | 491 | 7.05% |
| Cameron Alderdice | 160 | 2.30% |
| Total valid votes | 6,960 | 100.00 |
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total vote |
|---|---|---|
| Jeff Burch | 2857 | 33.01% |
| Jennie Stevens (X) | 2849 | 32.92% |
| Sheila Morra (X) | 2049 | 23.68% |
| Robbie Craine | 899 | 10.39% |
| Total valid votes | 6,960 | 100.00 |
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Current members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
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| Progressive Conservative |
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| New Democratic |
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| Liberal† |
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| Green† |
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| Independent |
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Party leaders listed first (inbold italics). Government members in bold denotes cabinet. | |
