Author Archives: dougdraper

By Doug Draper

If you are among us older types who feel that today’s young people are not as interested as involved as they should be in making our communities better places to live and work in, you should have attended a meeting at the Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario campus of Niagara College this February 8.

Niagara College student Jeff Sinclair talks up active citizenship and supporting regional transit. Photo by Doug Draper

The meeting, attended by more than 60 students and members of public agencies and businesses from across the region, was titled “Active Citizenship: An Interactive Discussion on Building a Better Niagara” and featured some inspiring presentations by students who have volunteered their knowledge and skills in developing countries around the world and are now anxious to apply them to bettering life for their fellow citizens here.

The meeting also focused on a recently launched, student-driven initiative called ‘Meet on the Bus’ where anyone in the Niagara community can participate in discussions on how we can all work together to make Niagara better and “celebrate and support” Niagara’s fledgling regional transit system at the same time. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

An offer for Niagara’s regional government to purchase more than 20 acres of shoreline property in the local municipality of Wainfleet was narrowly defeated by the Region’s council this February 9.

Grimsby regional councillor Debbie Zimmerman - Saying 'no' to offer was best decision for Region's taxpayers

Niagara’s regional chair Gary Burroughs cast the vote that killed the offer when a recorded vote from councillors in the chambers, following a closed door meeting  on the property matter that ran more than an hour, on the matter, in an 11-to-11 tie.

The property in question stretches along the beaches of Lake Erie and is part of the former Easter Seals campground which was purchased for about $3.2 million in 2005 by a company called Lakewood Beach Properties. According to sources Niagara At Large talked to in the days leading up to the February 9 vote, the company was offering to sell half of the property to the region for something in the range of $7 million – a price the sources said had at least some regional councillors wondering if it was a good deal for taxpayers. The other half is being used by Lakewood Beach Properties  to build a multi-store condominium overlooking the lake.

The offer was tabled a week before the February 9 meeting during a closed session of the Region’s Corporate Services Committee and was given the green light by enough councillors present during that session to go to the full council for the vote. Sources said some of the councillors in favour of moving the offer forward, including St. Catharines regional councillors Andy Petrowski and Tim Rigby, received donations from parties with links to Lakewood Beach Properties. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

A small but determined group of representatives for Niagara area unions and seniors entered the Niagara Falls, Ontario constituency office of Conservative MP and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson demanding to speak to him.

Union reps Lou Ann Binning (left) and Heather Kelley (right) with Seniors rep George Sitek during brief "occupation" of Tory MP Rob Nicholson's Niagara Falls riding office. Photo by Doug Draper

The group of six, led by Heather Kelly, vice president for the Niagara Regional Labour Council, wanted to talk to Nicholson about the Conservative government’s recently expressed interest in cutting back on or possibly making millions of Canadians approaching retirement wait longer for Old Age Security benefits.

“We are one of 21 groups across the province visiting the offices of Tory MPs to speak to them (about any plans to cut or put off providing pension assistance to seniors,” said Kelly after the group was told by constituency office worker that Nicholson was busy in Ottawa. In the spirit of the ‘Occupy Movement’ the group chose to “occupy” the office for a little over an hour, waiting for phone call from the MP before leaving.

Many seniors who were struggling to get by on low incomes in the years leading up to their retirement are living under the poverty level as it is, Kelly told Niagara At Large outside Nicholson’s constituency office. If anything, the federal government should be heeding her Labour Council’s call for a doubling of pensions for seniors who find themselves in those straights “so they can live out there years with some dignity,” she said. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Peter Kormos is eager to get back into the political arena. Only this time, the arena would be closer to home.

Peter Kormos running for Niagara regional council

A veteran of provincial and municipal politics, the 59-year-old native of Welland has announced his intentions to run for the Niagara regional council seat vacated by Cindy Forster last fall when she won a seat at Queen’s Park as the NDP candidate for the Welland Riding. Forster ran provincially after Kormos made it known last spring that after 23 years as the NDP representative for the Welland Riding, he had decided not to seek another term at Queen’s Park.

As for his decision to join a field of six other candidates, including former Welland mayor Damian Goulbourne, for the empty seat at the Region, Kormos stated in a February 6 media release that “he is eager to continue to contribute” in public affairs. “Welland needs a strong voice on regional council,” he said, and “I believe that I can be an effective advocate for Welland.” Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Doug Draper

I can’t believe I am posting this in a sense because I am by no means a monarchist. The whole idea of a monarchy with its royal blood lines repels almost every rebellious impulse and craving for democracy in my body.

The Queen as I remember her during my earliest grade school days.

 Yet I can’t help but have a soft spot in my heart for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and offer a nod if not a bow to her on the 60^th anniversary this February 6 of her accession to the British throne.

 I’m not all that sure where the soft spot came from but it may have a little bit to do with the fact that in my life she has always been around. I was barely more than nine months old in February of 1952 when her father, George V1 (portrayed so well in the recent film ‘The King’s Speech’ died too young and the 25-year-old princess was called home from a trip to Africa to wear the crown. Continue reading →

–   A Public Meeting On How You Can Invest Your Money In Ways That Have Positive Social And Environmental Impacts

 A Note from Niagara At Large – This Thursday, February 9, two public interest groups, Climate Change Niagara and the St Catharines and District Council of Women, will be hosting a public meeting  at the St. Catharines Centennial Library on 54 Church Street featuring Eugene Ellmen, executive director of the Toronto-based , not-for-profit Social Investment Organization.

Eugene Ellmen will talk about opportunities for all of us invest and spend our money in ways that lead to positive social and environmental change.

The February 9 meeting begins at 8 p.m. and is free to the public. Posted below is an article by Eugene Ellmen on socially responsible investing.

By Eugene Ellmen, A Special to Niagara At Large

In these times, when economic conditions and social and environmental problems appear ever-more difficult, Canadians seem to be losing faith in their power to make a difference in the world.

Eugene Ellmen, a natioanl advocate for socially responsible investing

Sustainable solutions — the pathways to balanced approaches between economic needs and social and environmental imperatives — seem increasingly distant in these polarized times.

 Yet millions of Canadians have not lost faith. Faced with difficult problems like global warming, many Canadians are taking sustainable solutions into their own hands. They are making consumer and investment decisions that personally contribute — even in a small way — to addressing such issues. Continue reading →

NAL port weller dry docks,

 By Doug Draper

A dry spell for St. Catharines shipbuilder  Seaway Marine & Industrial Inc. – formerly Port Weller Dry Docks – came to an end this February 6 with the announcement of a $21.7 million federal government contact to refurbish the Canadian naval destroyer HMSC Athabaskan.

St. Catharines shipbuilding hard wins federal contract. File photo by Doug Draper.

The announcement was made at the at the shipbuilder’s site along the along the east side of the Welland Canal in north St. Catharines by federal Public Works and Government Services Minister Rona Ambrose and St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

 Imagine the complete and utter stupidity of a political leader granting a company millions of dollars in tax breaks with no strings attached and no guarantee that the company will create a single new job, let alone keep its operations in the country that was so generous to it.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper enjoys a photo up in a locomotive after announcing tax breaks for Electro-Motive (the Caterpillar Corporation) in London, Ontario four years ago.

 Well, you don’t have to imagine it. Look no further than Canada’s Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper who, with our tax dollars in hand, went to a manufacturing plant in London, Ontario in 2008. While there, Harper hand Electro-Motive (later the Caterpillar Corporation) that was running the plant about $5 million in tax subsides, only to have Caterpillar, which is swimming in record profits, close the plant this February and put more than 450 Canadians out of work. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

As the old saying goes, all good things eventually come to an end.

The Occupy Buffalo encampment as it looked this past Christmas, Photo by Doug Draper

Then again, what is “good” is often in the eyes of the beholder and as much as the protesters who kept vigil at the Occupy Buffalo encampment received the support of everyone from passing motorists to this New York border city’s mayor, some have no doubt been wanting police to move in and do what they finally did at 2 a.m. this Thursday, February 2 – dismantle all the remaining tents and banners at Buffalo’s Niagara Square and move the occupiers out. Continue reading →

–   More Than 450 Ontario Workers  Left Out In The Cold

By Mark Taliano

 Caterpillar showed its true colors this Friday, February 3 by announcing that it is closing its locomotive plant in London, Ontario.

Many Canadians, including Mr. Ken Lewenza, CAW National President, suspected, from the beginning of the lock-out, that this was the company’s not-so hidden agenda. “Caterpillar,” he says,” had no intention of keeping this plant open.” Continue reading →

By Preston Haskell

We have now witnessed a foreign corporation ‘being allowed’ to buy up a Canadian Corporation for the sole purpose of eliminating a Canadian Competitor. And to think that our Canadian Government paved the way for this despicable act with our tax dollars!

This flag few over a rally this January of close to 15,000 Ontario residents supporting workers at the now-closed Caterpillar plant in London, Ontario. Photo courtesy of Tori Criispo.

Caterpillar has now proven itself to be a looter and as such should be barred from doing any further business in Canada. We are a sovereign nation. It’s time to start acting like one!

No wonder Canadians have become skeptical and suspicious of government.

I would like to reiterate my comments made earlier on Niagara At Large under title: ‘Canada Doesn’t Need Corporations Like Caterpillar To Survive and Prosper’. Continue reading →

A Statement from Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and London area MPP Teresa Armstrong on the closure of the Caterpillar plant

February 3 – London families, and all Ontarians, are shocked and dismayed by the announcement that Caterpillar International will shutter London’s Electro-Motive plant and put 465 highly skilled workers out in the cold.

One of the signs held up at a huge rally against the Caterpillar Corporation this January attended in London, Ontario by Niagara residents and close to 15,000 others across the province. Photo courtesy of Tori Crispo.

This is devastating news for those workers and an entire community that’s seen good jobs vanish, plants close and unemployment levels that are simply too high.

More than ever it’s clear we need new ideas and a new approach if we’re going to create and maintain good jobs in Ontario. Ontario’s across-the-board corporate tax giveaways reward companies like Caterpillar (that are) making record profits, even while they ship jobs and investment out of Ontario. Continue reading →

 By Malcolm Allen, MP, Welland (Ontario) Riding

As you may know, Stephen Harper recently jetted off to Switzerland to tell the world’s financial elite about his plan to fund billions in corporate giveaways on the backs of those planning for retirement. That’s plain wrong.

Welland Riding MP Malcolm Allen

Some 11 million working Canadians don’t have a workplace pension and as life gets more expensive, most families can’t afford to gamble with their economic security. Almost every day, I hear from another constituent in the Welland Riding who’s deeply worried about what’s coming.

Niagara’s seniors shouldn’t be forced to work an extra two years just to foot the bill for Ottawa insiders and their well connected friends. The Harper Conservatives may have kept this scheme a secret during the last election, but our team of New Democrats has always been clear. We believe the government should be working to ensure that every Canadian senior can retire in dignity— not making things worse by slashing Old Age Security. We want to strengthen pensions for the future, instead of making them more vulnerable to market turmoil. Continue reading →

By Dan Wilson

“Part of our history is also whaling, for example, and the day came when the whaling industry stopped. Now, is that day coming with the seal hunt? It just may be.” – Ryan Cleary, MP, St. John’s South-Mount Pearl in a statement to the CBC last week.

This was all it took for some animal rights groups to declare a “victory” for the animals.

Seal slaughter on the bloodied ice flows off eastern Canada

By Frank Valeriote –  MP for Guelph,  Ontario. Liberal Critic for Agriculture and Agri-Food 

Special to Niagara At Large

Recently, in light of drastic cuts facing the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, I and many other Members of Parliament have received a flood of letters to

Guelph Liberal MP Frank Valeriote

 Michael McCain, President of Maple Leaf Foods concerning the safety of our food. I share the frustration these letter writers are expressing regarding this shocking step backward by the Conservative government on food safety.

The Liberal Party has condemned plans by the Conservative government to cut hundreds of employees from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and reduce the agency’s funding by millions.

Canadians have every reason to be upset and worried. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the following media release on a call by Ontario’s New Democratic Party and its Welland Riding member Cindy Forster calling for a stop to expanding the power of controversial Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) until a promised review of them is completed.)

Queen’s Park– Ontario NDP MPP Cindy Forster called for moratorium on expanding LHIN powers before a delayed review of the legislation is completed.

Niagara's NDP MPP Cindy Forster, File photo by Doug Draper

“The Liberals promised a comprehensive review of the LHINs, but have delayed instead of delivered,” said Forster. “Giving the LHINs more power before conducting the promised review is reckless and irresponsible.”

The 2006 law creating the local health integration networks (LHINs) stipulated that a “comprehensive review” be completed by the Legislature by 2010. But in 2010, the Liberals changed the law to delay the review, which has yet to happen. Continue reading →

NAL transit struggling

 A Commentary by Doug Draper

I know I’m not the only one who has seen Niagara Region transit buses running up and down the roads and highways between Welland, Niagara Falls and St. Catharines with hardly any passengers in them.

Niagara regional chairman Gary Burroughs speals at official launcing of Niagara Region Transit last September. Photo by Doug Draper

I’ve heard people making snide remarks about the near-empty buses with “Niagara Region Transit” stamped on the side of them for more than three months now. And as much as I have been a long-time advocate for a regional transit system, I don’t think I’ve ever seen more than a half a dozen passengers on one of these busses, even going in an out of a place as busy as the Pen Centre shopping mall during the height of the Christmas shopping season.

 Usually the number of passengers I see on these buses is no more like two or three, and that is sad because it is already starting to make some of the people who never favoured this regional service in the first play say pull the plug on it.

 The number of those wanting Niagara’s regional regional government to park the eight  buses it paid $3.7 million for and leave transit services to the local municipalities probably won’t grow any smaller when word gets around about the ridership figures for the first four months since Niagara Region Transit was officially launched at the beginning of last September. Continue reading →

A Foreword by Doug Draper

 This fall Niagara-on-the-Lake’s town council passed a resolution asking senior levels of government in Canada and the United States to agree to a moratorium on any discharge to the Great Lakes of wastewater associated with the hydraulic drilling for natural gas until the potential impact on water bodies like the Niagara River and Lake Ontario are reviewed.

Niagara-on-the-Lake town councillor Jamie King

 The town council’s resolution followed in the wake of reports that petro-chemical companies in the U.S. are exploring the possibility of shipping chemically-contaminated water from the drilling or “fracking” process to the Niagara Falls, New York wastewater treatment plant for treatment and discharge to the Niagara River.

 Since last October, four other local municipalities in Niagara, Ontario –  St. Catharines, Wainfleet, Thorold and Fort Erie – have supported the resolution tabled by Niagara-on-the-Lake town councillor Jamie King. But much to King’s disappointed, Niagara’s regional council has so far only considered accepting the resolution as an item of information. Continue reading →

By Pamela Minns

 In 1974 Heritage Canada Foundation first established the third Monday in February each year as Heritage Day.

A gateway to Queenston Height and Brock's Monument. Photo by Doug Draper

In fact, the entire third week in February has traditionally been set aside as “Heritage Week”in celebration of what has been defined as“the sum total of our inheritance – built, cultural and natural”.

A Commentary by Doug Draper

 Let’s say you live in a rural community in Ontario like West Lincoln or Wainfleet and you find out some out-of-town company wants to build a wind farm for generating electricity near your backyard.

A wind farm in the country

 You’ve heard all of the concerns raised by wind farm opponents about these towering turbines keeping people awake all night, and causing headaches and other health problems. You’ve heard charges that wind energy is driving electricity costs up and that the looming turbines used to generate that energy is dragging surrounding property values down.

 That’s enough to have you paying a visit to the local municipal hall to find out what your mayor and council can do about this wind power plan. The answer you get you’re your municipal leaders can be summed up in one word – “Nothing.” Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the entire report Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey delivered to the city’s council this January 30 for our readers’ interest.)

 Moving forward with vision…. A Report to Council by Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey

Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey

“In response to (Niagara Health System supervisor) Dr. Kevin Smith’s comments made public recently, in my opinion, he validates the direction the City of Port Colborne has taken throughout the past few years….a new vision and who better to create this vision than those leaders from across the Region – community and medical leaders, along with members of our community.

Through a process of consultation with community health care service providers, enablers and members of our community, we have developed and presented to Dr. Smith and the province a clinical services plan for South Niagara as a response to the changes proposed to be introduced to our health care system.  Continue reading →

 A Foreword by Doug Draper

 Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews used a talk before the Toronto Board of Trade this January 30 to announce the launch of a new “action plan” for transforming the province’s health care system for the future.

Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews

The action plan, according to a brief Niagara At Large received from a spokesperson for the health minister, is aimed at dealing with such challenges as the demands the province’s aging population will place on the system and the province’s deficit, while at the same time “ensuring families get the best health care where and when they need it.”

“Health care remains a priority for Ontarians and that is why the government has invested 61 per cent more in health care since 2003,” states a media release the provincial government circulated following Matthews’ January 30 talk. “The government is committed to maintaining its investment in health care to provide the right care, at the right time, in the right place.” Continue reading →

 By Pat Scholfield

Eeenie, meenie,  miney,  mo,  where should the new south Niagara hospital go?

Niagara health care advocate Pat Scholfield

While local politicians salivate at the mouth, and before we get out the dart board; we should focus on how to fix our broken system now.    

We must figure a way to attain adequate access to essential hospital services for south Niagarians and to retain these services until such time as a “new” hospital is built. That is the challenge for all of us and Dr. Smith to ponder.

 I have a few suggestions: Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

They are on the verge of invading the Great Lakes waters and if they do, it could spell disaster for native fish and other forms of life in and around the waterbodies.

An Asian Carp caught in waters near the Great Lakes. A U.S. National Parks Service photo

They are Asian carp, a voracious eater capable of growing more than three feet long and weighing more than 100 pounds, that were imported to the southern United States from the Far East in the 1970s and have since found their way into the Mississippi River watershed to within striking distance of Lake Michigan.

An electric barrier, now being installed and maintained by U.S. agencies in a water system connected to Lake Michigan, is about the only thing preventing an all-out invasion of the Great Lakes where these fish could empty the lakes of nutrients necessary for the survival of native wildlife. A worst-case scenario could be the loss of a commercial and recreational fishery worth billions of dollars to Canada and the United States. Continue reading →

 By Sue Salzer

 Kevin Smith and the Niagara Health System he was appointed by the provincial government to supervise have polarized residents and politicians in Niagara, Ontario’s southern tier this past week with headlines proclaiming the possibility of a new hospital to serve south Niagara.

Sue Salzer speaking at health care rally last year. File Photo by Doug Draper

 The idea of a new hospital for the southern tier holds some promise. But in reality it is futuristic and will join the lengthy list of requests for new hospital facilities from all across the province, some of which have been gathering dust at the Ministry of Health for years while they await approval and funding.

 What is really needed immediately here in Niagara are common sense adjustments immediately to a system in distress. The Niagara Health System’s so-called “Hospital Improvement Plan” has, for the more than three years it has been the NHS’s roadmap for restructuring our hospital services has created chaos and systemic problems that have yet to be addressed. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

While Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservatives prepare to loot an Old Age Security program for millions of Canadians approaching retirement, they go right on pigging out from the public trough.

Ottawa at work

The gold-plated trough they have their snouts buried in guarantees a federal member of parliament who has served in office for as few as six years an annual pension of $40,000, that can begin collecting as early as age 55. And guess who’s paying for these generous offerings to our MPs?

You’ve guessed it my fellow 99 per centers. They are being paid through taxes by the very Canadians Harper and company are now thinking about forcing to work until they are 67, unless they want to retire earlier without as much as a penny of Old Age Security.  Continue reading →

By Preston Haskell

Isn’t government just wonderful? Just wonderful!

Preston Haskell

Is there even one government agency that is not over budget? Is there even one government agency, including municipal, provincial and federal, that is not scrounging to satiate their appetite for more financial resources?

Our federal government alone has chalked up a $600 billion debt! To put it into perspective, that’s $17,ooo  for every Canadian citizen from cradle to grave or about $300,ooo per taxpayer. Continue reading →

 A Commentary by Doug Draper

No wonder so many people I hear from every day tell me that they have had it with politicians.

Take Canada’s prime minister Stephen Harper for example.

Prime Mnister Stephen Harper outlines his 'grand plan' for Canadians at World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

This past January 26, Harper used an opportunity thousands of miles away from us, at the World Economic Forum  in Switzerland, to drop a bombshell that could have a profound impact on the Old Age Security funding as millions of Canadians are approaching retirement age.

“Harper’s Grand Plan” read the headline in the following morning’s Globe and Mail above a story that quoted saying that Canada’s demographics (meaning the big bulging numbers of baby boomers now approaching their 65^th birthday) pose “a threat to the social programs and services that Canadians cherish.”  What if some of us were to argue that one of the biggest threats to the social programs and services  Canadians cherish is Harper’s government? Continue reading →

NAL Niagara south hospital,

 A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper

 Now Kevin Smith is talking!

NHS supervisor Kevin Smith

Smith was also quoted saying a new hospital in Niagara, Ontario’s southern tier would probably also mean “the closure of the majority of the other sites” in the south end. Continue reading →

 By Bill Trench

Although most residents continue to demand better health facilities, the town of Fort Erie seems determined to welcome into the community a polluting giant, the toxic effects of which could affect the health of residents on both sides of the Niagara River for decades. I refer of course to the proposed motor speedway.

Architect's rendition of proposed NASCAR race track for Fort Erie, Ontario

While proponents trumpet their support of auto racing, the public at large continues in blissful ignorance of the very real threat that this endeavour poses to Fort Erie and the whole Niagara area. In a word: LEAD.

Have locals forgotten the pollution of Love Canal? Continue reading →

NAL Drummond report,

 A Brief Foreword by Doug Draper

Niagara At Large is posting the following January 27 media release from the Toronto-based Ontario Health Coalition, a citizens’ organization that has often visited Niagara, Ontario to support residents fighting for better hospital services in this region.

Ontario Health Coalition director Natalie Mehra

The OHC’s director Natalie Mehra, along with a representative of the citizens group Democracy Watch and Bryan Evans, a politics professor at Ryerson University, warned at a media conference at Queen’s Park this January 27 that the Drummond Commission, created by the province’s Liberal government, is about to recommend “sweeping public service cuts” to the government with no input from the public.

 “Despite no mention of these plans during the election only a few months ago, the McGuinty government has forged a mandate for the Drummond Commission that is extraordinarily biased towards privatization,” Mehra  told Queen’s Park reporters. Continue reading →

By John Bacher

A recent cartoon published in The St. Catharines Standard – a newspaper which is now part of the Conservative Party leaning Sun Media empire – portrayed soldiers standing on guard during the War of 1812. They were instructed by their commander to stand firm, since if the Americans succeeded in winning, Canada would be turned into a National Park.

American troops stand firm during War of 1812 battle.

Following his encounter with the Native Americans of the plains, Catlin wrote the words which still resonate with Canadians who, in these dark times that try the soul, still dare to identify themselves as environmentalists.  He urged that “some great protecting policy of government” serve to preserve its “pristine beauty and wildness (as) a magnificent park.”  Such a “A Nation’s Park”, for Catlin would allow the world to see “for ages to come, the native Indians in classic attire, galloping his wild horse, with sinewy bow, and shield and lance, amid the fleeting herds of elk and buffaloes.” Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Imagine a brand new prison in Niagara! Wouldn’t that be great?

Let’s put it this way. If we really believe, as Niagara Falls MP and Stephen Harper’s justice minister Rob Nicholson does, that we should be cracking down harder on law breakers, we ought to be the first ones in the country to welcome a new prison into our neighbhourhood, shouldn’t we?

Niagara Falls MP and federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson is all for getting tougher on crime. Can he help bring a new prison to the region too?

So I am urging all of my fellow Niagarians to call or email the constituency offices of Rob Nicholson and all of our other MPs and MPPs. Let them know that we want the new prison that Ontario is going to need when the Harper government passes its get-tougher-on-crime bill and the courts start sentencing more people who get fresh with the law to jail time located right here in Niagara. After all, why should the Greater Toronto area get everything? Continue reading →

A Brief Note from Niagara At Large

Each year Niagara, Ontario’s regional government presents awards to businesses, local municipalities and others that have carried out building and other projects that contribute to the aesthetics of urban and rural landscapes in our region, and to the quality of life in our communities.

The latest annual Niagara Community Design Awards were presented this January 25 in a banquet room in Thorold, Ontario and Niagara At Large is pleased to post the following news on them from the region, along with the list of recipients.

NIAGARA REGION, Jan. 26, 2012– The Niagara Community Design Award recipients were announced this January 25 at the Four Points by Sheraton in Thorold.

This year's Architecture Award winner - the new Niagara District Airport Terminal in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

This is the seventh year for the Region’s Niagara Community Design Awards which recognize and celebrate excellence in design in Niagara and that demonstrate the application of Smart Growth Principles. The awards continue to focus on projects that enhance the built environment, efficiently use land, and demonstrate creativity and vision. Continue reading →

 By Doug Draper

Those opposed to a natural gas drilling process called “fracking” because of the impact it could have on the environment, including the waters of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, could find themselves coming up against a cheerleader for the process more formidable than the petro-chemical industry.

U.S. President Barack Obama on the "fracking" bandwagon during State of Union speech

 That cheerleader is none other than the president of the United States, Barack Obama.

 This January 24, during his State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress, Obama lauded the so-called fracking process (more technically known as “hydraulic fracturing”) for obtaining natural gas from underground layers of shale as a key to his country’s independence from Middle East oil and a practice that has the potential to create 600,000 American jobs. Continue reading →

–  McGuinty stresses need to control spending and and public-sector wages

A Foreword by NAL publisher Doug Draper – Followed by Premier’s address

Ontario’s economy is growing and “now we need to take further action on another important front and that is the deficit,” said Premier Dalton McGuinty this January 24 during an address to the Canadian Club of Toronto.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

 “Tackling the deficit is simply an essential step in building the strong economy (that) supports good jobs and quality public services,” said McGuinty, adding that “borrowing money to help Ontarian through a terrible recession is one thing, but living beyone our means, constantly adding to the debt we are leaving to our children (is) quite another thing. That would be wrong for our children and for us.”

 McGuinty said that driving down a debt that now stands at $16 billion and ultimately balancing the province’s budget in the fiscal year 2017/2018 “won’t be easy (and) getting there will require that we slow down our spending significally.” Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the following open letter from Arthur Miller of the citizens advocacy group Marineland Animal Defense/Shark Allies Niagara to regional councillors in Niagara, Ontario, urging them to support a ban here on the sale of shark-fin soup and other products with shark remains in them. Such a ban has already been passed in other Ontario municipalities including Toronto, London, Oakville, Brantford and Mississauga.)

 Dear Regional Councillors,

 We are writing you this letter as concerned citizens from across the Niagara (Ontario) Region.

A shark butchered for its fins before being thrown back in the ocean to drown.

(Niagara At Large is posting the following January 23 media release from Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservative Party. The party believes Ontario residents may receive lower-cost, higher-quality services if wants to see competitive bidding for public service work.)

 “This white paper says loud and clear that it shouldn’t matter if providers are from the state, private or voluntary sector as long as they offer a great service. The old, narrow, closed    state monopoly is dead.”

– David Cameron on the Open Public Services White Paper, The Guardian, July 11, 2011

ONLY ONTARIO PCs WILL CREATE COMPETITION IN PUBLIC SERVICES

QUEEN’S PARK– Public sector unions would compete with private sector unions, not-for-profits and businesses to provide and deliver government services under an Ontario PC government, Leader Tim Hudak said today.

Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak in provincial legislature. Photo courtesy of PC leader's office.

“If we’re going to pull Ontario out of Dalton McGuinty’s jobs and spending crisis we need to think in innovative new ways,” Hudak said. “Creating competition in government service delivery can help us break away from hidebound, dated approaches to serving the public. It will also make government more efficient, freeing up savings for the services we all value – such as health care and education.” Continue reading →

 By Preston Haskell

Everywhere one looks, the headlines scream out misery regarding foreign corporations abusing  their power, abusing their employees, abusing abusing Canadian customs and abusing Canada.

Preston Haskell

Demonstrators cast slurs against greedy corporations. Canadian unions defend their cash flow of dues. Politicians do their best to (to speak falsely or) prevaricate. Socialists blaspheming against every private enterprise, while offering only the imperialistic and failed practice of government-run institutions. However, there is more than enough greed to destroy any society. A greedy growing ‘Patrician Class’ suckling on the life-blood of prosperity, on the power hungry unions playing  their part in the inequality of Canadian fortune, and all carving up the nation as if they own it. Continue reading →

– Close to 15,000 decry foreign company’s bid to slash Canadian workers’ wages and benefits 

By Mark Taliano

If it wasn’t so ridiculous or “radical”, or “extreme”, it might even be funny.

Thousands demonstrate in London, Ontario park against Caterpillar's bid to rip workers' wages and benefits. Photo by Tori Crispo

In 2010, Industry Canada allowed American-owned Caterpillar to bulldoze its way into London, Ontario to purchase Electro-Motive Canada, a plant which assembles locomotive diesel engines.  They even humbly accepted offer an offer from Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper, of $5 million dollars of taxpayers’ money in the form of tax breaks. 

Politicians were no doubt pleased that Caterpillar profits increased by 95% in the first three quarters of 2011, which amounted to a staggering $3.4 billion in profits.  Better yet, production was up by 20 per cent and Canadian workers, who were being paid about $36.00 per hour, hadn’t had a raise for about six years.

Then, in a scene that could have come directly from Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine (create or exploit a “shock” to undemocratically force societal changes), the corporation insisted that its Canadian employees accept a 50% pay cut from about $36.00 per hour to $16.50 per hour, no cost of living adjustment, a new co-payment plan for health insurance and the elimination of pension plans.  This was the “shock”. Continue reading →

A Brief Foreword by NAL publisher Doug Draper (followed by a media release from Port Colborne, Ontario Mayor Vance Badawey)

While the Niagara Health System – the body the province established more than a decade ago to amalgamate most of Niagara, Ontario’s hospital services has been systematically dismantling acute care services, including two hospital emergency rooms, in Niagara’s southern tier, Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey and his council have been working with doctors and other health care professionals to build a health system for the southern tier’s future.

Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey

A new system for the community is already emerging, said Badawey in a note to Niagara At Large, with the “introduction of Family Health Teams and Community Health Centres in our areas. In Port Colborne alone,” added the mayor, “we have recognized that 18% less patients are utilizing the ermegency rooms and urgent care centres throughout the Niagara Health System because enhanced services are available to them through community based primary health care, especially allied health care of which is required in some cases. Therefore, it’s working!” Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

 Close to 30,000 Brock University and Niagara College students will now be able to use the transit passes they purchase through their tuition fees to hop a ride on Niagara Region’s inter-municipal buses.

A Niagara Region Transit bus making a stop in Welland. Photo by Doug Draper

 A majority of Niagara, Ontario’s regional councillors voted this January 19 to accept what are called student “U-Passes” on Niagara Region Transit buses for a trial period starting now through to this April. The decision, following a heated council debate on the matter this past December, was applauded by Brock and Niagara College student representatives. Continue reading →

 By Doug Draper

Gary Burroughs and his Niagara regional council will soon begin addressing an issue that has often been treated as if it was radioactive by previous councils.

Niagara Regional Chair Gary Burroughs

 “We are opening it up and everything is on the table,” Niagara Regional Chair Gary Burroughs told Niagara At Large following a meeting of regional council this January 19. That means everything from sticking with the status quo to making changes to the region’s committee system, to how many individuals should sit on the council and how the regional chair is selected. And yes, the council will also review the ever thorny issue of amalgamating municipalities, right up to an including the idea of one ‘City of Niagara’. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

 “The movement must address itself to restructuring the whole of American society. The problems we are dealing with are not going to be solved until there is a radical redistribution of economic and political power.”

–         Martin Luther King, 1967

 This past Monday, January 16, I drove around Niagara Square in Buffalo, New York where the Occupy Buffalo encampment was first set up last October and lo and behold, even through some of the frigid weather we’ve been having lately, the encampment was still there.

The Occupy Buffalo encampment in the shadow of Buffalo, New York's city hall. Photo by Doug Draper

That Monday also happened to be Martin Luther King Day in America and I can’t help but believe that the late civil rights leader would be pleased to see this encampment and the fight for economic justice it stands for. There can also be little doubt, given King’s record of perseverance, that he would want to see the Occupy Movement in the United States and Canada that this Buffalo encampment is part of survive and grow.

 I predict that the Occupy Movement will grow in the months ahead because the economic conditions that gave rise to the movement this past fall – the growing wage gap between the rich and almost everyone else, the loss of good-paying jobs, the high cost of living and the diminishing of health care and other essential services – are not going to change. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting this column by veteran American filmmaker and longtime environmentalist Robert Redford on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project for your information. The column was originally posted on the online news site Reader Supported News. You can visit Reader Supported News and subscribe for the many insightful posts on that site by clicking on http://readersupportednews.org/)

 Robert Redford,  January 18, 2012

Let’s face it: Big Oil is used to getting its way. But not today… and we have President Obama to thank for standing up to them in spite of the political risk.

Robert Redford, photo from Reader Supported News

President Obama has just rejected a permit for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline – a project that promised riches for the oil giants and an environmental disaster for the rest of us.

His decision represents a victory of historic proportions for people from throughout the pipeline path and all across America who have waged an uphill, years-long fight against one of the most nightmarish fossil fuel projects of our time. Continue reading →

 A Commentary by Doug Draper

 Kudos to U.S. President Barack Obama for at least stalling a proposal for the

U.S. President Barack Obama

controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada until the completion of an environmental review.

 A Commentary by Doug Draper

 Like a drug user hooked on heroin or crack, the Province of Ontario seems hopelessly addicted to gambling.

 Call it “gaming” or call it a tax on suckers and lower income people, successive provincial governments – Conservatives, Liberals and NDP – going back to the 1970s have become ever more dependent on gambling as a source of revenue.  And with the current Liberal government facing a projected $16 billion deficit, the dependence on any and all loot that can be drawn in from lottery tickets, slot machines, crap tables and the like  has become desperate. Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Doug Draper

Well, it is about time!

Niagara regional council in session. File photo by Doug Draper

(Niagara At Large is posting this media release from Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak for our readers’ information. NAL will continue to post newsworthy media releases from all political parties in the province and we invite you to share your views on them in the comment space below.)

 “We can’t manage the deficit without addressing what is the single biggest line in our budget – public sector compensation.” – speech by Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, Toronto, July 20, 2010

 January 16, 2012

Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

 HUDAK: ONLY ONTARIO PCs WILL FREEZE PUBLIC SECTOR SALARIES

 QUEEN’S PARK – Dalton McGuinty’s dithering over his jobs and spending crises demands an immediate and mandatory public sector wage freeze, Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak said today.

 “We have 560,000 Ontarians out of work and a spiralling $16 billion deficit,” Hudak said. “It’s time for immediate action – starting with our repeated call for a public sector wage freeze to help protect funding for front-line services.” Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the following media release from the Ontario Liberal government for our readers’ information. NAL invites you to share your views on the content of this post in the comment area below. Please remember that we only post comments that are signed with a real name.)

January 16, 2012

Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty

 The McGuinty government remains focused on jobs and the economy.  Despite uncertainty around the world, Ontario’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose 0.7 per cent (2.7 per cent annualized) in the third quarter (July to September 2011).

 Provincial GDP has now increased 5.8 per cent over the past nine quarters, putting it one per cent above its pre-recession level. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the following media release from the Toronto-based Ontario Clean Air Alliance for our readers’ information.)

Don’t Let Nuclear Projects Blow Our Electricity Bills Through The Roof!  

Despite the fact that Ontario electricity use has fallen by 10% (while GDP increased) since 2005, plans to spend tens of billions of $$ on new nuclear projects are moving full-steam ahead.  That’s money that could be spent on energy efficiency (where Ontario still lags behind most of its major competitors), more renewable power, and safe combined heat and power technology. 

With the province struggling to address a $19 billion deficit, there has never been a better time to end the expensive nuclear goose chase.  This is the year that will decide where Ontario dollars flow: into more bloated nuclear projects or into more cost-effective options.  Continue reading →

 (Niagara At Large is posting the following January 11 media release from the Ontario NDP for your information. We will post media releases from other parties pertaining to the budget when we get them.)

Queen’s Park– New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath says all parties in Ontario’s first minority government in over twenty years have to listen to everyday families when setting priorities for the upcoming Budget and work together to meet their challenges.

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath

Joined by NDP Finance Critic Michael Prue, Horwath announced her plan to visit communities across the province over the next few weeks to discuss ideas New Democrats have already put forward: like taking the HST off home heating bills and replacing reckless corporate tax giveaways with smart tax investments that reward companies creating jobs. Continue reading →

 A Commentary by Doug Draper

It may seem hard to believe given how much Debbie Sevenpifer loomed in the lives of Niagara, Ontario residents for far to long, but a whole year has now passed since her sudden departure from the top job at the Niagara Health System.

Former NHS CEO Debbie Sevenpifer

Then suddenly and shamelessly, Souter and others were telling us that she was out, not because she did anything wrong, but because the hospital system was at a “crossroads” and could stand to have new leadership. What we, the residents of this region whose taxes go to pay for this costly empire have never been told, were the real reasons why she was let go and how much of our money she received from us a severance pay or for all we know of the transaction, a golden parachute.

To have us believe that Sevenpifer’s hand-picked sycophants suddenly woke up one day and said it is time to let her go is an insult to her intelligence. Continue reading →

 By Doug Draper

 Journalism, like any other job, has its share of ups and downs, and one of the ups for me has been the many people I’ve met across our region who have accomplished some pretty extraordinary things.

Percy McKay,always there to fight for re-introducing fish in a Lake Ontario we too often have laced with man-made poisons

 I’m not talking so much about people with big titles and positions – the makers and shakers in the community who often find ways of recognizing each other’s efforts through the bestowal of the obligatory service club awards, honorary college degrees, etc. I’m talking about ordinary people living their lives quietly on the side streets and back streets of our cities and towns. They are people who often don’t have big titles or a great deal of wealth,  but who work just as hard, with little or no compensation, to make our communities better places to live in.

 They are the people I call unsung heroes and they are the people who have so often inspired me the most.

 One of those people is Percy McKay who passed away at his St. Catharines home last week at age 87 following a year-long battle with cancer. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper.

So Mr. Premier, you parachute a new guy in to take over supervision of this Niagara, Ontario region’s ravaged hospital system.

Welland's NDP represnetative demands full disclosure of parachute deals for NHS executives.

Bad enough that we still don’t know how much your government paid off Sevenpifer to leave the system a year ago after her tenure of turning our hospital service system into a train wreck. Now we learn that Smith, your latest minion down her, has dismissed other members of the Sevenpifer crowd and we can’t even find out why they have either left or been fired – let alone what kind of golden parachute your government has granted them at our expense.

In a media release this January 12, Welland Riding MPP Cindy Forster said it right when she put it this way. The McGuinty Liberals (in Ontario have to) come clean and releast the details of the severance packages awarded to departing NHS executives. … Families in the Niagara region feel let down by the healthcare system,” she went on to say and “the public have a right to know where our taxdollars are going and how much money is being diverted from frontline care to pay for secret ‘ golden handshake’ severance payouts.

Indeed, they do. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is pleased to post this one from one of the province’s bravest appointed representatives, Environment Commissioner Gord Miller, on the continued loss of our natural spaces due to low-density sprawl and the failure of the province and regional municipalities to do much of anything about it. Rest assured that Niagara At Large will have more to say about his issue later.)

 Toronto, January 10, 2012 – The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario says the Government of Ontario must come up with a new strategy to stem the continuing decline in Ontario’s species and natural spaces.

Ontario Environment Commissioner Gord Miller

 “The Ontario government did adopt a Biodiversity Strategy in 2005,” says Gord Miller. “Unfortunately, it expired in 2010, and the government has so far chosen not to adopt an updated plan. Our government cannot avoid its obligation,” says Miller, “to guide Ontario’s response to this urgent crisis.” Continue reading →

(As we prepare to officially remember the 200^th anniversary of the War of 1812 this coming spring, check this exhibit out.)

 Ball’s Falls is proud to host an exciting new art exhibit from Canadian Art Cards, part of their Binational 1812 Art Collection – a Lasting Legacy Project. The art work depicts the effects of war on communities and the local population.

Click on this image to blow it up to full screen.

 The exhibit has opened at the Ball’s Falls Centre for Conservation (operated by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority) this January and will continue to April 30th, 2012.

Two hundred year ago, US President Madison declared war on the British Empire launching years of conflict along the borders of Upper and Lower Canada, and with Britain’s Indian allies. This art exhibit portrays life in Upper Canada prior to the war and illustrates the challenges and struggles of living through the ensuing events. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting this January 10 media release from the office of St. Catharines Conservative MP Rick Dykstra for your information. It speaks to the New York State government’s plans to introduce legislation for controlling the dumping of ballast waters in the Great Lakes with possible invasive species in them and the concern major shipping companies in Canada have that this legislation could hurt their business.)

St. Catharines– City councilors last night voted unanimously to support a resolution opposing New York State’s “unachievable” incoming ballast water regulations, urging the American and Canadian governments to take all possible measure to stop them from being implemented as proposed.

St. Catharines, Ontario federal MP Rick Dykstra.

 Stephen Brooks, vice-president of the Chamber of Marine Commerce, flanked by St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra, made a presentation to council last night, outlining for councilors how potentially devastating these regulations could be for marine shipping on the St. Lawrence Seaway.  Afterward, he praised council for its support. “We’re pleased that the City of St. Catharines recognizes the potential harm that New York State’s regulations could bring to their city and region and we are hopeful that other Canadian and American cities around the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway will also adopt similar resolutions.” Continue reading →

By Bernie Slepkov

 Understanding, interacting with, and affecting the world around us and the communities in which we live call for both telescopic and microscopic visions. Ever since its local owners sold the St. Catharines Standard we have been gradually losing our microscopic visions.

Niagara citizen activist Bernie Slepkov

Meanwhile, without alternate local dailies, skewed telescopic visions foster ill-informed readers and limited worldviews.

 Realizing back in 1996 that certain critical aspects of our societies were on the verge of significant needed change, I began to research and track societal trends. For this I read or scanned every newspaper on which I could get my hands. Frankly, I wanted to—and ultimately have—played a role in influencing the kinds of societal changes I thought would eventually benefit St. Catharines, and indeed, Niagara at large. Continue reading →

Niagara At Large is posting the following media release from the St. Catharines and District Council of Women for our readers information. It draws attention to an event, scheduled for Thursday, January, 12 at the Centennial Library in downtown St. Catharines Ontario.

Featured speaker David Alexander

 That event will feature an address by David Alexander, executive director of the not-for-profit Niagara Workforce Planning Board and it will focus on jobs in this region. As you may know Niagara has recently suffered from some of the highest jobless rates in the province and country. So this is a timely talk on one of the most challenging issues we face as a region. Here is the media release. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

 We often hear a great deal of complaining these days about government and how poorly it is working. These complaints and the anger that so often propels them provide grist for  neo- conservatives and libertarians in our midst to say lets gut government or get rid of it all together.

Image courtesy of Niagara Region.

 Yet there are successes – some of which we take for granted – and in Niagara, Ontario one of the very best is the regional government’s recycling program.

 Thanks to that program and thanks to residents across Niagara who have participated by making use of Blue and Grey boxes for recycling plastics, metal and paper and the like, and those Green bins for compostable organics, we are keeping almost half of the waste we generate in our homes and businesses out of landfill sites – a fantastic achievement given that a mere three decades ago, many skeptics in and outside of government believed  most of us would not go to the trouble to recycle. Continue reading →

(Niagara at large is pleased to post the following media release from the Niagara Parks Commission on this site. It highlights one of the Ontario-based Park Commission’s great annual events – coming to you in January when you might think there aren’t many fun things to do in the Parks. )

 Send your Christmas Tree to the Curb and Give Back to the Environment

 Niagara Falls, ON– What do you do with your Christmas tree once Christmas and New Year’s have passed? Come to the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens and School of Horticulture on Sunday, January 15 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the annual Project Tree Cycle event.

Get out of the January cold at Niagara Park's Butterfly Conservancy. Photo courtesy of Niagara Parks Commission.

 The Niagara Parks Commission (NPC) invites you to bring your own bag and shovel to collect FREE wood chips recycled from discarded Christmas trees. Christmas trees will be collected on Saturday, January 14 through the Regional Waste Program and NPC staff will mulch the trees on Sunday, January 15. The wood chip mulch will be available in the north end of the parking lot directly in front of the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens and School of Horticulture. Continue reading →

By Mark Taliano

In a world dominated by hollowed-out newspapers, vacuous television, and political campaigns obsessed with sound-bites and banalities, it’s always refreshing to dig deeper and expand the public discourse. 

Entering the Wahgoshig First Nations reservation. Is this another country or is it Canada? Photo courtesy of Mark Taliano.

 This is what John Ralston Saul does in A Fair Country Telling Truths About Canada.  Interestingly, his message resonates with today’s grassroots citizens’ movements (i.e the world-wide Occupy Movement). The underlying message is that if we, as Canadians, find the confidence to be true to ourselves, and to understand who we are, we will be empowered to the benefit of ourselves and the world.  Continue reading →

NIA Dec29 col Complete DD

  A Commentary by Doug Draper

Goodbye to the good, bad and ugly of 2011.

A typical template for a holiday family newsletter for people that can't use their own imagination.

 It has been a year of blood-letting wars and revolutions overseas, destructive flood, fire and wind storms, a world economy teetering on the brink and continued high unemployment rates here at home.

Whether 2011 has been a good year or bad one, or something in between depends on your perspective.

 If you lost your job or lost a loved one to illness or a fatal accident, or if some other tragedy of that magnitude shook you on the home front, then this year may be one you won’t look back on very fondly. Then again, if you were fortunate to keep your job and avoid any other calamities, then it may be a different story.

 One of the things I find most interesting in this regard are those family newsletters some people insist on sending around in place of a mere card or, dare I dream, an actual visit or phone call during the holiday season. You know the kind of newsletters I’m talking about, don’t you? They’re the ones written like form letters with no references to you or your family other than your name keyed in after the word “Dear …” Continue reading →