Author Archives: dougdraper

A Media Release from Niagara Labour Movement representative Bruce Allen

Post-secondary students from across Niagara, Ontario and their allies in the labour movement and in the community will gather  at 6:00 pm this Wednesday, June  13th in front of St. Catharines City Hall for the third consecutive week in a show of solidarity with the Quebecois student movement and its struggle for fully accessible and affordable post-secondary education.

We will also be gathering in a show of opposition to the Quebec/Charest goverrment’s draconian Bill 78 which frontally assaults civil liberties and freedom of expression and has facilitated nearly 3000 arrests and widespread police violence. The event will be one of dozens of similar events anticipated across Canada in support of the Quebecois student movement.

By John Bacher

For now, the 827 acres of land in the headwaters of Frenchman’s Creek and Miller Creek in Fort Eire, Ontario, assembled for the proposed Canadian Motor Speedway, is off limits.

Millier Creek floating through a woodlot on the proposed NASCAR site. Photo by Mike Dickman

Blessedly,  through a procedure of the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB),  Mike Dickman, a long-time university professor and biologist, and I were able to access the property this April with three experts employed by the (NASCAR) speedway corporation. We were able to take photographs of streams and forests that could not well be seen from the public access points of Gilmore, Bowen and other roads running around the property. Continue reading →

A Submission from the Niagara 1812 Legacy Council

(As opening ceremonies are set to begin this June 16, 17 & 18, Niagara At Large is pleased to post this submission from the Niagara 1812 Legacy Council that provides information on events the public can attend in the days ahead. We are also posting a link for the Legacy Council at the end of this post that you can visit for more information on War of 1812 Bicentennial events taking place through the spring and summer.) 

NIAGARA REGION, ON (June 11, 2012)– The Niagara 1812 Legacy Council will be commemorating the official “Declaration of the War of 1812” during their Opening Ceremonies Weekend, June 16-18th.  Almost 20 events both hosted and showcased by the Legacy Council all across Niagara make up the Opening Ceremonies weekend.

On Saturday June 16th, at 10:00 a.m., the public is invited to gather at Queenston Heights, to commemorate the
Declaration of War, and reflect on the beginning of the conflict that helped shape Canada. His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, will lead the historic ceremony amongst other dignitaries. Join community leaders for this historic occasion under the shadow of Sir Isaac Brock’s monument, with a presentation by the Six Nations Legacy Consortium to follow. Standing on guard will be the Queen’s York Rangers, the Lincoln and Welland Regimental Band and the Niagara Regional Police Colour Guard. Continue reading →

A Submission from the Office of Ontario PC Party leader Tim Hudak

QUEEN’S PARK, June 11, 2012– As another Legislative session marked by dithering and delay winds down – bringing the total to eight months of inaction since the last election – frustrated Ontarians want strong action to unleash our province’s true potential, PC Leader Tim Hudak said today.

Ontario PC and official opposition leader Tim Hudak

“There is a way out of this mess,” Hudak said, “and increasingly, the Ontarians I talk to agree that it will require us to get our fiscal house in order and get our economic fundamentals right.

“But I’m concerned that every day’s delay just lets the Liberals keep digging a hole that just keeps getting deeper. Now we’ve wasted yet another Legislative session, instead of digging out. It’s another failing grade for a government we’ve tried to hold to account to cut spending, grow the private sector and ensure value for taxpayers.” Continue reading →

By Mark Taliano

Chinese boxes can be broken down into increasingly smaller boxes to ultimately reveal the smallest, most distilled version of the box, which represents an alternate narrative of the original. Such a box is an appropriate metaphor for what is happening in Canada today.

Is Canada’s fate as a democracy and environmental protection leader hidden inside these boxes?

Communist China is not comfortable with our environmental laws, nor is it comfortable with what is left of our democracy, and so they are pressuring us to dismantle both.  Certainly the pressure is not overt, but it is powerful nonetheless. 

How to prove what seems to be an outlandish statement?  Simple.  Sinopec and other Communist Party state-owned companies have a vested interest in Canada’s Tar Sands industry, and they see environmental legislation and democratic procedures as being barriers to business. Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Doug Draper

You may remember that one of Canada’s Harper government’s major reasons for being among the first developed countries in the world to bow out of the Kyoto Accord on climate change was that China won’t sign on.

A smoggy day in Beijing town. If China can cover up or ignore its environmental problems, why can’t Canada?

A Comment by Doug Draper

If I were to report to you that a corporation was planning to build and operate some sort of facility in your town that could give off enough ultra violet light to raise the risk of skin cancer by as much as  75 per cent for people under the age of 35, I have no doubt that people would be packing council chambers and marching in the streets to keep that facility out of town.

Yet, it is quite likely that at least one out of every 10 people in that community, according to polls conducted for the Canadian Cancer Society, are exposing their skin to ultra violet light in tanning salons and the number of teens is increasing. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

If you are looking for a great night of theatre in a beautiful outdoor setting, you can’t do much better than ‘Shakespeare in Delaware Park’ in Buffalo, New York.

Shakespeare in Delaware Park on stage. File photo by Doug Draper .

The  37^th season of this – one of the largest and longest running free Shakespeare summer theatre productions in North America – gets underway this Tuesday, June 21^st and continues through to the August 19^th, with a week’s break this  mid-July  between the two plays being featured this summer. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Environmentalists and residents at large in regions around the Great Lakes – both Canadian and American – are giving two thumbs up for legislation Ontario Environment Minister Jim Bradley has drafted for protecting the Great Lakes.

Ontario Environment Minister and St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley and Thurder Bay, Ontario Mayork Keith Hobbs earlier this year, while Bradley was on a consultation mission around a new environmental protection act for the Great Lakes.

“I think this is hugely important,” said Theresa McClenaghan, executive director of the Toronto-based Canadian Environmental Law Association. This legislation, she said, ushers in a “whole new approach,” involving all of us and a host of other public and private and public stakeholders in protecting the lakes. Continue reading →

A Foreword from Doug Draper

Say what you want about St. Catharines Liberal MPP, and I’ve just about heard it all right up to and including; ‘isn’t it time for him to retire’, but he was and remains the best environment minister Ontario ever had when he held that portfolio through the mid- to late-1980s for the former Liberal government of David Peterson.

St. Catharines MPP and Liberal Environment Minister Jim Bradley

I don’t know how many times I have heard David Suzuki, the host of CBC’s Nature of Things and one of Canada’s most high-profile environmentalists, mention in addresses he has delivered here in Ontario that Jim Bradley, during that bright and shining period during the 80s, was the hottest environment this province has had to this day.

Some may then argue that he was a far better environment minister than he is now under the current Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty and that is something that remains to be seen. His record then and now will speak for itself.  Continue reading →

This Submission is from Welland, Ontario MP Malcolm Allen

Ottawa – Late Wednesday, MPs from all parties voted in support of Bill C-311, after New Democrats passed a motion last week to fast track the legislation.  

“Today is a great day for Niagara’s wineries and overall tourism industry” said Malcolm Allen, M.P. (Welland). “It was essential that parliament passed C-311 quickly as Ontario’s busiest wine country tourism season is upon us. This is why the NDP brokered a deal with all parties to fast track this bill.” Continue reading →

By Doug Draper 

They were mostly young people from across Niagara – many of them college and university students, and not just a few having one helluva time finding a job – and they were gathering in solidarity with tens-of-thousands of student demonstrating against proposed tuition hikes in Quebec.

One of the banners young demonstrators in Niagara, Ontario displayed at a ‘solidarity’ rally for striking students in Quebec. Photo by Doug Draper

More than 30 of them gathered this June 6 in front of City Hall in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario, wearing the red patches which have become a symbol of the Quebec student movement, and banging on pots and pans, just as Quebec students have been doing when they march through the streets on Montreal during their “casserole” rallies. Above the din of pot banging, they were encouraged by the number of people driving by – young and old – honking their horns or raising a thumbs’ up in support. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper 

The battle for Bay Beach along the Lake Erie shores of Fort Erie, Ontario is apparently not over yet.

A digital image of what the controversial condo would look like on Bay Beach in Fort Erie, Ontario

A group of six residents from the Fort Erie communities of Crystal Beach, Ridgeway and Crescent Park is appealing an Ontario Superior Court ruling this past May that upholds the Ontario Municipal Board’s previous approval for the building of a 12-storey condo in front of this public beach. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Frequent readers of Niagara At Large already know that we have a soft spot in our hear here when it comes to helping our animal friends.

Clyde having a little snooze

In that spirit, we are posting the following information about Clyde, a nine-year-old cat looking for a new home after living his life with an elderly person who is no longer physically able to care for him.

Clyde is now the guest of Theresa Pilon, a long-tme member of Niagara Action for Animals, a not for profit, all volunteer charity in Niagara, “devoted to ending all forms of animal cruelty through education, direct action and legitimate protest,” as the organization puts it. Continue reading →

This post was submitted by Niagara, Ontario’s Regional Government

NIAGARA REGION, June 6, 2012– Through a partnership with Brock University Niagara Region commissioned a background report to better understand how climate change might impact Niagara.

Niagara regional headquarters, Thorold, Ontario.

The report, “Adapting to Climate Change: Challenges for Niagara”, authored by Dr. Jennifer Penney, is now available and is expected to be a valuable resource to the many organizations and individuals working together to address the challenges of climate change in Niagara and in the development of community climate change action plans.

 The author notes that while there are likely to be some positive effects from climate change, such as the fertilization effect of increased carbon dioxide, opportunities for more “hot crop” production, better conditions for warm climate grapes, less stress for fruit trees and a longer tourist season, the negative impacts are likely to outweigh the positive effects. Continue reading →

By Fiona McMurran

On February 14, federal Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews gave Canadians an unusual Valentine. He introduced a “lawful access” bill, C-30, an “Act to enact the Investigating and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act and to amend the Criminal Code and other acts”.

Ready and willing to hack your computer

Reaction was swift. A coalition of groups forming the Stop Inline Spying Coalition  claimed that the bill’s provisions “would force Internet service providers to surrender the personal information of any Canadian at any time to authorities without court oversight—a move that public interest groups, legal experts, and privacy advocates say will fundamentally reshape the Internet in Canada.” 

The Stop Inline Spying Coalition expressed its concerns; Bill C-30, they say, is; Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Doug Draper and George Carlin

The interesting commentary that Gary Screaton Page shared with Niagara At Large on Lynden Dorval, the teacher from Alberta who has been suspended by his school board, for daring to give students who turn in no work a “zero,” made me think of a few thoughts American satirist George Carlin left shortly before his untimely death in 2008.

The late American satirist George Carlin

Dear Niagara At Large subscribers –

A headline on a post recently emailed your way and submitted by one of our contributors Gary Screaton Page, should have included a headline reading: Three Cheers For Lynden Dorval! – The Teacher Who Dared To Give Students That Failed To Do Any Work A Zero . The word “Zero’ was accidently deleted on the original and our apologies for that.

It’s Dexter’s fault. How low can I get. Blame it on the cat.

Actually I know this is going to sound like an excuse, but it is true. At the very second I went to click publish for that post, and it did have the word ‘Zero’ in it, one of my cat friends, named Dexter, jumped up on my desk and stepped on the mouse – the mouse for the computer that is. I wish the people at Apple had given this damn thing another name. At any rate, the headline has been corrected on the online version of the story at www.niagaraatlarge.com. Your cat challenged publisher, Doug Draper If you object to blaming animals for mistakes humans make, feel free to share your comments below

 By Gary Screaton Page

 Who is Lynden Dorval? He’s a man of considerable courage. He’s theEdmontonteacher who had the chutzpah to give several of his students the grades they deserved.

Gary Screaton Page

You see, some of Mr. Dorval’s students failed to turn in assignments and he had the audacity – at least according to his principal – to give those students a failing grade of zero. Why is that such a brave thing to do? Well, Mr. Dorval’s principal has had him suspended because, so the principal seems to argue, students who fail to turn in work should only be evaluated on the work they do turn in.

In one case, this bizarre approach, taken by the principal let to one of Mr. Dorval’s students being transferred from another teacher with only 40% of his work completed and turned in and yet had received a passing grade. Continue reading →

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper

Even those who more often put Canada’s prime minister Stephen Harper down have got to give him credit for at least one thing.

One more corporate factory – this one in Nova Scotia – doing its thing with the blessing of a Canadian government that is gutting environental rules so it can feel ever more free to do more. .

A Submission from Jennifer Sinclair, co-founder of the community, not-for-profit group Meetings on the Bus

This June 3rd to June 9th is Commuter Challenge week, a national event that promotes friendly competition among organizations and cities to see who can get the highest percentage of people out of their single occupancy cars and into healthier, more sustainable modes of transportation, like transit, walking, cycling and carpooling. 

Local not-for-profit organizations and groups, including Meetings on the Bus, Niagara Prosperity Community Committee, Bridges Community Health Centre, Port Cares and Niagara Falls Community Health Centre have come together to promote the commuter challenge in Niagara.  Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Doug Draper

For practically all of my life as a Canadian, I’ve heard some of my fellow citizens say; ‘Let’s cut our ties with the British monarchy. It is a medieval, autocratic institution that has no place in a democracy’.

Queen Elizabeth II – a pillar of dignity and solidarity in a world where we can’t find much of that any more.

That’s not to say that I would not rather prefer a true democracy that puts the best interests of the people at large first rather than a monarchy. But at least with a monarchy, you have a fairly good idea where you rank on the food chain. Much harder to tell in a fake democracy where the elected government, regardless of what party gets elected, bow to the will of their corporate masters and upper one per cent, and the rest of us have no ranking on the food chain at all, except to accept lower paying jobs with no benefits at fast food joints and box stores or get cut off employment insurance. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

This is the second year in a row this group of women have agreed to do this – to live in a tent for five days in Oakes Park in Niagara Falls, Ontario to raise funds for food and other needs for far too many people living in poverty in this region.

The women who will be living n a tent for Project Share. Do your best to support them.

When they did it last year they had “phenomenal support,” said Niagara Falls regional councillor Barbara Greenwood at a recent regional council meeting. Thanks to the support of area residents and schools, last year the women in the tent raised about $158,000 and many tonnes of food. Continue reading →

By Preston Haskell 

There are two main routes for free citizens to lose their liberty. One is through the violent overthrow of a free society by an autocratic state. The other is through a socialist minded elected government.

Preston Haskell

Socialist minded authorities eventually steal the liberty of their citizens through the use of covert legislation. Even when the citizen recognizes the nibbling away of their liberties, they all too often accept small losses rather than standing up against the deliberate expansion of control over their liberties.

Exception and kudos must go to the citizens of Pelham Ontario, Canada. These brave citizens objected to a challenge to their liberty by their elected authority of their community.

The threat to civil liberty did not start in the town of Pelham. In this case the threat started with our past Liberal Socialist Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau when he denied Canadian citizens property rights. Of course this assault on liberty begs the question as to why Canadians should be denied property rights.  Continue reading →

A Foreword by Doug Draper

Unlike the olden days – way back in the 1980s – when St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley was then environment minister in the Ontario Liberal government of David Peterson and made a name for himself as one of the more progressive environmental voices in politics at that time, these days he seems to wait, for months if need be, to see which way the horses have left the barn, then he follows them.

Ontario Environment Minister Jim Bradley finally wades in on dumping “fracking waste” poisons through a New York treatment plant to the Niagara River.

In fairness to Bradley, he was belatedly returned to the province’s environment portfolio last year by one Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty who so obviously couldn’t give a fig about environmental protection. Bradley has apparently been told (say some good sources) not to bother pushing environmental issues in this Liberal cabinet because the premier, who goes trucken’ himself  around in a great big honkin’ SUV (at the risk of repeating myself) couldn’t give a fig about environmental protection.

So it is not so surprising that it would take months for Ontario’s recycled environment minister Jim Bradley to get some clearance from the spin masters in the premier’s office to respond to a request by Niagara-on-the-Lake environmental activist Andrea Duncan to speak out about a plan by American petro-chemical companies to dump chemically contaminated ‘fracking’ waste into the Niagara River through the Niagara Falls, New York wastewater treatment plant. Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Doug Draper

 During my many years as an environment reporter, I have had the opportunity to interview David Suzuki and cover his addresses on a number of occasions. I was also part of a small group who joined him for dinner once at a conference of environmental journalists in Michigan and I have one of his books with note he wrote in it, thanking me for my efforts in raising public awareness about issues in the Great Lakes.

This poster, created by unknown others and now circulating across Canada and the world on Facebook, just about says it all about how environmentalists are regarded in ‘Harperland’. Most unfortunately, it is a sign of our times.

That is not to say I always agree with David Suzuki or appreciatethe way he, who has never suffered those who challenged him lightly, dress down some of his detractors. Yet he has more often been gracious with others and in my view, there is no doubting his deep and abiding belief that we, as a human species, have to do a better job of balancing our exploits with earth-friendly stewardship. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the following for our readers’ information.)

 The Niagara Climate Change Network (NCCN) invites you to attend the Community Climate Change Action Planning Forum to discover what is going on in Niagara regarding Climate Change, dream about Niagara’s future, design an Action Plan to help us get there, and be inspired to create our own destiny as a resilient community.

Climate change may represent the greatest challenge to our future well-being.

Scientific evidence of the increasingly rapid rate of climate change calls for a renewed sense of urgency and action as these changes threaten our food and water sources, public safety and health, infrastructure systems, and our local economy – all significantly impacting on our quality of life. 

WHO: This event is hosted by the Niagara Climate Change Network and features Guest Speaker David Miller. David Miller is a leading advocate for the creation of sustainable urban economies. In addition to being a strong and forceful champion for the next generation of jobs through sustainability, Miller advises companies – and governments- on practical measures to make this happen.  

WHAT: At the forum, the NCCN will be releasing a Climate Change Charter for Niagara and encouraging individuals, organizations and businesses to commit to work together to address climate change.

WHERE: Welland Arena, 501 King St. , Welland, Ontario

WHEN: June 6, 2012,  9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

There is no charge to attend. You can register at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3550205761 .

A Submission from the Niagara Falls, Ontario Chamber of Commerce 

(The following submission was received as new duty exemptions were kicking in this June 1, increasing the amount of purchased goods Canadians can bring back into the country from the United States without paying duty.)

Retail Council of Canada (RCC) together with four border community Chambers of Commerce are asking for the federal government to level the playing field for Canadian retailers, starting with the elimination of import tariffs (taxes) on finished goods.

“Start with what can be changed immediately and eliminate import tariffs,” is the message to Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty from RCC and the Chambers of Commerce of Surrey, British Columbia, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Altona, Manitoba, Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Fredericton, New Brunswick.  

“The government’s decision to increase duty exemptions on goods bought in the U.S. is salt in the wounds of retailers in border communities,” said Diane J. Brisebois, RCC’s President and CEO. “They already face too many obstacles to competition, such as import duties, as high as 18 per cent on sports equipment. Now Canadians are being offered yet another incentive to cross border shop.” Continue reading →

(The following editorial, featured at the top of editorial page of the Saturday, June 2 edition of The Buffalo News, offers one more take from our American neighbours on how wrong-headed it is for Canada’s Harper government to close the Canadian consulate office, located in Buffalo, New York and serving political and business leaders, and ordinary citizens on both sides of the border.

Niagara At Large is posting the first few paragraphs, followed by a link for the entire editorial from the last daily newspaper of any real quality and importance in our greater Niagara region. Now if we could only convince The Buffalo News to introduce a section on Niagara, Ontario news.)

From The Buffalo News Editorial Board

The closing of the Canadian consulate in Buffalo is a very troubling development.

The Canadian flag flies in front of Buffalo, New York’s city hall

President Obama’s effort to strengthen ties with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper manifested itself in the Harper-Obama Beyond the Border initiative, and now the implementation of that effort is at risk. This decision is extremely perplexing, to say the least.

The Buffalo Niagara Partnership, Western New York’s congressional delegation and everyone else upset by this decision are urging the Canadian government to reverse its course.

To read the full Buffalo News Editorial click on the following link and check out The Buffalo News regularly for more news and commentary on our greater Niagara region –   http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial-page/buffalo-news-editorials/article883975.ece  .

 (Niagara At Large invites you to share your views on this post below. Please remember that we only post comments by individuals who are also willing to share their real first and last names. Thank you for visiting Niagara At Large.)

(One of the very fine things about remembering the War of 1812 is that it gives American and Canadians in border communities an opportunity to come closer together in honour of our shared history. This post submitted by the Canada/U.S. Binational Tourism Alliance and by Carol Murphy of Burt, New York, located near Lockport in Niagara Country, reminds us of those ties that make up the  collective heritage of both our nations when they were still struggling to find their way, together and independently.  Niagara At Large is pleased to share it with you.)

Submitted by Carol Murphy from Burt, New York

This Friday, June 1, community partners assembled at Murphy Orchards in Burt, New York to dedicate a new 1812 Peace Garden reflecting “Peaceful Rewards for Fruitful Labors.” 

The historic McClew Farm in Niagara, County New York saw bloody skirmishes between two fledgling nations during the War of 1812

The garden is part of the new Binational Heritage Peace Garden Trail, which celebrates 200 years of peace and longstanding friendship between the United States and Canada. 

 “This Peace Garden was inspired by the profound peace and satisfaction of a farmer overlooking the results of a day well spent in hard, productive labor, conducted in harmony with the living earth.” advised Carol Murphy, owner and operator of this historic property.  “It is a simple garden, built around the 160 year old outdoor fireplace behind the large, brick farmhouse.  A bench faces the prevailing breeze of evening and offers a view of producing apple orchards, growing field crops and majestic, old cherry trees.  “Peace” rose bushes and perennial ornamental grasses border slate flagstones.  The Peace Garden has been planned to grow larger in future years, with the hope that its expansion will mirror the growth of world peace.” Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

If there is any chance there is a God looking over the best that Canada can be, then please God, bless them.

Former Canadian federal fishery ministers Tom Siddon and John Fraser. Image courtesy of the Hill Times at http://www.hilltimes.com/ .

When I say ‘them’ I am talking about four former federal ministers of fisheries for Canada – Tom Siddon and John Fraser, who both served in the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney, and Herb Dhaliwal and David Anderson, who served in the Liberal governments of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin – who have collectively written a letter late this May to the “Conservative” government of Stephen Harper, urging it not to rip all of the teeth out of one of Canada’s most important pieces of environmental protection legislation, the federal Fisheries Act.  Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

The funding for a rebuild of the West Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Grimsby, Ontario may still be on the table.

Grimsby, Ontario regional councillor Debbie Zimmerman

At least that is the suggestion Grimsby regional councillor Debbie Zimmerman says she got during a meeting this May 28 with the province’s health minister Deb Matthews.

“There was no outright ‘No’ to anything,” Zimmerman  told Niagara At Large this May 30 meeting with Matthews during annual ‘Niagara Week’ meetings Niagara’s regional and municipal councillors hold in and around Queen’s Park to lobby for the interests of this region. “I think it was a very positive meeting.”

That may give a glimmer or more of hope to the roughly 12,000 of residents in Grimsby, West Lincoln, Lincoln and other neighbouring communities who joined a rally one evening at the beginning of this May to let Matthews and her provincial Liberal government know they want this hospital to be rebuilt for the future of residents in their communities. The rally was a response to news that the provincial government was planning to deep six funding it had previously promised for a rebuild for the West Lincoln Memorial Hospital. Continue reading →

Submitted by Jonathan Seiling and Don Alexander

CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION TO WAR AS EXPERIENCED DURING THE HOSTILITIES OF 1812 – 1814.

THREE HISTORIC PEACE CHURCHES WILL DEDICATE PLAQUES , RESPECTING THEIR MEMBERS’  CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION TO WAR , ON A DEDICATION TOUR OF THE SITES IN THE NIAGARA PENINSULA, SUNDAY , JUNE 10, 2012.

 Many of the early settlers in the Niagara Peninsula were attracted to the area by assurances of the colonial Government of Upper Canada that conscientious objection to war would be respected.

Niagara historian Jonathan Seiling poses next to the historical marker installed at The First Mennonite Church in Vineland, with the graves of the early peace church pioneers in the background.

Plaques that honour this part of the early history of Canada will be dedicated during a tour of three sites in the Niagara Peninsula, Sunday June10, 2012.

The three Peace Churches; Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Quaker, were assured by the Militia Act that they could –as a matter of conscience– practice their peaceful ways. Continue reading →

A Submission from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

(Niagara, Ontario) – The announced closing of the Canadian Consulate in Buffalo last week (May 25, 2012) by the Canadian government will be a setback for trade relations between Canada and the United States.

Great Niagara Chamber of Commerce CEO Walter Sendzik

“The Canadian Consulate in Buffalo plays an important role in fostering strong bi-national trade relationships,” explains Walter Sendzik, CEO of the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce. “As a community that benefits directly from this trade with close to 30 per cent of all Canada-US trade passing through Niagara, the Consulate is a significant resource for one of Canada’s largest trade and commerce corridors.”

The Consulate is one of Canada’s largest and oldest diplomatic outposts in the United States. With the closure of the office in Buffalo, all consulate functions, including trade and business support services, will be moved to the Canadian Consulate in New York City. The move by the Canadian government to close a number of consulate offices in the U.S. is based on efforts to find savings within government operations. Continue reading →

By Mark Taliano

“Inverted totalitarianism comes into being not by design, but by inattention to the consequences of actions, or especially, inactions.  Or, more precisely, inattention to their cumulative consequences.”  – Sheldon. S. Wolin

Such is the case in today’sCanada.  Our inattention to the federal government’s control of information and its assaults on Charter rights, is inexorably leading us towards totalitarianism, and the cost of this inattention is very high.

Even the government’s ascension to majority status was tainted.  The as yet unresolved issue of electoral fraud is still on the back burner, and it may remain there, if the government, aided in part by corporate media conglomerates, succeeds in de-valuing the importance of the issue. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

How willing would the provincial government actually be to approve the building of a new hospital in south Niagara?

Niagara Falls, Ontario Mayor Jim Diodati

Ontario’ health minister Deb Matthews told Niagara representatives this May 28 that she’s not prepared to begin providing an answer to that question until they can provide her with more assurance that a new hospital is what their communities want and with a proposal on where that hospital should go.

“She made it clear that (the idea of a new hospital for Niagara’s southern tier) is not pie in the sky,” said Niagara Mayor, who attended the meeting with Matthews during the annual ‘Niagara Week’ in Toronto, “but she wants to be real that that this is what we and our communities want, and she wants a suggested location.” Continue reading →

By Doug Draper 

The way Harper’s dutiful foot soldiers put it, the Canadian Consulate in Buffalo, New York is little more than a front office for processing visas for foreign nationals and others. So why not close it and save the taxpayers of Canada a little money.

That plan, made public this past May 26, no doubt hits the mark for the Stephen Harper government’s core constituencies of neo-conservatives and libertarians who see government as an enemy that ought to be vanquished unless, of course, it comes to military procurements or any entitlements like seniors’ pensions or drug and health benefits that enrich their lives personally.

“I can assure the people in our region that this will certainly not affect – in any way – our historically strong relationship with our American neighbours,” said Niagara Falls MP and Harper government cabinet member Rob Nicholson in a written response to the local media following the May 26 news. “The reality is that with the increasing use of technology, there is less need for physical space and applicants can now increasingly apply and pay online, without ever having to visit a visa office. Our Government will continue providing better service at the best cost to Canadian taxpayers.”  Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Cindy Forster, the provincial member of parliament for Niagara, Ontario’s Welland Riding, is planning to reach out to every constituent in her riding for their views on what they feel is working and not working when it comes to hospital and related health services in the region.

Welland, Ontario riding MPP Cindy Forster

Forster, who was elected as the NDP member for the Welland Riding in last October’s provincial election, told Niagara At Large she is preparing a survey that will soon be sent to every household in the riding which includes the communities of Welland, Port Colborne, Fort Erie and Thorold.

“We are going to ask (residents in those communities) about hospital services and we are also going to ask them for their views on health care in general, including home care,” said Forster, who was a nurse and area representative for the Ontario Nurses Association, including nurses working for the Niagara Health System, before she was elected MPP.

A key reason for the survey, stressed Forster, is to receive as much input as she can from residents in her riding about the recommendations released earlier this May by Kevin Smith, the provincially appointed supervisor of the NHS, for reforming the hospital system. Continue reading →

A News Brief by Doug Draper

Word is circulating on both sides of the border that Canada’s Conservative government is planning to close the Canadian consulate office in Buffalo, New York.

The office has, for decades, been an important cog in the wheel of cross-border relations for business, for heritage and culture, sporting events and for other interests and concerns Canadians and Americans alike who live, work and play on both sides of the border. 

Not much has been said by politicians and businesses on the Canadian side of the border, but according to a story on the front page of the Buffalo News today, business and political leaders in the Buffalo area, and all the way up to and including Charles Schumer, an influential U.S. senator for New York State, who was quoted in the paper saying; “I fully plan on pushing the Canadian government to reverse this decision. …. This office is an important resources for business throughout Western New York and ought to stay open for  business in Buffalo.”

Niagara At Large will be updating this post with more commentary before the end of the day.

A Commentary by Doug Draper

“Something’s happening here, What it is ain’t exactly clear,  There’s a man with a gun over there, telling me I’ve got to beware.”
– from the old Sixties classic ‘For What It’s Worth’  by Buffalo Springfield.

It seemed like almost every time I turned on the television news this past week I was treated to images of police outfitted in riot gear, clashing with protesters in the streets.

Young people protesting in the streets of Quebec. Where are the rest of us?

‘Must be Syria’, I caught myself thinking.  Nope. It was the streets of Montreal where, what started out about fifteen weeks ago as a student strike against proposed tuition fee hikes, has escalated into an all-out youth movement against a Jean Charest government in Quebec (and maybe against governments in general) that appears to be even unpopular than the Dalton McGuinty government in Ontario. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

The Heritage Committee of Thorold, Ontario has released a brochure that showcases 48 of the community’s designated buildings and sites – some of them dating back to the area’s history as a battleground during the War of 1812 and as a key mill town during the fledgling years in the history of the first Welland Canal.

The Keefer Mansion Inn in Thorold, Ontario, going back to the 18th century and owned by a founding family of the community that played a key role in the construction of  the first Welland Canal.

This brochure, produced by this dedicated committee of volunteers on a shoe string budget, is now available at Thorold’s Tourism Center at Lock 7, at its main library, at the Keefer Mansion Inn off St. David’s Road in the community, the Quebec Bank Gallery and City Hall You can also find it by visiting the Heritage Committee’s website   http://www.heritagethorold.com/designatedproperties.html   Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

If you dig history, heritage and fabulous architecture, then Doors Open Niagara is back – celebrating its 10^thyear on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border in this region, and you can once again soak in all the riches it has to offer for free. 

Two-century old Benjamin Long Homestead, at western head of Erie Canal system in Tonawanda, New York, is on Doors Open tour list

This event – scheduled to take place this spring between Friday, June 15 and Sunday, June 17 – offers residents who live and visit this region an opportunity to view some of the finest historical homes, institutions and historical site in Niagara for none of the charges that usually apply to these sites. It is a chance to remind ourselves, or possibly discover for the first time, how rich a history and heritage we have right here.

Doors Open Niagara, along with a ‘Heritage Peace Garden Trail’ launching in recognition of the 200^th anniversary of the War of 1812 that divided a fledgling United States and an evolving Canadian nation, before bringing us together in peace, is being sponsored by the Canada\/U.S. Binational Tourism Alliance, a not-for-profit organization representing businesses and tourist venues on both sides of the border. Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Doug Draper

What a shame it is that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has declared a “firm and final end” to Canadian’s military involvement in Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

A member of the NATO force wades through about the only thing Afghanistan seems to have going for it – fields of poppies for its world-wide illicit opium trade.

(Niagara At Large is posting this release from the Buffalo, New York/Fort, Erie, Ontario Peace Bridge Authority on efforts to improve air quality, impacted by the emissions from idling trucks and cars at the bridge crossing. The impact on air quality from traffic congestion at this heavily used Niagara River crossing has been a subject of concern for residents on both sides of the Canada/U.S. crossing for many years.)

From the Peace Bridge Authority

BUFFALO, NY/FORT ERIE, ON, May 21, 2012– Today the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority (Peace Bridge Authority) announced that it has engaged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in order to exchange information on previous air quality improvements at the Peace Bridge corridor and also share ideas and best practices regarding future “green” stewardship opportunities at the port.

Traffic lineups at the Canada/U.S. Peace Bridge crossing.

 A Foreword By Doug Draper

At a time when too many of us feel a bit sour on the state of Canada – not that we don’t have some reason given the almost total lack of inspiration and hope for the future from our political leaders – it is important to remember that there are still plenty of good stories out there about the country and its people.

Niagara native and award-winning Canadian documentary producer Kevin McMahon.

This show is produced by a Niagara native and an old friend and colleague of mine from our days in journalism days going back to The St. Catharines Standard in the 1980s. His name is Kevin McMahon and as leader of Primitive Entertainment, a film company based in Toronto, Ontario, he has made some great award-winning documentaries on everything from our Great Lakes (‘Waterlife’) to Marshall McLuhan and the crash of this country’s Cod fishery. Continue reading →

By Mark Taliano

Words impact people and help to win elections.  The word “conservative”, for example, denotes “conservation”, and evokes images of environmental conservation, economic, prudence and so on. 

This word does not, however, describe our current federal regime, as it dismantles environmental protections, deregulates markets, subsidizes transnational corporations, bails out banks, and weakens the public sector at every turn.  The word that does, however, describe our current federal regime, is “neoliberal”.  Beneath the surface, the Harper regime, with its Reform party roots, is actually a “neoliberal” government. Continue reading →

 A Short Note from Doug Draper

“How do you mend a broken heart …”

Some who read Niagara At Large for heavier commentary on our greater Niagara region and beyond, may wonder why I take a few moments to remember Robin Gibb, who died of cancer this May 20 at age 62.

Yet sometimes it is nice to stop and pay tribute to people who have brought the world some joy through music, and we have been losing too many of them lately, including Levon Helm of The Band earlier this spring and only a few days ago one of the greatest singers from the 1970s Disco era Donna Summer. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Believe it or not, Canada used to be a world leader when it came to environmental protection.

Many Canadians under the age of 40 may have a hard time believing that, given how much our country’s environmental protection services have been hollowed out over most of their adult lives. But back in the 1970s and 80s, Canada was truly a beacon on the green front.

This wack job of a Canadian Natural Resources Minister, Joe Oliver, might just as well be walking around with tomb stones in his eyes, as the old Steppenwolf song goes. Canada’s Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper lets this moron go around calling environmentalists enemies of our country. How nuts can you get.

Not any more.

One government after another, beginning with the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney and continuing with the Liberal governments of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin, chipped away at the budgets of Environment Canada and its sister agencies. Their services were sliced and diced to a point where they are barely a shadow of what they were when, a mere three decades ago, their scientists – our Canadian scientists, I must emphasis were doing leading edge research on a number of fronts, including toxic pollution in the Great Lakes that played a major role in motivating governments in both Canada and the United States to launch cleanup programs for savng treasured water bodies like the Niagara River from near ecological death. Continue reading →

 A Foreword by Doug Draper

We’ve got this great lady – Maude Barlow – from the not-for-profit citizens group Council of Canadians speaking out for the future of our Great Lakes  as possibly our last great advocate for protecting and preserving these waterbodies.

Council of Canadians chair Maude Barlow

 Yes we know that Nicholson and Dykstra and the rest of them from the Harper neo-con bunch we  now unfortunately have dictating policy in this country feel anyone akin to a  Maude Barlow or David Suzuki is “commie” or  an enemy of the state. According to them,  Barlow and  company are out to destroy Canaada as they and their tar sand friends want to shape it.

But there may still be enough Canadians around to say ‘Thank God we have Canadians like Maude Barlow.’

In that spirt, Niagara At Large is pleased to post the following piece by Maude Barlow and her (we should say our) Council of Canadians here.

Here is the post Niagara At Large is pleased to post (hope we don’t get arrested) prepared by The Ottawa-based Council of Canadians. Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Doug Draper

I almost bought one of those “Disco Sucks” t-shirts back in the 1970s, But not quite.

Those shirts had become a cliché so quickly during the hyper buck-making market that consumed the counter culture” of the 1960s (if there ever was such a thing as a counter culture of the sixties) that it was looking like the ‘Disco Sucks’ crowd was just as interested in cashing in as the people who were making the Disco music they claimed to despise so much. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Jeffrey McGuire – you might just as well get used to that name – is going to be this Niagara, Ontario region’s new chief of police.

That is the word being pushed out this May 16 from the region’s mainstream media with not much more than two-thumbs up from Thorold, Ontario regional councillor and NRP police board chair Henry D’Angela saying the board “is delighted” McGuire accepted the position.

John Pruyn, a Thorold, Ontario amputee, former Revenue Canada employee and hobby farmer, is dragged away by police during the G20 summit in June of 2010 for sitting under a tree on the grounds of Queen’s Park, and detained for more than 24 hours in a makeshift cage. McGuire made no apologies for the actions of police but neither he or anyone else in policing authority apologized to John Pruyn after dragging him off and caging him with no charges laid and no explanation.

“The board is particularly impressed with chief-designate McGuire’s combination of strong operaiont and investigative experience, coupled with his outstanding trak record in working with diverse communities, and his skills in conflict resolution,” added D’Angela who has absolutely no background in policing.

On the subject of “conflict resolution,” McQuire  was among the first mouthpieces for the Toronto police two years ago this June who was quick to support the policing conduct during the G20 Summit proceedings in that city. Later, everyone from the civil liberty lawyers to Ontario’s ombudsman Andre Marin characterized many of police actions as an assault on democratic rights in this country.  Continue reading →

NAL transit jenn,

One Of Niagara At Large’s Great Friends Is Urging You To Meet The Commuter Challenge

A Short Foreword by Niagara At Large Publisher Doug Draper

Let me just say this before I leave it to a young and enthusiastic fellow Niagara resident and public transit supporter Jennifer Sinclair to say the rest.

Click on this image to draw it up to full screen for your view.

The following is about all of us getting out of our cars, if we can, and find some other way of getting back and forth to work, and so on. If we can’t do that, then  maybe we ought to examine why. Do we live in a sprawled out, low-density neighbourhood away from the cores of our towns or cities, or what?

Those of us who do live in those lower density, way-out-of-the core subdivisions may not regret the decision to live there. But at the same time, we have no real right to complain about the higher costs of gasoline and car/truck insurance.  If that’s our lifestyle, then we have little or no right to complain. Continue reading →

From Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey

There has been a great deal of attention given to providing equitable access to health care in South Niagara with an intention to enhance overall regional health care within the Niagara region.

Port Colborne, Ontario Mayor Vance Badawey

As mentioned at our last meeting of Council, collaboration is critical!!

Moving forward, our entire team is focused on delivering equitable access to health care and ensuring it is done in an efficient manner. We look forward to working in collaboration with representation from all South Niagara municipalities, most importantly, physician representation from those communities.

We have a desire to develop a critical and acute care pathway that is based on best practices and builds on the work we have already completed here in the City of Port Colborne.

We absolutely must develop an appropriate and equitable critical care pathway that meets best practice standards, STEMI protocols, and attracts physicians that will want to practice in Niagara. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the following note from the Ottawa-based citizens group the Council of Canadians, spirited on by its dedicated director Maude Barlow, about the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario and its efforts to protect and preserve our precious water resources.)

Jeff Guarasci, the community development coordinator with the City of Niagara Falls, has written us to let us know that the municipality “has adopted the Blue Community initiative”.

Niagara Falls, Ontario council deserves some credit for caring here.

Niagara Falls is a city of more than 80,000 people located in the Golden Horseshoe Region of Southern Ontario.

To become a blue community, a municipality must:
-respect water as a human right,
-stop the sale of bottled water on city property,
-commit to keep drinking water and waste water treatment and distribution publicly owned and operated. Continue reading →

From the Constituency Office of Welland MPP Cindy Forster

Cindy Forster wants your thoughts on the future of hospitals in Welland and Port Colborne. The MPP for Welland expects constituents to have their say at two upcoming public meetings.

Welland Riding MPP Cindy Forster holding town halls for public on proposed hospital service changes for Nagara, Ontario

“We’ve been hearing a lot from the government-appointed Niagara Health System supervisor,” Forster said of Dr. Kevin Smith’s proposal to close all existing southern tier hospitals in favour of a single new facility. “It’s time we heard from the people who will be most affected by his recommendations.”

Forster is committed to ensuring the Liberal government knows exactly how people in Welland, Port Colborne and Wainfleet feel about the future of their hospitals.

The public meetings planned are as follows: Continue reading →

By Mark Taliano

 For a man who has contributed immeasurably to Canadian society,  Dr. David Suzuki has been persecuted more than most. 

During the years of the Second World War in the 1940s, he was incarcerated with thousands of other Japanese Canadians under the War Measures Act and its racist deliberations.

David Suzuki, Canadian environmentalist and host of the award-winning CBC program ‘The Nature of Things’. Photo courtesy of the CBC

Now, he and a multitude of other Canadians are being smeared by a federal government that views opposition to its policies as radical, extreme, and somehow anti-Canadian.

History has not judgedCanadakindly in the first case, nor will it judge us kindly in the second case.

We need the voices of Suzuki and like-minded Canadians now more than ever to counter-balance the federal government’s efforts to nurture scientific illiteracy in its pronouncements and policies.  Louder scientific voices are needed because the earth’s changing climate (caused by humans), is exacting huge environmental and economic expenses daily. Continue reading →

A Niagara At Large Brief

A few days back, Niagara At Large gave U.S. President Barack Obama a pat on the back for coming out in what is the socially conservative country he is now running for a second term of office in, and saying that he accepts same-sex marriages.

“At a certain point, I’ve just concluded that for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” said Obama in an interview with ABC News this May 9. 

For those who may still not appreciate how groundbreaking a statement that is coming from “the leader of the free world,” Niagara At Large is posting the following video, bluntly titled ‘Beware of the Homosexual’ a portrait of homophobia at its worst. It was , produced in the U.S. as a ‘public service announcement” in 1961– the same year Barack Obama was born. 

For some of us pressing for social change on economic and environmental justice, and a number of fronts, it sometimes seems like we are making no headway and are, in some cases, drifting backward. 

On the issue of more tolerance for gay and lesbian people, however, a contrast between this abbhorent video, show to millions of people, including school children across North American, and Obama’s statement of May 9, we have taken a giant leap forward to the promised land of equality for all.

Check out the video – Beware of the Homosexual – by clicking on the image above

(We invite you to share your views on this post  below. NAL only posts views by individuals who are also willing to share their real first and last names.)

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper 

Well, well, well, and what a surprise.

The elites among us always seem to find a way of landing on their feet, don’t they?

Former NHS CEO Debbie Sevenpifer lands new job in the GTA

The rest of us 99 per centers can lose our jobs, simply because someone with a Mitt Romney brain decided that the cost of having us on the job was standing in the way of shareholders’ dividends,  but the Debbie Sevenpifers of this world always seem to find a way of landing on their feet. 

I credit my friends at Bullet News for getting the exclusive on this one. This May 12, that online reported that Debbie Sevenpifer, who was the CEO of Niagara, Ontario’s Niagara Health System during a period when it lost an unprecedented amount of trust from the public, is heading to Toronto for a job as the chief executive officer of one of the GTA’s largest community institutions – the YMCA. Continue reading →

By Fiona McMurran

The May 11 editions of the daily papers across Niagara, Ontario announce that the Niagara Health System’s ‘It’s Our Time’ campaign to help fund the new west St. Catharines hospital has hit its $40 million target – indeed, exceeded it by $8 million — well ahead of the deadline. Much hard work and dedication has gone into that campaign, and its success is also an indicator of how much the residents of St. Catharines and its surrounding municipalities want their hospital to succeed. Congratulations to all concerned. 

Niagara Health System supervisor Kevin Smith floating the idea of a new ‘south Niagara hospital’ at a recent media briefing. Photo by Doug Draper

Today the mayors of south Niagara meet to discuss NHS Supervisor Kevin Smith’s proposal for a hospital for the southern part of the peninsula. There’s a great deal riding on what our mayors have put on the agenda. Will they restrict discussion to the question of a site for a new hospital, as Smith has suggested? Or will they be more wary?

On Monday, May 7, I attended the general meeting of the South Niagara Health Care Corporation, put together under the aegis of Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badaway. The meeting included a discussion of Smith’s draft report and its recommendations. At the conclusion, Mayor Badawey clearly stated that the issue to be discussed by the Mayors today was not whether there should be a new hospital for south Niagara, but rather where it should be built.

Mayor Badawey has long sought membership in the South Niagara Health Care Corporation from other south Niagara municipalities — Fort Erie, Wainfleet and Welland – and all of them are at last participating. My understanding – and I may be in error – is that neither Pelham nor Niagara Falls had been approached previously by the SNHCC, since those municipalities weren’t considered to be part of south Niagara, although Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn is part of the South Niagara Mayors group.

Yet Kevin Smith’s report sets Niagara Falls, along with Pelham, within the catchment area for a possible south Niagara hospital. And therein lies a major problem. Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Doug Draper

Well let’s give it up with two hearty high fives for U.S. President Barack Obama!

U.S. President Barack Obama takes the principled, all inclusive high road on equality for all.

This Wednesday, May 19 – a date that might go down in American history as surely as July 2, 1964, the date the Civil Rights Act outlawing major forms of discrimination against African Americans was passed – Barack Obama became the first president in U.S history to say he supports same-sex marriage. And as much as the president’s saying that does not automatically change the marriage laws across American, it is a bold overture for equal rights for all people in a country where you have got more than a few right-wing, homophobic, religious rednecks who will play this out, as a reason Obama is not fit to be in the White House, to its last string. Continue reading →

A Foreword by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Great Lakes groups on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border are not going to let the Conservative government of Stephen Harper gut one of Canada’s most effective pieces of environmental protection legislation.

Canada’s decades-old federal Fisheries Act – a piece of legislation that was actually approved and embraced with pride by the former Conservative government of Brian Mulroney – is being “overhauled” by a Harper government that has, of late, been doing a great deal of scrapping and overhauling of environmental rules it feels are standing in the way of resource exploitation and development.  Continue reading →

By Mark Taliano

It was a day rich in unpleasant ironies.

On Sunday, May 5, 2012, a group of about 100 protestors rallied peacefully inOttawa, at the Parliament Buildings to protest electoral fraud and to demand a Public Inquiry.

Derek Soberol, founder of the Occupy Canada web page, was peacefully leading chants in front of the nearby U.S Embassy when he found himself arrested for allegedly “inciting a riot.”

Rally participant and witness, Yanna Green, observed that many of the police were not wearing badges or name tags.  Other officers, who did have identification, covered them with vests and refused to display them. Continue reading →

From Publisher Doug Draper

Beginning this May 7, Niagara At Large is taking a week off to reflect on where we are with this site and where we go from here.

While NAL is doing that, I will to thank our thousands of regular readers for your interest and support for this independent news and commentary site, and thank you for your patients while we do some resetting here.

In the meantime, we will continue to moderate and post comments on pieces that are already up on the site and we welcome any comments below on where NAL should go from here or what kind of coverage of issues and events you would like to see here in the future.

A Brief Comment by Doug Draper

Aren’t we Canadians nice? Aren’t we now? 

When it comes to white collar crime which, by the way, is known to do far more economic damage than a two-bit thief steaing some gum from a convenience store (not to condone that), we Canadians couldn’t care less.

Lord Conrad Black’s U.S. mug shot from 2005. Canadians could hardly wait to welcome him here.

By Marcia Carlyn

(Marcia Carlyn is one of many residents in Fort Erie, Ontario who have been fighting a now approved plan to build a condo in front of a publicly owned beach in the Crystal Beach area of the municipality. Opponents of the condo recently lost a court bid to overturn a January 2011 Ontario Municipal Board decision in favour of the 12-storey condo. 

The condo plan received the support of Fort Erie’s mayor, Doug Martin, and a majority on the town’s council more than two years ago, and also has its share of support from citizens in the community who believe it could help stimulate some economic growth in a Crystal Beach they say has been stagnant since the old amusement park by the same name closed two decades ago. The mayor, who hopes the May 2 Ontario Superior Court ruling will finally bring an end to the long battle over the condo, has argued from the beginning that he believes the development will help save the town-owned Bay Beach for the public rather than restrict access to it.

Niagara At Large is posting the following reaction to the court ruling from Marcia Carlyn.) 

Dear friends of Bay Beach … Very disappointing news.

A file photo of Bay Beach along the shores of Lake Erie on a hot summer day.

Yesterday the Ontario Superior Court of Justice rendered its decision on our Statement of Claim case which was heard on Feb 8th.  The Court dismissed the lawsuit filed by a group of Fort Erie taxpayers, giving the Town the go-ahead to proceed with its plan to transfer a large portion of the Bay Beach Lands to the Molinaro Group for the construction of a 12-storey condo tower.  Continue reading →