 He was defeated in the 1988 election, falling to Flis by 3,196 votes.Witer was appointed to the board of the Metro Toronto Housing Authority in 1989 ("Globe and Mail", 28 April 1989).Witer was named "Person of the Year" by the Canadian Ukrainian Congress in 1988, and chaired the World Congress of Ukrainians Human Rights Commission from 1989 to 1991.