Daily Archives: March 8, 2010

(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 →