Author Archives: dougdraper

News from the Office of Welland, Ontario Riding MPP Cindy Forster

Queen’s Park, Ontario – This November 18^th, Cindy Forster, Ontario NDP MPP for Welland, demanded Premier Wynne and the Liberal government take action to support workers who lost their jobs at PowerBlades manufacturing facility and to stop further manufacturing job losses.

Cindy Forster, the MPP for the Niagara, Ontario Riding of Welland

“It was only two days ago that the NDP stood up in this legislature and asked this government to stop leaving Ontario’s manufacturing sector behind.  On that very same day, we learned that PowerBlades—a manufacturing plant in my community of Welland—closed its doors, leaving 136 hard-working Ontarians without a job—effective immediately,” Forster said.

“This government talks a good game about attracting investment and creating jobs in the province, but the proof is in the pudding: 300,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs lost under the Liberals. Continue reading →

• Pension Funds ‘Living In A Form Of Climate Denial’

News from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Ottawa, Ontario, November  2015 — Canadian pension funds are exposed to a wide range of risks from their holdings of fossil fuels, says a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

Pension Funds would do better to invest in green energy, study concludes

The study makes the economic case for divestment from fossil fuels, due to risk factors such as aggressive new climate policies. A review Canadian public pension fund annual reports found that action on climate change was not mentioned as a material risk to pension sustainability.

“It is our impression that Canadian pension funds are living in a form of climate denial,” says CCPA-BC Senior Economist Marc Lee. “Integrating and understanding climate policy risk is a logical next step for the conversation on sustainability within public sector pensions, including the potential for new regulations, carbon pricing, emission caps, and unburnable carbon reserves.” Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

“Except for our Aboriginal people, we all came from somewhere else.” – Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, during a media conference this November 17^th after re-affirming her government’s commitment to welcome up to 10,000 Syrian refugees to the province.

Remember this Syrian boy, washed up dead this past summer on a Turkish beach?. He nd his family were hoping to make a new home in Canada.

As some of Canada’s political leaders and others question whether, in the wake of the recent Paris terrorist attacks,  our new Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, should follow through on his pledge to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees to our country by this coming January, Trudeau is so far standing by that pledge.

Across the border in the United States, President Barack Obama is facing similar pressure from governors of several U.S. states to back away from his plan to welcome 10,000 refugees fleeing a Syria that is being ravaged by terrorist groups and their country’s own leader. And just as Ontario’s premier did, he too reminded his fellow citizens that most of their families came to America to escape political, religious or some of form of persecution or violence.

Given the debate now raging over whether or not to welcome refugees from Syria, there is a cartoon circulating through Facebook that I am sharing with you here.

If I might add one thing to this cartoon, I would have the new arrival respond; “But you can’t turn me back. I will be taking my place as an old stock Canadian.”

Continue reading →

From the Office of Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

• To The Residents of Pelham

Town of Pelham in Niagara, Ontario, November 2015 – Do you have any suggestions on how the Town should spend your money?

Pelham, Ontario Mayor Dave Augustyn

Council will begin our 2016 budget process with a special public meeting where we listen to you and other members of the community about what you would like to see in next year’s and future budgets. That meeting will occur on Monday, November 30 at 6:30 PM in the Council Chamber at Pelham Town Hall.

While Pelham Council first started this type of a “pre-budget consultation” for the 2007 Budgets, we continue each year to welcome residents, representatives of sports teams and service clubs, businesses and property tax payers to provide input. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Less than two weeks after millions of Canadians celebrated the swearing in of Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister and all of his promises to bring us closer together as a people and restore Canada’s place in the world as more of a peacemaker than a warrior, we have one of the worst terrorist attacks ISIS has pulled off yet in Paris, France.

Canadian Prime Minister and then federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau speaks at a National Islamic Convention.

In the wake of those murderous attacks, it appears that at least some would have us tumble back to where we were before Trudeau’s Liberals took the mantle from a Stephen Harper government that made a practice of playing on fear and driving wedges of intolerance between people.

Within hours of the November 13^th Paris attacks, there was Rona Ambrose, who proved through her roles, first as Harper’s Minister of Environment and later as Minister of Health, to be one of the most ill-informed and incompetent persons to sit in a federal cabinet in decades, and who now serves as the Conservative’s interim leader, urging Trudeau to deep-six his promise to end Canada’s participation in bombing raids over Iraq and Syria. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is pleased to post the following statement from the Islamic community in St. Catharines, Ontario, offering its “sincere condolences to the families of the victims” of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut and Baghdad.)

The Al-Noor Mosque in St. Catharines, Ontario

Niagara, Ontario, November 2015 – “The Islamic Society of St. Catharines (ISSC), a registered Canadian charity located in St. Catharines Ontario,  condemns the horrific and despicable terrorist attacks on the innocent lives in Paris taking place on November 13th.” 

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims of terrorism and political violence across the world – but especially this week with the victims in Paris, Beirut and Baghdad. The ISSC, condemns these horrific crimes in the strongest terms possible. Our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of those killed and injured and with all of France. There is no justification of any kind for such criminal acts.” Continue reading →

News from Brock University

Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario –  This coming Thursday, November 19^th, 2015, come hear about the 2015 federal election campaign from the man whose company predicted the election results very closely.

Leading Canadian pollster Nik Nanos speaking at Brock talk on this fall’s federal election

Nik Nanos is Canada’s leading pollster: learn about the issues, personalities and trends, as well as the post-election agenda.

Also featuring Munroe Eagles, Distinguished Professor of Canadian Studies at the University at Buffalo.

When: November 19, 2015 – 7:30pm – 9:00pm

Location : Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Room 216 Academic South

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Department of Political Science

For further information contact: Hevina Dashwood, hdashwood@brocku.ca .

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

(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.)

• Ministry of Natural Resources Claim That Deer Must Be Hunted Due To Over Population Has No Merit

A Special to Niagara At Large by Barry Kent MacKay, a senior program associate in Canada for the animal advocacy group Born Free U.S.A.

November 2015 – In 1986 I was told that deer were poised to starve at the Peterborough Crown Game Preserve, because of “overpopulation”, if hunters were not allowed in to kill them.

Robin Zavitz, whose family home borders Short Hills Provincial Park in Niagara, Ontario, kneels by a deer that fell dead on her property after being shot by a hunter’s arrow in the park during an Ontario government sanctioned deer hunt in the park two years ago. The hunt is on again this November 2015. File photo courtesy of Zavitz family.

Local residents had asked me to help them, and we were successful in stopping the hunt, but I worried – what if the hunters were right?   We are still waiting, many deer generations later, for that predicted starvation to happen.

My own research showed, then as now, that an increased number of deer will starve when winter conditions are particularly severe over an extended period of time, but will do so whether the population has been hunted or not.

Whatever the reasons the hunters at Short Hills Provincial Park have for killing deer, including fawns and lactating females with dependent young, they should not claim to be doing so in to prevent “overpopulation”.  When deer are abundant one sees distinct “browse lines”, created by the deer eating most of the vegetation up to the level they can eat.  I toured the entire park some weeks ago, and saw no such browse lines.  Nor is there any indication that the deer are underweight, another indication of the number of deer being greater than the food available can sustain. Continue reading →

(The following was meant to be posted November 6th and somehow missed being published then. NAL is posting it now due to the obvious continued interest in the U.S. rejection of the Keystone pipeline project and the implications for  Canada’s tar sands.)

“If we want to prevent the worst effects of climate change before it’s too late, the time to act is now. Not later, not someday. Right here, right now.” – Obama

(Niagara At Large is pleased to post the full text of President Barack Obama’s White House announcement on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, followed by a posting of a brief statement by Canada’s new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in response to the announcement.)

U.S. [PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, NOVEMBER 6^th, 2015: Good morning, everybody.

Several years ago, the State Department began a review process for the proposed pipeline that would carry Canadian crude oil through our heartland to ports in the Gulf of Mexico and out into the world market.

U.S. President Barack Obama rejects the Trans Canada corporation’s XL Keystone pipeline project – and says no to ‘dirty oil’ from Alberta’s tar sands.

This morning, Senator Kerry informed me that after extensive public outreach and consultation with other cabinet agencies, the State Department has decided that a Keystone XL Pipeline would not serve the national interest of the United States. I agree with that decision.

This morning, I also had the opportunity to speak with Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada. And while he expressed his disappointment, given Canada’s position on this issue, we both agreed that are close friendship on a whole range of issues, including energy and climate change, should provide the basis for even closer coordination between our countries going forward. Continue reading →

 – Weekend Rally Says No To Trans-Pacific Parternship (TPP) Trade Deal

A Post from Sheri Lakeman for Canadians Against Unfair Trade Agreements

Niagara, Ontario, November 2015 – On this (past) cold and windy (Saturday) November14^th, in solidarity with concerned citizens, farmers, rank and file union members and anti-poverty advocates, we had our “grand finale rally”.

Niagara, Ontario residents hold rally against TPP trade deal at Welland Canal bridge crossing in St. Catharines. Photo by Joanne McDonald

To these battle worn activists, history will remember you as the true leaders of a movement away from apathy, complicit ignorance and entitlement; and into a new era of grassroots activism where WE can breakdown the political silos and division amongst us. WE will educate and inspire the masses to get off the couch and become more active participants in our diminishing democracy. Continue reading →

“Imagine all the people, living life in peace.”   –  from the song Imagine by  John Lennon

A Comment from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

One of my darkest fears is that we can imagine all we want, but the answer to when will the carnage end is never – especially when we’ re talking about our species.

The knife-brandishing Jihadi John may be gone but others of his psychotic ilk murder on

There seems to be something twisted in the way we humans are hard-wired that causes one subgroup after another of us to go on slaughtering each other, and not just for the ‘big’ reasons like; ‘We better wipe those people out before they swipe all of the oil that we swiped first’. It could be something as nonsensical and small as not liking the way someone else dresses or the colour of their skin or their religious beliefs (or lack there-of) that sends some of us off to the killing fields.

This past November 13^th, I was with a group of people who were celebrating reports that ‘Jihad John’ – the nickname the world gave to naturalized British citizen Mohammed Emwazi who made himself infamous wielding a knife and wearing a black ski mask somewhere in the deserts of Syria and Iraq as he was shown in videos sponsored by the terrorist group ISIS cutting off the heads of Western hostages – was killed in an American drone strike.

Then someone in the group – namely this someone – put a a bit of a damper on the celebration with a reminder that this world is full of psychos already lined up to take that screwball’s place.

And sure enough, that very evening – Friday, November 13^th, 2015 and another one of all-too-many dates that will now live in infamy – the cable channels broke to news of the horrific slaughter of more than 120 people in Paris, France, of bomb blasts that killed more than 40 people in the southern Beirut area of Lebanon, and to later reports of the ISIS wackos claiming responsibility.

Every one of us around the world who imagine a more peaceful world should share our thoughts with the people of Paris and France, Beirut and Lebanon, and with the families and friends of the victims in the wake of this inexcusable brutality. Continue reading →

• Traditional Haudenosaunee Territory/Short Hills Provincial Park – “Reconcilation: Honouring the Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt”

A Message from the Christian Peacemaker Team and other Supporters of the Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt

Niagara, Ontario, November 2015 – A group of supporters of the Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt will be gathering to counter anti-hunt protesters at Short Hills Provincial Park in Thorold, Ontario with a Peace Food Table as an experiment in transforming relationships between Indigenous and Canadian peoples.

The Haudenosaunee flag – Indigenous hunters call for peace and respect

In past years, Haudenosaunee hunters have been subjected to anti-hunt protesters surrounding hunter’s vehicles with flashlights aimed in hunter’s faces and have been subject to being called various derogatory statements.

Supporters of the Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt will gather during the traditional hunt to support during hours in which they will arrive and leave Short Hills. Continue reading →

A News Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Here we go again with a so-called “culling” of deer in a provincial park in Niagara, Ontario that was established decades ago as a sanctuary for wildlife.

File photo courtesy of one great Niagara photographer Dan Wilson.

Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources argues that the annual hunt, taking place over six days and heading into its fourth year starting this Saturday, November 14^th, is necessary to control the population of deer in the park which overlays boundaries of three Niagara municipalities – St. Catharines, Pelham and Thorold.

An over-population of deer, insists the ministry, means not enough for the animals to eat in the park and at least some of them wandering onto neighbouring farmlands and feeding on crops. So the ministry moved to allow members of the aboriginal community to enter the park on a few designated days each year to hunt the deer, using archery only. Continue reading →

• Province Fuelling Transit Growth in Local Communities

• A Total Of $6 Million Of That $332.9 Million In Transit Funding Is Going To Niagara’s Regional Government And Seven Local Municipalities In Niagara, Including Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Port Colborne, St. Catharines, Thorold And Welland (See breakdown of how much each municipality got on list at bottom of this post)

News from the Government of Ontario

Queen’s Park, November 12th, 2015 – Ontario is providing $332.9 million in gas tax funding to 95 municipalities this year to help expand and improve public transit—an increase of $11.4 million from last year.

Since 2004, Ontario has allocated more than $3.4 billion in gas tax funding to communities across the province. Municipalities use the funding to enhance accessibility, purchase additional transit vehicles, add more routes and extend hours of service, making it easier for people to use public transit. The program also helps ease traffic congestion and reduce air pollution. Continue reading →

News from Ontario’s Niagara Parks Commission and the Canada/U.S. Niagara Falls Illumination Board

Niagara Falls, Ontario, November 2015 – In commemoration of the sacrifice and contributions made by veterans and current service personnel in both Canada and the United States, the Niagara Falls Illumination Board will

The Horseshoe and American Falls in Niagara Falls will be illuminated in red this November 11th in honour of Canadian and U.S. veterans

light Niagara Falls in red on the evening of November 11^th , at the top of each hour for fifteen minutes, as a symbol of remembrance and honour to all who have served, and to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

“The Board felt there could be no better way to honour the contributions made by our soldiers, veterans and those who have fallen, than to illuminate the beauty of our shared natural wonder, Niagara, in red,” stated Niagara Falls Illumination Board Chair Mark Thomas. “It was through the sacrifice made by residents on both sides of the Niagara River that we have been able to enjoy the benefits of peace, democracy and friendship that we celebrate today and for that, we thank them all.” Continue reading →

News from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Ottawa, Ontario, November 2015  —Young homeowners would be hardest hit by a correction in Canada’s housing market, says a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

The study, by CCPA Senior Economist David Macdonald, assesses the impact of a housing market correction on the net worth of Canadian families and finds a 20% decline in real estate prices would leave 169,000 families under 40 underwater, with more debts than assets.

“Declines in real estate prices would have a strongly disproportional impact on young homeowners,” says Macdonald. “If, or more likely when, real estate prices fall, families in their 20s and 30s can expect to lose a substantial portion of their net worth and could find themselves owing more than their house and other assets are worth.” Continue reading →

• Deal Could Grant ‘Unfettered Rights’ To Corporate Polluters

An Expression of ‘Deep Concern’ from the Sierra Club, a 122-year-old American-based environmental organization with chapters across Canada

(The United States recently struck an expansive free trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), with Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. Eventually, every Pacific Rim nation may be included.)

November 2015 – The Sierra Club is deeply concerned about the lack of transparency around the TPP and the deal’s environmental implications. Here’s why:

• Extreme Secrecy. The TPP negotiations took place in extreme secrecy. Still no drafts of TPP texts have been released. And public input has been drowned out by dominant corporate input; more than 600 corporate advisors have actively worked to shape the agreement while the public is being kept in the dark.

Continue reading →

“We welcome the hope that exists now of civility returning to the relationship between government and the people.”                           – Maude Barlow, November 2015

From the Council Of Canadians, a nation-wide citizens organization

Dear Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau,

Congratulations on your win and the historic outcome of the October 19^th  federal election.

Maude Barlow, National Chairperson, Council of Canadians

I was extremely pleased to see voter turnout increase so dramatically and for Canadians to choose so clearly a more hopeful and caring future while rejecting the Harper agenda.

During the election, the Council of Canadians put forward issues dear to the hearts of our over 100,000 supporters – such as challenging trade deals that put profits before people, exposing the drinking water crisis in First Nations communities, condemning the assault on civil society and charities, fighting climate change and pipelines, and highlighting the need to protect and strengthen our public health care system. Continue reading →

News from the Niagara Sustainability Initiative

This coming Tuesday, November 17^th, 2015 the Niagara Sustainability Initiative will host an open house style event titled “Get to Know NSI: Pop-Up Pub”.

The event will be FREE and open to the public with wine and food for purchase. This 2nd annual “Get to Know” event will not only showcase the Niagara Sustainability Initiative’s services but the great food, beer and wine of local and sustainably conscious caterers in a night market. For those interested in attending, it is free to attend and ONLY CASH will be accepted for purchases on site. Continue reading →

 By Doug Draper

On a recent visit to Buffalo, New York, I was driving along a stretch of Delaware Avenue where some of the grandest old estates still stand in a city that was once home to more millions per capita than any other town or city in North America.

Along this stretch of what some still call Buffalo’s ‘Millionaires’ Row’, a lone man wearing a kaki uniform stood stone faced and at attention, holding a cardboard sign that read; “Help me. I’m a veteran.”

In what can only be called a national disgrace, statistics show that an average of 17 U.S. veterans who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq commit suicide each day – far more than the daily death toll in combat. The rates of joblessness, homelessness and brain trauma among American veterans are equally alarming.

In Canada, the lot of our military veterans is hardly any better.

According to a recent series of investigative reports by The Globe and Mail newspaper, at least 54 Canadian soldiers have committed suicide since serving in combat in Afghanistan and large numbers of veterans are not getting the health care and other services they need to assist their return to civilian life. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Years of shunning science and soaking up the now-gone Harper government’s pro-tar sands propoganda has apparently left more than a few Canadians not knowing the difference between lush expanses of boreal forest and open craters full of filthy black dust and goo.

Here’s a nice view waiting for all of the tar sands fans and climate change deniers out there

That loss of ability to distinguish between green landscape and something that looks like a gateway to Dante’s Inferno – Hmm. Could it be another form of ‘Harper Derangement Syndrome’, only this time infecting mostly card-carrying Conservatives? – reached Code Red this past November 6^th when senior members of U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration called the raw ‘bitumen’ that would be transported from Alberta, Canada’s tar sands to refineries near the U.S. Gulf coast through a proposed Keystone XL pipeline Obama had just rejected the “dirtiest oil on the planet.”

It was a jaw dropping development for longtime Harper Conservatives like Rona Ambrose, a former Environment Minister in  Harper’s cabinet and now the party’s interim leader. It even left Alberta’s recently elected NDP Premier Rachel Notley showing a symptom or two of the syndrome as she called the ‘dirty oil’ reference “disappointing.”

The perfect retreat for members of the old Harper gang with a vista that beckons.

Then again, Notley, unlike Ambrose and other Harper diehards who can’t get enough of the dirt and have called on Canada’s new Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to keep the push for the Keystone pipeline alive despite the rejection, made a quick recovery with the following statement; “It was not necessary to be quite so critical in the way they described our energy product,” she added of the dirty oil remark. “But it also underlines the fact that we need to do a better job in terms of the work we do here in Alberta on climate change.”

As for Harper’s old stock of climate change deniers and tar sands fans, I’ll say this. Even if you can’t bring yourself to read any of the science, just do a search for some of the many aireal shots of tar sands in operation and try telling the rest of us again that what comes out of there isn’t the dirtiest oil on the planet.

And if you still think that the gases and grime rising up from these monstrous pits where old growth forest used to stand is so great and of no harm to us, here’s an idea I’ll leave you with.

Give up on any idea you may have had to live out what’s left of your years in one of those high-rise condos along the water, forget about that.

Leave access to what’s left of the shorelines to the rest of us and see if you can talk some of those petroleum tycoons you seem to like to support so much into building condos with a nice view overlooking the craters.

Move in and invite the kids and any kids they may have over. And no breathing masks. That would be cheating.

For more information on the Obama administration’s decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline and Canada’s ‘dirty oil visit – http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/11/249249.htm .

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

(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.)

•  Send The World Some Real Signals That Stephen Harper – Canada’s    Top   Climate Change Denier – Has Been Gonged

News from the Canadian wing of the international online citizens coalition Avaaz

November 2015 – To stop climate change from threatening our survival and everything we love, we need to get global emissions to zero.

That’s why we’ve spent the last year asking our leaders to rapidly move us to 100% clean energy — and this month’s Paris summit is the final key. But “blocker” countries could sink the deal we need. And for years under Stephen Harper, that’s exactly what Canada’s been — and that let’s others like Japan, India, and Russia hold out as well, taking cover behind our positive international reputation.

If Canada turns on to 100% clean, it could be the game-changer we need for Paris, the domino that turns blocker after blocker around. Continue reading →

– A Lecture by Dr. Graeme Macqueen of Democracy Probe International On Wednesday November 18^th

News from the Hamilton, Ontario-based Coalition To Stop the War

The Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War is circulating the following event notice  for your information.

Graeme MacQueen is the founder of the McMaster’s Centre of Peace Studies in Canada and its War and Health programme. He has been involved in developmental work and peace initiatives in war-affected places such as Sri Lanka, Croatia, Gaza and Afghanistan. He has a rich knowledge of Asian religions and literature and is deeply concerned with issues around peace, all of which are reflected in his writings.

Graeme Macqueen’s thesis is that alleged terrorist incidents that have happened in North America (including the one on Parliament Hill a year ago this fall) are pretexts for fomenting Islamophobia and starting foreign wars..

An examination of four events in the period September 11^th , 2001 through October 22^nd, 2014 shows that agents of the state, in both the U.S. and Canada, are credible suspects in the physical intimidation of elected bodies of law-makers.

The ‘War on Terror’ is a direct threat to representative democracy. Speaker: Graeme MacQueen, Democracy Probe International Co-sponsored by Hamilton Chapter, Council of Canadians room 1A4, Health Sciences Centre, McMaster University, Wednesday. November 18th, 7:30 to 9:30 PM, www.hamiltoncoalitiontostopthewar.ca unsubscribe: hcsw@cogeco.ca Continue reading →

By John Bacher

During the Second World War, one of the great intellectuals of our time, George Orwell, penned an essay about what the course of action for a Labour Party government he hoped for would be following a victorious peace. He contemplated what such a government would do if it were serious and “meant business.”

As it turned out, Orwell was quite prophetic in anticipating what a Labour Party government would do. It did truly “mean business.”

Major greenbelts were established around growing cities such as London. They have become so effective that the rate of loss of rural land after Labour’s landslide victory in 1945 became minuscule compared to the impacts of urban sprawl after the First World War.

Ontario may be ready to spare more green places like the one on the left from what became of it on the right.

Here in Ontario, with the exception of protecting Niagara’s unique fruit lands, the designation in 2005 of a Greenbelt in Niagara and other parts of the Golden Horseshoe, was not a sign that the province “meant business” about stopping  urban sprawl. This was because virtually everywhere else in the province, there was a gap in between the actual urban zoning boundary and the borders of the Greenbelt. Continue reading →

• Urban Sprawl Threatens 1.5 Million Acres of Critical Water Resources

News from Ontario Nature, the Oak Ridges Moraine Partnership, the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance and Environmental Defense

Toronto, Ontario, November 2015 — Over 100 community groups, including the Oak Ridges Moraine Partnership and Ontario Greenbelt Alliance, are requesting that the provincial government grow the Greenbelt to protect 1.5 million acres of land containing vital water resources.

The green in this map of a southwest Ontario that includes Niagara shows green where the protective Greenbelt is located now. Citizen groups want the protective area expanded.

The ongoing Greenbelt Plan review represents a unique opportunity to permanently protect important headwaters, moraines, groundwater recharge areas and wetlands. These vital water systems supply clean drinking water directly to one million people and help provide a clean source of drinking water to millions more in the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

A recent report completed by the Conservation Authorities Moraine Coalition titled 2015 Report on the Environmental Health of the Oak Ridges Moraine and Adjacent Greenbelt Lands, concluded the Greenbelt Plan is effective in protecting watershed health. Continue reading →

News from the Office of Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

Niagara Falls, Ontario, November 6^th , 2015 –Wayne Gates, NDP MPP for the riding of Niagara Falls, said that the Liberal government is leaving Niagara families behind as Statistics Canada released job numbers today that show a jump in unemployment in the Niagara region.

Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

“Under the Liberal government, Niagara has lost 12,000 manufacturing jobs, and the unemployment rate sits above the national average,” Gates said.  “The Wynne Liberal government has no relief in sight for Niagara families. They have no job creation strategy, and they are in the process of making life harder by selling off Hydro One, which will lead to higher hydro bills for families and businesses.” Continue reading →

News from Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and her Liberal Government

Queen’s Park, November 5^th , 2015 – Ontario is generating significant returns from broadening the ownership of Hydro One Limited, in order to help support the single largest investment in transit and transportation infrastructure in the province’s history – investing $130 billion over ten years and making 110,000 jobs possible each year.

The Initial Public Offering (IPO) has now closed for Hydro One common shares. This initial stake in the company will begin trading today on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”) under the symbol “H”. By proceeding in a careful, staged, and prudent manner over time, the government expects to realize $9 billion in proceeds, $4 billion of which will be invested in infrastructure and $5 billion to reduce debt. Continue reading →

• Why The City of Niagara Falls, Ontario Should Stand By Its Ban On Backyard Fires

A Commentary by Karl Dockstader

The City of Niagara Falls, Ontario  currently has a ban on open air burning/backyard campfires. Were it not for the persistence of some residents deeply concerned with the health and welfare of themselves and their fellow residents that law might have been repealed with no real forum, no substantiate research, and no proper consideration.

The simple pleasure of allowing backyard fires has traditionally been overruled by concern for safety and welfare. Conventional thinking has been that one death caused by a backyard fire is one death too many. One hospital visit for a vulnerable person is one hospital visit too many.

The only argument in favour of repealing the bylaw is: “I like fires.” Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

November 4^th, 2015 – In 1993, when the late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau’ memoirs were published, I bought a copy in a Niagara-on-the-Lake bookstore where the clerk also handed me a button that read; “Trudeau is Back.”

That button, which I still have and managed to find a few days back at the bottom of a desk drawer, has taken on a new relevance this November 4^th with the swearing in of Justin Trudeau as Canada’s 23^rd Prime Minister.

I know, I know. There are still many people out there who will say, as they have since he was chosen leader of the federal Liberal Party two years ago, and certainly again this summer when the election was called, that the son doesn’t have the intellectual gravity the father had, and that he’s not much more than a “nice hairdo” who “is not ready” to take on the country’s top job. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Like others out there, I’ve had my share of good and bad bosses over my years.

One of a number of demonstrations by public servants in recent years over the Harper government clamping down on their ranks.

And of all the bad bosses I’ve had the displeasure of sharing in the workforce, the ones that bothered me the most were those who treated us like human garbage on the shop floor. Then, on their final day with the company before (as my old friend George Carlin would put it) moving on to their next abomination, they’d have the gall to gather us together and express, for all to hear, how honoured they were to work with us. All to leave us saying ‘what a load of baloney ‘as they walked out the door.

That is more or less the way it reportedly was this past November 3^rd, in the final hours of Stephen Harper’s time as Canada’s prime minister, when he circulated a farewell message to the country’s public servants who he spent years belittling, muzzling and stripping of the resources they need to do a proper job, when he wasn’t closing down services they delivered. Continue reading →

News from the Welland Hospital Auxiliary and OneFoundation for the Niagara Health System

Welland, Ontario, November 3^rd, 2015 –  OneFoundation for Niagara Health System is pleased to announce a $500,000 commitment from the Welland Hospital Auxiliary in support of the Endoscopy Service at Niagara Health System’s Welland Site.

Members of the Welland Hospital Auxiliary present a $500,000 donation to Niagara Health System and OneFoundation for NHS representatives. Photo courtesy of OneFoundation

The announcement was made today in front of the Auxiliary’s Gift Shop at the hospital, which is the main source of fundraising for the volunteer group.

This pledge comes shortly after the successful wrap up of the Auxiliary’s $1 million campaign to raise funds for the Kidney Care Unit at the Welland Site, named the Welland Hospital Auxiliary Dialysis Centre.  With this fundraising project fulfilled, the volunteers were ready for the next challenge to help keep the Welland hospital equipped for local residents. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

“It’s crazy,” said U.S. President Barack Obama this November 2^nd of those who – even in the face of overwhelming consensus among scientists – continue to deny that human activities have anything to do with climate change.

Those were the days in Canada – not so long ago – when Harper brushed aside calls for action on climate change with a smug smile.

Obama used the “crazy” word at a Democratic fundraiser in New York State this November 2^nd in reference to climate change deniers – most of them on the Republican Party side – in his own country.

But as the President and many in his party know, and just as embarrassingly, as many others around the world know, there are plenty of crazies on the Canadian side of the border. Most prominent among them is Canada’ going-going-gone prime minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party minions, many who’ve given us every reason to believe that when it comes to the climate file, they’ll be just as out to lunch in opposition as they were when their party governed almost all that was once recognized as world-class environmental leadership out of the country. Continue reading →

News from the Office of the Ontario Environmental Commissioner

Queen’s Park, November 3, 2015 – Ontario’s acting Environmental Commissioner, Ellen Schwartzel, says the provincial government is recovering only a tiny fraction of its management costs for the water supplied to many industries.

Ontario’s acting Environmental Commissioner Ellen Schwartzel

In her Annual Report, “Small Things Matter,” released today, Schwartzel noted there’s been no progress by the government on recovering the full cost of its water programs from users. “I am frustrated the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change has yet to act on recommendations of both the Environmental Commissioner and the Drummond Commission,” says Schwartzel.

Currently, the government recovers only 1.2% of the $16.2 million it spends on water quantity management programs. Continue reading →

A Brief Note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Despite daily hammering from Ontario’s New Democrat and Conservative parties and a recent report from the province’s non-partisan Financial Accountability Office warning that a sell-off of shares of Hydro One may get Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government some fast money but will end up costing provincial taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year in the long run, Wynne appears determined to move ahead with this hair brain scheme.

It’s like Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is going rogue on us.

Wynne insists she needs up-front cash from the sale of this utility which, so long as it remains in public hands, generates more than $700 million annually in revenue (no wonder private investors are chomping at the bit to get a piece of the action), to pay down the province’s debt and cover the cost of some infrastructure projects. Continue reading →

 – Too Many Of Our Veterans Not Getting The Health Care They Need

A Commentary from Cindy Forster, Welland Riding MPP

November 3^rd, 2015 – In the lead up to Remembrance Day every year, Canadians of all ages and backgrounds come together and collectively vow to never forget our brave men and women who lost their lives in military service in peace time or in war. We adorn our lapels with poppies, donate to local legions, lay wreaths in memory, and promise to never forget.

Cindy Forster, the MPP for the Niagara, Ontario Riding of Welland

However, many of these men and women whose service we are so thankful for are often left on the margins of our health care system. Currently, Ontario’s Health and Long Term Care Act limits the definition of what it means to be a “veteran” when assessing who gets priority access to long term care.

In short, our health care system has created a class system for veterans.  Priority access to long term care beds is only available for those who served during and prior to the Korean War; the brave men and women who served in any peacekeeping or wartime mission after that (aka “modern-day veterans) often have to fend for themselves. Continue reading →

A Tribute to Community Involvement from  Niagara, Ontario’s Town of Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

November 2015 – Sometimes in our fast-paced society, we neglect to honour and thank those that do something special. And, yet, those who volunteer in our community make a conscious choice to give of their time and talents to improve our community.

Pelham, Ontario Mayor Dave Augustyn

When you volunteer, you make a conscience choice and, I believe, carry out a sacred act of giving of yourself.

This goes for the many coaches and conveners of the various sports in Pelham and for members of the Town’s outstanding Service Clubs. It’s the same with the specially appointed members of Town Committees like those that volunteer on the Library Board, the Active Transportation Committee, the Beautification Committee, and the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council.

It’s a similar commitment from those involved in community based endeavours like the Farmer’s Market Committee, the Bandshell Committee, the Pelham Art Festival committee, the Pelham Horticultural Society, the Suppermarket Committee, and the hundreds of other volunteers in our community. Continue reading →

• Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath To Join Cindy Forster And Local Leaders In Celebration

News from the Office of Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

Welland, Ontario – The Welland NDP Provincial Riding Association believes that forty continuous years of strong and progressive representation at Queen’s Park is well worth celebrating.

This memorial poster was produced in the wake of Peter Kormos’ sudden passing in 2013. The former Welland MPP was a Niagara regional councilor at the time of his death.

Starting with the election of political icon Mel Swart in 1975 and continuing with Peter Kormos in 1988 and current MPP Cindy Forster in 2011, it’s a remarkable achievement.

To mark this special occasion, the Welland NDP Provincial Riding Association, along with Cindy Forster and special guest, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, will be hosting an anniversary dinner on November 28th.

It will be an evening of celebration to commemorate this important milestone in the riding’s history. It will be an opportunity to look back at the accomplishments of these MPPs and celebrate the hard work and support of so many over the years. Continue reading →

News from the Niagara Health System and Niagara College

“Gratitude + genius = happiness.”

November 2^nd , 2015, Niagara, Ontario – President of the Niagara Health System Dr. Suzanne Johnston shared this simple but significant equation with Niagara College’s Class of 2015 as they gathered for fall convocation this past October 30^th .

Convocation speaker Dr. Suzanne Johnston, president of the Niagara Health System, addresses the crowd at Niagara College’s fall convocation ceremony, held at the Welland Campus on October 30th .

As the convocation speaker and recipient of an honorary diploma in Health Sciences during the ceremony, Johnston shared how she believes everyone can become “masters of happiness” in their lives. In addition to gratitude – which she noted as an essential ingredient of true happiness – she quoted Outliers author Malcolm Gladwell by saying that those considered successful ‘geniuses’ are people who have had spent 10,000 hours or more refining their skills. Continue reading →

From Ontario’s New Democratic Party

Queen’s Park, November 2^nd, 2015 – Ontario NDP Women’s Issues critic Peggy Sattler called on the Acting Premier in the legislature this November 2nd  to address the issue of the gender wage gap in Ontario and the government’s lack of enforcement of existing pay equity laws.

“At last week’s launch of the gender wage gap consultation, many of those in attendance raised concerns about the Liberal government’s lack of enforcement of existing pay equity laws.  In particular, the government has failed to live up to its own pay equity obligations for public sector workers in developmental services, in child care, and in home care.” Continue reading →

News from the Council of Canadians – a national citizens organization

Ottawa, Ontario, November, 2015 -What will Justin Trudeau do about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) once he becomes prime minister on November 4th?

It’s clear that the deal does not have strong public support in Canada. An EKOS poll released today found that the deal is opposed by 38 per cent of Canadians and supported by 41 per cent. The poll also found that 31 per cent of Canadians think the TPP will be harmful, while 33 per cent believe it will be good for the economy.

Just two weeks before the election, Trudeau promised “a full and open public debate” on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and highlighted the imperative to “defend Canadian interests during the TPP’s ratification process – which includes defending supply management, our auto sector, and Canadian manufacturers across the country.” Continue reading →

News from the Ontario’ Opposition Conservative Party

Queen’s Park, November 1^st, 2015 – November 1st represents another unaffordable hydro increase for Ontarians as a result of the Liberal Government’s failed electricity policies.

Beginning today, on-peak hydro rates have increased 8.7 per cent, meaning that the average customer will pay approximately 53 dollars more each year. This is on top of the 68 dollar increase ratepayers already endured on May 1, 2015.

“The Liberals can’t get anything right when it comes to energy policy,” said Leader of the Official Opposition Patrick Brown.  “This increase is on top of Ontarians being faced with among the highest electricity rates in North America.  Meanwhile, the government continues to offer no assurance that the fire sale of Hydro One will not result in even more increases for ratepayers, despite Ontario’s financial watchdog confirming the fire sale is a bad deal for Ontarians.” Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

On the Eve of this Halloween I was beginning to wonder if I was getting to old for the whole ghosts and goblins thing because it just doesn’t seem as spooky anymore.

Then I turned on the radio to news of the upcoming swearing in of Justin Trudeau as Canada’s 23^rd Prime Minister and I remembered why so much of the shiver is gone.

In just a few more days – this coming Wednesday, November 4^th, to be exact – Harper will no long be in the Prime Minister’s Office, cooking up all those tales about Liberals and New Democrats groveling for power so they can o tax us to back to the Stone Age and bankrupt the country, or about Trudeau wanting to unleash reefer madness on us by seting up pot shops in every neighbourhood, or about how there will be terrorists hiding under our beds if we don’t go on bombing countries populated with brown people. Continue reading →

Province’s Plan for High-Speed Rail Will Transform Travel in Southwestern Ontario

News from Ontario’s Liberal Government and Ministry of Transportation

(A Brief Foreword Note from NAL – This may be great news for southern Ontario but you will notice that there is no mention in this news release of Niagara for this service.)

Queen’s Park, October 30^th, 2015 – Ontario has appointed the Honourable David Collenette as a special advisor to assist the province in bringing high-speed rail to the Windsor, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Toronto corridor.

‘Bullet’ or high speed trains like this are common place in Europe and some East Asian regions.

Mr. Collenette, a former federal Minister of Transport, will work with public and private sector stakeholders, as well as First Nations and Métis partners, to identify economic development opportunities associated with high-speed trains, assess international experience with high-speed rail and provide advice on a preliminary business case and potential financing models. Continue reading →

By Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the Ontario Health Coalition 

(Natalie Mehra and the non-profit activist group she directs may be familiar to people in Niagara, Ontario who have lobbied to save hospital services across this region. She and members of the OHA have made numerous visits to Niagara in recent years to support residents in their struggle to keep community hospitals operating.)

Toronto, Ontario, October 30^th, 2015 – After twenty years on the front lines of the movement to protect our public health care in Ontario, perhaps I should be more jaded.

Ontario Health Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra

But when I read the headlines today announcing the mulish determination of Kathleen Wynne and her government to sell off Hydro One despite all reason, despite overwhelming public opposition and the antimony of both the Conservatives and the NDP, despite expert assessments warning of higher costs, and regardless of the fact that it is privatization of the management of our electricity grid for goodness sake — I almost can’t believe it.

We should all be up in arms.

If Wynne is willing to give away public hydro what will she not privatize? Continue reading →

A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Okay, I’ll admit it. It’s looking like I was wrong about Kathleen Wynne.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, a few years back with her outgoing boss, the former premier Dalton McGuinty

When so many others warned as far back as the winter of 2013 when she was first sworn in as Ontario’s 25^th Premier, and again in the spring of 2014 when she lead the province’s Liberals to a third consecutive term in government, that she was no better than her predecessor Dalton McGuinty – when the opposition Conservatives and NDP kept linking the names McGuinty and Wynne together with a hyphen every time they made a reference to her government – I was giving her the benefit of the doubt. Continue reading →

From Ontario’s Conservative Opposition Party

QUEEN’S PARK – This October 29^th, the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario released a report on its assessment of the financial impact of the sale of Hydro One.  The report confirms what the Ontario PC Caucus, the public, and the business community have continued to stress to the government: the Hydro One fire sale is a bad deal for Ontarians.

Hydro One crews repairing damage following a severe winter storm

The FAO projects that as a result of the fire sale, the province’s fiscal situation would be worse than if they didn’t sell Hydro One, in large part due to the revenue Hydro One currently brings in to provincial coffers.  The fire sale represents a short-term gain in exchange for long-term pain.

Members of the Ontario PC Caucus stood in Question Period today demanding that the Wynne Liberals put an immediate stop to the fire sale of Hydro One.  Continue reading →

From Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath  

Queen’s Park – This October 29^th, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath demanded that the government stop the sell-off of Hydro One after the Financial Accountability Officer’s (FAO) Report demonstrated what New Democrats have been saying for months: The sell-off of Hydro One is a bad deal for the families and businesses of this province.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

“The first independent analysis of this sell-off has been done and it clearly shows that this is a bad deal for Ontario families and businesses,” said Horwath. “The Premier (Kathleen Wynne) should follow the advice of the FAO and commit today to stopping the sell-off of Hydro One before this turns into another billion dollar Liberal boondoggle for the people of Ontario.”   The FAO report demonstrates that the Premier’s promises that the sell-off would return $4 billion for transit and infrastructure are false and that the total could be billions of dollars less. Continue reading →

–        Province Works to End Strategic Lawsuits That Stifle Free Speech

News from the Ontario Ministry of Attorney General

Queen’s Park – This October 28^th, 2015, Ontario passed an act that protects freedom of speech on matters of public interest.

The Protection of Public Participation Act, 2015 will allow the public to participate more freely in public discussions without fear of retribution by giving them a better way to defend themselves against strategic lawsuits, commonly known as SLAPPs (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation).

The threat of a strategic lawsuit, which can be lengthy and expensive, is often used as a means to intimidate or punish opponents and discourage others from speaking out. Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

The New York Times posted a story this October 28^th that could be both good news and bad news for the most moneyed one per cent in Canada and the U.S. who say climate change is a joke.

These maps show the extent of the ice sheet (in white) on Greenland melting back over the last few decades

According to the story, the ice sheet covering Greenland now continues to melt at a rapid rate, adding weight to one of the long-time predictions of many scientists around the world that is this – as we continue to use the earth’s atmosphere as a garbage dump for emissions from the burning of oil and other carbon fuels, average temperatures around the world continue to climb causing, among many other things, ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise.

This should obviously be a matter of concern to (if not trigger some alarm in) all of us. But if you are anything like me and want to try searching through the darkest of news for a silver lining, here are a at least a couple of benefits that may come from all of those shrinking caps of ice. Continue reading →

 News from Ontario’s Conservative Leader Patrick Brown

Queen’s Park, Ontario, October 27^th, 2015 – Today during Question Period, Leader of the Official Opposition Patrick Brown asked Acting Premier Deb Matthews about the government’s payments to teachers’ unions.

Ontario Conservative Patrick Brown demanding answers on provincial government’s millions of dollars of payouts to teachers unions and  unions’ spending on Liberal election campaigns.

Over the past three provincial election campaigns, teachers’ unions spent more than $6.5 million to run negative ad campaigns and donated nearly $800,000 to the Liberals over the past decade.

The Globe and Mail has alleged that the government didn’t need receipts for its payments to teachers’ unions because the payments weren’t covering negotiating costs. This represents yet another growing scandal of Ontario’s Liberal Government for which Ontario’s taxpayers have had to foot the bill. Continue reading →

• Harper’s Battered Bunch, On The Other Hand, Could Use A Reality Check

By Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

Some of you may (or more likely may not) recall a last minute get-out-and-vote appeal I posted on NAL the day before the federal election where I made a brief reference to Pinky, a friend’s pet chiwawa my wife and I are dog sitting for a couple weeks.

I added a few words about Pinky because for reasons only a dog behaviorist may understand, she had this habit of making a sour face and sticking her tongue out at the mere mention of Stephen Harper’s name.

Before the election. Poor Pinky. She looked like she had come down with a bad case of Harper Derangement Syndrome.

It was a habit that carried right through to the morning of election day when a canvasser for the Harper Conservatives came to our door and Pinky flashed a disapproving tongue so many times the canvasser said she must be suffering from a canine version of something he called ‘Harper Derangement Syndrome’ – a condition diehard Harper say makes normally rational and intelligent people express a hatred for Harper that borderlines on pathological.

Naturally, the canvasser’s diagnosis, as partisan as it may have been, had my wife and I concerned enough to call our local animal hospital, only to find out that both vets were home that day due to a severe case of the same syndrome.

Then something amazing happened. Continue reading →

News from the Ohio Environmental Council

(A Brief Foreword to this post from NAL publisher Doug Draper – This news may be coming from environmentalists based in the State of Ohio but what they are trying to do is vitally important to the quality of life of people living in the Greater Niagara Region, including Niagara, Ontario and the Buffalo, New York area.

A look of the growing bloom of harmful algae in Lake Erie from space

It is vitally important because for a number of years, Lake Erie waters have hosted a dangerous form of algae that last year poisoned waters in western reaches of the lake to a point where the drinking water supply of Toledo, Ohio had to be shut down. Scientists are concerned that this algae – largely a product of contaminated runoff from farmlands – could grow and pose a similar threat to water supplies further downstream.

And of course, the waters of Lake Erie are an upstream source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents in the Niagara/Buffalo area. Yet, on the Ontario side of the lake, there is little evidence that the federal and provincial governments are taking this issue seriously and regional bodies like the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority have seen their environmental protection forces castrated by the boards and administrators that run them.)

So on this one, we ought to thank our American neighbours for talking a Great Lakes pollution problem that could have a profound impact on all of us more seriously than bodies on the Ontario side of the lakes do.)

Columbus, Ohio, October 22, 2015 – More than one year after a harmful algal bloom in western Lake Erie poisoned the drinking water for more than 400,000 Toledo-area residents, advocates for the lake are asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to put in place a pollution diet for western Lake Erie to prevent future outbreaks. Continue reading →

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

October 24^th, 2015 – Their buildings aren’t moving an inch, but two of Niagara’s major institutions will have new street addresses when the sun comes up on Monday, Oct. 26.

Niagara Region Chair Alan Caslin, Brock University President Jack Lightstone, Maj.-Gen. Sir Isaac Brock (played by actor Guy Bannerman) and aide de camp John Glegg (played by Brock student Mike Fusilo) introduce the street sign that people will be seeing on the new Sir Isaac Brock Way.

Brock University and the Niagara Region’s headquarters, located across the road from each other, made the joint announcement Saturday Oct. 24, during the University’s annual gala banquet held to honour its namesake, Maj.-Gen. Sir Isaac Brock.

The University’s address becomes 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way in St. Catharines. It ceases to be 500 Glenridge Avenue.

Across the street (which is also a city boundary), the Niagara Region’s address becomes 1815 Sir Isaac Brock Way in Thorold. It had previously been 2201 St. David’s Road. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau hasn’t even been sworn in as Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister yet, and you have parades of political pundits, citizen activists and others chattering about some of the first things he should do when he is.

Now retired Environment Canada scientist Tony Turner singing ‘Harperman’ about a prime minister who didn’t care for the tune.

So why shouldn’t I join in with just one very simple thing he could do that would make good on his mantra for hope and change.

I’ll stay away from one that has already been repeated thousands of times since this past October 19^th when Trudeau and his Liberals swept to victory – that he should put together a carbon emissions reduction plan that convinces the world at the coming Paris Climate Change Summit that after more than nine years of being stuck in the tar sands, Canada is seriously back in business of protecting the environment.

I wholeheartedly agree that climate change should be among Trudeau’s top priorities but tackling that one won’t be as simple as the one I’m about to suggest, which he could accomplish within a matter of hours of taking office. Continue reading →

News from the national citizens group Council of Canadians

Ottawa, Ontario, October 23^rd, 2015 – In 998 the Council of Canadians won a moratorium against the use of Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) in Canada.

This morning, the CBC reports, “As dairy imports from the United States appear set to increase under the terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, Canadian consumers concerned about drinking milk from cows receiving hormones will need to read their labels more carefully. …”

“At the initial briefing offered to journalists, TPP negotiators said Canadian health and safety regulations would apply. …But further clarification recently revealed that doesn’t mean dairy producers outside Canada have to follow the same rules Canadian farms do. Most notably, it’s illegal in Canada to administer bovine growth hormone (rBST) to boost milk production in dairy cattle. But there’s no such restriction in the U.S.” Continue reading →

An Invite from the Sierra Club of Western New York

The Sierra Club Climate and Clean Energy Writers Group will hold its November session on Monday, November 2nd from 6 to 7:30 PM in the Alliance Room – 2nd floor of the Unitarian Universalist Church – 695 Elmwood at Ferry (Use the Garden Entrance).

This November’s topic will be Truth to Power and the speakers will be:

Rob Galbraith from the Public Accountability Initiative speaking on “Researching Power Relations”

Geoff Kelly, editor of the Public on Alternative Media in WNY

This event is free and open to the public.

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

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