Al Santing

Who is 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. 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.

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. He finished second against David Burr, who was supported by the New Democratic Party.

After leaving public office, Santing worked as chairman of the tourism and convention bureau and corporate fundraising chairman for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. He joined VR Windsor Inc. Brokers in April 1987. Santing supported bringing a casino to Windsor as early as 1988, several years before city council decided to accept the proposal.