Community Activist Liz Benneian Wins Niagara Region’s First-Ever ‘Environmental Award’

“I have been, and continue to be, very grateful for your support, and for the support of the broader community of Niagara residents, who care about good planning, good government, our environment and climate and the kind of future we will leave to our children and grandchildren.”  – Lincoln resident and director of the Biodiversity and Climate Action Committee – Niagara  

Some God News – And Couldn’t We All Use A Little More Good News – from Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper

Posted April 3^rd, 2024 on Niagara At Large

At this past March 28th, 2024’s annual State of the Region event, featuring a keynote address by Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley and hosted each year by the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce, Liz Benneian, a resident of Lincoln  and a community activist who, among other things, is a director of  the  region-wide coalition of citizens now known to many as  Biodiversity and Climate Acton Committee – Niagara, was presented the Region’s first-ever Environmental Award.

This new Environmental Award – presented  by Chair  Bradley – is one of four other Niagara Impact Awards created by the Region in 2021 “to recognize those individuals, non-profit organizations and private-sector businesses who have gone ‘above and beyond’ to improve the quality of life for those in our community.”

In this reporter’s view, Liz Benneian has certainly lived up to those words and continues to and I don’t mind saying that I was one of  what I understand to be a good number of individuals and groups who submitted to Niagara’s regional government a testimonial in hope that she would receive this award. I have no idea how much, if any, my words had a hand in Liz being chosen for it.

I will share my testimonial  here as a way of informing the community at large of her work –  

To Whom It May Concern,

As a journalist and aproud resident of Niagara, I am pleased to support any bid to nominate Liz Benneian for a 2024 Niagara Impact Award.

In my more than 40 years of reporting in newspapers and online on environmental and urban development issues of interest and concern to citizens in this region, I have been fortunate enough to cross paths with many citizens devoting their time freely to efforts to build better, more sustainable communities for us all.

And when it comes to citizen engagement in those ‘common good’ efforts, Liz Benneian has been and continues to be a stand out.

Through her grassroots activism and organizing skills, and through the invaluable information she posts online on how to build sustainable communities, Liz Benneian continues to serve as an effective educator and mentor to residents of all ages, and as an inspiration to all of us to become more engaged  in the affairs of our communities.

Last but not least, I want to say that every time I have witnessed Liz Benneian appearing as a delegate before a municipal council in our region, she presents her views in a very fair and thoughtful way, and it is always clear that she has done a great deal of  homework on the issue at hand. Over and over again, municipal representatives have told me that she has made a valuable contribution to their deliberations.

For all of those reasons and more, I look forward to Liz Benneian being named as a recipient of a 2024 Niagara Impact Award.

–      –   Doug Draper, Niagara resident

Finally, here is a very nice and gracious letter that Liz Bennian wrote and posted on the Biodiversity and Climate Action Commttee Facebook page, thanking everyone who nominated her, as well as all who continue volunteering their time together with her to work for the changes needed to make Niagara a healthier and greener place to live –

My dear friends:

Thank you so much to all of you who nominated me for an Impact Award from the Region of Niagara, that was presented to me by Regional Chair Jim Bradley, during the State of the Region event hosted by the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.

I did see some of the nominations that were submitted and I was very touched by your kind words.

I have been, and continue to be, very grateful for your support, and for the support of the broader community of Niagara residents, who care about good planning, good government, our environment and climate and the kind of future we will leave to our children and grandchildren.

21 years is a long time for an activist to stay in the arena given all the ups and downs, the backsliding and the never-ending new issues, but what has kept me here is you.

When you do this kind of work, you meet the best people, people who care about their communities; people who think about what’s best for everyone, not just themselves; people who care about the fate of, as Indigenous people say, “all of our relations” not just our human species; and above all, people who are future-focused, who stay hopeful and who keep moving ahead and trying — even when the odds seems overwhelming.

You are my kind of people and I hope to continue to be able to help and support you in our collective work on the issues that matter.

• With gratitude, Liz

Here is a page from the Region listing all of this year’s recipients –

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