Author Archives: dougdraper

A Commentary by Doug Draper

At the risk of coming across as a little hard-hearted here, the more I read about the concerns residents in west St. Catharines are raising over plans for a new interchange off Hwy. 406, the less sympathy I feel for these people.

A random moment on the roads of west St. Catharines. file photo by Doug Draper.

The interchange – the subject this February 15 of a first of what is expected to be a series of public information meetings hosted by the City of St. Catharines, Ontario and Niagara’s regional government – is being proposed for the stretch of Hwy. 406 curling through west St. Catharines to address the traffic congestion in that area now, and forecast to grower even heavier in the future.

Residents living in the area say they fear another interchange, just north of an existing one running on and off Fourth Avenue Louth, will only add to the traffic congestion in their west St. Catharines neighbourhood.

Now these folks are concerned about traffic congestion? Have they been paying the slightest bit of attention to what has been unfolding in that area of the region over the past decade or so? Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Get ready for a few big changes in the way Niagara, Ontario’s residential waste is collected at curbside.

New waste collecton trucks about to roll out across the region. Photo by Doug Draper

Starting this coming Monday, February 28, if you live in a single family home in Niagara, the amount of household trash destined for a landfill site will be limited to no more than one bag per home per week, unless you want to purchased $1 tags to put out more.

To some who’ve never really caught on to recycling, that one-bag limit may seem like a downer. But here is the upside for the environment and for the more avid recyclers among us. Start this same week, you will now be able to put out your Blue and Grey boxes every week, along with your Green Bin, instead of alternating weeks for paper and cardboard and for plastics and bottles and cans. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

By a margin of four to three, the council of Fort Erie, Ontario has voted down a controversial plan to build a 12-storey condominium along the shores of Lake Erie.

A depiction of the proposed condominium towering over Lake Erie in Crystal Beach.

The vote, delivered at a February 14 council meeting, represents an 11th-hour victory for numerous residents in and beyond the historic Fort Erie community of Crystal Beach who’ve been battling the condo plan for the better part of two years.

Many residents in the area argued that this high-rise condo, advanced by developers who have sited similar multi-storey facilities on the northern shores of Lake Ontario, would constitute an out-of-character intrusion on a community of mostly one- and two-storey homes and business, and would also block access to Bay Beach, one of the last open stretches of beach available to the public along the Niagara shores of Lake Erie. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is pleased to post this piece, promoting a benefit concern of fine Niagara musicians in support of Hospice Niagara, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for people facing life-limiting illnesses that you can learn more about by visiting http://www.hospiceniagaraq.ca .)

19th Celebration of Women in Music Benefit Concert in support of Hospice Niagara

The 19th Celebration of Women in Music Benefit concert will be held at The Black Sea Hall on March 6th starting at 4:00pm in support of Hospice Niagara.

BroadBand is an exciting and eclectic group of five versatile Niagara musicians. Violinist Beth Bartley doubles on mandolin and flute. Guitarist Jeff Hale also plays percussion, and singer Betsy Tauro plays percussion, guitar, bass and piano. As well as being an accomplished pianist, Neva Tesolin plays accordion and banjo, and percussionist-drummer Laura Thomas has been known to dust off her old comet for special occasions.  Everyone sings! Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting this piece in the wake of concerns expressed by citizens groups and others, including mayors living in our Welland Canal communities, about plans to ship radioactive scrap from Ontario’s Bruce nuclear plant through the lower Great Lakes.)

By Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility
Supporters of nuclear power in general — and of Bruce Power in particular — are perplexed at the widespread opposition to Bruce Power’s plan to ship 16 radioactive steam generators to Sweden so that most of the contaminated metal can be melted down and blended with �clean� recycled scrap metal.

Do we want to risk radioactive-contaminated scrap being shipped through a Welland Canal that has had its share of shipping accidents?

As one of those opposed, let me explain my concerns.
During last September’s public hearings in Ottawa on its application for a transport license, Bruce Power said its motive is not to save money, nor to save space, but simply to recycle metal because it’s the right thing to do. Continue reading →

By Rob Foster

The budget for the Town of Lincoln is now complete for 2011, having been voted upon and passed this past February 7.

Town of Lincoln councillor Rob Foster

This is considerably sooner than other governments in Niagara, not to mention across Ontario.  It should be noted, however, that from a Lincoln point of view, this is considerably later than normal over the past 10 years, with most budgets being completed by mid-December.

Lincoln Council has for many years adopted a series of financial principles, particularly around budgets, that have required the municipality and its staff to behave very much like a private corporation – this has meant budgets are completed before the upcoming fiscal year (except when elections are involved).

The benefits to following these values has been important for the Town – tenders and RFPs are out early, best prices are usually garnered and capital projects are able to start as soon as the frost comes out of the ground.

For instance, in 2009, all of the road construction projects came in considerably under budget, allowing many more miles of road to be improved.  The trend continued into 2010, with savings seen in water, sewer and road construction in the municipality.  While some municipalities in Niagara have allowed infrastructure projects costs to balloon, Lincoln has been able to keep capital costs well under control.

But even with all these positives, there are some gray clouds appearing on the horizon, and it is coming down to a very simple question – are smaller towns like Lincoln sustainable into the future?  This was the question when I first came on Council in 2001,  and it is rearing its head again. Continue reading →

By Tom Millar

I read with interest the insert in my electricity utility bill; ‘Customers to receive 10 per cent rebate on electricity bills‘. Then I turned sceptical.

Bala Falls in the Muskoka Lake region being harnessed for hydro power. Image from a 1900 circa postcard of the falls.

One thing I’ve gotten to know is this truism; ‘There is not such thing as a free ride.’

When the going gets tough, Ontario’s Premier Dalton McGuinty rolls out imaginative machinations to cover the short falls in his ‘Green Energy’ policies. And it is not what I want to see play out. It will end with you and me paying much more of our hard earned dollars for electricity and in taxes in the years ahead. Continue reading →

By Mark Taliano

The shadow of terrorism is almost a universal part of our collective unconsciousness after the 9/11 massacre.  It’s there,  it won’t go away,  and that’s certainly what the terrorists want.  But how best do we deal with it?

Terrorists, by definition, want to sow terror.  Certainly, jet planes crashing into the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon accomplished that. Better international Intelligence may have prevented it, but that’s hindsight; we’ll never know. So how do we best deal with terror?  The answer is simple, but far from easy.  The best way to deal with terror, and to have more control over our lives, is to not allow it into our lives.  Continue reading →

By Susan Howard-Azzeh

We Are Free!

Celebrating freedom in the streets of Cairo.

Thunderous cheering. Joyful shouts of “Egypt is free”! Flags waving. Prayers. Dancing. Tears of relief. Fireworks. Jubilation and celebration exploded across Tahrir Square and Egypt as Omar Suleiman grimly announced, “President Hosni Mubarak has decided to leave his position as president of the republic“.

A short time earlier a helicopter was seen leaving the Presidential palace. Soon we learned the “iron-fisted” Mubarak was already deposited in Sharm el Sheik near the Red Sea. To await trail for corruption?

It is absolutely amazing. Young peaceful men and women of Egypt have toppled a 30-year repressive regime in the world’s largest Arab country! The most peaceful revolution of our time. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

What a difference an election can make.

Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati, standing at back, makes a successful pitch to regional council for support of a resolution for an investigation of the Niagara Health System

Last September, a resolution for an independent investigation of the Niagara Health System and how it is managing our hospitals went down in flames at regional council. This February, with some new voices on the council thanks to last October’s municipal elections, it passed with flying colours. Only three members of council – St. Catharines regional councillors Tim Rigby and Brian Heit and Lincoln councillor Mark Bylsma – voted against it Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

In a week when many in Niagara, Ontario have been mourning the death and celebrating the life of Henry Burgoyne – a person who was a great friend and supporter of community-based newspapers – we are witnessing another example of what happens when our family, independently-owned papers fall in to the hands of corporate chains. Continue reading →

By Peter Joe Certo

This week the Buffalo Common Council unanimously passed this resolution relative to our international crossings, summarized below:

An aerial shot of the Peace Bridge crossing from the Fort Erie, Ontario side looking over to Buffalo, N.Y.

Merging the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission & The Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority—The Council adopted a resolution from Council Members Joseph Golombek, Jr. and David A. Rivera requesting United States President Barack Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Spending and Government Efficiency Commission (“SAGE”), and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to undertake a review of the operations of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission and the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority and to identify the process to merge these entities so that the shared border crossings can be managed in a more efficient and cost effective manner. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

The provincial government will provide funding to the family of Reilly Anzovino to participate in an inquest into the circumstances surrounding the Fort Erie teen’s death.

Reilly Anzovino

“I am pleased to announce that Reilly’s family (her mother Denise Kennedy) will have provincial assistance in the upcoming coroner’s inquiry into the tragic death of her daughter on Boxing Day of 2009,” said Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor in a February 9. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the following media release from the Ontario government on the status of this major energy project for readers’ information.)
February 8, 2011 – McGuinty Government Supports Hydro Power As Part Of Clean Energy Future
Mining on the Niagara Tunnel Project is nearing completion. Upon project completion, the tunnel will provide Ontario with enough clean, renewable hydro power for 160,000 homes annually for the next 100 years.

'Big Becky' drilling machine at work in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Photo courtesy of Niagara Power Generation.

The massive 4,000-tonne boring machine, nicknamed “Big Becky”, is currently tunneling under the City of Niagara Falls. Approximately 90 per cent of the machine’s 10.2-kilometre journey has been completed. When the project is finished, the Sir Adam Beck Generating Station will increase its generating capacity by the equivalent of 200 MW. The project has employed over 230 full-time construction workers and brought approximately $1 billion in related investment into the region. Continue reading →

By Susan Howard-Azzeh

On January 29, 2011 Hosni Mubarak appointed Omar Suleiman as his Vice President, the first vice president in Mubarak’s 30-year regime.

Niagara peace activist Susan Howard-Azzeh

Will Omar Suleiman be the saviour of Egypt? Will he be the next president? Can we count on him to usher in democracy? Both the United States and Israel see Suleiman as their preferred candidate to replace Mubarak. That in itself makes him suspect.

Who is Omar Suleiman? From 1993 until this January, Suleiman was the Chief of Egypt’s feared General Intelligence Service.  He controls the infamous police and secret police we have watched attacking peaceful protesters in Tahrir Square and Alexandria. For years he has also negotiated directly with top US CIA officials bringing “terrorism suspects” to Egypt for “questioning” and torture. One of his and the CIA’s victims was a Canadian citizen, Ahmad El Maati, who was detained and tortured for 22 months.

Continue reading →

By Joan Wiley, a former St. Catharines Standard reporter

Despite the family wealth and the powerful position he held in the community
as publisher of the local newspaper, Henry Burgoyne was a thoroughly unpretentious, decent and grounded individual. He insisted on being called Henry, not Mr. Burgoyne.

Henry Burgoyne with restired editorial page editor for The Standard, Tom Nevens, enjoying a game of golf. Photo courtest of Merv Cripps

Henry gained the respect of the newsroom ‹ never an easy task ‹ when he
endorsed the publication of controversial stories, knowing full well that by
doing so the paper would lose advertising revenue. His principles regarding
the news probably cost him personal friendships as well. I believe  the newspaper was more than a business to Henry  (it was a tangible expression of the high value he placed on professional and personal integrity, an
example of the respect he held for the citizens of Niagara, and a venue to
continue the legacy of his family¹s good name in the community. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

What can one say about Henry Burgoyne.

I will always remember him as a great lover of life, an uncommonly generous person with people he liked, and the greatest fan Elvis Presley ever had this side of the American border.

Henry Burgoyne, speaking recently at another one of many community events in his beloved Niagara. Photo courtesy of the Burgoyne family.

Yet Henry Burgoyne, who died this February 7 at age 61 following a brave battle with cancer, was much more than that.

He was the last great publisher of the last great independent daily newspaper in Niagara, Ontario before that paper  – The St. Catharines Standard –was sold in 1996 to the first in a string of media chains that have owned and operated it ever since. And as someone who was privileged enough to work with Henry (I never felt like I was working “for” him), he was one of the best friends a journalist could ever have.

Henry became publisher of The Standard after his father, W.B.C. (Bill) Burgoyne died at age 49. By then it had a family legacy that went all the way back to 1892 when his great-grandfather, William Burgoyne, purchased what was then a floundering news publication in the community for a dollar. Continue reading →

Since Debbie Sevenpifer was ousted from her job this January 18 as Niagara Health System’s president and CEO, Niagara At Large has received one question more than any other from our readers.

How much of our province's scarce hospital care dollars is ousted Niagara Health System CEO Debbie Sevenpifer walking away with?

We know that Sevenpifer was paid more than $340,000 a year in salary and benefits for being the top administrator at an NHS responsible for managing a majority of the hospital services in across the Niagara, Ontario region. That is more than $20,000 more a year than Canada’s prime minister is paid more than $120,000 more than Ontario’s premier receives in compensation.

Yet we are being told by members of NHS’s board that Sevenpifer’s severance pay may never be made public. Continue reading →

By Samantha Battersby

This letter is to address the District School Board of Niagara decision on January 25, 2011 to open the DSBN Academy. I am a young mother of two from a low income family,  according to Stats Canada income levels.  I am strongly against the idea of segregating children based on their social-economical status.

Samantha with her husband and two young children.

Where does one begin? After reading the article in January 26th edition of the St. Catharines Standard, I am completely baffled at the board’s decision. The plan is to have no more than 75 kids per grade starting at Grade 6.

Didn’t the board just close Niagara District (the only secondary school in Niagara-on-the-Lake) because of low enrollment?  Graduating from Niagara District, my grade was one of the first “low enrollment years.”  We had about 70 students in Grade 9 (and) the board used these low numbers to justify closing Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Community High School, saying it wasn’t practical to run a high school with such low enrollment numbers. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Just what the people of Southern Ontario and Western New York need while so many of our communities, on both sides of the border, continue to grapple with serious economic challenges, including some of the highest jobless rates on the continent – another high-profile political figure in the U.S., portraying our shared border as a greater national security risk than the one the U.S. shares with Mexico.

U.S. Senator and homeland security chair Joe Liberman

That’s what Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, chair of the U.S. Senate’s Homeland Security and one-time vice-presidential candidate, did at a Washington, D. C. media briefing this past February 1, just a few days before Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s White House visit with President Barack Obama to discuss (among other things) border security.

During the same week that Glenn Beck, the grand spokesperson for the right on the Fox broadcasting network, warned millions of his listeners that American is in danger of becoming an Islamic state, Lieberman warned (based on some U.S. government study the rest of us have not seen) that the Canada/U.S. border is providing “easy passage into America by extremists, terrorists and criminals whose purpose clearly is to harm the American people.” Continue reading →

By Linda Crouch

(Niagara At Large is pleased to run this piece submitted by Linda Crouch, a St. Catharines resident who ran and lost her bid last fall for a seat on the District School Board of Niagara’s board of trustees. We believe Linda Crouch’s comments contributes to the discussion over what has become a very contentious issue in our region and we welcome your comments at the end of this piece and any comments members of the school board may wish to submit.)

Segregation or not, the fact is that the District School Board of Niagara cannot afford the DSBN Academy. This publicly funded board simply does not know how live within its means. For years now, the DSBN has not been living within its means and has been drawing down its reserves.

Linda Crouch

In January 2011, the DSBN agreed to spend over $431,000 *just to bus* the first 150 school children to this school from all over Niagara, an area of more than 751 square miles (1,852 km2) to this new DSBN Academy. Ostensibly, the dollars for the transportation came out of the reserves as well. How much will transportation cost taxpayers when the full 525 students attend the Academy? Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

The public gallery of the Niagara regional government’s council chambers might very well be painted in yellow this coming Thursday, February 10 – yellow shirts that is.

Yellow Shirts from south Niagara gathered in regional chambers last September, only to hear the council say 'no' to a resolution for an investigation of the Niagara Health System's managment of our hospitals.

Recently elected Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati is planning to reprise a previously defeated resolution, asking the regional council to support a call for an independent, provincial investigation into the way the Niagara Health System has been managing the region’s hospital services. And suffice to say, members of the Yellow Shirt Brigade, a south Niagara citizens group fighting to preserve hospital services in the region’s southern muncipalities, including Fort Erie, Port Colborne, Wainfleet, Welland and Niagara Falls, are planning to be there to support Diodati’s effort.

The Yellow Shirts and their supporters in south Niagara are hoping that with this recently elected regional council, a renewed call for an investigation of the NHS might finally get approved, just as the same call for a provincial investigation was passed last year by seven of Niagara’s 12 local municipal council’s – those of Niagara Falls, Thorold, St. Catharines, Wainfleet, Welland, Port Colborne and Fort Erie.

“Join (Diodati) and us at the regional headquarters (off Hwy 406 and St. Davids Road and Hwy. 406 in Thorold) this Thursday, February 10 at 7 p.m.,” says south Niagara resident Pat Scholfield, who wears one of those yellow shirts and is a founder of a Port Colborne area group, Peoples Healthcare Coalition.

“I am elated to hear of Mayor Diodati’s resolution to have the province conduct an independent, internal and external investigation of the NHS,” Scholfield told Niagara At Large.  “This resolution was rejected before because some of the mayors and representatives said there had already been a number of investigations, most of those investigations had been in-house and did not include reviewing the effects on the region of the Niagara Health System’s hospital improvement plan (HIP). …

“When the HIP is fully implemented,” Scholfield continued, “there will be no acute or emergency services at hospitals in the southern tier. Right now the closures of ERs in Port Colborne and Fort Erie has left the hospital system in chaos…. way above provincial wait times at the ERs in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland, and soaring off load times for the paramedics across the region.”

“We are supportive of Mayor Diodati and his efforts to move an investigation of NHS,” added Sue Salzer, a Fort Erie resident and head of the Yellow Shirt Brigade in comments to Niagara At Large. “Perhaps the new regional council, which had the sense recently to reopen the public’s ability to address full meetings of council, will now support the seven local municipalities across the region that have already voted in favour of an investigation of the NHS.”

“We will definitely have a representative group in attendance (at the February 10 regional council meeting) in support of (Diodati’s) motion,” Salzer said. “We see this motion as a step forward in achieving our goal to regain, retain and improve a Niagara health system that is in chaos.”

The Yellow Shirts and other south Niagara residents gathered in the regional council chambers last September – one of the final meetings of the last term of regional council before that fall’s municipal elections – and witnessed the council turning down a resolution for an NHS investigation.

Among those who gave their thumbs’ down to an investigation were Niagara Falls and Welland mayors Ted Salci and Damian Goulbourne – who were rejected by the voters in their municipalities in those fall municipal elections, but were still there at the time of the September regional council session to support the NHS. About five years earlier, Goulbourne and Salci joined then St. Catharines mayor Tim Rigby, in a trip to Queen’s Park to lobby for the NHS’s decision to build a new hospital complex for Niagara in west St. Catharines. The move upset more than a few constituents, including city councillors, in Goulbourne’s and Salci’s municipalities.

Yet that didn’t stop them from joining a majority of others on regional council in voting against a resolution for an investigation into the NHS last September, and it certainly didn’t stop Rigby (by then and now a St. Catharines regional councillor) from voting against the resolution. In fact, Rigby went so far as to offer supporters of the resolution one more slap in the face by declaring that the new hospital complex the NHS is building in his municipality in a “St. Catharines hospital,” even though it is so obvious that most of the acute care hospital services for all of the Niagara region will be sucked out of hospital sites in the south to this new St. Catharines site.

The Yellow Shirts and others have hope that this time, with a new regional council, their concerns over the way hospital services have been managed by the NHS may finally be heard.

Niagara At Large will be there and we shall see.

(Visit Niagara At Large at http://www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to our greater Niagara area.)

(Niagara At Large is pleased to post this piece by one of the great matriarchs of heritage preservation in Niagara’s Ontario region as we approach Heritage Week in this province during the third week of this February. Here are a few words of wisdom all of us – young and old – should pause to reflect upon.)

By Pamela Minns

We hear that buzz word frequently – “heritage”; what does it really mean?

The Morningstar Mill In Niagara, just one of so many heritage sites in our greater region on both sides of our binational border worth preserving. Photo by Doug Draper

“Heritage” is what we inherit from the past and what we pass on to future generations.  Our heritage is important to our every day lives…. it gives us a touchstone to the past and sense of place; it provides familiarity and is essential to mental health and to our quality of life.  It is everywhere – it is what is familiar – in the close surroundings where we live our lives every day. Continue reading →

Chorus Niagara, that singing group in Niagara, Ontario that received global exposure onYoutube this past Christmas season for its offering of the Hallelujah Chorus in a Welland shopping mall, is returning to the scene of that milestone moment to perform again.

A moment captured by Vickie Fagan and crew from that video-gone-viral around the globe of Chorus Niagara and company at Welland mall.

On Saturday, February 12, from 10 a.m. through to 3 p.m., Chorus Niagara will return to Welland, Ontario’s Seaway Mall’s Centre Court for its fifth annual “Sing-a-Thon” – a fundraiser to keep this now world-famous musical organization in business.

If you missed that Youtube moment when Chorus Niagara went viral – garnering   millions of hits all over the world for its Hallelujah piece, you can head out to the Centre Court (might better know it as the ‘food court’) for more from this group. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

It is no doubt one of the last things that those of us, who live in Niagara, Ontario, from our political and business leaders on down, want this region to be known for.

Niagara Falls Federal Conservative MP Calls 'Economic Action Plan' a big economic and job booster.

Yet month after month over the past three years or more, when Statistics Canada releases its monthly unemployment rates, Niagara, Ontario ends up on a very short list of regions, including Windsor, Ontario, suffering the highest jobless rates in the province and country.

And once again, the Statistics Canada figures, released this February 4 for the month of January show Niagara, Ontario experiencing among the worst jobless numbers in the, right their with Windsor with about 9.7 per cent of the potential workforce in this region out of work – up from a little less than 9.5 per cent this past December. Continue reading →

By Karim Ahmed

(Karim Ahmed is a native of Egypt, now living with members of his family in St. Catharines, Ontario, although many of his relatives remain in Egypt and have been participating in the demonstrations for a democratic government there.

Niagara At Large is pleased to give him a voice here as he makes a case for the Canadian government and Canadians at large to support his Egyptian brethren in their longing to enjoy the same democratic rights that we have.)

Canadians enjoy a great privilege that many of them take for granted and don’t realize how appreciated it should be.  That privilege is democracy.

Karim Ahmed, left, and friend Hanafi holding an Egyptian flag during a demonstration for democracy in their native city of Alexandria, Egypt in 2008. It has been at least that long coming!

Only those like me, who come from a country, ruled by a dictator government like Egypt greatly appreciate democracy and the freedom of speech that we enjoy in Canada.

Born and raised in Alexandria, second largest city in Egypt, my generation was brought up in fear. Fear from the police, fear from the undercover security and fear to actively participate in politics or even talk about it! Everybody’s dream was to leave the country and immigrate to a free country like the United States and Canada where they can enjoy freedom, fair opportunities and good life style. Continue reading →

By Ashlea Brockway

(Ashlea Brockway lives in Port Colborne with her husband, Iraq war resister Jeremy Brockway, and their two Canadian-born sons. A passionate spokesperson for the cause of the war-resisters, Ashlea will be speaking at the David S. Howes Theatre at Brock University on Monday, Feb. 7, at 5:00 p.m. Ashlea will be joined by Bruce Beyer, from the Buffalo Chapter of Veterans For Peace, and Michelle Robidoux from the Toronto-based War Resisters Support Campaign.)

Support the Troops!

Jeremy Brockway, his wife Ashlea and their children at home in Port Colborne, Ontario.

Exactly what the heck does that mean, support the troops? As far as I’ve seen, it means that people are all for spending up to five bucks to put a ribbon on their car or house while young men and women are shipped off to die. People seem to want to support the troops when they are going off to die fighting for one cause or another but suddenly that support vanishes for all who make it back alive.

In Canada, we celebrate Remembrance Day. It’s a day to honour the memory of those who perished while trying to protect others, whether foreign or domestic. I think that it is great, honouring those who were willing to give up their lives for us; but is just remembering them a sufficient way to honour them? I don’t think so. I think that the very best way to honour them, in addition to remembering them, would be to treat those who make it home the same way we would want those who have passed away in combat treated. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Welland Riding MPP Peter Kormos has written an open letter to Ontario Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky, slamming plans by the District School Board of Niagara to establish a school for a select group of “poor” students in Niagara as an arrogant act of “apartheid” and “roulette-wheel education.”

Welland Riding MPP Peter Kormos

“This is a repugnant proposal that does nothing to address poverty,” said Kormos, the NDP’s justice minister said the February 2 letter to Dombrowsky on the decision the DSBN made this past month to move forward with plans to bus 150 kids – picked by lottery – from “poor-income families” across Niagara to the old, recently closed Empire Elementary School in Welland.

The Niagara public school board, working on launching this “DSBN Academy” with Brock University, Niagara College and other partners like Betty-Lou Souter’s Community Care agency, argues that by segregating these students and giving them some special attention, it might be possible to improve their chances of going on to college or university. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Wiping their hands of the Niagara Health System, a majority of Welland city councillors have agreed  to seek legal advise on how to possibly stop a “hospital improvement plan” from moving ahead that could see continued reduced cuts to hospital services in Welland and other parts of south Niagara.

Welland city councillor Frank Campion

The motion to seek legal advise on where next to go to protect and preserve south Niagara’s hospital services was put forward and approved this February 1 by Welland councillor Frank Campion.

“I think we have hit a dead end with the NHS,” Campion, who has served as chair of the city’s Health Care Committee, told Niagara At Large in an interview. “It is time to take our fight beyond the NHS to the LHIN (the ‘Local Health Integration Network for this and neighbouring region, including Hamilton, Burlington, Haldimand and others that is supposed to be governing bodies like the NHS) and to the province.” Continue reading →

By Pat Scholfield

The new interim CEO of the Niagara Health System – the NHS and the body responsible for managing most of Niagara’s hospital services – says she will not be changing the Hospital Improvement Plan (HIP) other than possibly minor tweaking.

Pat Scholfield

As an example, she states Regional maternity services will be located at the new
hospital in west St. Catharines and cataract eye surgery will move to Welland.

CEO Matthews does not tell us there will be a long list of specialty services at
the new St. Catharines hospital besides maternity, including cancer, cardiac
catheterization, tertiary mental health, obstetrics, pediatrics, inpatient
gynecological, inpatient urology and others. Nor does she tell us under the HIP that Welland will lose obstetrics, pediatrics, inpatient gynecological, inpatient
urology, ear, nose and throat surgery, plastic surgery and orthopedics. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

“Support freedom! Support the Egyptian people,” shouted Susan Howard-Azzeh to a small but spirited gathering of people on the steps of St. Catharines, Ontario’s City Hall this January 31.

Niagara, Ontario residents rally in support of Egyptian people on a bone-chilling night.

About two dozen Niagara area residents braved bone-chilling temperatures to attend the “solidarity rally,” organized the day before by the Niagara Coalition of Peace (a group Howard-Azzeh is a member of) as a prelude to possibly more local demonstratons of support for the people of Egypt in the future.

“The people of Egypt want democracy,” said Karim Ahmed, a speaker at the rally and native of Egypt who moved to St. Catharines, Ontario with members of his family seven years ago. Continue reading →

By Mark Taliano

The problem with this world is that we really don’t see it.  Or if we do, we don’t always see it the way it is.

Marshall McLuhan’s observation that “the media is the message” ties in with the notion that we see the world through “the wrong end of a telescope,” small, insular, and distant.  I suppose it’s a human limitation that we have to deal with, but the more we’re aware of it, the more informed we’d be.

If I turn on my computer, I’m immediately confronted with the news that Justin Bieber cured his acne, or that Paris Hilton has a new boyfriend.  That’s the message.  Never mind the really important stuff.  Focus on a tiny spec of meaningless pop culture, and the worlds’ pain will float away. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

A developer’s plans to build a controversial condo tower along the shores of the historic Fort Erie, Ontario community of Crystal Beach has been approved.

A digital image of the controversial condo tower planned for Crystal Beach, Ontario.

According to a decision, approved by the OMB this January 31 following a hearing last November, OMB board member Reid Rossi concludes that the 12-storey condo, planned in a community of mostly one or two-storey homes and other buildings, “represents good land use planning” – that despite arguments from many local residents that the tall structure would be an assault on the character of the surrounding community and would front one of the last few publicly-available beaches in the area. Continue reading →

By Susan Howard-Azzeh

Concerned citizens of Niagara Region will be gathering in solidarity with the people of Egypt this Monday, January 31st at 6 p.m. on the steps of St. Catharines, Ontario’s City Hall.

Masses of Egyptian people demonstrate on streets of Cairo.

The people of Egypt have suffered under the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak and martial law for 30 long years. They have said enough is enough and we must stand with them in building democracy, freedom and prosperity for all. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

It used to be that municipal council’s would typically approve budgets with the highest cost increases they felt they could get away with in the first year following a municipal election.

Niagara regional government's corporate services commissioner Brian Hutchings

From my more than 30 years of following municipal budgets, there appeared to be at least two reasons for this.

First, you have councillors wanting to deliver on all the promises they made to voters during the election. And second, more than a few municipal councillors have confessed over the ages that if they are going to approve a big budget hike, they would rather do it in the first year of a council term than in the last year when they have to once again face the electorate.

Those days seem to be all but gone though as more property taxpayers let their councillors know they’ve had it with taxes increases and this year, the regional council seems close to delivering a budget that will add up to little or no increase in taxes.

At a committee-of-the-whole meeting this January 29, the regional government’s corporate services commissioner Brian Hutchings outlined an operating budget for 2011 that so far keeps any increase over last year down to 1.2 per cent – already below a cap the council set of 1.4 per cent before councillors get into any further cutting before a final budget is approved later this winter. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

The province’s Liberal government is providing the Niagara Regional Police Service close to $800,000 in funding over the next two years to “reduce future criminal activity and make communities safer,” St Catharines MPP and Ontario Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Jim Bradley announced during a media conference at the NRP headquarters this January 28.

Ontario Minister and St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley

The funding for the NRP is a piece of the $15 million Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced a day earlier (on January 27) for police departments across the province for what the government calls its ‘Provincial Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy’.

“Rooting out gangs from our neighbourhoods, taking guns off our streets and giving young Ontarians opportunities for a better, more productive future, all help reduce future criminal activity and make communities safer,” said Bradley in a media statement released in concert with his announcement at the NRP headquarters.

NRP Chief Wendy Southall, who joined Bradley for the announcement, said that “Our Guns, Gangs and Grows team dismantled a large-scale marijuana grow operation that was helping to fuel the drug trade and the import of illegal weapons,” said NRPS Chief Wendy Southall. “PAVIS grants help us to target criminal gangs and activity that put Niagara neighbourhoods at risk.” Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

On a recent drive back to St. Catharines from the town of Lincoln, I glanced northward from St. Paul Street West, across snow-covered orchards and vineyards to a huge building that seems totally out of place with its surroundings.

There it is, beyond the snow-covered hedge rows and vineyards, and completely out of its surroundings. Photo by Doug Draper

As some of you may already have guessed, I’m talking about the massive, 970,000-square-foot hospital complex the Niagara Health System is building at the western end of St. Catharines’urban boundaries at a cost that will total close to $1.5 billion over the next 30 years.

That does not include the many millions of dollars more that will have to be spent on improving roads, exits off Hwy. 406 and other infrastructure needed to accommodate a major institutional complex that, according to the provincial government’s own ‘Places To Grow’ planning policies, should be located in an urban center (or at least at a site where the needed infrastructure is already in place) rather than at this ridiculous location. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

If you want to bestow this province’s most prestigious civic award –  Order of Ontario  – on anyone in Niagara, few people are more deserving than Wilma Morrison.

This 81-year-old Niagara Falls, Ontario resident  has invested years of her life, out of her love for history and her heritage, documenting Black history here. She has been a leading force in restoring the more than century and a half year old Nathaniel Dett Memorial Church on Peer Street in Niagara Falls – also known as the British Methodist Episcopal Church and one of the oldest surviving Black churches on the Ontario side of our greater Niagara region.

Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor with Wilma Morrison during Order of Ontario ceremonies.

“It was the most wonderful thing,” Morrison told Niagara At Large of receiving the Order of Ontario Award at Queen’s Park this January 27. “When I listened to the stories about all of the other people (a total of 30 including herself)  who received the award,” she added, “I was pleased to be in their company. Continue reading →

Niagara At Large is pleased to post the following ‘state of the city’ address delivered by St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan this January 28 at Club Roma in St. Catharines, Ontario.)

Mayor Brian McMullan
Tale of Two Cities
Club Roma, Jan. 28, 2011

Thank you for the introduction. I’m pleased to be here today for this Tale of Two Cities event being hosted by the St. Catharines Thorold Chamber of Commerce.

St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan

Welcome Chamber of Commerce members, special guests, and members of Council and City staff here today.

In attendance from City Council are: Councillors Jeff Burch, Mark Elliott, Len Stack, Dawn Dodge, Bill Phillips, Mat Siscoe, and Matt Harris.

We also have senior staff: CAO Colin Briggs and Recreational and Community Services Director Rick Lane – as well as a number of support staff who have joined us here today.

It gives me great pleasure to share with you what our City is doing to diversify our economy, support local businesses and encourage private sector confidence in our community which in turn will lead to more investment and job creation. Continue reading →

For those of you waiting since last falls municipal election to know who will prevail as  mayor of Fort Erie, Ontario, it is incumbent Mayor Doug Martin.

Fort Erie Mayor Doug Martin

In a legal, carefully monitored recount of ballots in Fort Erie this January 28, Martin remains the town’s mayor over competitor Ann-Marie Noyes, a former town councillor, by a five-point spread.

Last fall, Martin and Noyes locked horns in a municipal election fought over everything from the diminishing of acute care services at the Fort Erie hospital site, to plans by developers to build a multi-storey condo in Crystal Beach and plans by others to build a speedway for high-speed racing cars in rural Fort Erie.

As of this January 28, Martin has prevailed in that campaign by five votes, which may not necessarily stop those opposing his visions for the town from speaking out.

(Visit Niagara At Large at http://www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater Niagara region.)

A View by Pat Scholfield

(Pat Scholfield is a long-time south Niagara resident who is fighting for equitable access to hospital services for all the region’s residents. The following is based on a January 25 presentation she made to the Health Care Committee for Welland’s city council.)

Welland people should no longer be kept in the dark about the fate of their
hospital. Accurate information should be distributed to all residents of
Welland.

How much longer will that 'H' remain at the top of the Welland Hospital?

In 2008, the Niagara Health System (NHS) released its Hospital Improvement Plan
(HIP), which alarmed the physicians at Welland Hospital. Under the HIP, they
would lose so many surgical specialties, they would no longer have a vital hospital or a viable 24/7 ER (emergency department). Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey is hoping to meet with mayors across Niagara to ask them to lend their collective support for fair access to acute-care hospital services for all of the region’s residents.

Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey

As one mayor who has witnessed emergency and other acute care services disappear at his municipality’s hospital, Badawey told Niagara At Large in a January 25 interview that he will be seeking the support of the region’s mayors to get those services back.

Port Colborne has  supported St. Catharines and other Niagara municipalities when they have approached the province and Niagara Health System (the body created by the province a decade ago to manage most of the region’s hospital services) to keep services in their municipalities, said Badawey during the interview. Now he is hoping other mayors and their councils will support municipalities like Port Colborne, Welland and Niagara Falls that are fighting for their hospital services. Continue reading →

By Kimberly Costello

Niagara Action for Animals (NAfA) is hosting two upcoming fundraisers, the proceeds from which will help animals throughout Niagara.

Buster and Hope, two of the cats in NAfA's care that now need a good home.

Throughout the Niagara Region, thousands of homeless and abandoned animals are euthanized every year due to pet overpopulation. In the past year, close to 2,000 animals were euthanized at the Lincoln County Humane Society alone. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Four months after it was approved, Niagara, Ontario’s new regional council is doing away with a section in a “procedural bylaw” that would have limited opportunities for public delegations to speak before the full council.

Newly Elected St. Catharines regional councillor Andy Petrowski wants full access for public delegations at council meetings

The bylaw – intended, in part, to shorten the length of council meetings by barring public delegations from participating in them – was passed, rather ironically, during a September 2010 council meeting that dragged on for more than seven hours, mostly because of closed sessions the council held on policing costs and other matters that evening.

Pat Schofield, a south Niagara resident and an advocate for hospital services in that end of the region, was refused an opportunity to speak before the council that evening although her presentation would have been limited to 10 minutes. So too was Andy Petrowski, now a St. Catharines regional council, whose request to speak at that time as a private citizen (tabled by regional council and Lincoln Mayor Hodgson) was voted down by the council.

This January 20, Brian McMullan, a regional council and mayor of St. Catharines, tabled a motion (approved that night by the new council) that lifts restrictions in the bylaw. It clears the way for individuals and groups to speak before a full session of council if they can’t make it to a regional committee meeting or if they have additional information that was not already presented to a committee.

“I am very pleased with (the passage of this motion),” McMullan told Niagara At Large in an interview. “We want to make people feel that they can come forward with their concerns.” Continue reading →

Friends of Willowbank, a not-for-profit citizens group dedicated to restoring the 19th century Willowbank estate in Queenston, Ontario, is calling on student artists to submit their work for possible use for one of its major fundraisers.

The winning submission will be featured on posters for the 2011 Willowbank Jazz Festival, an annual event that helps raise funds for restoring the estate and for other educational and training programs the Willowbank group runs to promote heritage conservation in our region and others. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

‘The problem is the liberal media.”

Keith Olbermann doing his thing for one of the last times.

I’ve heard that comment and others like it for all of the 32 years I’ve been a professional journalist and going back well before then – during the times of the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam War, the enactment of the War Measures Act in Canada and the civil rights movement in the United States. Continue reading →

A Foreword by Doug Draper

The ongoing cleanup of the Buffalo River – a major tributary to the Niagara River – will be the focus of a public meeting in Buffalo this coming Tuesday, January 25.

The Buffalo River's 'elebator alley'. Photo courtesy of the citizen group Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper

The waters of the Buffalo River, flowing by numerous old and often abandoned industrial mills along its shores before emptying into the upper Niagara, was so polluted a few decades ago, about the only fish that could survive in it were bullheads or catfish and scientists found visible tumors on half the ones they caught for examination.

More recently, the river’s waters and bottom sediment have shown visible signs of impairment as government agencies have worked together with private industry and citizen groups like Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper on numerous projects aimed at revitalizing this important waterbody. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

In the days since the ouster of Niagara Health Systems CEO Debbie Sevenpifer on Tuesday, January 18, this news site and others, we suspect, have been swarmed with requests from citizens in this region to know what kind of a severance package Sevenpifer is getting.

It is one damn good question, given the fact the Sevenpifer, alone, was siphoning up more than $340,00 of our taxdollars annually in salaries and benefit, while the NHS is forecasting a $7 million annual operating debt at the same time the NHS has been cutting frontline services at hospitals in Fort Erie, Port Colborne, Welland, Niagara Falls and other areas of the region. Continue reading →

By Becky Day

I spoke with regional councillor Bruce Timms today. He has been leading the charge in an attempt to bring a new type of regional governance to the Niagara Region, one that follows the Halton region model.

St. Catharines regional councillor Bruce Timms

“The focus of my reform is to integrate city council and regional council so there is good clear communication between the two levels of government,” he said. “That’s far more important than any talk about amalgamation.”

Timms proposal would see each municipality have double duty regional/municipal councillors. In Thorold’s case, there would still be 8 councillors but 1 of those would be wearing two hats. They would run for “the double duty councillor” spot in the next election in 2014. Each municipality could determine how they would do it. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

It is hard to let the third week of this January, 2011 pass without making some mention of the 50^th anniversary of the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address – considered by some to be one of the most stirring speeches of the last century.

The address was delivered on January 20, 1961, as frigid a day in Washington, D.C. as the days we are experiencing in the northeastern U.S. and Canada now. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

It’s lookin’ like the campaigns for this coming September’s provincial election are already heating up to a point where they might melt some of this snow.

Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak in Beamsville, calling on Liberal government to give Ontarians a break on hydro bills.

There were two Ontario party leaders stomping ground in the Niagara region this January 20  –  NDP leader Andrea Horwath and Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak – both on issues of particular concern to many ordinary citizens of this province during these coldest days of winter, the cost of hydro and heating our homes. Continue reading →

A Niagara At Large Editorial by Doug Draper

Unintelligent people always look for a scapegoat.
– the late British labour minister Ernest Bevin

The scapegoat for the moment over the mess we call hospital services in this region is Debbie Sevenpifer, the now ousted president and chief executive officer of the Niagara Health System.

Ousted Niagara Health System CEO Debbie Sevenpifer

As news circulated through Niagara, Ontario this January 19 that the board of trustees of the NHS – the decade old body responsible for operating most of the hospital services in the region – had suddenly replaced Sevenpifer with now acting CEO Sue Matthews, the phone calls, email and even the odd voice across the street from some of my neighbours came in, celebrating her departure with lines like – ‘It’s about time’ and ‘Maybe things will run better now.’

One of Niagara At Large’s readers even talked about mixed the rum and coke, and celebrating. But maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to break out the drinks and party balloons. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Debbie Sevenpifer, who has served as the often-besieged chief executive officer of the Niagara Health System for the better part of eight years, has been relieved of her $345,0000 per year job by the NHS’s Board of Trustees.

Ousted Niagara Health System CEO Debbie Sevenpifer

The news came in a media release posted by the NHS this Wednesday, January 19 and noting that “The Niagara Health system Board of Trustees today announced a change in senior leadership. … Effective today, R. Sue Matthews has been appointed as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, replacing Mrs. Debbie Sevenpifer.”

The board’s announcement follows in the wake of reports earlier this January that the NHS, the body responsible for operating most of the hospital services in Niagara, Ontario, could be facing a $7 million deficit in its operating budget for the coming 2011/12 fiscal year. That news renewed calls from local municipal councillors and others across the region, including Niagara Falls Liberal MPP Kim Craitor, for a provincial investigation of how well the NHS manages its operations. Continue reading →

By Pat Scholfield

Once again, the Niagara Health System is predicting a $7million deficit; nearly triple its originally proposed $2 million.

Niagara hospital services advocate Pat Scholfield

This has come after the NHS, the body responsible for managing most of the hospital services in Niagara, Ontario, has been feverishly implementing the HIP (hospital
improvement plan), which was calculated to reduce their annual deficits.

Obviously, the HIP has not worked as planned.

A major part of the HIP, applied quickly, was the cutting of around 100 beds across Niagara and an equal number of frontline staff, as well as shutting down emergency rooms (ERs) and operating rooms (Ors) at the Port Colborne and Fort Erie hospitals. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

It looks like we better start bracing ourselves for even more cuts in front-line services at hospitals in Niagara, Ontario.

Either that or the provincial government is going to have to dig even deeper into our pockets to find more money to bail out the Niagara Health System.

It was less than a year ago that Debbie Sevenpifer, CEO of a Niagara Health System responsible for managing most of this region’s hospitals, declared the infusion of another $14 million of funding on top of the hundreds of millions the NHS already gets from the province a “gold medal day.” It would help keep the NHS on the track to balancing its operating budget by 2013, she suggested.

And now we find memo, dated January 10, 2011, from NHS chief financial officer Angela Zangari to the hospital system’s staff (you can read the full text of it below) forecasting a $7 million deficit – “$5 million more than anticipated,” to quote Zangari’s memo – for the NHS’s 2011/2012 fiscal year.

If this doesn’t justify the call from more than 7,000 residents who signed a petition across this region, accompanied by resolutions from the councils of seven of Niagara’s 12 municipalities – Fort Erie, Port Colborne, Wainfleet, Welland, Niagara Falls, Thorold and St. Catharines – for the province to come in and conduct an independent investigation of how the NHS manages its affairs, then what does? Continue reading →

By Shafee Bacchus, former commissioner of corporate services for Ontario’s Niagara Region

Now that the municipal elections are over I am compelled to reflect on the promises made and the difficulties faced by those who are new in power to effect change.

Shafee Bacchus

Firstly, I am convinced, after many years spent in municipal administration, that one of the greatest obstacles to change is the longevity of those who are returned to power each successive term. These individuals, with few exceptions, feel secure in their positions and are under the illusion that their continued election somehow reflects the good decision they make on council over the years.

Let’s be clear. Municipal elections are based on name recognition in the majority of cases with less than 30% of eligible voters participating. It is not based on decision making of individual councillors. If that was the case, I would bet more than half of those long-standing councillors would be out after the first term. Continue reading →

By John Sewell

(The following is an open letter former Toronto mayor John Sewell wrote to his city’s newly elected mayor, Rob Ford, on the unsustainable cost of policing in the Toronto area. We in Niagara ought to take heed. Soaring policing costs are mugging taxpayers here too. This letter is being printed in Niagara At Large with the permission John Sewell. NAL: urges you to read it and share your comments below.)

Dear Mayor Ford,

The New Year has hardly begun, but a grand opportunity is being presented to you to stop the gravy train.

Former Toronto mayor John Sewell

I know that ending the sense of entitlement within city services is a big priority for you, as is ensuring that taxpayers get good value for their tax dollars. Continue reading →

Niagara At Large is posting the following release from the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario on the sad passing of Al Kozlik, one of Canada’s most distinguished actors who performed for decades on the stages of the Shaw and Stratford Festivals.

Long-time Shaw Ensemble Member mourned

January 13, 2011, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada….The Shaw Festival mourns the passing of distinguished Canadian actor Al Kozlik. Mr. Kozlik died peacefully on January 11 at the Greater Niagara General Hospital after suffering a stroke. He leaves behind his spouse of 41 years, Scott Sunderland.

Upon making the announcement, Artistic Director Jackie Maxwell noted: “Al was a most beloved and generous Company Member with an enthusiasm for, and love of, actors and acting that was endlessly infectious. I feel blessed to have witnessed his final performance as “Firs” in The Cherry Orchard last season, a part he had always wanted to play and which he embodied so beautifully.” Continue reading →

By Mark Taliano

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  It’s an old theme, one ignored by Macbeth, but one which needs further investigation today.

A crab some of us might normally enjoy eating, smothered in BP oil down on the gulf. And BP is getting away with it!

One of the ugly faces of power today is Petroleum, and boy does it corrupt.  Pulitzer Prize winning author Thomas Friedman, in his book, Hot, Flat, And Crowded, observes that when the price of petrol is high, it empowers petrol dictators and disempowers democracy.  So, when we see the market for crude oil (often manipulated) rise, democracy diminishes. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

The Niagara Regional Police Service is once again tabling an annual budget that defies the 1.4 per cent target set by the regional government.

Niagara Region's Police Chief Debbie Southall delivers regional council another over-the-top bill for policing

At a regional budget meeting this January 14, Niagara Region’ Police Chief Wendy Southall tabled a budget that calls for a 5.1 per cent increase that would mean a jump in the NRP’s operating budget to $127 million this year.

Southall told regional councillors she’d have to make cuts that would equal laying as many as 30 constables to meet their budget target, something she said she is not prepared to do.

This is the same kind of way-out-of-line budget hike e the NRP has come to the regional council with in previous years and, once again, most of the increase is being attributed to salary increases – totaling around three per cent per year – awarded to the police union through the province’s provincial arbitrators.

The union and provincial arbitration board obviously do not give a fig about concerns expressed by regional councillors, time and time again, that Niagara’s taxpayers simply cannot afford these kinds of cost increases, particularly during a time of economic hardship for many of this region’s residents. The fact that they are settling on salaries in the same range as those officers are award in the Greater Toronto Area – even though the cost of living in Niagara is significantly lower – doesn’t seem to matter either. Continue reading →

A special fundraising concert is being held in St. Catharines, Ontario this to assist the family of two young boys diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy – a debilitating disease that could cost them their lives before their 20th birthdays.

From left at front are Boston and Gibson Riddick during a visit to a local fire department with their parents and supporters.

The concert, to take place at the Quality Inn Parkway Hotel and Convention Centre on Ontario Street in St. Catharines this coming Tuesday, January 18, will feature many popular area bands (see more details below) and raffles and silent auction. It is aimed at raising as much as $100,000 to help Chris and Sherry Riddick and their two boys, Gibson, 11, and Boston, 3, retrofit their home and purchase a specially equipped van to make home life and travel more accessible for the boys.

The event has been organized by a community group calling itself the Riddick Family Lift Project Committee and starts at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 with all proceeds going to the cause. The bands, including The Bends, Unruly Gentleman’s Club, Dr. Colossus and Tim Atherton and the Athertones, have donated their time to the fundraising campaign, just as Parkway owner Angelo Nitsopoulus has donated space for it.

For more details and contact information, see the media release below. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

It’s beginning to look like decades of forcing Niagara, Ontario residents to subsidize sprawling, low-density development through their property taxes rather than making those profiting from this kind of costly development is finally catching up to our regional government. And we, the taxpayers in this region may be the ones who pay – big time!

Unfortunately, the region’s kiss-off subsidies to developers (and I’m talking not about staff, but about those regional councillors who are in bed with developers)could eventually leave Niagara with a capital deficit of $416 million in capital deficits over the next decade – a deficit we would be passing on to our children for generations to come.

This unprecedented $416-million shortfall, quoted in a report released this January 12 to the regional government’s Corporate Services Committee, could have an impact on the region’s “financial well being.”

The impact on taxpayers for years to come, according to the report the region’s chief administrative officer, Mike Trojan, and its corporate services commissioner, Brian Hutchings tabled before the committee, “would be significant.”

And this is where I come back in to stress the following.  Continue reading →

 (At the time Joseph Somers sent Niagara At Large this piece, the price of gasoline, per U.S. gallon, averaged around $3.19 to $3.29 in the Buffalo, New York area, versus what amounts to more than four-and-a-half bucks per U.S. gallon on the Ontario side of the border at a time when the dollars in both countries are hovering around par.)

By Joseph Somers

In Welland, Ontario this week, at an Esso station on Main Street East, we woke up to find an increase in gas prices per litre from $1.099 to $1.159 – an increase that amounts to 6 x 4.546, or an increase of $0.273 per imperial gallon overnight!

The gas prices, per litre and not gallon, that Canadians are slapped in face with on the Niagara, Ontario side of the border. Photo by Doug Draper

Meanwhile, gasoline across the Niagara River (in the Buffalo area) now runs around $3.29 per American gallon. At that a cost or however pennies more on the U.S. side, it costs Canadian consumers well over a dollar more to purchase the same gallon of gas on the Canadian side of the border.

Using U.S.A. costs, Canadians have to pay at least a $1.30 more per gallon for gasoline, much of it exported to the U.S.A. from Canada.

There is no excuse for this difference in gas prices other than unadulterated greed.

(Share your comments below on this or related topics, such as why can you purchase a gallon of milk at Wegmans grocery stores in Western New York for $1.49 when it costs $5.00 or more for a gallon of milk in Niagara, Ontario?)

Joseph Somers is a resident of Welland, Ontario. We welcome you to contribute posts on matters of interest and concern to Niagara readers on this site.

 (Visit Niagara At Large for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to our greater binational Niagara region.)

By Doug Draper

It wasn’t all that long ago that a previous Niagara, Ontario regional council and the councils of 12 local municipalities in Niagara all but stalled out on launching a first-of-a-kind, specialized transit service for the whole region.

Had it not been for the last-minute support some five years ago of one of the smaller rural councils in Niagara – that of former West Lincoln mayor Katie Trombetta – the regional government would not have had the backing it needed among its own flock and the local municipalities to launch a transit service for countless thousands of Niagara residents who can no longer drive and require it for medical and other basic needs.

Today, that service has grown by leaps and bounds, from a ridership totaling 4,524 in 2007 (its inaugural year) to 13,975 in 2010. And there is every reason to believe these ridership figures will continue growing exponentially as growing numbers of aging Niagarians and others with challenges making it impossible for them to drive find out it is there to serve them.

“I am really proud of these results,” said Kim Koz, a manager of fleet services for Niagara’s regional government of the jumping ridership figures at the first meeting of 2011 of the region’s transporation subcommittee.  “It’s amazing and it just keeps growing. There is definitely a need for the service out there.” Continue reading →