Fort Erie, Ontario – Or Should We Call It ‘Fort Dreary’ – Gets No Respect At All

By Fort Erie resident Paul Kassay

I wonder how many people took part in that so called “Town Hall meeting” in Fort Dreary the other night.  It was conducted as a kind of conference call  and lasted almost an hour. The idea was that callers were given a chance to speak directly to their senior elected officials and voice their beefs for all to hear.

Paul Kassay's depiction of the car wreck (with some thought given to the NASCAR track plan) that his town of Fort Erie, Ontario has become with one loss of job sites after another. Image courtesy of Paul Kassay.

My chance came after a wait that seemed an eternity. My question was; Why did not the OLG (Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation) coincide the closing of The Slots with the end of Horse racing season? “

Guess what ? I never did get on the program. I registered early and came on late, maybe too late.

My guess is that no one wanted to answer my question. A little too inconvenient to air?  But I was promised that someone would get back to me soon. I am still waiting. Most of the callers- in were concerned with things like all-day kindergarten, the budget. and health care. Just ask those people being affected by the slots closures if jobs rank higher than all-day kindergarten. Personally, my scepticism leads me to believe that it was all perhaps a little “pre-programmed”.

Now lets get back to Fort Dreary. That is exactly what Fort Erie is becoming. Now they are closing the Welcome Centre, also near the Race Track and The Slots, and what’s next?

There is DMI, a renewable energy equipment manufacturing company in the Fort Erie community of Stevensville, where at one time a couple of hundred workers were going strong, The lot of that company used to be full of wind turbine towers. Now, on an average day, you might see a half dozen worker’s cars in the lot.

People bitch about those turbines being ugly and many of the same folks complain about solar farms. That’s the NIMBY thing in action. The Feed In Tariff is way too generous. On that I agree. But given a choice, you bet I would welcome turbines on my farm, and the “cash crop” that comes with it.

So the Province has really shafted us again. Maybe Queen’s Park thinks that we really are a suburb of Buffalo, New York. 

Kim Craitor, (as the Liberal government MPP who represents Fort Erie as part of your Niagara Falls riding), I know you are in a tough spot and you are a caring politician. But were I in your position – perhaps easier said than done — I would have bolted the party by now.

Paul Kassay is a Fort Erie resident and longtime advocate for preserving what is left of the heritage in Crystal Beach and other communities in the Fort Erie area.

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