Call Your Mayor and Regional Councillors NOW and Urge Them to Vote for a Healthy Future

Urge Them to Vote ‘YES’ This Wednesday, December 1st for the Measures in ‘Option 3C’ – the Measures We Need to Protect What is Left of Niagara’s Natural Heritage

“We (in Niagara) have a pretty unique area …. and it is incumbent on us to protect it. …. I think (Option) 3C is best for the environment and the future.”                                                                          – Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley at a council meeting earlier this year.

“Our natural heritage is Niagara’s brand. … Our watershed is our brand. That’s how we are known internationally. We should be embracing that.”                                                                                   – Pelham Regional Councillor and Chair of Niagara Region’s Planning and Economic Development Committee Diana Huson at a council meeting earlier this year.

A Call-Out from Doug Draper, reporter and publisher of Niagara At Large

Posted November 29th on Niagara At Large

This coming Wednesday, December 1st, our Regional Council is expected to make a decision that could determine the fate of what’s left of our natural heritage in Niagara for generations to come.

Will our municipal leaders vote in favour of the strongest measures possible (in Option 3C) to protect and preserve what is left of the irreplaceable natural places in Niagara or will they opt for weaker measures (in Option 3B) that  see even more of our green places covered over in asphalt?

For the sake of our own health, the health of our communities, and the nature systems we need to help combat the climate crisis we face today, we cannot allow the same-old, same-old, business-as-usual asphalt option to continue into the indefinite future. Not if we want to have a future that is livable and survivable for our kids!

This Wednesday, December 1st, our Regional Councillors will meet to discuss and possibly vote on what measures to adopt to protect and preserve a ‘Natural Heritage System’ for Niagara. Whatever measures for protection and preservation of our precious natural places will make of a key part of the Region’s Official Plan – a plan that will guide and ultimately drive how sustainably or unsustainably we in Niagara grow our communities for now and for many years in to the future.

Before this December 1st meeting (for more details, click on – https://www.niagararegion.ca/government/council/agendas-minutes/2012/committee-of-the-whole.aspx ) happens, I urge you to contact your local mayor and members of Regional Council and urge them to vote for Option 3C. You can find their contact information by clicking on – https://www.niagararegion.ca/government/council/profiles/default.aspx

As of now, the image below, courtesy of the Niagara-wide citizens group Biodiversity and Climate Action Niagara, features those on the regional council who seem to want to place the monetary interest of those in development industry wanting to bulldoze more of our natural heritage down ahead of our kids’ future. I especially urge you to contact them.  –

Finally, here is a quote from Port Colborne Regional Councillor Barbara Butters earlier this year that says it all on this issue –

“I recently became a great grandmother and in 2051, when my great granddaughter is 29 or 30 years old and I will be 98, and … if I am still around,” continued Councillor Butters,  “I would like to be able to look around and see a Niagara that is still green and that we have made the best decisions going forward that preserves what really makes Niagara special.”

Amen.

Please contact your mayor and regional councillors before this Wednesday’s Regional Council meeting and urge them to vote for Option 3C.

• Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

“Here we are, arguably the most intelligent being that’s ever walked planet Earth, with this extraordinary brain, yet we’re destroying the only home we have.”  – Jane Goodall

Ultimately we need to recognize that while humans continue to build urban landscapes, we share these spaces with others species.” – David Suzuki

I can’t imagine anything more important than air, water, soil, energy and biodiversity. These are the things that keep us alive. – David Suzuki

NIAGARA AT LARGE Encourages You To Join The Conversation By Sharing Your Views On This Post In The Space Following The Bernie Sanders Quote Below.

“A Politician Thinks Of The Next Election. A Leader Thinks Of The Next Generation.” – Bernie Sanders