Daily Archives: January 7, 2010

By Doug Draper

“NHS = DOA.”

Those acronyms – NHS for Niagara Health System and DOA for ‘dead on arrival’ – were coupled together on a sign a man dressed up in a Grim Reaper costume was carrying last year during a protest rally in front of the one and only hospital serving the border community of Fort Erie.

Hundreds of residents from both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, who work and own homes in Fort Erie, joined the rally last September in protest of the NHS’s decision to close Douglas Memorial Hospital’s emergency room. Many expressed fear that lives would be lost ambulancing patients in critical condition further away, to already crowded emergency rooms in Niagara Falls or Welland. And many now wonder if their worst fear has come true in the wake of a tragic traffic accident that occurred on Boxing Day, along a stretch of Hwy. 3 running through Fort Erie.

One of the victims of the accident – Fort Erie teenager Reilly Anzovino – was ambulanced to the Welland County Hospital where, according to a police report, she was pronounced dead on arrival. Continue reading →

(If you’d like a little more insight into why people in Niagara’s south tier have so little confidence in the Niagara Health System and province when it comes to hospital services and their hospital care, this address by Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey should provide a few clues.

Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey

He delivered it this December, during the last session of 2009 of his city’s council, on the same night it approved a resolution by the council for the City the of Niagara Fall calling on the province to have the NHS’s operations investigated. Niagara At Large posts the address in its entirety and welcomes a rebuttle from the NHS or province if they so choose.)

By Vance Badawey

Good evening.

May I take this opportunity to elaborate on comments I had made regarding the resolution passed by Niagara Falls City Council and subsequently supported by Port Colborne City Council at our last meeting. Continue reading →

(On Friday, Jan. 8, the all-volunteer group Niagara Action for Animals, better known to many by its acronym NAFA, featured Sadie Parr, founder of the B.C.-based Canadian Wolf Coalition, as its guest speaker at its January Vegun Potluck in St. Catharines, Ont. A brief article on the plight of wolves and efforts to conserve them in the wild was submitted to Niagara At Large by Sadie Parr and is posted below.)

By Sadie Parr

Wolves used to roam the due to habitat loss and direct human exploitation.

Canada has the second largest population of wolves left in the world, and is one of the few places left where wolves are still part of a functioning ecosystem. As a top predator and keystone species, wolves help to maintain balance and biodiversity in nature. Preserving wolves means preserving wilderness. Continue reading →

By Joseph Somers

When Governor General Michaelle Jean was appointed five years ago as the Queen’s representative in Canada, it was heralded as a breath of fresh air for the country.

But the air certainly doesn’t seem to be as fresh any more with Jean recently being placed in the position of granting a request by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his minority Conservative government to prorogue Canada’s parliament – effectively prolonging the period of time this democratically elected body is not in session for the second December in a row. Continue reading →

By William F. Hogg

There are some groups of people who set themselves up as critics of the language. They pour through old euphemisms and new technical acronyms and ‘vote’ them out of the dictionary. Hopelessly, I might add.

Continue reading →