Lai, arrested in 2020, calls the region his ‘Canadian home,’ niece says.

As G7 foreign ministers prepare to meet in Ontario’s Niagara Region, family of hotel owner Jimmy Lai and Niagara-on-the-Lake’s lord mayor are calling for the pro-democracy activist’s release from a Hong Kong prison.

Lai, who was arrested in 2020 and is being held in Lai Chi Kok prison, owns Vintage Hotels, a string of inns across the region. A British and Hong Kong citizen, he was founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.

“My uncle hasn’t done anything wrong that we don’t do in our own country on a daily basis,” his niece, Erica Lepp, who lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake, told CBC News on Thursday.

“Niagara-on-the-Lake is my uncle’s Canadian home,” Lepp said, “and this is where the majority of his Canadian family is.”

Gary Zalepa, Niagara-on-the-Lake’s lord mayor, said in a public letter published on Nov. 3 that Lai and his family “have made a lasting contribution to our community.”

Lai and his family "have strengthened the local economy, created meaningful employment opportunities, and revitalized key heritage properties that attract visitors and sustain local businesses,” said the letter, which was released before Niagara Region hosts the G7 security, prosperity and economic resilience forum next week.

…