Author Archives: dougdraper

Posted April 21st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne released the following statement today on Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday:

“Today we join people across Canada and throughout the Commonwealth in celebrating the 90th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The Queen is renowned for her lifetime of unwavering service to the people of our province and our country. For more than 64 years, she has carried out her duties with poise, integrity and intelligence, and has upheld the monarchy as a reassuring symbol of stability and continuity.

On behalf of the Government of Ontario, I want to extend our warmest wishes to Her Majesty and the Royal Family. Long live The Queen!”

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.

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted April 20^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines, Ontario – A first-of-its-kind institute to lead research, education and advocacy for animal ethics worldwide has been launched by Brock University professor David Fennell.

Brock University professor David Fennell, who recently launched the International Institute for Animal Ethics.

Based on an interdisciplinary approach, the International Institute for Animal Ethics (IIAE) focuses on how moral knowledge and best practice can stimulate change in the use of animals primarily in the tourism industry, along with other related contexts. Continue reading →

“This project is a chance to create jobs for young people. The project should utilize our local trades, local engineers and local small and medium sized businesses that put money right back into our community.” – Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

From the Office of  Niagara FallsRiding  MPP Wayne Gates

Posted April 20th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Qieen’s Park, Toronto  – This April 19th,  Wayne Gates, NDP MPP for Niagara Falls met with Dr. Kevin Smith, CEO of the Niagara Health System, and Dr. Suzanne Johnston, President of the Niagara Health System, regarding the New Niagara Falls Hospital. The meeting follows the news that the project has moved out of Stage One to Stage Two last Tuesday.

Site forproposed new Niagara, Ontario hospital for southern tier municipalities. Hospital is planned to go on lands in west end of Niagara Falls. File photo by Doug Draper

“It was a productive meeting and I’m happy to see that we’ve finally moved into Stage Two – though I believe this project can and should move quicker” said Gates. During the meeting both Smith and Johnston shared the early drawings of the new hospital with Gates.

Dr. Smith believes the project will have submitted the paperwork for Stage Two and move into the third stage by November of this year. Once the project reaches the third stage they begin selecting the vendors and issue the RFP to build the site. Continue reading →

“Providing wages that allow a family to meet its basic household needs … should be top of mind of all employers.” – Niagara Poverty Reduction Network Chair Glen Walker

News from the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network

Posted April 20^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – With the annual cost of household living expenses for a Niagara region family of four conservatively pegged at over $65,000.00, the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network has calculated the hourly wage necessary for families to meet these expenses, otherwise known as a living wage, to be $17.47.

The Network has released a new report, ‘Calculating the Living Wage for Niagara Region, 2016’, which outlines the full methodology used. The report is available on its website www.wipeoutpoverty.ca

“A living wage reflects what earners in a family need to be paid based on the actual costs of living and being included in a specific community, “ says Glen Walker, Chair of the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network. Continue reading →

News from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario

Posted April 20^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines, Ontario – In response to the suicide attempts in the northern First Nations communities of Attawapiskat, Ontario and Cross Lake, Manitoba, the Indigenous Solidarity Coalition at Brock University will be hosting a tobacco ceremony and prayer vigil on Thursday, April 21^st from noon to 2 p.m. in front of Schmon Tower.

“We will send our prayers out to communities and together make signs sending good energy and support to the individuals, families and health support workers who are on the front lines of this crisis,” says Indigenous Solidarity Coalition co-chair, Jodielynn Harrison.

Last week, Attawapiskat’s chief declared a state of emergency after 11 suicide attempts in one night. Dozens in the community of less than 2,000 people have attempted to take their own lives this year. Continue reading →

Posted April 20^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

From the Office of Ontario PC Opposition Leader Patrick Brown

Queen’s Park, Toronto – On May 1^st, Ontario ratepayers will see hydro prices increase on average by $37.56 annually because consumers used less electricity than expected this past winter.

This Tuesday, April 19th, Leader of the Official Opposition Patrick Brown used Question Period to ask the Premier about this logic-defying increase and the ongoing mess in the energy sector.

Referencing a Hydro One bill which has been making traction on social media, Brown said, “I came across a photo of a Hydro One bill the other day – it was dated April 13, 2016. It read: On-peak: 0 kilowatts per hour used. Mid-peak: 0 kilowatts per hour used. Off-peak: 0 kilowatts per hour used. Total cost of electricity charges: $113.” Continue reading →

From the Office of Ontario NDP critic Monique Taylor

Posted April 20^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – During Question Period today, Monique Taylor, the Ontario NDP’s critic for children and youth services, challenged the province’s Liberal government to provide the information it is using to justify kicking children with ASD, 5 years and older, off of lists for essential therapy.

“When it comes to our most vulnerable kids, you would think government members would at least understand the devastating impact of their decisions. The Minister claims that, in the name of science, she had to remove children five and over from the list.  That’s simply not true,” Taylor said.

“Can the Minister please tell me on what page the Clinical Expert Committee recommends kicking children with ASD over 5 off the list?” Continue reading →

A Message from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Due to some necessary hard-drive cleaning we need to do, Niagara At Large will not be posting news and commentary this Tuesday, April 19, but will be fully back in operation this Wednesday, Aprile 20th

That doesn’t stop any visitors to the site from reading posts that are already there and responding to them with their own comments if they like on an understanding that your comments will not appear until we are fully back up and running.

Sorry for the inconvenience and look forward to being back online for all our readers as soon as possible.

Ontario Expanding Cycling Networks and Improving Safety

News from the Government of Ontario

Posted April 18^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queens’s Park, Toronto – Ontario is providing $662,000 to Niagara municipalities over the next two years to help build new cycling infrastructure through the Ontario Municipal Cycling Infrastructure Program.

Cycling the trails along the scenic Niagara, Ontario Parkway

Niagara Region will receive $325,000 to install a new 1.06 kilometre cycling and walking path that offers an off-road alternative to Merritville Highway and provides improved access to Brock University.

Fort Erie and The Niagara Parks Commission will receive $250,000 to improve a scenic, 3 kilometre long section of the Niagara River Recreation Trail, which forms part of the Greater Niagara Circle Route, the Trans Canada Trail network, the Waterfront Trail and the 475-km Greenbelt Route. This work includes a new off-road path for walking and cycling and a signed bicycle route on a shared roadway. Continue reading →

Posted April 18^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara At Large is posting the following video on the massive runaway costs of replacing the Burgoyne Bridge for your information.

The video is from this Monday, April 18^th session of provincial parliament and highlights an exchange between Ontario PC Economic Development & Infrastructure Critic Money McNaughton and the province’s Premier Kathleen Wynne on this issue.

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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.

‘Men are paid more than women across every occupational category in front-line retail – often a lot more.’

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted April 18^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines – Men are being paid more than women in every occupational category within Ontario’s retail sector, new Brock University-led research reveals.

This is despite the fact that most of Ontario’s one million retail workers are women.

These are among the stark findings of the report, “The Gender Wage Gap in Ontario’s Retail Sector: Devaluing Women’s Work and Women Workers.” The “gender wage gap” is the difference between what women and men are paid.

“I’ve studied retail work for six years, but the seriousness of the pay inequities in Ontario still surprised and angered me,” says Brock University labour expert Kendra Coulter, the report’s lead author. Continue reading →

Our Canine Mascot Wants Every Eligible Voter In Western New York To Get To The Polls & Support Bernie Sanders In This Tuesday’s New York State Primary

A Brief One from Niagara At Large

Posted April 18^th, 2016

Some of our longtime readers and subsribers have been asking about Pinky and what she’s up to these days.

Our NAL mascot is barking for Bernie! She wants all of her Western New York friends and neighbours to vote for him.

In case you don’t know, Pinky is Niagara At Large’s adopted mascot – a small but mighty chiwawa with dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship who was visiting us during last year’s federal election in Canada and came down with a bad case of ‘Harper Derangement Syndrome’ until Harper’s defeat had her wagging her tail again.

Now Pinky’s back home with her American friends and like them, she’s Feelin’ the Bern’ because she knows, like they know, that if we are ever going to get any real action on issues like climate change and creating decent paying jobs and health care for all, you have to have someone like Bernie Sanders – someone who has been fighting for a better life for everyone all of his adult life – in the White House.

So forget about all of those mainstream media pundits and polls suggesting that Hillary and Bill Clinton Inc. have the Democratic Party nomination in the bag.

If enough of our New York friends and neighbours go to the polls this Tuesday, April 19^th and vote for progressive change and a future we can all believe in, Bernie Sanders will be the next president of the United States.

For more information on voting for Bernie Sanders on New York State Primary day visit the volunteers for Buffalo for Bernie Sanders at – https://www.facebook.com/Buffalo-for-Bernie-Sanders-1636972909852447/ .

To see some of Bernie Sanders campaign ads, click on the following –

A recent ad on trade deals – https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-talks-trade-jobs-tar-heel-state/ .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nwRiuh1Cug .  for The America ad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PewCSYS6a6s . works for all of us .

Real Change for America – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwwwn9zHT-8 .

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.

“The issue of wealth and income inequality is the great economic issue of our time, the great political issue of our time, and the great moral issue of our time. It is an issue that we must confront in my nation and across the world.” – Bernie Sanders

“Our challenge is mostly a moral one, to redirect our efforts and vision to the common good.”  – Bernie Sanders

The following is a complete transcript of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders’ April 15th, 2016 remarks to Vatican Conference.

Posted April 15^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Vatican City – I am honored to be with you today and was pleased to receive your invitation to speak to this conference of The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

Bernie Sanders

Today we celebrate the encyclical Centesimus Annus and reflect on its meaning for our world a quarter-century after it was presented by Pope John Paul II.

With the fall of Communism, Pope John Paul II gave a clarion call for human freedom in its truest sense: freedom that defends the dignity of every person and that is always oriented towards the common good. Continue reading →

From the Office of Ontario PC Party Opposition Leader Patrick Brown

Posted April 15^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – On May 1^st, the people of Ontario will find yet another increase on their monthly hydro bill, with rates expected to rise $37.56 annually. 

Ontario PC Opposition Leader Patrick Brown

 “Electricity rates in the province are skyrocketing and it’s only getting worse,” said Leader of the Official Opposition Patrick Brown. “Since November, bills have gone up $186.96 a year for the average consumer.  These rates are excessive for the average Ontarian.”

Ontario has the fastest rising hydro rates of any province or state in North America. 

This is the latest unaffordable hydro increase for Ontarians, who were faced with another Ontario Energy Board (OEB) rate increase in November 2015. Continue reading →

“Canadians can help Bernie by talking to their U.S. friends and helping to dispel Hillary’s myth that single-payer health care is impossible!”

From Marie Janicke

Posted April 14^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(Niagara At Large has received permission from the author of this recently submitted comment to our site to re-post it here as a stand-alone call to everyone eligible to vote in this coming Tuesday’s April 19^th New York State Primary to cast their ballot for the one and only true voice for progressive change running for the U.S. presidency – Senator Bernie Sanders!)

Buffalo, New York – I’m 100 percent behind Bernie Sanders. I’m glad to hear that you (at Niagara At Large) are too!

Vermont Senator and U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on the campaign trail

New York is an extremely important state for Bernie to do well in if he is to secure the Democratic nomination and go on to run in November against whomever becomes the Republican nominee.

Bernie Sanders does much better than Hillary Clinton does in head-to-head polls against all the Republican hopefuls, so you would think Bernie would be the obvious choice for the Democratic Party.

The problem is that Big Money is behind Hillary, who has served them well in the past and whose entrenched establishment status (and acceptance of major donations) convinces them she will serve them well in the future. Continue reading →

 News from Ontario’s Niagara Parks Commission

Posted April 14^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – In October of 1951, then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip visited Niagara Falls, as part of a Royal Tour of Canada that year.

The foaming waters of the Horseshoe Falls, bathed in night lights. File photo courtesy of the Niagara Parks Commission

A 15-minute purple illumination will take place at 10 p.m., in honour of the reigning Monarch, who has served as Queen of the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and Canada since 1953.

According to the Official Website of the British Monarchy, “The Queen herself has a very personal involvement with Canada and Canadians in every region of the country.

This involvement is based on a deeply held affection for and loyalty to a country that she first toured as Princess Elizabeth in 1951 and to which she has returned over twenty times since.”
Continue reading →

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted April 12^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – For a second time in as many weeks, a bid by China-sponsored agents and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority to “offset” – or to put it more plainly – gut more than 10 acres of provincially protected wetlands in Niagara Falls to make way for urban development has been placed on hold.

The first decision to defer moving forward with the scheme – cloaked in an until recently unheard of, yet already infamous term “biodiversity offsetting – was made this past April 7^th by a majority of Niagara regional councillors, following more than three hours of discussion and debate where it was repeated over and over again that they weren’t provided enough information to make a decision.

Niagara area residents demonstrate before Niagara Falls council meeting on wetland “offsetting” scheme.

And the second deferment was agreed to this April 12^th by every member of Niagara Falls’ city council outside of the mayor, who is only required to cast a vote to break a tie, after a number of them also made it clear that they were not given enough information to make a decision.

Niagara Falls city councillor Carolynn Ioannoni, after the councillors heard from Ed Smith, one of three members of the public who came and spoke against destroying any of the old forest wetland to make way for some residential and commerical development loosely referred to by some as the “Paradise project,” got the ball rolling by holding up a single piece of paper she said contained the only information the council was given on the project. Continue reading →

 A Brief One from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Posted April 12th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

“We need to create an economy that works for all of us,” said U.S. presidential in an address to more than 10,000 supporters in Buffalo, New York this April 11^th, 2016. “We need millions of people to stand up and fight back for a government that will represent all of us, not just the one percent.”

And now just a few words here from a friend and neighbour north of the Canada-U.S. border –

Bernie Sanders cheered by thousands in Buffalo, New York

Speaking to all of our Western New York friends and NAL readers as a Niagara, Ontario resident living next door, we Canadians need a President Bernie Sanders next door.

We all need a progressive force for change like Bernie on this continent to lead the battle against climate change, job-killing trade deals and the growing gap in wages, health care and education services between the rest of us and the wealthy few.

So come on New Yorkers, for your own sake, and for the sake of your country and your neighbours in Canada, go out there this coming Tuesday, April 19^th, and cast your ballot in the New York Primary for ‘a future we can all believe in’!

Click on the following to view and hear Bernie Sanders’ entire speech at the April 11^th rally at the University of Buffalo’s Alumni Arena –

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 News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted April 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – To paraphrase an oft-used line from that old Paul Newman movie ‘Cool Hand Luke,’ what we’ve got here when it comes to some of our political leaders and this controversial matter of “offsetting” a natural wetland to make way for urban development is “a failure to communicate.”

One of more than a hundred Niagara citizens during a demonstration before an April 7th regional council meeting.

How else can we have a situation where more than 100 members of the public show up at a Niagara regional council meeting this past April 7^th, and where some among them made arguments against this destructive scheme that are so compelling that a majority of councillors voted to put any approval of it on hold – and yet, some of the same cast of characters who’ve been pushing for this scheme from the get go are determined to try their luck again this coming Tuesday, April 12^th at a meeting of  Niagara Falls city council.

This time, Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati, along with Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority CAO Carmen D’Angelo and St. Catharines regional councillor Bruce Timms, who is the Conservation Authority’s chair, may have a better chance with the city council of getting a motion approved that asks the Province of Ontario “to initiate a pilot project to allow for bio-diversity offseting of wetlands for ‘Paradise Development’ in Niagara Falls” for at least two reasons. Continue reading →

“Please take action and do what you can to put a halt to this travesty before uninformed decision makers allow it to proceed without appropriate safeguards to enforce the protection of “Provincially Protected Area of Global significance.”

An Open Letter to Ontario Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry Bill Mauro from concerned Niagara Falls resident Linda Babb

Posted April 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(NAL was sent a copy of this letter and sought and received permission from its author, Linda Babb, to post it here. We believe this letter helps inform the debate over a controversial bid by some of our municipal leaders and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority to “offset” a protected wetland area in the Niagara River watershed for urban development, and we hope it inspires others in the community to share their concerns with their representatives at all levels of government.)

Dear Minister Mauro

Your portfolio bears responsibility for overseeing the activities of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and other Conservation Authorities across the province.

The NPCA was created by, and is subject to, the provisions of Ontario’s Conservation Authorities Act.

What we are witnessing appears to be flagrant contravention of, and disregard for, Provincially Protected Wetlands although “wetlands” encompasses four categories under that designation. Three of such areas identified and designated as “wetlands” may be “offset” safely. The fourth, the old growth slough forest with vernal pools and endangered wildlife cannot be offset. Continue reading →

 Statement from Canada’s NDP National Director Karl Bélanger

Posted April 10^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

This (April 9^th-10^th) weekend, in the best traditions of our party, we gathered for lively and respectful debate — and to chart a path forward together.

Canada’s NDP Leader Tom Mulcair will stay on until the party picks a successor.

The membership’s desire for change and renewal has been heard. The NDP Federal Council met in the afternoon of Sunday, April 10^th  to initiate the process to determine the next steps towards a leadership election.

In the months ahead, we will work tirelessly with our members to renew, rebuild, and strengthen this great party of ours. Continue reading →

U.S. Presidential Hopeful Bernie Sanders Brings His Campaign For ‘A Future To Believe In’ To “The Queen City” This Coming Monday, April 11^th

News from the Buffalo For Bernie Sanders campaign headquarters

Bernie Sanders rocks the Bronx during a recent rally in New York City

Posted April 10^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large (with apologies for the typo in the reference to the University of Buffalo in the first version of this post out.

IT’S OFFICIAL!! Mark your calendars – it’s happening Monday, April 11th, at 7pm at the University of Buffalo’s Alumni Arena (capacity 6,100)!

There are no tickets. It’s first come first serve until capacity is reached. Doors open at 4. Very limited parking will be available on-site after 3 p.m. Carpooling and taking public transit is strongly encouraged. We will post volunteer opportunities as soon as we have information.

RSVP link is live for rally event details: https://go.berniesanders.com/page/event/detail/rally/44v3s

Buffalo for Bernie Sanders shared The Buffalo News‘s post.22 hrs ·

For more details on when and wheres, etc. of Bernie Sanders’ rally in Buffalo and for more on Buffalo for Bernie Sanders, visit the campaign’s facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BuffaloforBernieSanders/ .

View a recent Bernie Sanders rally in New York State here –

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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.

Save Our Welland Hospital Campaign Holding April 14^th Information Meeting

News from the Niagara Health Coalition, a Niagara, Ontario citizens group advocating for quality, publicly funded health care

Pelham, Ontario – The Niagara Health System has already faced some of the most devastating hospital cuts in Ontario. It proposes to close four more community hospitals including the Welland site.

Niagara, Ontario’s Welland hospital site

The 94,000 residents living in the Welland hospital catchment area will not be well served. Residents will join the Coalition to discuss local health care concerns and to help plan the fight-back campaign.

What: Community Meeting Regarding the impact of the hospital closure and local health concerns.

Who: Niagara Health Coalition, Ontario Health Coalition, Save Our Welland Hospital Continue reading →

A Comment from the Ontario Health Coalition

Posted April 8^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario — This week, Ontario’s government announced that it is canceling its plans to dramatically increase user fees for seniors’ drugs after more than 80 organizations signed onto a letter to the Premier asking her to revisit the idea.

The government’s plan, announced in the 2016 Ontario Budget in February, would have increased the deductible for seniors’ drugs from $100 to $170 – a 70 per cent increase — and co-payments would have risen to $7.11 per prescription.

Under this plan, seniors with incomes of more than $19,300 for a single person or $32,300 for a couple would have faced these increases. Continue reading →

After Two-And-A-Half Years At Niagara Region, Schlange To Take Top Job In Brampton

Public Statement from Harry Schlange

Posted April 8, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Region, Ontario – This past Wednesday (April 6^th), I committed toinforming you of my decision regarding an offer from the City of Brampton toserve as their CAO. After much consideration, I have decided to accept this position.

Harry Schlange

This was a difficult decision. While I’m excited to take on a new challenge in Brampton, I am genuinely saddened to leave behind an organization with such great people.

As someone who grew up in Niagara, I’m particularly proud of what we have accomplished.  Once we signaled that our priority was to support local area municipalities and work together for a strong Niagara, mayors and senior officials embraced this unity almost instantaneously. 

Together, we demonstrated that Niagara is serious about creating opportunities, and other levels of government have taken notice. Continue reading →

But The Fight To Keep It From Being Bulldozed Over Is Far From Over

A News Commentary by John Bacher

Posted April 8^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – A battle of sorts was won on the night of Thursday, April 7th at Niagara Regional Council.

Conservation advocate John Bacher, centre, at a rally held in front of Niagara Regional Headquarters before April 7th council meeting on motion to gut a natural wetland area for development in Niagara Falls.

Supporters of a proposal to have the Ontario government make a site specific application for the authorized destruction of provincially significant wetlands to make way for a large residential and commercial development project in Niagara Falls lost their bid to move that application forward as the clock in the council chambers went off literally at the 11th hour.

However, those Niagara regional councillors and others supporting this scheme are going to get a second kick at the can at an Committee of the Whole meeting scheduled for this coming April 21^st. Continue reading →

“Statistics Canada numbers released this April 8^th, 2016 show that the St. Catharines-Niagara region lost 3,000 jobs since last month, putting the unemployment rate at 8.3 per cent in March.”

From the Office of Niagara Falls Riding MPP Wayne Gates

Posted July 8^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls, Ontario –Wayne Gates, NDP MPP for the riding of Niagara Falls, said the Ontario Liberal government continues to fail Niagara families as the unemployment rate in the Niagara region rose to the second highest in Ontario.

Ontario Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

“As families in Niagara face one of the highest unemployment rates in the province, the Ontario Liberals have done nothing to create jobs in the region.  Instead of getting job creation from this government, the Wynne Liberals are mired in yet another scandal.  They are making matters worse with their sell-off of Hydro One, putting more burden on families and businesses, hampering job creation,” said Gates

“And they still don’t have a timeline or funding plan for expanding GO Train service to Niagara Falls.”

Statistics Canada numbers released this April 8^th, 2016 show that the St. Catharines-Niagara region lost 3,000 jobs since last month, putting the unemployment rate at 8.3 per cent in March. That is the second highest unemployment rate in the province, and the fifth highest in Canada.   

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 Brief Comment from Doug Draper, publisher Niagara At Large, WITH MORE TO COME LATER!

Posted April 7th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(Apologies in advance for typos etc. on this one. It had to be posted in a hurry – NAL)

Are they trying to pull a fast one on pushing through this “biodiversity offsetting” – that can more bluntly defined as gutting of wetlands and wildlife habit” – being sold like a bill of goods to us by a Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority that couldn’t give a damn about its conservation mandate any more?

Of course they are!

The not so well hidden agenda here is to get this biodiversity offsetting scheme, which they know damn well has raised a high level of public concern,  through the regional council process as quickly as they can – like crap through a goose!

Niagara, Ontario’s regional government headquarters

The Niagara regional government sent out the following memorandum – the only report that has been disclosed to the public so far on a billion dollar development project in Niagara Falls that would involve destroying about 13 acres of protected wetland – two hours before the regional council is expected to discuss and possibly vote on moving forward with it this Thursday, April 7 evening.

They have known about this project for at least five months now, yet they wait until the last minute to make any kind of report available, not only to the public but to elected members of the regional council. Continue reading →

“What’s clear is that we need to get the influence of big money out of government and politics in Ontario.”

A Media Release from the Ontario New Democratic Party

Posted April 7^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Ontario – Ontario New Democrat Deputy Leader Jagmeet Singh, (MPP, Bramalea-Gore-Malton) says Kathleen Wynne’s system of requiring Cabinet Ministers to use their ministerial portfolios in a fundraising quota scheme may have broken Ontario’s integrity laws.

The Ontario legislature at Queen’s Park in Toronto where the controversy over political fundraising rages on.

Singh has requested that Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner investigate a fundraiser held by Ontario’s Ministers of Finance and Energy with a group that had benefitted from the sell-off of Hydro One, a process led by those same two ministers.

“Today I made an official complaint to Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner. The laws are clear: you can’t use an elected office for a personal benefit, but the Liberal quota scheme seems to be doing just that,” said Singh. Continue reading →

A Brief One from NAL publisher Doug Draper

Posted April 7^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

While participating in a candidates’ debate a few months back in a largely white, conservative region of America a few months back, ultra-right wing Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz attempted to do what he seems to think he knows how to do best – pander to the xenophobes and ‘wonder breads’ in his audience.

The Canadian–born Cruz did so at one point by badmouthing what he called “New York values” – meaning a state populated with too many people with funny accents, hard-to-pronounce names, and a diversity of skin colours, faiths and lifestyles that stray frightfully far away from those old-time values he vows to defend as he ever so righteously clutches a copy of ‘the Good Book’ in his right hand.

So leave it to New Yorkers to greet Cruz in the kind of rough-and-tumble, in-your-face way only they can as he and his wife were touring through the big city borough of the Bronx this April 6^th, in the week and a half leading up to the New York State Primary where the stakes for presidential wanna-bees can be huge.

As a sample of that rough and tumble, and the greeting Cruz received as he and his wife walked the streets where boxer Jake La Motta of ‘Raging Bull’ fame once roamed, the front page of the April 7^th edition of the New York Daily News, a popular tabloid published in the Big Apple, featured an enlarged image of the pair and a headline that reads; “Honey, how do we get out of the Bronx? Take the FU Train, Ted!”

To read the New York Daily News’ coverage of Ted’s Bronx tour, click on the following, with a warning to the rest of us that bad-mouthing New York values can see us out there on the cold, gray sidewalks with him, is ‘Cruzin’ for a bruisin’ – http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/protester-tossed-ted-cruz-rally-bronx-article-1.2590708

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.

“We call on all community members to come out and oppose the approval of biodiversity offsetting in the Niagara Region!”

From Brent Patterson, Political Director for The Council of Canadians, Ottawa, Ontario.

The Council of Canadians’ South Niagara chapter opposes a “biodiversity offsetting” plan being considered by Niagara Regional Council.

The regional council (at a meeting scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., this Thursday, April 7^th at Niagara Region’s headquarters in Thorold) could allow 13 acres of provincially-significant wetland in the city of Niagara Falls to be destroyed to accommodate a $1 billion “Paradise” development project, which includes a hotel, entertainment facilities, apartment housing, and a private school. A group of Chinese investors led by CITIC Asset Management is behind this plan.

Continue reading →

April 6^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

A Foreword Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper

Earlier this April 6^th, Niagara At Large posted a media release from the office of Ontario PC Opposition Leader Patrick Brown, highlighting Brown’s call to Premier Kathleen Wynne for a  into her government’s fundraising practices – a matter that has been addressed in numerous stories and scathing editorials in The Toronto Star and Globe and Mail over the past few weeks.

Ontario PC Opposition Leader Patrick Brown in provincial legislature

The release from Brown’s office contained his questions to the premier and other government ministers, but did not contain their responses. That had one Niagara At Larger reader asking – ‘Okay, so what was the response from the Premier?’

So here, for the record, is the entire exchange from the official hanzard, followed by a Youtube link for those who may want to view the exchange –

Mr. Patrick Brown: My question is for the Premier. Despite the Premier’s newfound interest in fundraiser reform, it does not fix the years of shady quotas and tainted money—

Interjections. Continue reading →

From the Office of Ontario PC Opposition Leader Patrick Brown

Posted April 6^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – This April 6^th,  during Question Period, Leader of the Official Opposition Patrick Brown asked the (Ontario) Premier (Kathleen Wynne) to call a Commission of Inquiry into her Liberal Government’s political fundraising practices.

Ontario PC Opposition Leader Patrick Brown

“Despite the Premier’s newfound interest in fundraising reform it does not fix the years of quotas and money that has been raised by the Ontario Liberal Party,” said Brown. “The people of Ontario need to know if government contracts and grants were traded for donations to the Ontario Liberal Party.”

The Liberal Government has had 4 OPP investigations against them, and a senior Liberal operative has been criminally charged. Recent media stories surrounding political fundraising in Ontario have contributed to the perception that the Liberal Government has been selling access to line political coffers. Continue reading →

“Niagara’s wetlands … are home to more than one-third of the rare, threatened and endangered species found in Canada.”

A Call-Out to the whole Niagara, Ontario community from Cinema Politica Brock

Posted April 5^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

We call on all community members to come out and oppose the approval of biodiversity offsetting in the Niagara Region!

Some of the wooded wetland area in Niagara Falls that the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority is eyeing for possible destruction

A protest will take place at the main entrance of the Niagara Regional Headquarters – at1815 Sir Isaac Brock Way, Thorold, Ontario – at 6 p.m. (this Thursday, April 7^th), ahead of the Regional Council meeting that will begin at 6:30 p.m. At this time, Niagara, Ontario’s regional council will debate a motion to gut wetland protection policies that have been in place since 1993.

These policies have prohibited development on Niagara’s wetlands, which are home to more than one-third of the rare, threatened and endangered species found in Canada. More species can be found here than any other ecosystem in Canada, including 70 species of trees, 64 spec…ies of ferns and 400 species of bird. Continue reading →

Province’s Ministry of Energy Handing Out Renewable Contracts to Donor Companies

A Shot At Ontario’s Wynne Government from the Province’s Progressive Conservative Party

Posted April 5^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword from Doug Draper – NAL takes a strong editorial stance in support of green and renewable sources of energy as an alternative to nuclear and carbon fuels. But few government leaders in North America have done more – through gross, costly incompetence, collusion with corporate pals, and the draconian ways they have gone about pushing solar and wind farm projects on communities – to set back the otherwise irrefutable case for renewable energy than former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty and his successor, Kathleen Wynne.

Our do-or-die drive to transition to carbon free, climate friendly sources of energy do not need allies like them!) 

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario’s archaic fundraising rules have continued to make news due to the appearance that large-scale corporate donations are having an impact on the business of the government. Today during Question Period, members of the Ontario PC Caucus highlighted a number of concerning donations from wind power companies, who in turn received government contracts. Continue reading →

It has gone from this –

To This!

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.

 Job Help For Youth Now Available At More Than 320 Locations Across Province

News from the Government of Ontario

Posted April 5^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario has launched a new youth employment program that will help young people ages 15-29 plan their careers, prepare for the labour market and connect to job opportunities.

The Youth Job Link program is the latest phase of Ontario’s Youth Jobs Strategy and will be available to youth and students at more than 320 locations across the province.

As of April 1, 2016, young people will be able to access the following services, available year-round: Continue reading →

Province Commits to Consult on Ontario Drug Benefit Improvements

News from the Government of Ontario

Posted April 4^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario is making changes to the Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) Program that will allow more than 170,000 seniors to become newly eligible for the low-income seniors program.

As a result, they will save approximately $130 on average per year in out-of-pocket drug costs and almost half-a-million Ontario seniors will pay no deductible and only a co-payment of up to $2 per prescription.  

Starting August 1, 2016, the government proposes to increase the income thresholds to qualify for the low-income seniors benefit: Continue reading →

“The Liberal government got the message—it’s time we stop taking more money out of the pockets of seniors.” – Niagara, Ontario MPP Wayne Gates

News from the Office of Niagara Falls Riding MPP Wayne Gates

Posted April 4^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario NDP MPP for Niagara Falls, Wayne Gates was happy to see that the Liberal government has officially backtracked on their initial decision to raise senior’s annual drug benefit deductible to $170 after immense pressure from opposition parties and concerned community members.

Niagara Falls, Ontario MPP Wayne Gates

“We proved that when we organize, when we pull together our voices as a collective community—we can produce real results,” stated Gates. “I’m very happy to see the government step back from this decision.”

Since the initial announcement by the Liberal government increase senior’s drug costs in 2016 budget, MPP Gates along with his NDP caucus colleagues circulated a petition calling for a reversal of the decision. Gates spent hours knocking on doors across the Niagara Region speaking with residents about this ill-advised decision to unnecessarily raise the cost of living for over a million seniors in Ontario. Continue reading →

“The government is proposing changes to ensure that rules for municipal elections are consistent with transparent, accountable, fair and modern election finance practices. Some examples include giving all municipalities the option to ban corporate and union donations and setting clear spending limits on post-campaign spending on gifts and parties.”

News from the Ontario Government of Premier Kathleen Wynne

Posted April 4^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario introduced changes this April 4^th to the Municipal Elections Act that would, if passed, modernize municipal elections and provide the option of using ranked ballots in future municipal elections.

Between May and July 2015, Ontario consulted on potential changes to the Municipal Elections Act and received more than 3,400 submissions.

Most submissions were from members of the public and supported giving municipalities the option of using ranked ballots in future elections, which would allow a voter to rank candidates in order of preference. The option to use ranked ballots would begin for the 2018 municipal elections. Continue reading →

NAfA Adoption Event and Vegan Bake Sale/ BBQ!

News from Niagara Action For Animals, a not-for-profit citizens group in Niagara, Ontario

On Friday, April 15^th to Sunday, April 17^th, Niagara Action for Animals will be at the Welland Pet Valu on 200 Fitch Street, off Prince Charles Drive in Welland, Ontario, with lots of adorable cats for adoption.

Adoption fees are only $50 and include spay/neuter, vaccines, and microchip.

Can’t adopt a feline friend? Come out and support our vegan bake sale and BBQ (Sat-Sun); proceeds benefit NAfA’s spay/neuter programs!

If you would like to volunteer at this event and/or if you are interested in doing some vegan baking for the bake sale please contact us at – Niagaraactionforanimals@sympatico.ca  (Vegan baked goods can also be dropped off at Pet Valu during the event).

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. Nothing contained in this email is intended to encourage or incite illicit acts. Please let us know (by return email) if you no longer wish to receive these email alerts.

For more on Niagara Action For Animals and its good work for our fellow critters on the planet, click on – http://www.niagaraactionforanimals.org/ .

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.

“Niagara has already lost 90 per cent of its wetlands and yet the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority seeks approval to use biodiversity offsets to destroy first growth forested wetlands to make way for  development.”

From Ed Smith for Concerned Citizens of Niagara

Posted April 4^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines, Ontario – As reported this past March 31^st, 2016 in local newspapers, Niagara Region’s planning and development committee is calling for the destruction of 13 acres of provincially-significant wetlands to allow development of the 486 acres of property near Thundering Waters Golf Club funded by the real-estate arm of the Chinese government.

A group of concerned Niagara citizens, scientists and environmental groups will be asking Minister Mauro to deny the proposed destruction of valuable habitat to make room for a $1 billion Niagara Falls development.

“Wetlands are vital for our survival. They are cradles of biological diversity that provide the water and productivity upon which countless species of plants and animals depend for survival,” says Ed Smith, speaking for Concerned Citizens of Niagara, a grass roots movement to protect Niagara’s environment. Continue reading →

‘”Your commitment to bring in much needed reforms in this area are now almost a year overdue.”                            – Patrick Brown

Posted April 1^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario

Dear Premier Wynne:

Members of the Ontario PC Caucus and I are hearing daily from Ontarians who

Ontario PC Opposition Leader Patrick Brown

are very concerned about the apparent influence of political fundraising on the business of government.

As a former Member of Parliament, I supported the changes made to both political fundraising rules and third party election advertising at the federal level. These changes allowed for a levelling of the playing field during elections and assured Canadians that the democratic process remained fair, balanced and devoid of undue influence.

Along with Ontario’s Chief Electoral Officer, the Ontario PC Caucus has long demanded changes to third party election advertising. The Government has twice voted against our suggested changes, and your commitment to bring in much needed reforms in this area are now almost a year overdue. Continue reading →

A Brief One from NAL publisher Doug Draper

Posted April 1st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

In the last week of this March, 2016, we, the people in Ontario have been treated to a series of disturbing stories in major Canadian newspapers about special interest groups contributing cash to political parties’ coffers for access to party leaders.

“The fact of the matter is that, thanks to the province’s legislated indifference to normal standards of behavior and morality,” stated the lead editorial in the March 30th edition of The Globe and Mail, “Ontario’s Liberal government practices the systematic selling of access to wealthy donors from the corporate and labour worlds.”

As someone said to me in a note during the past week, these stories should open our eyes to the fact that when it comes the role big money plays in shaping the conduct and quite possibly much of the decision making of the people we elect to hopefully serve all of us, without favour to a select few, in government. Continue reading →

Counting Down To The April 19th New York State Primary – We Need You

A Call-Out from the Buffalo for Bernie Sanders campaign office

Friends,

The New York primary is now less than two weeks away. We need all hands on deck to help us canvass Buffalo and Western New York.  

In 2008, Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama in New York by 17 points.  The most recent Quinnipiac poll shows Sanders down 12 points to Clinton, 42% to Clinton’s 54%.

 New voter registrations, despite the lack of voter registration drives run by the Democratic party establishment in New York, have been unprecedented.  Many of you have been part of this campaign for months now.

 You have helped do the tough work of registering voters at art festivals, public events, and on college campuses.  You helped collect some of the 87,000 signatures that allowed Bernie Sanders ballot access.  You have engaged voters and won their votes one by one.  

Now, we are asking for your help to come to our office at 404 Amherst street and phone bank for Bernie.  We need your help to go door to door and canvass..

This Saturday, April 2nd, we will be dispatching volunteers out from several locations in WNY and we need you to be part of our efforts.  Follow the link below to find an event near you and sign up.

 If there is not an event near you, work with us to be an event host. 

http://map.berniesanders.com/?source=web_full_nav#zipcode=14207&distance=50&sort=time&f%5B%5D=campaign-office&f%5B%5D=bernie-event&f%5B%5D=official-event&f%5B%5D=phonebank&f%5B%5D=gotv&f%5B%5D=canvassing&f%5B%5D=ballot-access&f%5B%5D=carpool&f%5B%5D=register-voters&f%5B%5D=barnstorm&f%5B%5D=other

You can also call our office or reply to this email to help us tomorrow during our day of action.

Brian Nowak Buffalo for Bernie Sanders 716-221-4276 Buffaloforbernie@gmail.com

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 Commentary by John Bacher

Posted April 1^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

On the evening of Thursday, April 7^th, 2016, the Niagara, Ontario’s regional council is expected to debate a motion – quickly passed as a matter of “new business” at a regional planning committee meeting this March 30^th – to ask the provincial government to gut its wetland protection policies for the sake of some sprawling residential and commercial development proposed within the boundaries of Niagara Falls.

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

Since 1993, these policies have prohibited development or site alteration on provincially significant wetlands – wetlands that often serve as habitat for rare species which is why their presence results in them receiving high scores in wetland evaluation scoring exercises.

The Niagara Region Chair Alan Caslin, who is leading the charge to change the provincial policy, has termed 13 acres of wetland now under consideration for destruction in the City of Niagara Falls through what the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority is calling a bio-diversity offsetting pilot project as “standing in the way of progress.” Continue reading →

By Doug Draper, publisher, Niagara At Large

The late U.S. President John F. Kennedy famously stood before the Berlin Wall and declared to his Soviet era rivals that America “doesn’t need a wall to keep our people in.”

But all that may change if billionaire Republican Party front rummer Donald Trump becomes the next president of the United States.

Trump began his race for the U.S. presidency a year ago last June with a promise that he will build a “big wall” along the Mexican border to keep “rapists, murders and drug dealers” from that country out.

Now he is saying in one of his overnight tweets that he may have to build an equally big wall along the entire 5,525 mile length (that’s 8,891 kilometres, the way people north of the border measure things) of the Canada/U.S. border to keep American citizens from moving to Canada in droves if he is elected president. Continue reading →

“These banks are using the Liberal thirst for power to drive a massive privatization agenda. It’s causing history’s biggest transfer of wealth from the public to the hands of a very wealthy few.”

A Call-Out for a Police Investigation from the Canadian Union of Public Employees

Posted March 31^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario – Following revelations that a bank underwriting the Hydro One sale backed a fundraiser that funnelled tens of thousands of dollars into Liberal party coffers, it is time for police to investigate, says Fred Hahn, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario.

“It was a banker – Ed Clark – who proposed the sale, and now we’re learning that a bank underwriting the sale was pushing a Liberal fundraiser to other banks shortly after netting the Hydro One contract,” said Hahn. “If this isn’t illegal, it should be. It certainly smacks of corruption. The police should investigate before the Liberals sell off any more public assets to curry favour with the banks who fund the Liberal Party.” Continue reading →

 Empowering People – Welcoming Innovation

From the Office of Niagara West-Glanbrook MPP and former Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak

Posted March 31st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Ontario – This March 31^st, 2016, MPP Tim Hudak released details on his second Sharing Economy Private Member’s Bill, which will build on the momentum created by his groundbreaking Opportunity in the Sharing Economy Act, 2015.

Niagara West-Glanbrook MPP Tim Hudak

It aims to give Ontarians the ability to earn extra income through home food sales, carpooling, investing or lending, and task-based services.

Hudak’s second sharing economy Bill will empower people to use technology to earn extra income by using assets that they already own or skills they possess.  He will do this by establishing a province-wide framework with modern, streamlined consumer protection measures to give consumers greater choice through sharing economy services in Ontario. Continue reading →

A Report from the Ontario Clean Air Coalition

Posted March 31^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Ontario, Canada – Closing the Pickering Nuclear Station when its license expires in 2018 and getting to work on dismantling the plant immediately will be safer, create more jobs between now and 2030, and save hundreds of millions of dollars.

The massive Pickering Nuclear Power Plant along the northern shores of Lake Ontario, east of the City of Toronto.

That’s the finding of a new report commissioned by Ontario Clean Air Alliance Research from energy consultants Torrie Smith and Associates. Torrie Smith compared Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG’s) plan of leaving the plant untouched for 30 years before starting decommissioning to the internationally preferred approach of immediate decommissioning.

They found that getting to work immediately would create 16,000 person years of employment, save $800 million to $1.2 billion on decommissioning costs, and ensure a smoother transition for workers and the local economy. Continue reading →

“The Ontario Liberal Party has turned ministers into salespeople, giving them hard quotas and telling them to sell the one product every lobbyist wants – uncontrolled access to the levers of government.”

A Brief One from NAL publisher Doug Draper

Posted March 30^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Word is out that Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is about to prorogue the provincial legislature for a number of months while she shuffles her cabinet and feels around for a reset button that might lift the approval numbers she’s scoring in recent public opinion polls out of the toilet.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, who most of us aren’t wealthy enough to buy access to.

Indeed, the lavatory adjoining her government’s cabinet room has become so plugged with crapola over the past two-and-a-half years since her ascension to the premier’s chair that it is now in danger of covering her entire caucus in offal and spilling out over the Ontario hinterlands.

It’s bad enough we’ve had the billions of dollars of waste on energy projects, compounded by soaring electricity rates, payoffs to the bargaining units of teachers unions, plans to double fees for pharmaceutical drugs for seniors and escalating user fees for almost everything but breathing. Continue reading →

A Brief One from NAL publisher Doug Draper

Posted March 30^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

This is a story every person who owns a home and/or a business they pay hydro bills for in Ontario should read and act on with at least a 120 volts of concern and outrage.

The investigative piece is headlined; ‘Hydro One players paid for exlusive access to ministers’, and it begins like this –

“One of the banks that ran the lucrative privatization of Hydro One promoted a $7,500-per-person fundraiser for the two Ontario provincial cabinet ministers in charge of the sale, The Globe and Mail has learned.

The event on Dec. 7, 2015, which featured Finance Minister Charles Sousa and Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli, appears to have raised about $165,000 for the Liberals.

Continue reading →

Government Launches Crowd-Sourced Program to Modernize Regulations

News from the Government of Ontario

Posted March 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario is asking businesses and the public to help identify and improve regulations that are unclear, outdated, redundant or unnecessarily costly.

Premier Kathleen Wynne joined Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure, today at Novo Plastics in Markham to launch the Red Tape Challenge, inviting the public to pinpoint problems such as forms that are too complex and technical information that is hard to understand.

Through this innovative online consultation tool, people across Ontario will be able to help identify and eliminate regulatory duplication, lessen compliance burdens, shorten response times and make it easier for businesses and citizens to interact with government. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted March 25^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

While I was posting news of the Ontario government’s release this March 25^th of its annual list of public sector employees making a yearly salary of $100,000 or more, I could already imagine some visitors to Niagara At Large saying; ‘Okay, but where are the names of the public sector employees in this region who are on the list?”

Ontario’s Sunshine List was a creation of former Premier Mike Harris, who declared war on the public sector like no other premier, before or since.

“How about doing what some of the mainstream newspapers in Niagara have already done since the release of the list and post at least some of the names?”

My short answer to that is that in the days and weeks ahead, Niagara At Large will be posting the names and salaries of at least a few individuals on the list, but only because of questions already swirling around about how these individuals got hired to the job they have in the public sector in the first place and whether or not we, the people, are getting value for the amount of our money they are pocketing for the services they provide.

Beyond using the information to help answer questions like that, I have always had mixed feelings about the Sunshine List or the ‘Public Sector Salary Disclosure’ list, as it is more formally called, and the way it is too often randomly or gratuitously used, without placing any of the names or salaries on it in a meaningful context, by the mainstream media. Continue reading →

“The reality is that too many Niagara region workers are struggling to earn enough income to meet their family’s household expenses.”

An Opinion Column from Glen Walker, chair of the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network

Posted March 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – What does it actually cost to live in Niagara region?

The answer will vary, of course, depending on one’s family composition. However, there are common items and services that the vast majority of families require in order to meet their basic household needs, including housing, food, child care, transportation, clothing, footwear, and laundry.

Alongside these basic needs are things that are important for community participation and connection, such as recreation and leisure opportunities, reading materials, school supplies, and internet access.

A new report released by the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network – “Calculating the Cost of Living in Niagara Region, 2016” – looks at household expense costs using a sample family of four – two adults, both working full time, and two children, one aged three and one aged seven. Continue reading →

A Message from Maude Barlow, National Chairperson for The Council of Canadians

Posted March 24^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Imagine if the water from your taps ran brown.

Imagine if bathing your children left them suffering from painful skin rashes.

Council of Canadians national chairperson Maude Barlow

Imagine if you had to boil your water before every glass you drink and every dish you wash.

You may have an image in your mind of a distant impoverished country. It may surprise you to know there is a water crisis happening right here at home. And it’s the daily reality for too many families.

Last year there were an astonishing 1,838 drinking water advisories in effect across Canada, and especially in Indigenous communities, where the water is often unsafe to drink. Continue reading →

From Doug Draper

Posted Sunday, March 27^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

On this sunny Easter Sunday morning, I hope all of you are having a warm and peaceful Easter weekend. And here is to looking forward to more of the same as we get past the final blasts of cold air and ice pellets to spring.

I also want to thank the many people on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border in our Greater Niagara Region and beyond for inspiring me to struggle on as a journalist through the continued support you offer by visiting this NAL site and its Facebook and Twitter outgrowths in large numbers.

It is also heartening to learn through repeated messages I get each week from WordPress, the website software that delivers NAL to you that ever more people are subscribing to Niagara At Large. Continue reading →

Ontario Making it Easier to Access Data and Information

News from the Government of Ontario

Posted March 25th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – In keeping with Ontario’s commitment to openness and transparency, the government has released the salaries of Ontario Public Service and Broader Public Sector employees who were paid $100,000 or more in 2015.

The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act requires most organizations that receive public funding from the Province of Ontario to disclose annually the names, positions, salaries and total taxable benefits of employees paid $100,000 or more in the previous calendar year. Continue reading →

Budget 2016: Targetting Tax Evasion

A Report from Canadians for Tax Fairness

Posted March 25^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword from NAL publisher Doug Draper – Finally after a decade of Harper and company letting the richest in Canada get away without paying their fair share of taxes – in fact, letting them fly an estimated $200 billion or more each year out of the country to off-shore tax haven – the new Trudeau government is investing more resources to go after them.

We 99 percenters may wish to join the great public interest group Canadians for Tax Fairness in applauding this news before pressing the government to at long last  get on with the job of nabbing these freeloaders.)

The Finance Minister has earmarked nearly $90 million a year to fight tax evasion – a total of $440 million over five years.

This signals that the government has realized how much it is losing to wealthy Canadians who shift their money offshore to avoid paying any tax at home.  The budget estimates that it will collect more than $2.6 billion for its investment.  Continue reading →

“Change is never easy, and it often creates discord, but when people come together for the good of humanity and the Earth, we can accomplish great things.” – David Suzuki

By Doug Draper

Posted March 24^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

I’ve been hearing on the news for days now that this Thursday, March 24^th would mark David Suzuki’s 80^th birthday, yet I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this guy I first saw wearing faded jeans, sandals, beads and long wavy hair has reached that milestone number of years.

David Suzuki

My first encounter with Suzuki was way back when he was so much younger then, and I was a young student at Brock University in Niagara where he was invited to speak on the topic that still consumes so much of his life today as a scientists, author, host of the CBC television program, ‘The Nature of Things’, and head of his own David Suzuki Foundation.

That topic is the threatened state of our water, our air, our forests and other life-sustaining resources on our planet, and the urgent need to protect what is left of those resources before it is too late for present and future generations. Continue reading →

From Wayne Gates, Member of Provincial Parliament for the Niagara, Ontario riding of Niagara Falls

Posted March 24^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto, Ontario – This March 24th, Wayne Gates, Ontario NDP MPP for Niagara Falls, challenged the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care today to answer for the unfair increase to senior drug prices released in the latest (Provincial) Liberal budget.

Niagara Falls, Ontario MPP Wayne Gates

“Minister, I’ve been all across my riding from Fort Erie, through Niagara Falls and into Niagara-on-the-Lake and the message is the same – seniors are worried about your Liberal government’s plan to increase the cost of their prescription medicine,” Gates said.

Gates told the minister that the (Ontario) Liberal government’s budget would nearly double the deductible on prescriptions for seniors and cause higher co-payments each time they fill a prescription. He went on to note that seniors in Niagara are already facing serious challenges because of skyrocketing hydro rates and a series of poor decisions by this Liberal Government. Continue reading →

Ontario PC MPP Laurie Scott’s Statement On Jian Ghomeshi’s Acquittal

Posted March 24^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario’s PC Critic for Women’s Issues, Laurie Scott (MPP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock) made the following statement this March 24^th on the verdict of Jian Ghomeshi’s trial –

“Today (this March 24th, 2016), Jian Ghomeshi was found not guilty in the first of two trials for sexual assault.

Former CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi aquitted infirst of two sexual assault cases

Today’s ruling highlights how difficult it can be to seek justice.

I want to applaud the bravery of the women who did come forward, and started a movement that highlights a collective hope that women can still feel safe and able to come forward.

This trial sparked desperately needed awareness and understanding about how prevalent sexual assault and harassment are in our society. When the allegations against Mr. Ghomeshi first came to light, I put forward a motion in the Ontario Legislature to create a Select Committee on Sexual Violence and Harassment. Continue reading →