As former Olympian-turned-councillor faces domestic assault charge, women-led advocacy group is silenced

A firestorm of controversy has been brewing in Niagara Falls, Ont., in the weeks since a former Olympian-turned-councillor was charged with domestic assault.

Mike Strange, 54, turned to politics, first elected on council in 2014, after representing Canada as a light-welterweight boxer in three Olympics. On May 3, police were called to a Niagara Falls home around 3 a.m. and found a woman with injuries. Strange was charged with domestic assault. 

In the wake of the criminal charge, Strange has continued to sit on council. He maintained his innocence during a July 8 council meeting, stating "the truth will come out," and his next court appearance is July 20. 

Meanwhile, unrelated to the Strange criminal case, a women-led advocacy group was holding delegations across Ontario about proposed Bill 9, the Municipal Accountability Act, which If passed would give municipalities more tools to crack down on negligent and misbehaving politicians. 

When Women of Ontario Say No (WOSN) requested to delegate at Niagara Falls council in June, it had begun advocating for a new addition to Bill 9: that any councillor charged with assault be placed on automatic, paid leave until it was resolved in the courts, WOSN's lead advocate, Emily McIntosh, told CBC Hamilton. (The proposed rules could see them removed from office if a series of requirements are met.)

City staff blocked WOSN from speaking about Bill 9. Then, 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