Bio 1

Kim Craitor has served his community for over 25 years as a municipal councillor, community volunteer and, since 2003, as Provincial Member of Parliament for Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie.

A strong advocate for transparency and accountability in government, tireless in his efforts to attract funding for important community and business initiatives in the riding, Mr. Craitor has applied his greatest efforts to bringing better healthcare to our community.

Among his many specific accomplishments, He has fought for transparency in public affairs (Bill 25), for the right of grandparents to have reasonable access to see their grand children (Bill 22), and has promoted the right of Ontario citizens to enjoy access to the beautiful beaches of our Great Lakes (Bill 32).

His transparency efforts have shed a new light on the operation and governance of the Niagara Parks Commission that will once again shine a bright light on this spectacular gem in our tourist crown.

He has assisted two of Niagara’s most important industries, helping Niagara's Grape and Wine industry to become more sustainable, and our Tourism industry to grow and compete on the international stage thanks to investments in highway improvement and expansion of the GO Train to the Niagara area.

Mr. Craitor has worked tirelessly to create and protect jobs by saving Fort Erie's Race Track and Niagara's second Casino; constructing Niagara's new Convention Centre, and adding capacity to the Niagara Airport complex in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

On a community basis he has helped Niagara-on-the-Lake get a new community centre, fire hall, and move the bowling green.

In Fort Erie he helped reduce the tax load on local citizens by securing emergency funding to clean up the October Surprise Storm that devastated the community in 2007, and providing funding to offset the cost of eliminating reoccurring unhealthy sewage overflow in neighbourhoods.

In Niagara Falls he was instrumental in securing funding for the Boys and Girls Club Community Centre, as well as Bi-Centennial funding for the Lundy's Lane Historical Museum, and for visitor information centres for Old Fort Erie and Queenston's Laura Secord homestead.

But, Kim Craitor's greatest efforts have been applied to bringing better healthcare to all our community. It is a work in progress that consumes the vast majority of his efforts. To this end he has worked to develop a Niagara Region-only effective ambulance service, to bring a new state-of-the-art Emergency Wing to the Greater Niagara General Hospital, to find more family trained doctors for the region, and to eliminate barriers to foreign trained medical professionals. His efforts have added a new Cat scan and MIR, funded more and better located dialysis treatment centres, helped found 2 Community Health Care Centres for better access for those who traditionally lack care, and expanded primary health care to us all through the establishment of 4 family health teams.

Mr. Craitor has resisted any attempt to downgrade health services to Fort Erie and Niagara Falls, strongly speaking out and up on behalf of the citizens he represents, even if it means being at odds with government policies.

Further, through this kind of committed leadership, he has successfully encouraged the government to establish a much needed Cancer Care Centre and Heart Catheterization facility in Niagara so that Cancer and Heart patients no longer have to travel to Hamilton or Toronto for essential lifesaving treatments.

Recently, he announced an annual increase of $14 million to the base funding of our local hospitals so they no longer have to add to their debt load and deny services for lack of funding.

Kim Craitor’s work is not finished. There is much he wants to do in the areas of his main priorities: your economic and physical health and your child's education.

Bio 2

Kim Craitor, a lifetime resident of the Niagara Region, is a strong and dynamic representative for the Niagara Falls riding and has always been an active volunteer in community service.

Kim has been an alderman for the City of Niagara Falls since 1990. During his tenure, Kim has been Chairperson for the Canada Day Celebrations, the City of Niagara Falls Parking and Traffic Committee, the Mayor’s Committee on Housing as well as a board member of various organizations including the Lundy's Lane Business Improvement Area, Fallsview Business Improvement Area, and Queen Street Downtown Management Board. Kim also served for 10 years on the Board of Directors for the Niagara Falls Chamber of Commerce as the City of Niagara Falls representative.

In addition to his duties as a municipal representative, Kim was the Executive Director of the Niagara Falls Employment Help Centre from 1996 to his election to parliament in 2003. The Centre assists unemployed adults with career counselling and securing full-time permanent employment. Before taking on this role Kim spent 26 years with Human Resources Development Canada in Niagara as a Community Relations Officer and as an Investigation and Control Officer.

Kim has also been very involved with his community, serving on the Board of Directors for the YMCA, YWCA, Niagara Falls Minor Hockey, Niagara Falls Girls Hockey, Greater Niagara Baseball Association, United Way of Niagara Falls, Niagara Junior B Hockey Club.

Kim was the owner of the Junior B Canucks for the 1997/98 seasons during which the team won the All Ontario Sutherland “Jr. B Cup.”

In 1997 Kim was the recipient of the Niagara Falls Review Newspaper Doug Austin Sports Person of the Year Award.

Kim was the President of the Niagara Falls District Labour Council for 15 years. Additionally he was president of Local 624 the Canada & Employment & Immigration Union. As well Kim served as an executive member of the Ontario Federation of Labour.

He was first elected to represent the riding of Niagara Falls in the Provincial Parliament in October of 2003 and then re-elected in 2007 with twice the plurality.

Kim and his wife, Helen, have two adult children, Colleen and Christopher.