Author Archives: dougdraper

A  Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted July 15^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

When I turned on CBC this July 14^th to the news that yet another horrific terrorist attack had been committed – this one killing more than 80 men, women and children in Nice, France – I immediately thought of a nice couple from Paris, France that my wife and I met while we were visiting friends on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The couple, who came to the United States this spring to visit their son, who is working in New York City, decided to take a side trip to the Cape and other parts of New England before heading back home, and seemed to be enjoying their time except for the unescapable news that Donald Trump had emerged as the Republican Party’s frontrunner in the race for the U.S. presidency.

Even though the couple had lived through two other bloody terrorists attacks in their country in the last 18 months, including one last November that killed 130 people in suicide bomb attacks around Paris, they found Trump’s tough talk about a total ban on Muslin immigrants, and about bringing back waterboarding or worse and possibly dropping a few bombs himself to be troubling, and they wondered how much more dangerous the world would be if Trump became president and tried following through on those ideas. Continue reading →

In Canada, We At Least Now Have A Prime Minister Striving To Do The Same

An Excerpt from U.S. President Barack Obama’s July 12^th Address at Memorial Service for fallen Dallas, Texas Police Officers

Posted July 14^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper – With now fewer than six months left in his presidency, Barack Obama delivered what is arguably one of his most heartfelt and reasoned statements yet for healing the divisions between groups of people in his country.

This address came on July 12^th, in the wake of the killing of five police officers by a black Army veteran whose rampage was reportedly triggered by two black men shot to death by police days earlier.

U.S. President Barack Obama depicted as a witchdoctor in one of many racist posters displayed at rallies of angry white people in recent years.

The words in this eloquent address also came from a person who has been a high-profile target of racial prejudice going back to his historic swearing in as the African American to assume the U.S. presidency.

From the earliest days of his presidency, there were rallies of mostly older, white Americans, featuring Tea Party favourites like Sarah Palin, and featuring a forest of signs depicting Obama as an African witchdoctor, in white face or wearing a Hitler moustache. The rallies were punctuated with chants, echoed right up to the Donald Trump ranting mob-fests of today, of; “I want my country back!” – code for ‘get the darky out of the White House’. Continue reading →

News from Brock University

Posted July 14^th on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Naomi Cermak never had the chance to complete the triathlon she trained so hard for while battling cancer. The disease took that away from her. But, cancer could never steal her determination to try in all aspects of her life.

Naomi Cermak

Despite metastatic melanoma, the 31-year-old Brock University graduate achieved academic breakthroughs and thrived athletically throughout her short life. She died in 2013 after a 13-month fight with the disease.

To honour her memory and raise money for a graduate student scholarship in her name, the Brock community will come together on Thursday, July 21 for the Tri to Inspire triathlon being held at Brock. Continue reading →

Province Unveils Over 250 Convenient Charging Locations

In Niagara, Ontario, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Welland, Lincoln, Port Colborne and Fort Erie On The List Of Locations   For Charging Station

Posted July 13th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Ontario – Ontario is building almost 500 electric vehicle charging stations at over 250 convenient locations across the province to help reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight climate change.

The province is working with 24 public- and private-sector partners to create an unprecedented network of public charging electric vehicle stations in cities, along highways, at workplaces and at various public places across Ontario. This includes over 200 Level 3 and nearly 300 Level 2 charging stations. The entire network will be in service by March 31, 2017.

The province’s $20-million investment under Ontario’s Green Investment Fund will expand charging infrastructure across the province and will help address “range anxiety,” a common concern of consumers regarding the distance electric vehicles can travel compared to traditional vehicles. Continue reading →

From the Office of Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

Posted July 13^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls, Ontario – Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates addressed over 1,000 delegates at the Assembly of First Nations Annual General Assembly this week in Niagara Falls.

“I’ve taken the time to read over your goals for this Assembly and the goals of the sessions you will be attending,” stated Gates. “In these discussions I see a lot of hope for pathways forward. I see frameworks that can lead to consensus on the most pressing issues of our times.”

Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates addresses First Nations assembly

“In these discussions I see the desire to finally have a plan that can say that economic development and environmental protection can work hand-in-hand. A plan that says the legacy of the residential school system will finally be treated with the importance it deserves and the recognition it still needs. I also see a desire to create a framework where we can discuss health alongside wellness and finally, I see hope that we can begin the much needed work towards a true nation-to-nation relationship.” Continue reading →

Provincewide Engagement Taking Place this Summer

Niagara Area Residents Interested In This Issue Should Mark Down The Following Place & Time To Make Sure Your Input On Improving Public Transit In The Niagara Region Is Heard  – Niagara Falls: August 10th, 2016 9:00am – 12:00pm, Gale Centre Arena, Memorial Community Room

A Call-Out For Input from the Ontario Government

Queen’s Park, Ontario – As part of Ontario’s commitment to facilitate new and innovative travel options, the province is seeking input on how to improve public transportation between communities.

This summer, Ontario will be engaging with industry, stakeholders, communities and Indigenous peoples across the province about how to modernize bus services in the province. Continue reading →

A Comment from Catherine Ens, Niagara Action For Animals

Posted July 12^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – While the story about residents going to St. Catharines city council this July 11^th demanding a bylaw for licensing cats has a ‘silly’ side, it also presents a serious message to the deadbeats who love their kitty until at the age of six months or so, she becomes a bit straggly looking, or she decides to sharpen her claws on the sofa or the litterbox is JUST to much of a chore.

So out she goes, dumped on a road side somewhere or left outside to fend for herself and ultimately pregnant – now one cat becomes five or six, all scrounging around garbage or killing other wildlife; doing what comes naturally and doing the best they can to eak out a living, so to speak.

PLEASE FOLKS, get your companion animals spayed and help to prevent the spiralling- out-of-control ‘pet’ overpopulation.   

As well – for a multitude of reasons – please do your best to keep them indoors!

As the co-founder of Niagara Action for Animals, a local charity in the Niagara, Ontario region, who advocates for animals, we all need to start taking our responsibilities for companion animals to heart.

About Niagara Action for Animals – Niagara Action for Animals is a non-profit, all volunteer charity devoted to ending all forms of animal cruelty through education, direct action and legitimate protest.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

“A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

A Commentary by Linda Babb

Posted July 12th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

We, “The People”, are strong.

We are even stronger when united in spirit and heart to support a shared cause or goal.  When the shared cause is rooted in humanitarian intent or when the people focus their heart intention on environmental protection or preservation, the seduction of money or power is superseded by the higher purpose.

Niagara area citizens at one of many rallies this spring and summer to save what’s left of region’s natural heritage. file photo by Doug Draper

In and of itself, the concept of the proposal for Thundering Waters land in Niagara Falls, Ontario  is nothing new, threatening or necessarily bad.

Looking around our region there are many suitable sites for such development, ripe for an influx of money and ideas.  There is no denying that potentially the elements of the proposal could contribute to growth, a stronger tax base and perhaps prove to be beneficial. Continue reading →

The Battle For $15 An Hour

Posted July 12^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword by NAL publisher Doug Draper –

This book- The Fight For $15 – comes at a time when the wage gap between the highest one per cent and almost everyone else in the United States and Canada has widened astronomically and many millions now struggle daily to cover the costs of living. Many everyday Americans and Canadians have continued falling further and further behind.

And once again, Canadians do not appear to be fighting as forcefully as their American counterparts for the right to fair compensation for their contribution to the economy.

While U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has made a $15-an-hour minimum wage a centerpiece of his campaign and U.S. states like California and New York State right across the border have announced their intentions to phase $15 an hour in, Ontario’s provincial government continues to support a system of unpaid internships – code for slave labour – that forces college and university groups to work for hundreds of hours for free in order to receive their diploma.

Many students are afraid to complain for fear of putting their graduation in jeopardy and many older Ontarians who never would have accepted this treatment while they were going to school, either actively engage in this exploitation of young people or turn their backs and look the other way.

Most shameful of all, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne allows this system of indentured slavery to continue.

Here is a brief advance on the book.

The Fight for $15: The Right Wage for a Working America

By David Rolf

The battle for a higher minimum wage, led primarily by fast food workers, has become one of the biggest labor stories in the United States in decades.

This book by one of the organizers involved in that struggle shows how victories were won and makes the case that higher wages can revitalize the US economy.

The Fight for $15 offers tools and inspiration for making change happen.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

“A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

–        One Dead-Beat Tom Won’t Pay Kitty Support

News you probably can’t use from Doug Draper

Posted July 12^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Lest we at NAL be accused of ignoring the most important breaking news in Niagara, we are pleased to report that a proposed bylaw in St. Catharines to license pet cats and to bar them from roaming into other peoples’ yards was defeated by a majority of the Niagara, Ontario city’s council this July 11^th.

Sorry to say that the news hounds at one of Niagara’s intrepid daily newspapers, the St. Catharines Standard, beat us to the punch on this story.

And silly us.

Here we were at a public meeting in nearby Niagara Falls over plans to sacrifice more of what is left of the region’s greenspace for more urban sprawl – all while we could have been at the St. Catharines council watching one irate resident delivering a PowerPoint presentation featuring, among other feline felonies, a litter of kittens she alleged was fathered by a roaming tom owned by one of the councillors. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Doug Draper, reporter/publisher, Niagara At large

Posted July 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

 “Protecting our environment is not a radical idea. It is a moral responsibility.” – Vermont Senator and U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, May, 2015

This message, from one of my very few living heroes in politics, was echoed ever so eloquently by a number of representatives of the Indigenous community in the Niagara area at a rally this past July 7^th to spare a large tract of forest and wetlands in Niagara Falls, Ontario from sprawling urban development.

“They call it development. I call it destruction,” Indigenous community member Karl Dockstader told those gathered at the rally to save what has become known to growing numbers of residents across Niagara and other regions of Ontario as the Thundering Waters Forest.

Just one little slice of the 200-plus acres of Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

“When our lives are over and it is time to return to the creator,” said Dockstader, “we can’t take anything with us but we can leave (this forest and the wetland within and around it) to our children.” Continue reading →

“I believe this announcement encourages us to continue to concentrate on developing a regional transit service.” –       Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

A Column from Niagara’s Town of Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

Posted July 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Following months of anticipation, Ontario’s Provincial Government’s June 28th announcement to expand GO train service into Niagara created much excitement.

Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

Now that we’ve had a couple of weeks to reflect, how can we make this opportunity even better?

Significant Works –

While some have bemoaned the 2021 (Grimsby) and 2023 (St. Catharines & Niagara Falls) timetable, others realize that Metrolinx (the Provincial corporation that runs GO Transit) must undertake extensive work to extend GO Rail to Niagara.

Since CN owns the track upon which GO Rail to Niagara will travel, improvements must “occur in coordination with CN along their corridor, ensuring no impacts to CN and AMTRAK rail services.” Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper, with some Final Words from Niagara, Ontario resident and writer Leslie Daniels

Posted July 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Things must be going pretty well in St. Catharines with respect to local taxes, urban planning, water, road, transit and other services if one of the biggest issues in that Niagara, Ontario community these days is whether or not someone’s pet cat should be licensed and kept from wandering into neighbours’ yards.

The much ballyhooed St. Kitts cat license movement made front-page headlines again this Monday, July 11^th in that fearless watchdog of a newspaper, The St. Catharines Standard, and was expected to go before the city’s council that evening with people.

Why is an issue like this gaining so much attention and traction? Continue reading →

A Statement from the  Indigenous Solidarity Coaltion@Brock

Posted July 8th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

The following statement was delivered by Coalition representative Celeste Smith this July 7th at a rally organized by the Indigenous community to save a large tract of forest and wetlands in Niagara, Falls, Ontario from developers’ chainsaws and bulldozers.

Celeste Smith delivers statement at rally to save Thundering Wates Forest in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Photo by Doug Draper

“The Indigenous Solidarity Coalition @ Brock is dedicated to providing people in the Brock and Niagara community the opportunity to engage in events that raise awareness and foster activism surrounding Indigenous issues.

Through our work we aim to create a more inclusive and respectful environment toward Indigenous Peoples on campus and the surrounding region. From this standpoint we recognize the importance of bringing attention to, and actively engaging in, efforts to eradicate systemic discrimination against Indigenous Peoples in Canada. 

The Coalition is honoured to have been asked to stand with our community in support of saving the Thundering Waters Forest. This is why we here today, because we all need to stand together and take action!

Continue reading →

“The time is overdue for us to respect the land and to protect the unique pockets of natural antiquity that remain.”

By Linda Babb

Posted July 8^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

‘The Land is not an abstract diagram, outline on a piece of paper or a mere commodity to be sold to the highest bidder. The land is a comprehensive, living, breathing entity in itself.

We, as humans, could not survive very long without “the land” to live on. We depend on the land for our food supply; for the air we breathe – the trees clean the air for us, we don’t have the capacity to do that.

Continue reading →

Posted July 7th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

A Final Reminder to Join the Rally

Let Niagara Regional Chair and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority know that ‘Open For Business’ doesn’t have to mean destroying what is left of this region’s wetlands and woodlands!

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

“A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

By Nick Fillmore

Posted July 7th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

While the banks, elites, and the super-rich have been scrambling to try to hold onto their billions following the UK’s shocking vote to exit from the European Union, the anger expressed by the leave side was another emotional cry to end the control that corporations and the elite have over everyday people in many Western countries.

The day after the vote, panic and fear struck at the hearts of money gamblers as their bets turned sour and markets lurched downward. The wealthiest people lost $120-billion.

On the other side of the equation, people in most part of the UK except Scotland and Northern Ireland expressed their anger over their inability to have more control over their lives. They blame the EU for the disastrous performance of the economy since the 2007-08 financial collapse. They also fear the idea of “ever closer union”, moving toward a United States of Europe, which would lessen their control over their lives. Continue reading →

A Report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Posted July 7th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword by NAL publisher Doug Draper – Given the importance to jobs and the economy the auto industry still plays in regions of Canada like Niagara, the silence from our political and community levels over the possibility the Trudeau government will sign this Harper negotiated trade deal is deafening compared to the amount of concern in the United States over the amount of damage this deal could do to jobs in the auto and many other sectors.

So congrats to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives for at least doing this study.)

Ottawa, Ontario – As global debate over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) intensifies, a new study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives finds the agreement will negatively impact the Canadian automotive industry, undermining the competitiveness of assembly and small and medium-sized auto parts plants.

“TPP will be a game changer for the global automotive industry,” says Queen’s University professor and auto industry expert John Holmes, who co-authored the study with Jeffrey Carey, also from Queen’s. “The proposed treaty will significantly affect decisions regarding what, where, and how automotive products will be pro­duced within the wider TPP region, with Canada getting the short end of the stick.” Continue reading →

A Call-Out from Bernie Sanders & His Bernie for U.S. President campaign

Posted July 6^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword from NAL publisher Doug Draper – Bernie Sanders’ concerns about the potentially destructive impact this trade deal could have on everyday Americans applies just as much to Canadians if Canada’s Trudeau government signs this Harper negotiated deal. So why aren’t Canadians expressing more concern?)

Burlington, Vermont – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (has) urged Democratic Party platform writers to take a stand against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed 12-nation trade pact that he said would have “disastrous” consequences for U.S. workers and the environment.

Bernie Sanders fights on for “a future to believe in.”

“The Democratic Party must go on record in opposition to holding a vote on the trade deal during the lame duck session of Congress and beyond,” Sanders said. “This is about preventing the outsourcing of jobs, protecting the environment, stopping pharmaceutical companies from increasing the price of prescription drugs, preserving our democracy and respecting human rights.” Continue reading →

By John Bacher

Posted July 6th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Under the peculiar system of land use planning we have in Niagara Region,  what is termed an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is a powerful instrument.

Its findings are an important way to protect forested land that is outside of the Greenbelt and not designated as provincially significant wetlands. These forests – vulnerable to development – are categorized in the Niagara Regional Policy Plan as Environmental Conservation Areas(ECAs).

Thundering Waters forest and wetland tract targeted for ‘Paradise’ development scheme

The Niagara Regional Official Plan, along with the plans of eight local municipalities in the region, including Niagara Falls, have forested areas that are called Environmental Protection Areas (EPAs) and are truly protected from development.

Most of the forested areas in Niagara, however, are weakly protected. That is why an EIS is important.

An EIS  has the power through the Niagara Regional Official Plan and  based on detailed studies of what is termed “ecological function”, to change ECA lands into EPA areas. Continue reading →

By Sandra O’Connor

A Special to Niagara At Large, Posted July 5^th, 2016

Niagara, Ontario – The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) has no basis in law to pursue biodiversity offsetting.

Ontario’s Conservation Authorities Act states; “The objects of an authority are to establish and undertake, a program designed to further the conservation, restoration, development and management of natural resources.”

Destroying one wetland in favour of creating another wetland is not conservation, restoration, development or management.

A provincially significant wetland in Niagara Falls, pegged for wholesale destruction by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority under the guise of a “biodiversity offsetting” scheme.

The Conservation Authorities’ Regulations state: “an Authority may make regulations restricting and regulating the use of water in or from wetlands and prohibiting, regulating or requiring the permission of the authority for straightening, changing, diverting or interfering in any way with a wetland”. Continue reading →

Gather In Niagara Falls City Hall Courtyard On July 7^th, 6 P.M.

Posted July 4^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

A Call-Out from Karl Dockstader, a Niagara resident and member of the local indigenous community

The Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls, Ontario is currently slated for a wholesale death by development by the Chinese GR (Can) Investment Co LTD.

There has not been official and full recognition of the value of this land asset by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, the Niagara Falls Council, Niagra’s Regional Council, the provincial government or the federal government. Continue reading →

News from Niagara, Ontario’s Regional Government

Posted July 4^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Region, Ontario – At this (past June 30^th) Regional Council meeting, Council directed staff to undertake 2017 budget preparations with tax levy guidance of a 1 per cent increase.

Niagara, Ontario’s regional council will soon address controversial bid to “off-set” natural wetlands to make way for urban development

For the average homeowner with a property valued at $240,500 a 1 per cent increase on the Regional portion of their property taxes would equal approximately $14 annually.

Regional staff will now spend the next several months developing budget options for council’s consideration and approval, as well as undertaking public engagement on budget options. These options will be presented to Council in the fall when the budget review committee resumes deliberations. Continue reading →

Holocaust Survivor, Humanitarian, Nobel Laureate – 1928-2016

“Elie Wiesel was one of the great moral voices of our time, and in many ways, the conscience of the world. He raised his voice, not just against antisemitism but against hatred, bigotry and intolerance in all its forms.” – U.S. President Barack Obama

Posted July 3^rd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” – Elie Wiesel

“Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe.” – Elie Wiesel

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” – Elie Wiesel

In a world where we are seeing too many people succumb to individuals and groups that peddle hatred, intolerance, anger and fear in otherwise good nations like Britain, the United States and, yes, even in Canada where millions voted last year for a federal Conservative Party embracing policies that are racist, zenophobic and homophobic, we need voices like Elie Wiesel’s as much as ever.

In Canada, at least, the party of hate and intolerance did not prevail in last fall’s federal election but many of their members still sit in Canada’s House of Commons where many of them now pretend to be more open and tolerant. A few members of the former Harper cabal went so far this July 3rd as to march in Toronto’s Pride Parade.

Let’s make a promise to ourselves and each other not be fooled by those who would wear any mask they feel they must to curry favour and slither back to power. Be forever vigilant.

And remember that the best way to pay tribute to the life’s work of Elie Wiesel for peace, tolerance and justice for all is to stand up against the darker forces every time they surface in the communities and countries where we live.

For more on Elie Wiesel and his humanitarian mission click on – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/03/elie-wiesel-tributes-obama-clinton-netanyahu .

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/world/europe/elie-wiesel-auschwitz-survivor-and-nobel-peace-prize-winner-dies-at-87.html .

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post in the space below.  A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

“A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

A Brief Comment from Doug Draper

Posted July 1^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

On the eve of this Canada Day 2016, the nation’s senior justices dealt what will hopefully be a fatal blow to yet another decision by the former Harper government that was affront to democracy and the common good.

This time it was the Federal Court of Appeal quashing a permit Harper’s cabinet issued the tar sands industry to construct the notorious Northern Gateway pipeline from Alberta’s tar pits through British Columbia to the west coast.

“The three-justice panel concluded that the former Conservative government failed in its duty to consult First Nations prior to issuing a cabinet order approving the $7.9-billion pipeline that would deliver 525,000 barrels a day of oil sands crude to the West Coast,” reads a story that appeared at the top of The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business this July 1^st.

Hopefully, the voice of U.S. President Barack Obama saying; “This is the only planet we’ve got, and this may be the last shot we’ve got to save it,” are still ringing in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ears from Obama’s visit to Ottawa this June 29^th, and he won’t take any steps to reissue that permit.

Watching the live coverage of Trudeau introduce Obama in Canada’s House of Commons this June 29^th before the president delivered a speech that discussed the urgent need to address climate change and the need to treat people with different skin colours, religious beliefs and cultural backgrounds with tolerance and compassion, I could not help but think; “What a difference a year can make.” Continue reading →

A Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on Memorial Day in Newfoundland and Labrador

Posted July 1^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Ottawa, Ontario – The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on Memorial Day in Newfoundland and Labrador:

“Beaumont Hamel is a name that is seared into the hearts of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. It is a name that represents courage, sacrifice, and sorrow.

Some members of the ill-fated regiment.

“One hundred years ago to this very day – in what would become the bloodiest battle of the First World War – 810 young men from the Newfoundland Regiment were ordered out of their trench. They calmly advanced, under withering machine gun and artillery fire, across no man’s land and into the teeth of the enemy. Continue reading →

Other Regions Of Ontario Are Years Ahead Of Us

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted June 30^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

“We have finally done it.”

Those were among the first words out of the mouth of a beaming Niagara regional chair Allan Caslin this past Tuesday, June 28^th when Ontario’s Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca announced that the province will move forward with plans to bring year-round, weekday GO rail services into the Niagara Region by the year 2021, and run them all the way through to Niagara Falls by 2023.

Former Niagara regional public works commissioner Ken Brothers (left), Niagara-on-the-Lake regional councilor and then regional chair Gary Burroughs, then Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey (now the MP for the Niagara Centre Riding), former Grimsby councilor Debbie Zimmerman, and St. Catharines regional councilor Tim Rigby at a 2011 ribbon cutting for lauching a “pilot” inter-municipal bus transit service. File photo by Doug Draper

That is encouraging news as far as it goes, Mr. Chair, but it is far too early to say ‘we have finally done it’.

First of all, a lot could happen before the first weekday Go train is expected to arrive in Niagara in 2021, including at least one municipal and one provincial election which could change the make-up of the political players and the priorities they have for transportation operations in this region and the province.

Second – and most importantly – Niagara still has a long way to go relative to many other regions in Ontario when it comes to establishing a real region-wide transit system of its own to work in tandem inter-regional commuter trains services.

Regions like Waterloo had the will and vision to upload public transit services from lower-tier municipalities, including the cities of Waterloo and Kitchener, to the regional government level more than a decade ago, and riderships have soared. So has the influx of business and younger people able to use the services for getting to where they want to go, when they need to be there.

And what has Niagara done? Continue reading →

By Bernie Sanders

An Excerpt of a Column, published June 28th, 2016 in The New York Times

Surprise, surprise.

Workers in Britain, many of whom have seen a decline in their standard of living while the very rich in their country have become much richer, have turned their backs on the European Union and a globalized economy that is failing them and their children.

Vermont Senator and U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

And it’s not just the British who are suffering. That increasingly globalized economy, established and maintained by the world’s economic elite, is failing people everywhere. Incredibly, the wealthiest 62 people on this planet own as much wealth as the bottom half of the world’s population — around 3.6 billion people.

The top 1 percent now owns more wealth than the whole of the bottom 99 percent. The very, very rich enjoy unimaginable luxury while billions of people endure abject poverty, unemployment, and inadequate health care, education, housing and drinking water.

Could this rejection of the current form of the global economy happen in the United States? You bet it could.

During my campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, I’ve visited 46 states. What I saw and heard on too many occasions were painful realities that the political and media establishment fail even to recognize.

To read Bernie Sanders’ entire column in The New York Times click on – http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/29/opinion/campaign-stops/bernie-sanders-democrats-need-to-wake-up.html?emc=edit_th_20160629&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=58968427&_r=0 .

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

“A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

Province Removes Sex Designation on Health Card, New Gender Option On Driver’s Licence Coming In Early 2017

News from the Government of Ontario

Posted June 30th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – The Ontario government is changing the way it displays sex and gender information on health cards and driver’s licences to ensure the fair, ethical and equitable treatment of people with trans and non-binary gender identity.

Previous card with sex field

From June 13 onward, Ontario health cards no longer display information about a person’s sex on the face of the card. This change will not affect the validity of the card, and cards will continue to function in the same way.

Starting in early 2017, driver’s licence holders will be given the option to display an ‘X’ on their card as their gender identifier if they do not exclusively identify as male or female. Driver’s licences that display an ‘X’ instead of an ‘M’ or an ‘F’, will also be considered valid and can be used in the same way as previous cards.

Current card without sex field

This summer, Ontario will also launch public and stakeholder consultations to help develop policy on how ministries collect, use, retain and display sex and gender information on public-facing government forms and products. Ontarians can sign up to be notified when consultations open, as well as when the ‘X’ gender identifier option becomes available for driver’s licences, by visiting Ontario.ca/myID. Continue reading →

“This is the only planet we’ve got, and this may be the last shot we’ve got to save it. And America and Canada are going to need to lead the way.” – U.S. President Barack Obama

An Excerpt from U.S. President Barack Obama’s June 29^th, 2016 Address to Canada’s House of Commons

Posted June 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada – There is one threat, however, that we cannot solve militarily, nor can we solve alone, and that’s the threat of climate change.

Now, climate change is no longer an abstraction. It’s not an issue we can put off for the future. It is happening now. It is happening here in our own countries.

The United States and Canada are both Arctic nations, and last year when I became the first U.S. president to visit the Arctic, I could see the effects myself. Glaciers like Canada’s Athabasca Glacier, are melting at alarming rates. Tundra is burning, permafrost is thawing.

This is not a conspiracy. It’s happening. Within a generation, Arctic sea ice may all but disappear in the summer. So skeptics and cynics and insist on denying what’s right in front of our eyes, but the Alaska natives that I met, whose ancestral villages are sliding into the sea, they don’t have that luxury. They know climate change is real. They know it is not a hoax. Continue reading →

 – Waterboarding Isn’t ‘Vicious Enough’ For Tough-Guy Trump

A  Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted June 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

The Donald says he “likes waterboarding” – certainly no surprise there – but he doesn’t feel it is a “vicious” enough form of torcher to use on those suspected or convicted of committing terrorist acts.

You’ve got to “fight fire with fire,” bellowed Trump – the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee running for the U.S. presidency – during another one of his raucous campaign rallies, this one staged in the State of Ohio this June 28^th.

Reacting to news earlier that day of what experts were already saying has all the earmarks of an ISIS attack that killed more than 40 people and wounded numerous others at a busy airport in Turkey, the blowhard billionaire, who has all but eviscerated the once proud ‘Party of Lincoln’ to become its presidential nominee, had the following to share with the world as his answer to those who commit such violence –

“Can you imagine them sitting around the table or wherever they’re eating their dinner, talking about the Americans don’t do waterboarding and yet we chop off heads,” Trump asked. “They probably think we’re weak, we’re stupid, we don’t know what we’re doing, and we have no leadership. You know, you have to fight fire with fire. …”

“What do you think about waterboarding,” Trump went on to ask the already fired-up crowd. “I like it a lot (but) I don’t think it’s tough enough. … “We have to be so strong. We have to fight so viciously. And violently because we’re dealing with violent people viciously.” Continue reading →

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted June 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – The City of St. Catharines in Niagara is off to a good start with recent downtown revitalization efforts, but more needs to be done to attract residents and enable those who work downtown to relax, according to new Brock University research.

Downtown St. Catharines in Niagara, Ontario. Photo courtesy of Brock University

On Wednesday, June 29th Brock’s Niagara Community Observatory released the report Downtown Revitalization in St. Catharines: Building the Vibrant Public Space, which includes the results of data collected by Professor of Geography Michael Ripmeester through polling 300 city residents on what they thought of recent downtown redevelopment efforts.
Continue reading →

Plans for New Canadian Train Service Could Provide WNYers New Direct Link to Toronto and Open New Door for Canadian Visitors to Niagara Falls, NY

From the Office of Buffalo area U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins

Posted June 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Erie County, New York – Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) is advocating for a direct binational pedestrian connection to accommodate Canadian GO Train passengers and better facilitate cross-border tourism.   Higgins’ push comes following an announcement on June 28th by Ontario’s Transportation Minister of expanded GO Transit service between Toronto and Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Buffalo, New York area U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins applauds Ontario/Niagara Go Train announcement

The GO Train stop at the Via Rail Station in Niagara Falls, Ontario is in very close proximity, just a three-minute walk, to the Whirlpool Bridge connecting the U.S. and Canada.  The Whirlpool Bridge currently does not allow for pedestrian crossings. 

In a letter sent by Congressman Higgins to parties overseeing bridge operations, Higgins calls for the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Canada Border Services Agency to begin work now to establish pedestrian access at the Whirlpool Bridge between Niagara Falls, New York and Niagara Falls, Ontario.  Continue reading →

“Canada, the U.S., and Mexico will work together to implement the historic Paris Agreement.” – from the three leaders’ statement

“We announce a historic goal for North America to strive to achieve 50 percent clean power generation by 2025.” – from the three leaders’ statement

“The mainstreaming of conservation and sustainable biodiversity is a key component of sustainable development.” – from the three leaders’ statement

Leaders’ Statement on a North American Climate, Clean Energy, and Environment Partnership

Posted June 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Ontario Canada – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S, President Barack Obama, and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto share a common commitment to a competitive, low-carbon and sustainable North American economy and society.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and U.S, President Barack Obama

The Paris Agreement was a turning point for our planet, representing unprecedented accord on the urgent need to take action to combat climate change through innovation and deployment of low-carbon solutions.

North America has the capacity, resources and the moral imperative to show strong leadership building on the Paris Agreement and promoting its early entry into force. We recognize that our highly integrated economies and energy systems afford a tremendous opportunity to harness growth in our continuing transition to a clean energy economy. Continue reading →

New Program to Start One Year Earlier

 (A Brief Foreword Note from Niagara At Large – This Ontario government announcement follows months of intensive pressure from the opposition PC Party and especially the New Democratic Party and lobbying from citizen groups not to cut support for children and youth with autism.)

News from the Government of Ontario

Posted June 2016, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario is providing more support for children and youth with autism, including an accelerated implementation of the new Ontario Autism Program. The new program will provide all children, regardless of age, with more flexible services at a level of intensity that meets each child’s individual needs, significantly reduce wait times for service, and increase the number of treatment spaces available to serve more children and accommodate the rising prevalence in autism diagnoses.

The government has listened closely to experts, stakeholders, service providers and families since its announcement and consulted widely on the development of the new program. Ontario is putting in place additional supports for children with autism and their families, including: Continue reading →

Trains To Grimsby Well Short Of Niagara Needs

News from Ontario’s Opposition PC Party’s Transportation Critic Michael Harris

Posted June 28^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

It was another day, another Transportation Minister GO announcement falling well short of the mark for Niagara, according to Ontario PC Transportation Critic Michael Harris.

“After this June 28th’s announcement, Minister Del Duca has confirmed that he is leaving Niagara commuters waiting for the train,” Harris indicated. “I don’t know if the Minister has checked the map lately, but trains to Grimsby by 2021 falls well short of Niagara’s needs now.”

While Harris remained hopeful regarding a subsequent commitment to deliver service to Niagara Falls by 2023, a promise that was supposed to have been completed nearly ten years earlier by 2015, he noted this announcement was only one in a series the Minister has been making on an almost daily basis. Continue reading →

–        A ‘Peaceful Awareness Rally’ Set For July 7^th at Niagara Falls City Hall

A Call-Out to One and All of Us from Karl Dockstader

Niagara, Ontario – The Thundering Waters Forest in the southwest end of Niagara Falls, Ontario is currently slated for irreparable destructive development.

There has not been official and full recognition of the value of this asset by Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, the upper and lower tiers municipal government in Niagara, or the the provincial or the federal governments.

This lack of recognition remains the case despite the fact that destruction of a forest of this size is virtually unprecedented in our area in recent times. Continue reading →

“This is further proof of our government’s commitment to provide accessible, modern transit infrastructure that is reducing commute times and improving the quality of life for Ontarians.” – Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca

By Doug Draper

Posted June 28^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – St. Catharines MPP introduced it as a “historic transportation announcement” for the Niagara Region.

Allan Caslin, Niagara’s regional government chair elected to the Region’s council by voters in St. Catharines, said it is the fulfillment of what has been his council’s “number one priority” for the past two years and a “team effort” by the Region, Niagara’s local councils and representatives of the provincial legislature.

Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca (left) with St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley and Niagara regional chair Allan Caslin at June 28th Go Train announcement.

“We are thrilled today,” said Caslin this June 28^th as he stood at the St. Catharines rail station with Bradley, Ontario’s Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca and others. “We have finally done it.”

“Niagara, we are back and we are here to stay,” cheered Caslin before joining the others for a group shot with everyone flashing a thumb’s up.

The announcement, outlined by Del Duca during a media briefing at the rail station, is for plans by the province “to bring new weekday GO rail service between the future Confederation GO Station in Hamilton and the Niagara Region starting in 2021, with service to Niagara Falls by 2023.” Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted June 27^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

They call them “the beast.”

For weeks now, we have been hearing the word “beast” used to describe the Fort McMurray wildfires raging away in tar sands country in Alberta, Canada.

The wildfires have repeatedly been referred to as “the beast” by many of Canada’s federal and provincial leaders, by those with vested interests in Alberta’s tar sands, and by the mainstream media reporters across the country.

Wildfires raging in Alberta, Canada’s tar sands region

There can be no doubt about one thing.

These wildfires, which have already gone down as the worst of their kind in Canadian history –  have done a horrific amount of destruction – totalling well over $10 billion to date – to property and to the economy of the region.

But they are they are not the beast.

The beast is what breathed these fires. It is what played a roe in setting the conditions – the record setting dryness and heat for any spring in northern Alberta – that made it possible for such fires to spread so rapidly and out of control.

This is the beats! It is right here, in this aerial shot below.

But then, of course in Canada, going back right to early this May when these fires began leading to one round after another of mass evacuations of homes and businesses, you could not talk about climate change with reference to this disaster. Continue reading →

Stop The Unfair Denial Of Healthcare And Extend OHIP Coverage To All Ontarians

From the Council of Canadians & Other Citizens Groups

Posted June 27^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

A Call-Out to all Ontario Citizens  to add your name to the following Open Letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne and Health Minister  Eric Hoskins

Dear Premier Kathleen Wynne and Health Minister Eric Hoskins,   

We are a broad group of community members, health and social service providers, and we are concerned about the ongoing denial of healthcare to many of our fellow Ontarians.

Health care providers and supporters hold a rally to protest federal cuts to refugee care on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Monday, June 16, 2014. (Sean Kilpatrick/CP)

We call on the Ontario government to truly provide excellent care for all Ontarians, and extend the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) to cover all residents of Ontario.      

In 2009, Duncan McCorkell was diagnosed with colon cancer while non-status, denied life-saving treatment, and subsequently died as a result of his illness in Toronto. In 2011, Maki Ueyama and her husband received a $22,000 bill after the premature birth of their twins during their three-month waiting period for OHIP as new immigrants. Continue reading →

–  A Response To Current Affordable Housing Need

Posted June 27^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Region, Ontario – Today Niagara Regional Housing (NRH) and the City of St. Catharines announced the site of future NRH development at 527 Carlton Street.

To respond to current affordable housing need and development pressure, NRH has purchased a site formerly occupied by Carlton United Church in St. Catharines. The location is in a built-up area, bound by the Carlton Public School soccer fields to the north, Carlton Street to the south, and single-family dwellings to the east and west. It is 2.3 acres and currently vacant, covered by sod and a gravel parking area. Continue reading →

Take It As A Warning To One Percenters Everywhere

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted June 25^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

They’re “reeling.” They’re “stunned.” They’re “shocked.”

Really?

These were but a few of the words media outlets around the world used all day Friday, June 24^th to describe the reaction of world leaders, along with that of bankers, traders and their like to news that a majority of British citizens had voted in a referendum to end their country’s membership in the European Union.

And my questions to these autocrats and plutocrats who are the one per cent is this. Why are you so shocked?

After three or four decades of feathering your gilded nests as you rip the flesh from working families  with your self-serving trade deals, billion-dollar tax loopholes, and with all the cuts you have made to services and benefits for the rest of us, you should have seen all of the feelings of betrayal and rage that led to something like this coming. Continue reading →

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted June 24^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from Niagara At Larger reporter and publisher Doug Draper – As someone who has both followed and worked professionally with Brian Hutchings in his work at Niagara Region, I can’t think of a better person to be chosen for this job. He has always impressed me as an intelligent and honourable person – and one many enjoyed working for and with – and as I said to him a few years back, he is Niagara’s regional government’s loss and Brock’s very fortunate gain. Congratulations to him.)

Brian Hutchings, Brock U’s new acting president

Niagara, Ontario – With one week left in Jack Lightstone’s 10 years as University President, Brock’s Board of Trustees on Thursday June 23 appointed Brian Hutchings as the Acting President for the summer months.

Hutchings, who is Brock’s Vice-President, Administration, will be Acting President from July 1 until Sept. 1, when Wendy Cukier begins her tenure as University President.

Hutchings, who joined Brock in 2012, has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting from Saint Mary’s University and a Master of Laws degree from the University of Toronto. He is also a Certified Public Accountant and a graduate of the Queen’s University Public Executive Program. Continue reading →

News from the Constituency Office of Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

Posted June 24^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls, Ontario – NDP MPP Wayne Gates is calling on Canada Post to settle with its workers on the eve of a potential work stoppage that he fears will impact the residents of his riding.

Niagara Falls Riding MPP Wayne Gates

“When I’m not in the House I’m in my constituency office almost every day and I see how much people in Niagara rely on being able to receive and send their mail,” said Gates. “Things like sending health card applications to the Ministry of Health or applications to the Ministry of Transportation will become far more difficult and potentially costly. Also imagine all of the residents who receive their cheques by mail who do not have access to transportation to pick them up – think of those who have disabilities or seniors” Continue reading →

A Statement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Posted June 24th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Ottawa, Ontario -The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, issued the following statement this June 24^th on the results of the referendum on the membership of the United Kingdom (UK) in the European Union (EU):

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

“The people of the UK have chosen to leave the EU.

“The UK and the EU are important strategic partners for Canada with whom we enjoy deep historical ties and common values. We will continue to build relations with both parties as they forge a new relationship.

“Canada’s connections to our partners around the world are among its greatest assets, and these relationships contribute greatly to the prosperity of all Canadians. Continue reading →

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted June 24rth, 2016 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines, Ontario – Three Brock University students are the inaugural winners of a new academic award created by a professor who is using her own book royalties to help fund the prize.

Brock prof Kendra Coulter

Kata Boric, Cydney Cronk and Rebecca Hadfield have been awarded the Promise Prize for Top Achievement in the Study of Animals at Work after achieving the highest grades in the course ‘Animals at Work’, which challenges students to think deeply and differently about people, animals and the future of work.

The course, believed to be the only one of its kind in the world, is taught by Labour Studies associate professor Kendra Coulter, whose research into the treatment of animals at farms and other workplaces has made headlines across Canada and internationally. Coulter says the course leads students to explore professions that advocate for the promotion of humane jobs to protect animals and the environment.

Last year Coulter published her latest book, Animals, Work, and the Promise of Interspecies Solidarity, and used its royalties to help establish the prize, which she created “to recognize particularly strong students’ accomplishments and to encourage scholarship in this important but nascent field of study.”

Boric said the course leads students to understand political, sociological and economic theory in new and different ways.

“Professor Coulter helps students realize the intersectional oppressions experienced by all workers, human and non-human,” said Boric, “and how our actions, or lack thereof, have repercussions on the environment and all living things.”

Boric graduated earlier this month with a double major in Political Science and Labour Studies (Honours). As part of Brock’s collaborative program, she will attend George Brown College in September for post-graduate certification in Human Resource Management and Labour Studies.

Cronk graduated this spring with a BA (Honours) in Sociology and will return to Brock in September to start a Master’s in Critical Sociology.

Hadfield will be returning to Brock in September to continue working on a BA in Philosophy.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

“A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

By Don Alexander

Posted June 23rd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Back in 1969 when Go Transit and the Regional Government of Niagara were just starting out, Johnny Cash wrote and performed the song “I’ve Got A Thing About Trains”. Full of nostalgia, Johnny Cash mournfully finished the song “…….. Train train train, I’ve got a thing about trains”.

Sounds like a repetitive refrain from a few present-day Niagara area mayors and councillors. Letting the nostalgia and romance of trains be a “one-note-whistle”. Train Train Train is their “focussed demand”.

The way forward is “GO Service, GO service Go Service.” Don’t get railroaded by a self-imposed “Romance of Rail.”

Go Train running through the Greater Toronto Area.

The greatest number of Niagara people and communities will be better served by a transit service not solely focussed on the iron rail. Continue reading →

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted June 23^rd, 2016 on Niagara At Large 

Niagara, Ontario – New Brock research about the influence of race and age on the judgment of faces has implications on everything from grandparents picking up kids from school to border guards matching faces to identification cards.

These photos were used in the experiment to test participants’ abilities to distinguish faces. In each face pair, the features of an identity were undistorted in image (left) and either compressed or expanded in the other.

The research shows that other-race and older adult faces are hard to recognize perhaps because people are less able to judge differences in the distinctiveness of other-race faces. And people are less able to agree on the attractiveness of both other-race and older faces compared to younger faces, according to a study published this week in the journal Perception.

The study, Judging Normality and Attractiveness in Faces: Direct Evidence of a More Refined Representation for Own-Race, Young Adult Faces, involves three experiments with Brock Professor of Psychology Catherine Mondloch heading up the research team.

In the first, groups of young Caucasian adults in Canada and young Asian adults in China were shown pairs of photos of both Caucasian and Asian faces. One photo was untouched and the other had been digitally expanded or compressed. Participants were asked to identify which face was “normal.” Both Caucasian and Asian participants were less able to detect the “normal” image of the other-race photo compared to the photo of their own race. Continue reading →

An Invite To One and All from the Sierra Club of Western New York in Buffalo

For more information click on – https://niagarasierraclub.com/ .

and – http://www.e2.org/clean-jobs-ny/ .

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

“A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

News from the Office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Posted on June 23^rd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Ottawa, Ontario – The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement to mark the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism:

“Thirty-one years ago, our country suffered the worst mass murder in its history when 329 innocent people on board Air India Flight 182 were killed by a terrorist bomb. Canadians were directly impacted by this senseless and brutal act of violence that left them grieving parents, children, relatives, friends, and colleagues.

Some of the 329 victims of the Air India bombing.

“On this solemn day, Canadians across the country stand in solidarity with all those who have experienced first-hand the incredible pain of losing a loved one to terrorism.

“The recent cold-blooded murders of fourteen Canadian Embassy security guards in Kabul, the two Canadian hostages in the Philippines, as well as the terrorist attacks which resulted in six Canadian deaths in Burkina Faso and another in Indonesia, are a stark reminder that we are not immune to the threat of terrorism – which can strike anywhere, anytime. Continue reading →

His Departure From Ontario Cabinet Would Only Comfort Those Who Mean To Do Our Earth Harm

By John Bacher

Posted June 23, 2016 on Niagara At Large

The departure this June of Jim Bradley, the veteran MPP for the Niagara, Ontario riding of St. Catharines,  from the provincial cabinet is a good time to reflect on his remarkable achievements.

Jim Bradley, the veteran MPP for the Niagara, Ontario riding of St. Catharines

It also reminds me of the honourable record of another friend of mine, the late Cayuga environmental delegate, Norm Jacobs. The political legacy of both is shaped by a determined and difficult drive to put the well being of the earth first.

As Bradley exits the real corridor of power at the cabinet table, what drives home to me is the tribute that Jacob’s friend, Chief Arni General, gave to him. It was that his death will “be mourned by many, but not by all.”

Just as those who savoured mad schemes of urban sprawl gave a sigh of relief when Norm Jacobs died, people of a similar bent are no doubt relieved at the thought of Jim Bradley receding into political wilderness of the back benches. Continue reading →

News from the Niagara Health System

Posted June 22^nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Discharged patients at risk of readmission now have enhanced access to services in the community and medical expertise, thanks to a new model of care designed to reduce unnecessary trips to the hospital.

The Niagara Health System’s newest hospital in west St. Catharines. File Photo by Doug Draper

The Integrated Comprehensive Care (ICC) program, which was recently launched by Niagara Health, directly integrates hospital and community care services for patients who are admitted with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and congestive heart failure (CHF) and require home care after discharge.

Key to the program is a team of Niagara Health Integrated Care Co-ordinators who help patients through every step of their journey, in the hospital and back into the community. Continue reading →

 “Employers in Niagara are suffering under increasing costs of doing business. We are concerned that additional mandatory pension contributions will add to these burdens.”                             — Mishka Balsom, President & CEO, Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

An Analysis from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Posted June 22^nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – The Government of Canada, at a meeting with representatives of the governments of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, has come to an agreement in principle over expanding the Canada Pension Plan, or CPP. Quebec and Manitoba have agreed to remain part of future discussions.

The Government of Ontario had previously committed to enacting the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, or ORPP, at the provincial level. The business community and the Chamber network were apprehensive about the Plan, citing increased costs that essentially functioned as a payroll tax at a time when the cost of doing business in Ontario was already steep and increasing. The provincial government has repeatedly stated that it would abandon the ORPP if it felt there was a suitable replacement at the federal level, however. Continue reading →

News from Niagara College

Posted June 22^nd on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Inspired by her young son and her own childhood, where she saw first-hand the power of social work, Sarah Danielle Greig graduates from Niagara College’s Social Service Worker program on June 23 at the head of the class.

Top Niagara College grad Sarah Grieg

With a 98.78% grade-point average, Greig is this year’s recipient of the Governor General’s Academic Medal, presented to the student with the highest overall academic average.

A Welland resident, Greig was born in Toronto and spent four years as a child living in South Africa, where her parents worked in an orphanage with an on-site hospice, sparking an interest in humanities and community development that eventually led her to pursue social service work as a career.

“My passion started in South Africa and maybe even before,” she said. “My mother worked at community development agencies and brought me to events where I would see the impact of her work. My interest started very young.” Continue reading →

A News Alert from the Alliance for the Great Lakes and National Wildlife Federation

Posted June 21^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Chicago, Illinois – This June 21st the eight Great Lakes states voted to approve Waukesha, Wisconsin’s diversion request. We believe that the conditions adopted by the Compact Council improved Waukesha’s proposal’s compliance with the Great Lakes Compact.

We applaud the Great Lakes Governors for agreeing with us that the Waukesha diversion application as submitted failed to meet the standards of the Great Lakes Compact.

While we need to review the details of the final decision, we are encouraged by the additional conditions placed on Waukesha’s diversion application that improved the request.

It is also important to note that the water diverted from Lake Michigan to Waukesha will be returned to the Great Lakes basin, resulting in no net loss of water to the lakes as required by the Compact.   Continue reading →

 A Statement from the Ontario Government

Posted June 21st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario, and David Zimmer, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, released the following statement today:

“The 20th anniversary of National Aboriginal Day comes at a hopeful time — a time of renewal in the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. On May 30, our government took an important step by apologizing in the Legislature for the brutalities committed for generations at residential schools and the continued intergenerational trauma this has caused.

We also released an action plan — developed working closely with Indigenous partners — that will help Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples journey together on a path of reconciliation.

The apology and the action plan are demonstrations of our government’s commitment to build relationships with Indigenous peoples based on mutual trust and respect. They reflect our acknowledgement that we cannot change the future without understanding and honouring the past. Continue reading →

Get On The Bus To Philadelphia on July 25^th, 2016

A Call Out from Buffalo for Bernie Sanders campaigners

Posted June 21^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Hello friends,

Buffalo, New York – We wanted to let you know of an offer to join us on a trip to Philadelphia on Monday, July 25 to March on the Democratic National Convention!

At a Bernie Sanders campaign stop in Buffalo this spring – attended by more than 10,000

Cost is $90 and includes a 24-hour trip on a chartered bus with lavatory, air conditioning, WiFi, and DVD. Bus will pick up in Buffalo (exact address TBD, likely the carpool lot at the Transit Rd, Depew exit from I-90) at approx 1:30am and in Rochester (just south of the 90/390 interchange) at approx 2:45am.

We’ll arrive in Philadelphia at City Hall in time for the organized, permitted March on the Democratic National Convention, and will participate in activities until approximately 6 or 6:30pm at which point we will board the bus to return home. Arrangements for stopping for meals is not finalized but cost does NOT include any food or snacks – be prepared to buy or bring your own. Continue reading →

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted June 20^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Last time I looked at the calendar on my wall, I thought I read the year 2016 on it.

Yet when it comes to almost anything to do with environmental protection in this Niagara, Ontario region, most of those we now have sitting on our municipal councils have taken us back to a time – at least five or six decades ago – where we had the proverbial canary in the coalmine telling us it was time to hold an Earth Day and get an environmental movement started.

‘Energy-from-waste’ incinerator in the works for Niagara community of Allanburg. Photo of Allanburg Bridge over Welland Canal by Doug Draper

So how good it is that we are seeing growing numbers of everyday residents across this region, including members of that younger, millennial generation Bernie Sanders has tapped into across the border, standing up for a better regional transit system, for protecting what is left of our wetlands, woodlands and food lands, and against proposals to build and operate garbage incinerators.

That’s right, in the year 2016 in Ontario – right here in Niagara where “open for business” is code for treat anyone who appears before council to press for a greener agenda that is compatible with growth and prosperity like human garbage – there is a move afoot by private interests to burn the kind of garbage our society continues to generate far too much of in our homes and businesses in an incinerator that would be built and operated somewhere in or around Thorold community of Allanburg. Continue reading →

On the eve of National Aboriginal Day in Canada – June 21^st, 2016 – please see the following story about a new book by Brock University professor and author Maureen Lux exploring the history of Indigenous healthcare.

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted June 20^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Doreen Callihoo spent most of her childhood in an Indian hospital undergoing invasive treatments that eventually led to the loss of one of her lungs. Hospitalized at age eight, the First Nations girl spent 11 of the next 12 years in the Charles Camsell Indian Hospital in Edmonton.

Author Maureen Lux

As a tuberculosis patient, she underwent painful pneumothorax treatments twice a week, a procedure in which air was injected into her chest to collapse her lung. She was disfigured when twice she had several ribs removed, more procedures meant to collapse her lung. After a year on antibiotics, Callihoo left the hospital only to return to have her lung surgically removed, likely the result of years of invasive experimental treatments.

Brock University history professor Maureen Lux says Callihoo’s experience at the Indian hospital was not unusual. Until the 1970s, First Nations and Inuit patients often spent years in hospital undergoing tuberculosis treatments that ranged from bed rest to surgery to antibiotics. Continue reading →