Niagara Region chair Bob Gale resigns over allegations he owns signed Adolf Hitler book

Bob Gale has resigned as the chair of the Regional Municipality of Niagara amid reports he owns a copy of Mein Kampf signed by Adolf Hitler.

The Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association (NRARA) claims it has documentation that “Niagara’s highest municipal elected official” bought the signed book at a 2010 auction and that the book and signature were authenticated in 2018.

CityNews has viewed the documents that include the alleged bill of sale and appraisal report for the signed copy of the book. The alleged appraisal report also details that, along with the signature of Adolf Hitler, it has an inscription that verifies this copy of Mein Kampf was a gift to Max Sauerteig, a socially prominent member of the Nazi party.

The documents also included a letter in which Gale allegedly asked Canada Border Services Agency if he was allowed to import it as it was purchased from a New York auction house and they told him that it was legal.

The NRARA, along with Justice 4 Black Lives Niagara (J4BL), issued a joint statement on Wednesday, calling for an explanation and a public apology from Gale.

In an interview with CityNews, Saleh Waziruddin of the NRARA called the situation highly troubling.

“This is not okay. This is hate. You can’t separate the material from the hate that it stands for, and that it was just used for. So it’s highly concerning that not just any official, but the very top official in the municipal government would have bought this, kept it for so long, had it authenticated,” he said.

In a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Rob Flack, Gale does not apologize nor directly address the accusations, saying that a member of the communist party circulated a dated document that listed his name as the owner of a historical book “found in many libraries.”

Gale goes on to say that he is a “passionate historian” and owns a broad collection of historical art and artifacts, including an 1859 letter from anti-slavery advocate John Brown, as well as letters from George Washington and Winston Churchill and Vatican archives.

“He’s a collector, a lot of people collect a lot of things, some people collect weird things, people go watch movies about Jeffrey Dahmer or Paul Bernardo, why do we make movies about that? People are entitled to do what they do,” shared Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati.

In response to Gale saying he collects historical artifacts, Waziruddin said he doesn’t think you can compare Washington and Churchill to Hitler.

“There are still people, even now, not just Bob Gale, other people in Niagara who dismiss this and think that, ‘Oh, it’s just a history book. It’s our historical curiosity.’ It’s not because of the harm that it caused, and it’s still causing,” said Waziruddin.

Gale was appointed to the position by Flack on December 18, 2025, following the death of longtime MPP and Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley last September. His resignation comes amid some political controversy in the Niagara Region, with many mayors and residents opposed to proposals from Gale to consider amalgamations.

Gale ultimately backed away from the possible amalgamations and proposed instead reducing the number of councillors, and blamed a “strong vocal minority” for getting in the way of his work to fix the issues.

“They wish to paint a picture that is untrue and hurtful to my family, my friends, and those in Niagara that believe in the hard work I have undertaken.”

Premier Doug Ford expressed his disappointment with what he called “bad judgment” on Gale’s part, but added his decision to resign was “the right decision.”

“We’re going to focus on getting a new chair, and it will be for the people of Niagara,” Ford said. “We have a lot of great things happening in Niagara, and we need a strong chair.”

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report