Al Santing

Al Santing is a businessman and former municipal politician in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. For years, he was a fixture in the city's conservative movement.

Santing was born in The Netherlands, and moved to Canada with his family at age thirteen. He lived for a while in rural New Brunswick, and later moved to Ontario. [Gord Henderson, "Santing still waits in the wings", "Windsor Star", 20 November 1986, A6.] He owned a tire store in private life. Santing campaigned for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in the 1977 provincial election, and finished third against New Democratic Party candidate Dave Cooke in Windsor—Riverside.

Santing served on the Windsor City Council from 1980 to 1985, and was known as one of its more right-wing members. In 1982, he sided with a group of ratepayers in seeking wage cuts for city workers. Other councillors accused him of grandstanding, and of undermining the city's labour negotiations. [Rudy Platiel, "Windsor taxpayer anger may spread across province", "Globe and Mail", 13 May 1982, P11.]

He campaigned for Mayor of Windsor in the 1985 municipal election, calling for private-sector investment in the city's waterfront. A newspaper article described him as a forty-seven years old. [Rudy Platiel, "Railway lands, nude dancing top Windsor election issues", "Globe and Mail", 28 October 1985, A16.] He finished second against David Burr, who was supported by the New Democratic Party. [Rudy Platiel, "Leaders defeated all over the province", "Globe and Mail", 13 November 1985, A1; Kathleen Kenna, "Bitter words cliff-hangers across Ontario", "Toronto Star", 13 November 1985, A7. The "Star" article indicates that Burr was leading by about 7,000 votes with 214 out of 267 polls reporting.]

After leaving public office, Santing worked as chairman of the tourism and convention bureau and corporate fundraising chairman for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. [Gord Henderson, "Santing still waits in the wings", "Windsor Star", 20 November 1986, A6.] He joined VR Windsor Inc. Brokers in April 1987. [Bob Meyer, "Municipal figure Al Santing joins business brokers firm", "Windsor Star", 29 April 1987, B8.] Santing supported bringing a casino to Windsor as early as 1988, several years before city council decided to accept the proposal. ["No gambling? No big deal!", "Windsor Star", 3 August 1988, A3.]

Santing worked with the Ontario Liberal Party in the 1987 provincial election. ["Santing to attempt comeback", "Windsor Star", 17 August 1988, A3.] He attempted to return to council in the 1988 and 1991 municipal elections, but was defeated both times.

During the late 1990s, Santing argued that the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) caused significant damage to Canada's retail industry in the early 1990s. [Chris Collins, "Oh Canada!", "Tire Business", 26 October 1998, p. 1.]

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