Monthly Archives: March 2010

Niagara At Large is posting the budget speech delivered by Finance Minister Dwight Duncan on behalf of Ontario’s Liberal government on Thursday, March 25. In the days and weeks ahead Niagara At Large will post news and commentary on the impacts of this budget on health care, education, transit and other key areas of our lives.  In the meantime, please feel free to scroll down to the comment boxes below the text of the budget speech and share your thoughts.

Introduction

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present Ontario’s 2010 Budget.

Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan.

The Ontario economy, like most others, has felt the effects of both a global recession and the transformation of key sectors, especially manufacturing and forestry.

Some early signs of the recovery have arrived. However, the job losses that have hurt Ontario families remain and this government continues to take action. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Of all the threats to a Great Lakes ecosystem so vital to our lives and the economic welfare of our communities across the greater Niagara region, few continue to wreak more havoc than the invasion of alien species in and around our lake waters.

Sea lamprey - an invasive species in our Great Lakes - suck the living fluids from a lake trout. Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

From the sea lamprey that threatened to wipe out the recreational and commercial fishery in the last half of the 20th century, to the Asian carp now on the verge of finishing off a fishery worth hundreds of thousands of jobs and many billions of dollars to the economies of the United States and Canada, the number of invasive species now populating or on the verge of populating the Great Lakes basin now total more than 180.

It has already been well documented how many hundreds of millions of dollars annually just one alien creature like the zebra mussel can do. This Asian creature, that caught a free ride to the Great Lakes in the ballast waters of ocean vessels in the 1980s, has clogged industrial and municipal water lines, and vacuumed up no end of plankton and other aquatic life that make up a critical part of the foodchain for native fish and birds in the lakes basin.

Yet governments on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border seem reluctant to take all the actions necessary to combat the invaders already in our lakes and prevent others like the Asian carp – possibly the greatest threat to the survival of our native fishery to date – from getting in. Samples of DNA from these voracious fish have already been detected in the southern most waters of Lake Michigan, indicating that they may have already broken through from the upper Mississippi River watershed.

Niagara At Large is sharing a media released, dated March 24, by the Canada/U.S. not-for-profit coalition, Great Lakes United, on the subject of invasive species and the pressing need to bring their numbers under control before it is too late. You can read the release by clicking ‘keep reading’ at the end of this sentence. Continue reading →

By Randy Busbridge

What is going on with the Niagara-on-the-lake Sewage Lagoons?

For several years, nearby residents have been complaining about unpleasant odours. And it’s no secret that the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is nearing capacity. 

Niagara region's sewage lagoons in Niagara-on-the-Lake - an odorous and unwanted neighbour for at least some residents in the community.

A servicing study completed by Niagara Region in July 2008 confirmed that the facility will reach its limit by 2013. It also confirmed that the WWTP is challenged to consistently meet Ministry of the Environment targets, and stated that options needed to be identified as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, by then Project Niagara had come along with its proposal to locate a summer music festival on the site of the current WWTP. This controversial proposal has served to muddy the waters, confusing and slowing down the decision making process. This is not good because time is on no one’s side. Continue reading →

By Pamela J.Minns

Nestled away in our small village of Beaverdams is one of our heritage jewels called the Beaverdams Methodist Church.

A wooden structure built 1832, the building and graveyard were designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act in 1994. It has been recognized by the Province of Ontario through the Archaeological & Historic Sites Board of Ontario on June 20th, 1965 during the church’s 133rd anniversary.

The Ontario Government was represented by Wm. Armstrong of the Historic Sites Board and the Hon. James N.Allan whose ancestors are buried in the Beaverdams churchyard. Continue reading →

The Rotary Clubs of Lincoln and Niagara-on-the-Lake will be hosting their third children’s charity concert, “Hearts Gathering Children” on Sunday, April 11th, 2009, 2 pm at Bethany Community Church, 1388 Third St., St. Catharines.

Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo fame to perform.

Eight local groups of children from across the Niagara Region will be performing to raise funds for “Adrie’s House of Hope”, a project initiated by the Rotary Clubs of Lincoln and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

This year a special set will be courtesy of Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo who will perform acoustic versions of some of their best-known songs

Funds raised will lend support to orphaned children in South Africa.  As part of 6 homes currently built at Ikhalayathemba Village (near Cape Town, South Africa), Adrie’s House provides a loving environment for HIV+ children and AIDS orphans, as well as abandoned, abused and neglected children from the surrounding township.  Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

One of the most significant steps Ontario’s Liberal government has taken to protect our natural heritage over its more than six years in power – and possibly the only significant one – was the creation of the “Greenbelt” in the greater Golden Horseshoe of this province five years ago this March.

The areas in green highlight Ontario's Greenbelt, where agricultural and other lands are intended to be off limits to urban sprawl.

Ontario’s Greenbelt – protecting some 1.8-million acres of agricultural and environmental sensitive lands stretching east of the Toronto area above Lake Ontario and around the lake to the shores of the Niagara River in our greater Niagara region – received a prestigious award from the Canadian Institute of Planners two years ago as a model for protecting and preserving what is left of some of our most precious rural lands from continued, low-density urban sprawl.

Yet it has also been an ongoing bone of contention and it has even been vilified by some as an assault on the rights of farmers and others within its boundaries to do what they want to with their land, and as an impediment to development for municipalities that find themselves, to use one of the words of some municipal leaders, “locked” in it.

This March 31, Niagara’s regional government is hosting what it is calling a “Greenbelt-After-Five Years Summit at the Four Points Sheraton in Thorold, Ontario, and a day-long summit that involves a registration fee of $100 and features a host of speakers from this region and beyond. This site will include more details on the summit agenda and how and where to register later. Continue reading →

By Joe Somers

Canadian banks were largely unaffected by the economic crisis which had such a dramatic effect on their American counterparts, and consequently bankers in the country enjoyed an average 10 percent increase in pay for 2009 at the six largest banks doing business in Canada.

While seniors and others on low and fixed incomes struggle to make ends meet,
The top two executive increases were for Bank of Nova Scotia CEO Richard Waugh, who received a hefty pay increase of 29 percent, and Bank of Montreal CEO William Downe, who wasn’t far behind, getting a pay increase of 25 percent. Continue reading →

The Niagara Parks Commission’s Floral Showhouse is pleased to once again feature a seasonal favourite – The Easter Flower Display – a Niagara tradition for over 60 years. Back by popular demand will also be the added feature of real chicks and bunnies, a treat for kids and adults alike.

The Niagara Parks Commission's classic 'Floral Showhouse', located just upstream from the Horseshoe Falls, will be the venue for an annual favourite and free Easter weekend show.

The Easter show features a cross display of lilies surrounded by colourful and fragrant spring flowers such as daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and azaleas. The warm and serene setting is bursting with gorgeous blooms, orchids and exotic tropical plants as well as beautiful songbirds to get you in the mood for spring. The Floral Showhouse features eight different displays each year, so you can return again and again to discover paradise right in the heart of the city.
 
The show will be ready for the weekend of March 27 – a beautiful place to bring the family on Palm Sunday. Admission to this year-round attraction is free. Located just south of the Falls at 7145 Niagara Parkway, the Floral Showhouse is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parking is available on site. Continue reading →

 By Dan Wilson
 
Earth Hour is fast approaching. That’s the time of year, once a year when we’re encouraged to turn our lights off for an hour to show how much we love and care about the planet.

Started in 2007 by the World Wildlife Fund, individuals, families and businesses are asked to switch off their lights, TVs and other non-essential appliances at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 27th.
 
According to the WWF website, hundreds of millions of people took part in last year’s Earth Hour, making it “the world’s largest global climate change initiative.”
 
To be honest, I haven’t been a big fan of previous Earth Hour events. The idea that the best we can do for THE PLANET THAT GIVES US LIFE is to turn off the lights for one hour is both sad and embarrassing to me. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

If Niagara’s regional government is really all that interested in saving what is left of lands along our Great Lakes for public access, it better get to it, because there isn’t much left to save.

Even less this March following a ruling by the Ontario Municipal Board – a quasi-judicial board handpicked by the provincial government – to say yes to a proposal for a condominium that would include some 35 units, along the shores of Lake Erie in Wainfleet. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Residents in the Crystal Beach area of Fort Erie opposed to plans for a high-rise condo in their lakeshore community may feel encouraged by a recent decision from the Ontario Municipal Board.

A virtual image of the condo tower planned for the Fort Erie community of Crystal Beach.

That decision, tabled earlier this March, ruled against plans by a Toronto-area developer to build a 27-storey high-rise condo in the west end of Toronto, in the Parkdale-High Park area of that city near the water.

The OMB ruling argued that the proposed high-rise was “simply too large” and “inappropriate for (a) site” of mostly one-to-three-storey buildings.

That argument sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it? Continue reading →

By Kim Craitor, MPP for Niagara Falls

I have received so many emails and phone calls about the efforts of Andrew Peller Limited and Vincor’s attempt to get the government to rescind the government’s recent initiative to ensure that 100 per cent of the Ontario grape crop gets put into bottles and not end up on the ground that I feel I should publish this response as an open letter to the industry so Niagara’s grape growers can decide from a position of knowing another point of view on this issue.

Niagara grape growers displayed this sign in St. Catharines, Ontario last fall. On the side it says - "growers forced to dump 15,000 tons of local grapes while wineries import 40,000 tons." Photo by Doug Draper

The so-called Winery and Growers Alliance is in fact a lobby group for the handful of giant wineries that enjoy a monopoly position in the trade of “Cellared in Canada” (CIC) wines.

Unfortunately, they own this monopoly at the expense of the grape growers and taxpayers of Ontario – and now they are using their privileged position to threaten the livelihood of Ontario grape growers. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

A few years back, I descended steps leading down the steep gorge walls of the lower Niagara River with retired Niagara Parks naturalist Robert Ritchie for a tour of one of the few remaining places that can give a person some idea of what this magnificent river must have looked like before the first white settlers showed up in the area.

A Jet Boat, roaring toward the whirlpool rapids of the lower Niagara River early last spring in this file photo by Doug Draper.

That place is on Niagara Parks-owned land and is known as the Niagara Glen – a rich, relatively undisturbed oasis of green along a river corridor that has otherwise been a setting for almost every kind of development imaginable, good, bad and ugly.

As we wound our way down stoney paths, past all of the rare and unique plants, trees  and rock formations the Glen has to offer, Ritchie had just finished telling me there was something almost spiritual about this place when the sound of rushing water below us was masked out by the roar of engines and a voice booming through a bullhorn.

As birds scattered from their nesting places in the trees above us, I looked down on the river and there was another ‘Jet Boat’ loaded with tourists, wide-eyed and grinning as if they were on a giant coaster ride at the Darien Lake amusement park. Continue reading →

By Tim Weis

This year’s federal budget plays like a bad sequel to a film that never made the Oscars.

Canadian environmentalist Tim Weis

The plot behind last year’s “Economic Action Plan” was simple: create short-term jobs and immediate cash flow by funding “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects in as many Canadian communities as possible. Critics said the plan reflected a lack of vision from the director’s chair, and the final tallies show it ran over-budget.

In terms of investing in renewable energy, last year’s budget had very little to offer (although nuclear and ‘clean’ coal got over $1 billion combined). This year, it took a surprise turn for the worse. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

 Bob Gale, a Niagara business many on the Ontario side of the Niagara River may know as the owner of Gale’s Gas Bars, may not seem the most likely guy to get recognized nationally as a whistleblower for the public good.

Former Niagara Parks Commission board member blew the whistle on the NPC for not putting a new contract for the Maid of the Mist ride up for competitive bidding. File Photo by Doug Draper.

But he most certainly has by The Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR), a nationally supported charity group that includes among its members David Kilgour, one of the longest-serving federal MPs from Alberta,  Bob Stenhouse, a highly decorated member of the RCMP who found his future on the line a decade ago for blowing the whistle on the ineffectiveness of federal investigations into outlaw motorcycle gangs.

FAIR has appointed Gale to join Kilgour, Stenhouse and others on its advisory board in the wake of his revelations, in the wake of his service on the board of the Niagara Parks Commission, that the commission was not placing a contract for the Maid of the Mist ride out for competitive bidding in a way that might ultimately benefit a taxpaying public that is the ultimate custodian of lands along the Canadian side of the Niagara River corridor.

Since Gale blew the whistle on the Maid of the Mist business and ultimately parted ways with the NPC’s board, the provincial government has directed the commission to put the contract for that iconic ride out for competitive bidding. The commission has also opened its board meetings to the public for the first time in its 124-history as a steward of one of Canada’s natural gems. Continue reading →

The City of Welland and Brock University signed a memorandum of understanding this March 10 that provides a foundation for the city and Niagara-based university to work together on future projects.

Onlookers applaud after Welland Mayor Damian Goulbourne and Brock University President Jack Livingstone sign 'memorandum of understanding' to work cooperatively on future projects. Photo courtesy of Brock University

“In signing the document … at Welland City Hall,” according to a media release circulated  by the university, “Brock President Jack Lightstone and Welland Mayor Damian Goulbourne also announced the partnership’s first initiative and a significant step forward.
“The University is agreeing in principle to a long term-lease of space to locate the Brock University Human Performance Centre in the Welland International Flatwater Centre. The Brock Centre will operate non-academic, revenue-generating activities that support the work of Brock’s Faculty of Applied Health Sciences. Continue reading →

By Dianne Giliforte

Get ready Niagara Falls!! Coming soon to your community – NOISE and POLLUTION.

Dick Juloksy owns a farm for race horses near the site for the proposed NASCAR speedway and is opposed to the plan. Photo courtesy of CARS

An application to establish a Motorsports Park at the intersection of Sodom Road and the QEW has been submitted to the Region. If this is not what you envisioned when you moved to your quiet rural abode or the quaint community of Chippawa, then start making your own noise now and make it loud and clear, since some politicians are hard of hearing.

Take a look at the travesty in Fort Erie and be afraid, be very afraid. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

The Niagara-based Preservation of Agricultural Lands, one of the oldest citizens groups dedicated to conservation in the province, has launched an appeal before the Ontario Municipal Board of a plan to build a NASCAR speedway facility on rural lands in Fort Erie.

PALS is concerned that decisions by the Town of Fort Erie and Niagara’s regional government that allow such a massive facility on more than 800 acres of agricultural lands outside the town’s urban boundaries literally paves the way for the loss of more of what remains of our rural lands to this kind of development.

Fort Erie’s town council sees the proposal by a consortium called Canadian Motor Speedway as a great economic and tourist opportunity for the municipality, drawing tens-of-thousands of racing fans to the region each and every time races are held. But not everyone in the town embraces the idea – at least not for lands outside Fort Erie’s urban boundaries. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

“There is only one word to describe our health system and it is chaos,” said Pat Scholfield of Port Colborne toward the beginning of a public hearing the Ontario Health Coalition held this March 9 in Welland, Ontario on the state of services in smaller hospitals across the province.

This sign loomed at public hearings over hospitals, though no Welland city councillors made a presentation at the hearings.

More than 250 people from across the Niagara region attended these bipartisan hearings – a series of which is taking place across the province – to address concerns people have over the loss of services at smaller and rural hospitals in Ontario.

The Niagara hearing featured presentations by more than two dozen individuals and groups, including two mayors (Vance Badeway of Port Colborne and Doug Martin of Fort Erie), the president of the Canadian Auto Workers’ Local 199, Wayne Gates, doctors, nurses, paramedics and others

Almost to a person, those who spoke at these hearings expressed concern for diminishing services at the hands of government bodies unresponsive to them. Some, including Badeway, also spoke of building new health system for their communities despite what is being lost through the province’s status quo. Continue reading →

By John Kennedy, grandfather of the late Reilly Anzovino, on behalf of his wife Phyllis, daughter Denise and the rest of Reilly’s family and friends

To Whom It May Concern … And it won’t be (Ontario’s premier) Dalton McGuinty or (the province’s health minister) Deb Matthews that’s for sure.

Reilly's grandfather, John Kennedy, her aunt Marnie Kennedy, mother Denise Kennedy and her brother Kain look on as Sue Salzer reads a message from the family to a public hearing in Niagara on our diminishing hospital services. Photo by Doug Draper.

First of all, thank you to everyone that is working passionately at getting our Fort Erie hospital or what they call “small town facilities” secured. Please forgive me if I sound a little bitter but I woke up this morning again…. a grieving grandfather who has lost his beautiful, sparkling granddaughter Reilly! My granddaughter, who I hugged not knowingly (for) the last time on Christmas Eve.

We all watched Reilly in amazement like we always did, tell us about school and her future plans….. and how happy she was to see her friends and family for Christmas Break. (It was) a visit that was cut short because, and I will try to be nice… of maybe, the McGuinty government’s negligent thinking and paying out millions to restructure our small town health care. … 40,000 people (in Fort Erie when, during the summer, the Buffalo area and other U.S. summer cottagers come in) is apparently considered a small town now?? Continue reading →

By Hillary Beney and Nikki Caperchiono

(Two close friends of Reilly Anzovino, a Fort Erie, Ontario teen who died following a tragic traffic accident in her hometown this past Boxing Day, could barely contain their tears as they asked tearful listeners at a public hearting in Welland this March 9 if Reilly might still be alive today had the province not shut down the emergency rooms in Fort Erie and Port Colborne.)Reilly was not only an amazing daughter and sister, but also the best friend anyone could have asked for.

Denise Kennedy, mother of Reilly looks on as two of Reilly's close friends hold back tears after delivering a message during a public hearing on hospital services in Niagara, as Sue Salzer, a Fort Erie advocate for hospital services in south Niagara looks on.

When she walked into a room, her angelic smile and beauty took over. She was artistic, beautiful, funny, clumsy, smart, passionate and outgoing.

She was the best prom date (anyone) could have asked for. She brought laughter into the lives of everyone she knew. We have all felt as though Reilly had a greater purpose in life, this may just be it.

On December 26th, Reilly passed away in a tragic car accident. Each and every one of us can remember the exact moment when we received the news and the overwhelming rush of heartbreak and disbelief.

What happened that night forever changed our lives and our outlook on this community? We believe that this irrational decision to close down emergency rooms within the area played a big role in the death of Reilly.

The closure of the emergency rooms forced the ambulance to travel a greater distance and ultimately cost Reilly valuable time. In those critical moments we lost the girl who would buy you lunch, when you ran out of money, lend you her clothes if you had nothing to wear and run to your house, in a heartbeat when you needed her just because you had a bad day. Continue reading →

By Linda McKellar

(from a presentation Linda McKeller delivered during public hearings hosted this March 9 by the Ontario Health Coalition in Welland Ontario, as part of a series the not-for-profit, province-wide coalition is holding in regions across Ontario on concerns over service cuts to our hospitals.)

I have been asked to give a presentation representing the point of view of a group who have been reluctant to speak out due to fear of repercussions – the front line nurses.

Retired Niagara nurse Linda McKellar testifies at public hearing about diminishing hospital services in Niagara. Photo courtesy of Donna Frankson.

By way of introduction, I was a nurse for 40 years, the last 25 in Welland ER (emergency room), so I feel I can speak accurately about the conditions.

Conditions in the entire hospital have gotten progressively worse. The staff attitude has become one of despair and frustration and public opinion of services has gone down the toilet. This started with cutbacks and closures under the Conservatives and now continues under the Liberals. Care has suffered horribly.

These initiatives didn’t work then and they won’t work now. Continue reading →

(From an address Dr. William Hogg presented to public hearings hosted this March 9 by the Ontario Health Coalition in Welland Ontario, as part of a series tof public hearings he not-for-profit, province-wide coalition is holding in regions across Ontario on concerns over service cuts to our hospitals.)

By William Hogg, MD

Hello everyone.

Dr. William Hogg, a retired Fort Erie physician, speaks on concerns over cuts to Niagara's hospital services at public hearings in Welland, Ontario.

I’m a retired doctor who has done acute emergency work – and taught it on both sides of the border.

Today I’ll try to translate a tiny part of the grievous loss of Ms Reilly Anzovino into a plea and rationale for local Medicare repair. In June of last year, concerned about the Niagara Health System’s depredations, I sent a series of short notes to NHS – warning of deaths to come. SURELY to come – should the small town Emergency Departments in our region’s southern tier be shut down?

NHS did not acknowledge my early warnings. It did not care enough to act humanely for any of the critically injured or sick people in our area. | NHS just ploughed ahead unwisely. Both emergency rooms WERE closed. And deaths HAVE happened – unwarranted and wrongful deaths! Now – the kinds of deaths I predicted and warned of happen during so-called ‘TIME-critical’ emergencies.

They can come on in a split second. They can happen anywhere. At home. On a country road. In ambulances. If a ‘far away’ hospital IS reached, disability or death may still occur – even there. Continue reading →

In his first address to an annual meeting as leader of Ontario’s Conservative Party Leader,  Tim Hudak – a Fort Erie native and Niagara area MPP – vowed to “modernize” his party, “once again lead as the province with the strongest economy, best hospitals, best schools and best jobs in Canada,” and “leave behind the failed policies of the McGuinty Liberal government.”

Ontario Conservative leader and Niagara area MPP Tim Hudak delivers keynote address at party's annual meeting in Ottawa this March.

In a continued spirit of publishing, for the record, statements by significant others on matters of importance to the residents of our

 region, Niagara At Large is providing Tim Hudak’s first address, as Conservative leader, to the party’s annual meeting below.

Please feel free, at the end of the text for this speech, to join the discussion and debate where we as a binational region of this province should be going by sharing your views in the comment boxes below.

We encourage your views and believe they are as vital to the process of building healthier communities as those of anyone holding an elected or non-elected office in government today. We also welcome the opportunity to review for publicaltion addresses on matters of interest and conern from other residents and community leaders in our region. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the following media release from Ontario’s colleges with quotes from Niagara College president Dan Patterson, praising the throne speech delivered this March 8 by the provincial government of Dalton McGuinty. NAL posts it, without edits, with a few questions we are not sure have been answered through the throne speech, including – What is the government specifically going to do to take the burden off our college and university students around the costs for tuition and the outrageous prices charged for text books? Or is most of this provincial initiative all about packing our colleges and university – many of them built through donations by generations of Ontarions in our communties with more foreign students, at even higher tuition rates, so they can go back to their countries with the skills and knowledge they learned here to fuel the futures of their countries’ economies? Again, what is there in the McGuinty throne speech that will make it more affordable for young people in Ontario to receive a college or university education?)

March 8, 2010 – Ontario’s colleges, including Niagara College, are praising the important commitments made by the Ontario government today to produce more college and university graduates.

“Greater numbers of people will get the higher education and training they need to achieve success,” said Anne Sado, the chair of the colleges’ committee of presidents, “This is an important commitment to people’s futures and to producing a stronger workforce in this new knowledge economy.” Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

If we need one more reminder that the party is over for all the relentless binging aging baby boomers like me have been on for everything from pet rocks to big, bloated vanity homes for just two boomers with no kids, consider the news last week that General Motors is at long last closing the curtains of its show rooms on the Hummer.

Seems GM could not find another buyer on the planet for this gargantuan, gas-sucking pig of a vehicle – not even from auto manufacturers in China – and had no choice this March but to shut the “brand” down.

And thank whatever god you and I pray to for that!

There are possibly few more conspicuous symbols of the ‘no-holds-barred, let’s-live for-today’ drive to consume almost anything and everything we boomers can grab on to, regardless of the consequences, than the Hummer.

There was something very obvious about the Hummer and many of the larger Sport Utility Vehicles (more infamously known as SUVs) that spoke to a culture – pre-soaring oil prices and 2008 economic meltdown – that said; ‘We who drive this car couldn’t give a damn about energy conservation, air quality or anything else. … If we happen to get in a collision and you are driving a smaller car, we’ll just brush you off the grill and move on.” Continue reading →

By Dan Wilson

Bob Timmons, an artist, vegan and animal rights activist, spoke about ocean life at the Niagara Action for Animals Vegan Potluck Friday night in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Bob Timmons, artist and advocate for marine life, speaks in Niagara. Photo by Dan Wilson.

Timmons, who is based in Toronto, was in town to raise awareness of the plight of sea animals, including sharks, which are being slaughtered by the millions for the shark fin trade.

According to Timmons, 90 million sharks are fished every year, with 80 per cent of the shark fins going to Hong Kong. Many shark species are on the verge of extinction because of over-fishing and shark fining, the practice of catching sharks, cutting off their fins and throwing them back in the water to drown. Continue reading →

By Larry Beahan

Buffalo’s own Senator Antoine Thompson, Chair of the New York State Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, proposes that the State borrow $5 billion to pay for clean water, clean air and, in the process, create green jobs. Sometimes you need to borrow money.

Waters both Buffalo area and Niagara, Ontario residents share could benefit from a 'Green Bond' being proposed by Western New York Senator Antoine Thompson. Photo by Doug Draper

My friend Chuck’s grandfather arrived in New York City from Russia with no money at all. He borrowed $5 from relatives, rented a push cart, peddled bananas and wound up a successful real-estate developer. New York State’s finances now resemble those of my friend’s forbearer on his arrival here. And since that time we have badly polluted the air and water of our State.

The $1.76-billion-dollar 1996 Clean Water Clean Air Bond Act paid for a lot of wastewater treatment, separate storm sewer systems and aquatic habitat restoration but it is now exhausted. The Environmental Protection Fund, supplied by the real-estate transfer tax, has protected open space, bought parks, revitalized waterfronts and closed dumps all over the State.

But in these difficult times the Governor has used his power to sweep it clean of cash. He has used the money to plug holes in the leaking dike that is the New York State budget. Problem Number One is that our economy is stalled. There are not enough jobs to go around. People who are out of work don’t pay taxes and without tax revenues we cannot attack Problem Number Two, our polluted environment.

This $5 billion will buy us an enormous push cart, a push cart of green jobs, a push cart full of clean water, clean air, and reclaimed land. To bring it right home, Woodlawn Beach State Park has a magnificent wide sandy beach and it is close to where a lot of Western New Yorker’s live. Continue reading →

By Bob Korol

Dear Honourable Members of the Legislature,

It has been brought to my attention that the Ontario government is considering re-designating 827 acres of good quality agricultural lands to site a proposed motorway, aka a NASCAR race track. 

I wish to express most strongly my opposition to the proposal for several reasons. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

When it comes to the Niagara Regional Police Service and its plans for building a new police headquarters, any semblance of openness and transparency too often flies out the window for Niagara, Ontario’s regional council.

The Niagara Regional Police Service's existing headquarters in downtown St. Catharines. Photo by Doug Draper

For about the umpteenth time over the past two or three years, the doors to the regional government’s council chambers were closed to members of the media and general public this March 4 – this time for more than four hours. The doors were shut for so long that Cogeco’s Cable 10 media crew, which dutifully trains the eyes of their cameras on regional council proceedings for the public, finally packed up their gear and went home.

The optics of those doors remaining closed until members of the public finally get fed up and leave on Thursday council meeting nights are not good for a regional government that otherwise has a pretty decent record for openness.

And to swing those doors shut almost every time there is a discussion or debate over a police headquarters that would amount to one of the largest capital investment of our money the regional government is perched to make in its 40-year history is unacceptable.

The region has been drawing a curtain of secrecy around this issue for far too long now and it is about time members of the public began contacting their mayors and directly elected regional councillors and demanding some disclosure. Continue reading →

By Rob Nicholson,
Niagara Falls, Ontario MP and Canada’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General

Canadians lose faith in the criminal justice system when they feel that the punishment does not fit the crime. They have told us they want criminals – particularly violent offenders or those involved in gangs and organized crime – to serve a sentence that is proportionate to the severity of their crimes.

Niagara Falls MPP and Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson

I am pleased to write that we have met those expectations in the Truth in Sentencing Act, which came into force Monday, February 22. This piece of legislation strictly limits the amount of credit granted for time served in custody prior to sentencing, thereby ensuring offenders will serve sentences that are more appropriate.

In the past, courts often applied a credit of two-to-one for time served in pre-trial custody when sentencing criminals.  In some circumstances, certain offenders even received three-for-one credit.

This awarding of extra credit lead not only to the perception that sentences were too lenient – it also lead to the reality that, all too often, criminals were being released back on our streets far too soon.

Like the majority of Canadians, our Government believed that this situation was unacceptable. So, we acted on it.  Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Beyond the sandy dunes lining the northeastern shores of the Cape Cod community of Provincetown, Massachusetts, is one of the most fertile areas for marin

Humpback whale off coast of Cape Cod's Provincetown. This Photos and others below courtesy of the Dollphin Fleet of Provincetown.

e life in the coastal waters of the North Atlantic.

This 842-square miles of ocean – known since its designation by an act of U.S. Congress in 1992 as the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary – is still thankfully host to Humpback, Minke, Finback and other species of whales, and to sharks, seals, porpoises and tuna. On a good day of sailing on these waters, a person may enjoy the spectacle of dozens, if not hundreds of dolphins dancing in the boat’s wake.

Thanks to the Dolphin Fleet of Provincetown – a company of boats that, in concert with marine experts like Carole Carlson and others from the Center for Coastal Studies, my family and others have enjoyed the experience of viewing these wondrous beings in their natural habitat now for more than 30 years. I can still remember taking my daughter Sarah out on one of these excursions a good 15 years ago when she was only five-years old, and watching her eyes turn wide as boat cut off its engines and all we could hear was the sound of water lapping against the bow as a female Humpback and her calf glided by.

Since then, this is the only way our daughter has experienced these great creatures. She has never expressed any desire to go to SeaWorld or Marineland, and my wife Mary and I have never had any desire to take her there. And I don’t mind telling you, I am proud of that as the tired old debate of whether whales and other marines mammals comes up again. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper 

A friend to the left and Reilly in pink along the shores of Lake Erie

The mother of Reilly Anzovino – the Fort Erie teen who died following an ambulance trip from a traffic accident scene in her hometown to a hospital emergency room in Welland – hopes that an inquest into the circumstances around her death will lead to better health care for all Niagara residents.

Reilly’s mother, Denise Kennedy, was responding to news this March 2 that Ontario’s chief coroner, Dr. Andrew McCallum, will hold an inquest into the 18-year old’s death in the early morning minutes of this past December 27, following a traffic accident on Hwy. 3 before midnight on Boxing Day.

“Although nothing will bring Reilly back,” Denise told Niagara At Large on behalf of herself, Reilly’s father, Tim Anzovino, and other members of the family, “we hope that this inquest will bring recommendations and changes to the health care of our community. …. “I think it is important to have recommendations that are unbiased and made by a competent expert,” she added. Continue reading →

(As part of Niagara At Large’s mission to provide more information than the mainstream media on issues of concern to residents in our greater binational Niagara region, we offer the following for-the-record exchange between Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty and NDP leader Andrea Horwath on the issue of hospital services in Niagara)

Ms. Andrea Horwath: This is over to the Premier as well. Ontarians are soon going to have some answers about the terrible tragedy that took place on December 27 in the Niagara region. The coroner’s inquest into the death of Reilly Anzovino will determine whether this young woman’s tragic death may have been prevented had the emergency room of Fort Erie not been forced to shut its doors last year.

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath

In the face of growing health care cuts, Ontarians are looking to the government for assurance. If the coroner’s jury determines that the ER closures in Port Colborne and Fort Erie contributed to Reilly Anzovino’s death, will the Premier commit to reopening them?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the outcome that my colleague is speculating about.

Let me just say, on behalf of the government, we welcome this review by the coroner’s office. We look forward to receiving the jury’s recommendations, and we look forward to acting on those in any way that serves the interests of the people of Ontario. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Fort Erie’s mayor Doug Martin says he’s prepared to stake his political future on supporting a controversial high-rise tower for his town’s historic Crystal Beach district, and he has proved it.

Fort Erie Mayor Doug Martin displays images of condo development he's willing to stake his political future on. Photo by Doug Draper

At the end of another marathon meeting before his council this March 1 on the pros and cons of a developer’s plans to erect a 12-storey condominium in front of a publicly owned stretch of the Lake Erie shore, known as Bay Beach to many Niagara, Ontario and Western New York residents who enjoy it during the summer months, Martin stood true to his words.

The mayor – having listened to close to two hours of delegations speaking for and against the council plan – broke a three-to-three tie on his council to support the passage of a bylaw allowing the height restrictions in Crystal Beach (where most of the cottages and buildings presently there are one or two stories) accommodate a building as high as 12 storeys.

“I believe this is the right thing to do,” Martin told Niagara At Large while the marathon meeting was still looming. “It is about Crystal Beach. It is about rejuvenation. It is about laying the foundation for our children to built on.” Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Some breaking news here this March 2.

Reilly Anzovino

Dr. Andrew McCallum, Ontario’s chief coroner, has announced that he will hold a public inquest into the death of Reilly Anzovino, a Fort Erie teen who died from injuries in a car accident in her home town when she was ambulanced to emergency services at a hospital in Welland.

Many south Niagara residents and politicians, including Niagara Falls Liberal MPP Kim Craitor, Welland NDP MPP Peter Kormos and Niagara area MPP and Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak, called on the chief coroner to hold an inquest following Reilly’s death. All, including Reilly’s parents in their own letter to the coroner, wonder if Reilly might still be alive today if the emergency rooms at the Fort Erie and Port Colborne hospitals had not been closed by the Niagara Health System and Local Integrated Health Network as cost cutting measures last year.

Read on for the text of the chief coroner’s announcement, and Niagara At Large will provide more news and commentary on this development as information comes in. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

A few years ago, when Ontario’s environmental commissioner Gord Miller appeared as a keynote speaker at an annual fundraising dinner for the Mel Swart Lake Gibson Conservation Park in the Thorold community of Niagara, Ontario, he proved once again what a fearless voice he was for environmental protection and this province’s people.

Ontario government is pulling plug on Gord Miller's stint as province's top environmental watchdog

 During the course of his speech, he made several references to a lack of priority and resources the Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty was devoting to a host of environmental issues from energy conservation to the protection of our land and water resources. At one point, he went so far as to say that the budget for the province’s Ministry of Natural Resources had been cut so much, its field officers could hardly afford fuel for their trucks. All the while Miller (also a former Ontario Ministry of Environment scientist) was saying these things, Jim Bradley, a St. Catharines MPP and a minister in McGuinty’s cabinet, was sitting there at the head table taking all this in.

When I approached Bradley later, he didn’t give an impression that he minded Miller’s criticism so much and even suggested that he had some respect for the man. But that was a few years ago and still some time away from a 2011 provincial election in which McGuinty, by all accounts, plans to run in and win a third term as premier.

With that election looming ever nearer, we learned late this February that McGuinty and his gang have decided to let their contracts with Miller and with an equally fearless public watchdog – Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin – expire at the end of this March. Continue reading →