By Becky Day
The St. Catharines-Thorold Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual State of the Cities address titled “The Tale of Two Cities” on February 5. Thorold Mayor Henry D’Angela and St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan both shared the achievements of their cities with the business community.
The Chamber brought the two cities together for the event, not only because they represent them, but because it believe people from St. Catharines and Thorold should care about what is happening in both cities.
Chamber President Rob DePetris emphasized the idea of municipalities coming together for the common good in a motivating speech to a room full of Niagara business people and dignitaries.
“The public sector and politicians must modify the way in which they do business,” he said. “Governments in Niagara can send a powerful signal to the private sector that this region is ready for investment by showcasing that municipal boundaries are simply lines on a map and not barriers to progress. By throwing away parochialism and embracing cooperation for the greater goal of economic prosperity.”
DePetris discussed the challenges Niagara has faced with losing traditional manufacturing, and how it has affected the local economy. But he stressed that the region has resiliency and governments in Niagara have an important role to play in the recovery effort.
“Moving towards this thinking does not mean losing identity. It means working more innovatively to provide a better environment for business, quality of life and level of service for Niagara’s citizens and business with less bureaucracy and more efficiency,” he said.
“Opportunity is at Niagara’s doorstep. In order to embrace it we must work together.”
(This article was originally published on Becky Day’s online news and commentary site ‘Thorold Politics At Its Best – Keeping Them Honest’ that you can visit at http://beckydayblog.wordpress.com/. You an also visit her site for other communication services she offers at www.niagarafreelance.com.)
Niagara At Large 
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all work together as “One Niagara” as St. Catharines Mayor McMullan and Thorold Mayor D’Angela are suggesting. For instance if the new hospital had been located in the southern corner of Thorold as numerous people had suggested, we would then have a regional specialty centre of excellence in a location that could have given the majority of citizens of Niagara timely and equitable access to quality health care. Then other surrounding community hospitals could have been downscaled somewhat and still provide affordable service to their people…and it would have been a sustainable system. But as long as St. Catharines insists they are the centre of the universe and all government buildings and services must be located there or they throw a hissy fit, I don’t see how we of the southern tier can go along with this self centred thinking.
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“One Niagara”. Wow. Neat idea, huh? “Throwing away parochialism”? Another winner. So how come St. Catharines didn’t show that communal spirit, when it learned that its new hospital was also going to be the region’s only health centre? After all, north Niagara has the lion’s share of the votes at Region. Did St. Catharines lead the way to push for a more central location? No, it did not.
So now comes the emotional blackmail. We in the south are simply not doing our part. We are sore losers. Our parochial attitude is going to drive away that coveted “economic prosperity”.
Meanwhile, we read every day of one individual American municipality after another that is advancing the well-being of its own citizens by adopting innovative, home-grown approaches to solving local problems.
Nobody’s calling them parochial.
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Yeah, put the hospital in the middle of the region where there is no public transit or other convenient way to get around, except by car. That is what is wrong with this region. People taking their cars for granted and going wherever they want, while the rights, opportunities and income of those that cannot or cannot afford to drive, continue to get stomped on as long as the day is long. Maybe this region SHOULD be amalgamated for its own good, because as it stands now, Welland and Niagara Falls might as well be on the moon as far as getting there is concerned when you don’t drive. When are our politicians going to smarten up and listen?
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Angela, the only people who could get to the present site without cars are those covered by St. Catharines transit. I don’t see your point. One hospital for the region demands regional transit — that’s a given. But those plans should have been made as soon as the site was decided upon. As it is now, those who can’t afford cars and need to access the new hospital are going to be lining the side of the 406, with their thumbs out…
As for amalgamation — I’m staying in Orléans, and I can vouch for the dissatisfaction of residents here, ignored on Ottawa Council while their taxes mount for benefits they are not getting. Nope. Amalgamation of Niagara is only going to make things worse for the smaller and southern municipalities. The choice of the hospital site is an clear indication of that.
Some of our politicians are never going to smarten up. So it’s up to us to find some better ones, come October!
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The new hospital which is being flogged about is going to be the ONLY hospital in St. Catharines, so why would they build a St. Catharines hospital so far out of St. Catharines that non-drivers won’t access it? Our St. Catharines General and Hotel Dieu sites are both slated for closure. The primary purpose of this new hospital is to replace those hospitals. That is the part of the story that some of the NHS bashers of the south won’t mention.
As for the regional services it will be providing, there will be some regional services such as orthopaedic surgeries, pediatrics, opthamology and many other services that won’t be provided at the new hospital but will be provided in Welland and/or Niagara Falls. Their plan is “centres of excellence”, not “centre of excellence”. I have the same problem you do: how do people get there, whether it be St. Catharines, Welland or Niagara Falls? If I had to go to Welland for eye surgery, it is $70 out of pocket for the trip, which I don’t have.
You should read Jack Kitts’ response, he just assumes most people get to hospitals by car, so he assumed transportation wasn’t a critical piece., so this is why they started crumbling the hospitals before the new one is even built.
I don’t think they should have closed Douglas Memorial or Port Colborne Hospital either. That was a foolish choice, once again, by the NHS planning people, probably all of whom have cars and a good income anyways, so they don’t have to worry about the small details about how those people who don’t drive will get from one community to the hospital that will be providing the health care they need.
I think people in Fort Erie and Port Colborne should be filing human rights complaints, as access to an allegedly universal service is compromised by NHS shortsightedness.
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