Author Archives: dougdraper

By Doug Draper

Forty years after the first Earth Day, industries in Canada and the United States are continuing to treat the Great Lakes like a toilet for their toxic fallout.

Mercury and other air-borne poisons emerge from the stack of a coal-fired energy plant. A U.S. Department of Energy photo.

A report released this April 21 by the Toronto-based citizen organizations, Canadian Environmental Law Association and Environmental Defence, the latest figures from governments in the two countries show that in 2007 some four million kilograms (more than 8.8 million pounds) of air-borne pollutants known or suspected of causing cancer have drifted into the waters of the Great Lakes.

These pollutants are reaching all five Great Lakes and their adjoining watersheds from countless smokestacks and exhaust pipes from all over the Canada-U.S. Great Lakes region and beyond, including private industries and publicly owned facilities that burn coal and other fossil fuels to generate energy.

“Chemical threats to the Great Lakes need the attention of our governments more than ever,” said Theresa McClenaghan, executive director of the Canadian Environmental Law Association CELA following the release of the report. “Our governments must commit applying an elimination and prevention approach to persistent toxic chemicals and other toxins including cancer causing chemicals.” Continue reading →

 By Brent Gibson

The founding of Earth Day 40 years ago marks one of several milestones in the formation of an environmental movement.

Our Great Lakes from space. Photo from NASA archives.

In the Great Lakes, the first Earth Day came less than one year after the Cayahoga River caught fire for the 13th time. The fire itself was small – it lasted only 30 minutes and caused $50,000 of damage. But, for the Great Lakes, the burning of the Cayahoga was the spark that enflamed a smouldering concern over the health of these waters. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Are you a retired person out there trying to make ends meet on Canada’s ‘Old Age Security pension? And if you are, did you enjoy an increase of 10 per cent in your pension payments last year?

Canada's federal members of parliament and senators get piggish about pension hikes for themselves while many of the rest of us struggle to get by.

Of course not!

As a follow-up to a report Niagara At Large posted on this site on April 17 entitled; ‘Ontario Being Pushed To Improve Pensions For Seniors In Need’, it would be a gross oversight on NAL’s part not to point out that Canada’s federal government had no bones about rubber stamping a 10 per cent hike in pensions for MPs and our un-elected (should summarily have their jobs abolished) senators.

This “gold-plated pension fund,” as a recent story in The Toronto Star called it, has been approved in apparent total denial of the realities facing many of the rest of us out here who are struggling to recover from the worst recession that has rocked the economy this country and others since the Great Recession of the 1930s. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Well, Hamilton, Ontario should have no problem getting that NHL franchise now!

And why?  Because according to the top story on the front page of The Hamilton Spectator this April 16, Sarah Palin, the former Alaskan governor who has turned her failed 2008 run for the U.S. vice presidency into a gold mine, has come onside as a booster for the city’s franchise bid.

‘Palin casts her vote for the city’s NHL dream,’ read the gushy headline above a story about Palin’s speech to a sellout audience of more than 900 in the Hamilton area this April 15.

“I’m overlooking Copps Coliseum and I thought, what a great place for an NHL franchise,” the Spectator quoted Palin saying to an adoring crowd that paid $200 a piece to hear her speak at a charity fundraiser in the city long known for its steel mills and love for sports. “You’re all set up for it (and) if I ever meet the president of the NHL, I’ll put a little bug in his ear,” she added as, reportedly, only two protesters, one of them holding a sign reading; “Honk For Our Health Care,” kept vigil outside the banquet centre.”

How sad that a newspaper that has a relatively good reputation compared to so many other failing dailies across the province, makes this its top story on a Friday and leads with Palin’s pandering over the NHL franchise. Continue reading →

 By Doug Draper

To the extent a society can be judged by the way it treats its senior citizens, Ontario may have a little explaining to do – especially when it comes to pensions.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

At the Ontario legislature earlier this April, the province’s NDP leader, Andrea Horwath, once again urged Premier Dalton County “to get off the fence” when it comes to whether or not his Liberal government supports affordable public pensions for the two-thirds of aging residents across the province who don’t have a pension plan at work.

“The government’s silence on the pension issue is paving the way for banks and insurance companies to fill the void with a bloated, fee-laden private plans that leave retirees with less,” said Horwath in a media release. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Who owns the shorelines along our Great Lakes?

One of the fenced-off beaches along Lake Erie in Fort Erie, Ontario. Photo courtesy of Stephen Passero, Ontario Shorewalk Association.

Should members of the public have access to them for, if nothing else, a peaceful stroll along a beach? Or are they the private domain of the privileged few who own homes, cottages and businesses along the shoreline side of the road?

Many residents in our Niagara, Ontario region have had the following  experience in the summer.

They have parked their car along one of the few remaining places left in the region where there is some open access to a beach along Lake Erie or Lake Ontario. They begin walking along the shore and before they know it, there is a fence or a rope line right out to the water, with signs reading; ‘Private Property’, ‘Keep Out’, No Trespassing’ or something slightly more delicate like; ‘No Loitering’.

And so much for enjoying our lakeshores!

Now, Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor is trying once again to grant the residents and visitors to our Niagara, Ontario region at least some access to our Great Lakes shores with the reintroduction of the ‘Great Lakes Shoreline Rights of Passage Act, a private members’ bill he has tabled this April in the Ontario legislature. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Ontario’s NPD leader Andrea Horwath has put the province’s Liberal government on the line, once again, over the closing of hospital services in Niagara.

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath, at a town hall on health care in Niagara Falls earlier this April.

“The gutting of healthcare services in Niagara Region has created enormous strain and anxiety, and deserves the government’s immediate attention,” said Horwath during a debate this April 12 in the provincial legislature.

Horwath, who held a town hall meeting on health care in Niagara Falls a week earlier, went on to say that; “families I spoke with last week in Niagara Falls have been forced to stand by and watch while the McGuinty government closes their emergency rooms with one hand and doles out huge pay hikes to the hospital CEOs with the other.”

“The government’s negligence is putting the health of Niagara families at risk,” Horwath said. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

After all the ugliness that has been hurled President Barack Obama’s way during his battle for health reform in the United States, possibly one of the last things he needs is some columnist from north of the border comparing him to Tommy Douglas.

Or maybe Obama has so much on his plate at this point, from chronic joblessness in his country to any one of a number of powder-keg issues abroad, that any comparison some columnist from Canada might make between him and a professed socialist from north of the border would hardly make a difference.

Most likely, anyone in his country who is going to carry on with the Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin crowd, calling  him everything from a socialist to Adolf Hitler, is never going to give him credit for anything he does to advance health care or any other issue for his fellow Americans anyway.

So in the midst of all this, this commentator decided to dive right in and make the comparison between Obama and the late Tommy Douglas, Canada’s father of universal health care, in a column that ran on the front page of the Viewpoint section of The Buffalo News this April 11 – a column you can access by clicking on http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/04/11/1015744/canadian-health-care-works.html

In that Viewpoint piece, I try to argue that  fair, affordable access to health care should be a fundamental right in developed countries like Canada and the United States. I also try to explain why the blow back from the Sarah Palin, -Rush Limbaugh,-Fox News juggernaut south of the border is wrong , from a moral and social justice point of view, for millions of Americans who have no insurance for health care in what is still considered one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest country in the world. Continue reading →

 By Doug Draper

 Tim Hudak has used his pulpit as Ontario’s Conservative Party leader to aim a hard punch from the right at the Liberal government’s Niagara Falls backbencher Kim Craitor, accusing him in an April 9 media release of being “powerless and isolated” within his party’s caucus.

“Craitor admitted he was ‘caught by surprise’ by the decision not to reappoint (Larry) Iggulden (the now-gone Niagara Regional Police Services board chairman) and ‘disappointed’ that nobody in the premier’s or minister’s office bothered to inform him in advance of this controversial and highly political move,” states the media release from Hudak’s office with reference to news earlier this April that the Liberal government had decided not to reappoint Iggulden to the board.

“The decision to freeze Craitor out of the decision to block Iggulden’s reappointment is just the latest sign that, even within the McGuinty government, Craitor is already viewed as having one foot out the door of his MPP responsibilities as he prepares for a potential run for mayor (of Niagara Falls).”

“This is unbelievable,” said Craitor during an interview with Niagara At Large shortly after the media release went into circulation. “I am wondering why he (Hudak) is saying this (and) as far as the suggestion that I have no influence or say with the premier and the party, that is an outright lie.” Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Port Colborne Vance Badawey is inviting Ontario’s health minister to come to his south Niagara city has been doing to rebuild primary health-care services in the wake of service cuts at the city’s hospital.

Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey

“Over the past year, we have worked diligently with the NHS (Niagara Health System), HNHB LHIN (Local Health Integration Network), and the MOHLTC (Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care) to enhance Community-Based Primary Health Care, in turn, relieving pressure on emergency services,” said Badawey in an April 9 letter to Health Minister Deb Matthews.

“We believe we’ve developed a blueprint for what a ‘Rural (Small Community) Emergency Centre’ should and can be,” the mayor added in the letter. “Come to Port Colborne. We’re doing some great things. Be my guest, and take the ideas we are implementing to the rest of the province.”

Badawey and his council, in concert with members of the local medical community and others, began working on plans for a new primary health-care system for the community before the Niagara Health System, the body responsible for managing most of the hospitals across the region of Niagara, Ontario, followed through last summer on its controversial plans to convert Port Colborne’s emergency room into an urgent-care centre. Continue reading →

 By Janet Truckenbrodt

Keeping a proud watch over Lake Erie, the Point Abino Lighthouse is one of the greatest of its kind in Canada.

Built in 1917-1918, the lighthouse and keeper’s dwelling are a local, provincial, and federal landmark with a unique history.  This light station was one of 40 built during the last period of manned lighthouse construction.

Preservations want this 'keeper's dwelling' for the historic Point Abino Lighthouse kept in public hands. Photo courtesy of Paul Kassay.

At the end of Point Abino, a large rocky shelf projects into the lake making it necessary to build the lighthouse at a considerable distance from the shoreline.  In stormy weather and at high-water periods, the lighthouse was inaccessible on foot.  For that reason, the keeper’s dwelling required a site on the adjoining shore. 

A portion of land, just over half an acre, was purchased from Allan Holloway, a Buffalo developer, for $1 million at today’s value.  Designed to be in harmony with the environment and the upscale homes in Point Abino, the keeper’s dwelling has a Tudor-like appearance.  It is a two-story ornamental stucco home, with basement, well-constructed and very suitable for continued use and enjoyment.  Some restoration is needed but mostly of a cosmetic nature.  The septic system and plumbing need replacing.

In 1998, the Point Abino LIghthouse Preservation Society was successful in obtaining a National Historic Site designation for the Lighthouse.  The dwelling did not have significant architectural features to be included in the designation.  However, it was deemed important as an integral part of the functioning and history of the site.  In 2009, the Town of Fort Erie obtained a heritage designation for the dwelling through the Ontario Heritage Act. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

More than 40 Niagara residents joined hundreds of others outside Toronto’s Royal York Hotel this April 7, protesting cuts to hospital services across Ontario.

Niagara residents join others in rally in front of Toronto's Royal York Hotel this April 7 to protest hospital cuts while Ontario's Health Minister Deb Matthews talks up province's health care initiatives inside. Photo courtesy of Merilyn Athoe.

Meanwhile, the province’s  health minister, Deb Matthews was inside the hotel, speaking to members of the prestigious Canadian Club about “building the health care system Ontarians deserve.”

Fiona McMurran, a Welland resident and community activist representing a local chapter of the Council of Canadians, returned from the rally in Toronto reminding others that the words ‘Patients First Means Quality First’ were also included in the title of Matthews address to the Canadian Club. Matthews, said McMurran, “is either the most appalling hypocrite or dearly in need of an education. It may be the latter, since she told the Globe and Mail Earlier today that she hasn’t heard enough from Ontario residents about their concerns over hospital restructuring, in particular ….

“When, if ever, is Deb Matthews going to bother to learn her job? Before she oversees another round of nursing cuts, maybe she should just make a start on doing her own job adequately.”

There were quite likely others who feel Matthews is doing her job adequately as she delivered her speech on the province’s health care system inside the Royal York Hotel. The full text of that speech, shared with Niagara At Large courtesy of the minister’s staff is posted below. You can read it and share your own comments by clicking on ‘keep reading’ link at the end of this sentence. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the following release on health care, delivered by Ontario Conservative Leader and Niagara area MPP Tim Hudak in Grimsby, Ontario this April 7 in the Niagara municipality of Grimsby. We encourage you to share your views on the Conservative leader’s remarks in the comment boxes at the bottom of this post.)

GRIMSBY – New evidence confirms that Dalton McGuinty’s Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) appointees were involved in many of the same contract and spending abuses that led to the billion dollar eHealth scandal.

Ontario Conservative Leader and Niagara area MPP Tim Hudak

 Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak today released evidence that confirms that the
Liberal appointees at the Hamilton – Niagara – Haldimand – Brant LHIN handed out a $75,000 contract to a private U.S. health care consultant for undefined “community engagement” products.

Further documentary evidence confirms that Dalton McGuinty’s American health care consultant, despite being based in Michigan, nonetheless proceeded to bill Ontario taxpayers for multiple flights to and from sunny Florida. Adding insult to injury, the same American health care consultant also filed frivolous expenses that included a stop at a Tennessee Starbucks and fast-food meals in Detroit. All expenses were paid out of Ontario health care dollars.

Last week, the release of Ontario’s Sunshine List revealed that, while families in Grimsby and await approvals for their long-overdue new hospital, the amount of money being paid in six-figure salaries to LHIN executives and managers has nearly doubled to more than a million dollars since 2006. This includes the LHIN CEO whose salary has shot up by 24% –from $236,000 to $289,000.

QUOTES
“Every dollar that the McGuinty Government spends on untendered contracts, U.S. consultants and frivolous expenses at the LHINs is a dollar that should be going to frontline patient care. Local families have waited long enough, they deserve better than to see their tax dollars go to waste.” – Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak
n 
“Diverting health care dollars away from patients and families and towards high-flying U.S. consultants – is proof that the LHINs are not working. Dalton McGuinty’s LHINs model is broken and has to go. — Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

QUICK FACTS

· Dalton McGuinty created a new layer of bureaucracy with his so-called “Local Health Integration Networks” (LHINs). Since 2006-2007, more than $176 million health care dollars have been diverted away from Ontario families and directed towards salaries and administration at these boards.

· In just four years, the number of LHIN appointees making more than $100,000 per year has increased from 40 to 114 — a 185% increase. This includes 19 employees who are making more than $200,000 per year.
· In 2006, three employees at the Hamilton – Niagara – Haldimand – Brant LHIN made six figure salaries and their total compensation totaled $534, 000. Today, six LHIN executives are making $1,007,000. During this time, the salary of the LHIN CEO has shot up from $236,000 to $289,000.

· LHIN appointees handed out a $75,000 untendered contract to private U.S. Health Care consultant Jay Connor for “community engagement projects”.

· Despite being a Michigan – based consultant, Connor nonetheless billed Ontario taxpayers for multiple trips to and from Florida. Connor also billed Ontario taxpayers for frivolous expenses including a stop at a Tennessee Starbucks, bridge and highway tolls at the Canadian border,  and dinners in his hometown of Detroit. All expenses were paid out of Ontario health care dollars.

· The Hamilton – Niagara – Haldimand – Brand LHIN also handed out a $98,000 contract to consultant Dan Banko to do just two months worth of work in “community engagement”.

By Doug Draper

In a world where so many suffer and sometimes die from a scarcity of water, those of us fortunate enough to be living in this greater binational region of Niagara are truly blessed.

The lakes, rivers and adjoining watersheds coursing through and around our region sustained the Native Americans who lived here for thousand of years, and have contributed to the health and wealth of generations of people of European descent who began settling here more than 300 years ago.

Yet we have not always done the best job in the world of protecting this life-sustaining resource. Industrial pollution and sewage, urban sprawl, along with any one of a number other misuses and abuses of our vital freshwater resources have taken quite a toll.

This Saturday, April 10, the Niagara Frontier (New York) Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club is hosting a free forum titled; ‘Conservation Conversations 2010 – Buffalo Waters – The History, Present and Future of One of Our Planet’s Most Water-Rich Environments’.

You can read more about this forum that is being held for all of us, on both sides of the U.S./Canada border, who care and share these precious waters by clicking on the ‘keep reading’ tab at the end of this sentence. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Families across the Niagara region have a “right to good-quality health care close to home”  and not more cuts to health care that put them to risk, said Ontario’s NDP leader Andrea Horwath during a town hall meeting this April 6 in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Joy Russell, a Fort Erie resident and member of the Yellow Shirt Brigade, a Niagara citizen group fighting for hospital services in the region, speaks as Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Welland Riding federal NDP member Malcolm Allen listen on.

“Hospitals in the Niagara region are buckling under the strain of the government’s decision to shut down local emergency rooms,” said Horwath of the provincially appointed Niagara Health System board’s decision to close emergency rooms at hospitals in Fort Erie and Port Colborne to save little more than $1 million annually – even as it passes the cost of additional ambulance services, estimated at more than $3 million, to send emergency patients off to hospitals in Welland and Niagara Falls on to Niagara’s regional government and its property taxpayers.

“Dalton McGuinty (Ontario’s Liberal government premier) is handing out $4.5 billion in corporate tax cuts but says the well has run dry for local health care,” added Horwath. “Families deserve better.” Continue reading →

The Brock Animal Rights Club from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario is hosting its 2nd annual Radio-Action for Animals concert on April 11th 5:30 pm at L3 Nightclub on 6 James Street in St. Catharines.

Pierre is one of many "discarded" primates in this province that needs our help to live some semblance of a quality life outside his natural environment.

This year, the proceeds from the concert will be donated to Storybook Farm Primate Sanctuary which is located in Sunderland, Ontario.

Storybook Farm Primate Sanctuary is the only primate sanctuary in Canada that provides safe and permanent homes for primates discarded from years of exploitation in the entertainment industry, biomedical research, substandard road-side zoos, or from the exotic pet trade.

In addition to raising awareness about and funds for organizations dedicated to helping non-human animals, the concert offers an opportunity to raise awareness about the plight of non-human animals in today’s society and to encourage people to make more compassionate choices. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

They call her ‘Debbie Sevenfigures’.

Debbie Sevenpifer, CEO for the Niagara Health System, once again makes top ten on annual Sunshine List.

Indeed, I’ve heard that play on the name of the Niagara Health System’s CEO used so many times over the past few years – even by people who turn around and quietly confess that they work for the NHS – I’ve actually had to remind myself  from time to time that her real name is Debbie Sevenpifer.

 ‘Sevenfigures’ is an obvious reference to the fact that, compared to most of the rest of us who live and work in this region, Sevenpifer gets paid a pretty generous sum of money – about 10 times more than the media n income in Niagara, as a matter of fact – and that’s not including other bonuses and other perks.

I would only say that in fairness to Sevenpifer, it is not a seven-figure salary. It is six figures, which makes me wonder if Debbie might be a little better if she changed her last name to ‘Sixpifer’.

But that is about as fair as I am prepared to get because paying the chief executive for Niagara, Ontario $340,467 a year – the figure contained in the latest ‘Sunshine List’ released by the provincial government for public servants making $100,000 or more in 2009 – is outrageous when our hospital system is many millions of dollars in debt and front-line services to patients are being cut. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will host a town hall meeting in Niagara Falls this Tuesday, April 6 to discuss cuts to hospitals and other local health care services with residents across the region.

Members of the Niagara citizens group the Yellow Shirt Brigade, from left, Merilyn Athoe, Joy Russell and Linda McKeller, in front of a sign protesting the loss of emergency and other services at Fort Erie's hospital. They plan to join other residents at a town hall meeting in Niagara Falls this April 6 and a rally for protecting public health care in Toronto this April 7.

Horvath and her party, along with Tim Hudak’s Conservatives, have been hammering away at the province’s Liberal government almost daily over the past few weeks over the closing of emergency rooms at hospitals in Fort Erie and Port Colborne, and other cuts, and over what they believe to be mismanagement of services and funding by the provincially created Niagara Health System and Local Health Integration Networks. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is pleased to post the following media release from Buffalo, New York’s Olmsted Parks Conservancy, a not-for-profit group of residents dedicated to preserving and enhancing the beauty of Delaware Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Park and other great green spaces in the city.)

It’s Tree Planting Time in the Olmsted Parks

Volunteers are needed to plant 600 trees this spring throughout Buffalo’s historic Olmsted Park System.

Volunteers planting trees in Buffalo's Olmsted Parks. Photo courtesy of Olmsted Parks Conservancy.

As part of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy’s master plan, The Plan for the 21st Century, the Conservancy and volunteers will plant understory, flowering and canopy trees in April and May. Over the next decade, 10,000 new trees will be planted in Olmsted green spaces. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

While many residents across the Niagara region continue to express worry and concern over the future of hospital services here, at least one bureaucratic body Ontario’s Liberal government has set up to oversee changes to our hospitals has recently been given less reason to worry.

Peter Kormos, Welland riding NDP representative says scrap LHIN health care bureaucrats.

The Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) for the Niagara and Hamilton areas, along with several other high-priced, appointed bodies of bureaucrats like it across the province – is being granted immunity from legislative review by Premier Dalton McGuinty and his government so it can go on doing the government’s dirty work of reducing services at smaller hospitals across the region.

Members of the opposition Conservative and NDP parties discovered late this March, while taking some infra-red light to the fine print of the budget papers the McGuinty government dumped on us that a legislative review of the four-year-old LHIN bureaucrats for our area and others – a review that is in no small part about checking out their performance and spending practices for public accountability purposes, by the way – has been brushed forward from happening now – meaning the end of this March or  sometime in the future, or maybe never, for all we know.

(Click on ‘keep reading’ at the end of this sentence for more news and commentary on this topic.) Continue reading →

By Jim Armstrong

After reading Doug Draper’s excellent article in Niagara At Large regarding the Whirlpool Jet Boats, I thought the following information might also be of interest to those who are concerned about the Niagara River.

A Jet Boat gets ready to unload passengers on a dock in Queenston, Ontario along the lower Niagara River with the iconic monument of War of 1812 hero Sir Isaac Brock looming behind. Photo courtesy of Louise Howe.

The Ontario Court of Appeals recently overturned a decision by Justice Quinn that defined the operation of Whirlpool Jet Boats at the Melville Street dock in Niagara-on-the-Lake as an illegal use. This reversal of a well-written and unequivocal decision has been met with great disappointment and disbelief among the members of the Niagara River Coalition, and with good reason. 

The process of challenging the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake on the legality of the Jet Boat lease was long and expensive, and launched in the interest of protecting the integrity of the dock area and the Niagara River.  The Coalition is now faced with the prospect of either abandoning their case or facing another lengthy and costly process.

 Unfortunately, this scenario is all too typical of situations in which citizens groups seek to challenge what they believe to be unacceptable activities.  Continue reading →

By Becky Day

The arts and culture are the vital threads that weave the region of Niagara together, says Rosemary Hale, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Brock University in Niagara.

The historic Canada Haircloth mill in downtown St. Catharines could be transformed into a performing arts centre for Niagara. Photo by Doug Draper

Hale stressed that point late this March during a talk she gave as part of an ongoing special dinner series being featured through this year at the Keefer Mansion in Thorold, Ontario.

Hale’s talk, titled ‘Arts, Culture and a bit of Haircloth’, also focused on a unique vision for the Canada Haircloth heritage property and is one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, an extraordinary facility to be located in St.Catharines, Ontario’s downtown. Continue reading →

By John Bacher

On March 13, 2010, Niagara lost one of its most effective champions for social justice and protecting the environment

Bill Lidkea, who died at age 73, was for 52 years the loving husband of his wife and partner Wilma in these great passions for the earth and human dignity. Continue reading →

Niagara At Large is posting the budget speech delivered by Finance Minister Dwight Duncan on behalf of Ontario’s Liberal government on Thursday, March 25. In the days and weeks ahead Niagara At Large will post news and commentary on the impacts of this budget on health care, education, transit and other key areas of our lives.  In the meantime, please feel free to scroll down to the comment boxes below the text of the budget speech and share your thoughts.

Introduction

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present Ontario’s 2010 Budget.

Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan.

The Ontario economy, like most others, has felt the effects of both a global recession and the transformation of key sectors, especially manufacturing and forestry.

Some early signs of the recovery have arrived. However, the job losses that have hurt Ontario families remain and this government continues to take action. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Of all the threats to a Great Lakes ecosystem so vital to our lives and the economic welfare of our communities across the greater Niagara region, few continue to wreak more havoc than the invasion of alien species in and around our lake waters.

Sea lamprey - an invasive species in our Great Lakes - suck the living fluids from a lake trout. Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

From the sea lamprey that threatened to wipe out the recreational and commercial fishery in the last half of the 20th century, to the Asian carp now on the verge of finishing off a fishery worth hundreds of thousands of jobs and many billions of dollars to the economies of the United States and Canada, the number of invasive species now populating or on the verge of populating the Great Lakes basin now total more than 180.

It has already been well documented how many hundreds of millions of dollars annually just one alien creature like the zebra mussel can do. This Asian creature, that caught a free ride to the Great Lakes in the ballast waters of ocean vessels in the 1980s, has clogged industrial and municipal water lines, and vacuumed up no end of plankton and other aquatic life that make up a critical part of the foodchain for native fish and birds in the lakes basin.

Yet governments on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border seem reluctant to take all the actions necessary to combat the invaders already in our lakes and prevent others like the Asian carp – possibly the greatest threat to the survival of our native fishery to date – from getting in. Samples of DNA from these voracious fish have already been detected in the southern most waters of Lake Michigan, indicating that they may have already broken through from the upper Mississippi River watershed.

Niagara At Large is sharing a media released, dated March 24, by the Canada/U.S. not-for-profit coalition, Great Lakes United, on the subject of invasive species and the pressing need to bring their numbers under control before it is too late. You can read the release by clicking ‘keep reading’ at the end of this sentence. Continue reading →

By Randy Busbridge

What is going on with the Niagara-on-the-lake Sewage Lagoons?

For several years, nearby residents have been complaining about unpleasant odours. And it’s no secret that the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is nearing capacity. 

Niagara region's sewage lagoons in Niagara-on-the-Lake - an odorous and unwanted neighbour for at least some residents in the community.

A servicing study completed by Niagara Region in July 2008 confirmed that the facility will reach its limit by 2013. It also confirmed that the WWTP is challenged to consistently meet Ministry of the Environment targets, and stated that options needed to be identified as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, by then Project Niagara had come along with its proposal to locate a summer music festival on the site of the current WWTP. This controversial proposal has served to muddy the waters, confusing and slowing down the decision making process. This is not good because time is on no one’s side. Continue reading →

By Pamela J.Minns

Nestled away in our small village of Beaverdams is one of our heritage jewels called the Beaverdams Methodist Church.

A wooden structure built 1832, the building and graveyard were designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act in 1994. It has been recognized by the Province of Ontario through the Archaeological & Historic Sites Board of Ontario on June 20th, 1965 during the church’s 133rd anniversary.

The Ontario Government was represented by Wm. Armstrong of the Historic Sites Board and the Hon. James N.Allan whose ancestors are buried in the Beaverdams churchyard. Continue reading →

The Rotary Clubs of Lincoln and Niagara-on-the-Lake will be hosting their third children’s charity concert, “Hearts Gathering Children” on Sunday, April 11th, 2009, 2 pm at Bethany Community Church, 1388 Third St., St. Catharines.

Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo fame to perform.

Eight local groups of children from across the Niagara Region will be performing to raise funds for “Adrie’s House of Hope”, a project initiated by the Rotary Clubs of Lincoln and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

This year a special set will be courtesy of Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo who will perform acoustic versions of some of their best-known songs

Funds raised will lend support to orphaned children in South Africa.  As part of 6 homes currently built at Ikhalayathemba Village (near Cape Town, South Africa), Adrie’s House provides a loving environment for HIV+ children and AIDS orphans, as well as abandoned, abused and neglected children from the surrounding township.  Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

One of the most significant steps Ontario’s Liberal government has taken to protect our natural heritage over its more than six years in power – and possibly the only significant one – was the creation of the “Greenbelt” in the greater Golden Horseshoe of this province five years ago this March.

The areas in green highlight Ontario's Greenbelt, where agricultural and other lands are intended to be off limits to urban sprawl.

Ontario’s Greenbelt – protecting some 1.8-million acres of agricultural and environmental sensitive lands stretching east of the Toronto area above Lake Ontario and around the lake to the shores of the Niagara River in our greater Niagara region – received a prestigious award from the Canadian Institute of Planners two years ago as a model for protecting and preserving what is left of some of our most precious rural lands from continued, low-density urban sprawl.

Yet it has also been an ongoing bone of contention and it has even been vilified by some as an assault on the rights of farmers and others within its boundaries to do what they want to with their land, and as an impediment to development for municipalities that find themselves, to use one of the words of some municipal leaders, “locked” in it.

This March 31, Niagara’s regional government is hosting what it is calling a “Greenbelt-After-Five Years Summit at the Four Points Sheraton in Thorold, Ontario, and a day-long summit that involves a registration fee of $100 and features a host of speakers from this region and beyond. This site will include more details on the summit agenda and how and where to register later. Continue reading →

By Joe Somers

Canadian banks were largely unaffected by the economic crisis which had such a dramatic effect on their American counterparts, and consequently bankers in the country enjoyed an average 10 percent increase in pay for 2009 at the six largest banks doing business in Canada.

While seniors and others on low and fixed incomes struggle to make ends meet,
The top two executive increases were for Bank of Nova Scotia CEO Richard Waugh, who received a hefty pay increase of 29 percent, and Bank of Montreal CEO William Downe, who wasn’t far behind, getting a pay increase of 25 percent. Continue reading →

The Niagara Parks Commission’s Floral Showhouse is pleased to once again feature a seasonal favourite – The Easter Flower Display – a Niagara tradition for over 60 years. Back by popular demand will also be the added feature of real chicks and bunnies, a treat for kids and adults alike.

The Niagara Parks Commission's classic 'Floral Showhouse', located just upstream from the Horseshoe Falls, will be the venue for an annual favourite and free Easter weekend show.

The Easter show features a cross display of lilies surrounded by colourful and fragrant spring flowers such as daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and azaleas. The warm and serene setting is bursting with gorgeous blooms, orchids and exotic tropical plants as well as beautiful songbirds to get you in the mood for spring. The Floral Showhouse features eight different displays each year, so you can return again and again to discover paradise right in the heart of the city.
 
The show will be ready for the weekend of March 27 – a beautiful place to bring the family on Palm Sunday. Admission to this year-round attraction is free. Located just south of the Falls at 7145 Niagara Parkway, the Floral Showhouse is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parking is available on site. Continue reading →

 By Dan Wilson
 
Earth Hour is fast approaching. That’s the time of year, once a year when we’re encouraged to turn our lights off for an hour to show how much we love and care about the planet.

Started in 2007 by the World Wildlife Fund, individuals, families and businesses are asked to switch off their lights, TVs and other non-essential appliances at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 27th.
 
According to the WWF website, hundreds of millions of people took part in last year’s Earth Hour, making it “the world’s largest global climate change initiative.”
 
To be honest, I haven’t been a big fan of previous Earth Hour events. The idea that the best we can do for THE PLANET THAT GIVES US LIFE is to turn off the lights for one hour is both sad and embarrassing to me. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

If Niagara’s regional government is really all that interested in saving what is left of lands along our Great Lakes for public access, it better get to it, because there isn’t much left to save.

Even less this March following a ruling by the Ontario Municipal Board – a quasi-judicial board handpicked by the provincial government – to say yes to a proposal for a condominium that would include some 35 units, along the shores of Lake Erie in Wainfleet. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Residents in the Crystal Beach area of Fort Erie opposed to plans for a high-rise condo in their lakeshore community may feel encouraged by a recent decision from the Ontario Municipal Board.

A virtual image of the condo tower planned for the Fort Erie community of Crystal Beach.

That decision, tabled earlier this March, ruled against plans by a Toronto-area developer to build a 27-storey high-rise condo in the west end of Toronto, in the Parkdale-High Park area of that city near the water.

The OMB ruling argued that the proposed high-rise was “simply too large” and “inappropriate for (a) site” of mostly one-to-three-storey buildings.

That argument sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it? Continue reading →

By Kim Craitor, MPP for Niagara Falls

I have received so many emails and phone calls about the efforts of Andrew Peller Limited and Vincor’s attempt to get the government to rescind the government’s recent initiative to ensure that 100 per cent of the Ontario grape crop gets put into bottles and not end up on the ground that I feel I should publish this response as an open letter to the industry so Niagara’s grape growers can decide from a position of knowing another point of view on this issue.

Niagara grape growers displayed this sign in St. Catharines, Ontario last fall. On the side it says - "growers forced to dump 15,000 tons of local grapes while wineries import 40,000 tons." Photo by Doug Draper

The so-called Winery and Growers Alliance is in fact a lobby group for the handful of giant wineries that enjoy a monopoly position in the trade of “Cellared in Canada” (CIC) wines.

Unfortunately, they own this monopoly at the expense of the grape growers and taxpayers of Ontario – and now they are using their privileged position to threaten the livelihood of Ontario grape growers. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

A few years back, I descended steps leading down the steep gorge walls of the lower Niagara River with retired Niagara Parks naturalist Robert Ritchie for a tour of one of the few remaining places that can give a person some idea of what this magnificent river must have looked like before the first white settlers showed up in the area.

A Jet Boat, roaring toward the whirlpool rapids of the lower Niagara River early last spring in this file photo by Doug Draper.

That place is on Niagara Parks-owned land and is known as the Niagara Glen – a rich, relatively undisturbed oasis of green along a river corridor that has otherwise been a setting for almost every kind of development imaginable, good, bad and ugly.

As we wound our way down stoney paths, past all of the rare and unique plants, trees  and rock formations the Glen has to offer, Ritchie had just finished telling me there was something almost spiritual about this place when the sound of rushing water below us was masked out by the roar of engines and a voice booming through a bullhorn.

As birds scattered from their nesting places in the trees above us, I looked down on the river and there was another ‘Jet Boat’ loaded with tourists, wide-eyed and grinning as if they were on a giant coaster ride at the Darien Lake amusement park. Continue reading →

By Tim Weis

This year’s federal budget plays like a bad sequel to a film that never made the Oscars.

Canadian environmentalist Tim Weis

The plot behind last year’s “Economic Action Plan” was simple: create short-term jobs and immediate cash flow by funding “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects in as many Canadian communities as possible. Critics said the plan reflected a lack of vision from the director’s chair, and the final tallies show it ran over-budget.

In terms of investing in renewable energy, last year’s budget had very little to offer (although nuclear and ‘clean’ coal got over $1 billion combined). This year, it took a surprise turn for the worse. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

 Bob Gale, a Niagara business many on the Ontario side of the Niagara River may know as the owner of Gale’s Gas Bars, may not seem the most likely guy to get recognized nationally as a whistleblower for the public good.

Former Niagara Parks Commission board member blew the whistle on the NPC for not putting a new contract for the Maid of the Mist ride up for competitive bidding. File Photo by Doug Draper.

But he most certainly has by The Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR), a nationally supported charity group that includes among its members David Kilgour, one of the longest-serving federal MPs from Alberta,  Bob Stenhouse, a highly decorated member of the RCMP who found his future on the line a decade ago for blowing the whistle on the ineffectiveness of federal investigations into outlaw motorcycle gangs.

FAIR has appointed Gale to join Kilgour, Stenhouse and others on its advisory board in the wake of his revelations, in the wake of his service on the board of the Niagara Parks Commission, that the commission was not placing a contract for the Maid of the Mist ride out for competitive bidding in a way that might ultimately benefit a taxpaying public that is the ultimate custodian of lands along the Canadian side of the Niagara River corridor.

Since Gale blew the whistle on the Maid of the Mist business and ultimately parted ways with the NPC’s board, the provincial government has directed the commission to put the contract for that iconic ride out for competitive bidding. The commission has also opened its board meetings to the public for the first time in its 124-history as a steward of one of Canada’s natural gems. Continue reading →

The City of Welland and Brock University signed a memorandum of understanding this March 10 that provides a foundation for the city and Niagara-based university to work together on future projects.

Onlookers applaud after Welland Mayor Damian Goulbourne and Brock University President Jack Livingstone sign 'memorandum of understanding' to work cooperatively on future projects. Photo courtesy of Brock University

“In signing the document … at Welland City Hall,” according to a media release circulated  by the university, “Brock President Jack Lightstone and Welland Mayor Damian Goulbourne also announced the partnership’s first initiative and a significant step forward.
“The University is agreeing in principle to a long term-lease of space to locate the Brock University Human Performance Centre in the Welland International Flatwater Centre. The Brock Centre will operate non-academic, revenue-generating activities that support the work of Brock’s Faculty of Applied Health Sciences. Continue reading →

By Dianne Giliforte

Get ready Niagara Falls!! Coming soon to your community – NOISE and POLLUTION.

Dick Juloksy owns a farm for race horses near the site for the proposed NASCAR speedway and is opposed to the plan. Photo courtesy of CARS

An application to establish a Motorsports Park at the intersection of Sodom Road and the QEW has been submitted to the Region. If this is not what you envisioned when you moved to your quiet rural abode or the quaint community of Chippawa, then start making your own noise now and make it loud and clear, since some politicians are hard of hearing.

Take a look at the travesty in Fort Erie and be afraid, be very afraid. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

The Niagara-based Preservation of Agricultural Lands, one of the oldest citizens groups dedicated to conservation in the province, has launched an appeal before the Ontario Municipal Board of a plan to build a NASCAR speedway facility on rural lands in Fort Erie.

PALS is concerned that decisions by the Town of Fort Erie and Niagara’s regional government that allow such a massive facility on more than 800 acres of agricultural lands outside the town’s urban boundaries literally paves the way for the loss of more of what remains of our rural lands to this kind of development.

Fort Erie’s town council sees the proposal by a consortium called Canadian Motor Speedway as a great economic and tourist opportunity for the municipality, drawing tens-of-thousands of racing fans to the region each and every time races are held. But not everyone in the town embraces the idea – at least not for lands outside Fort Erie’s urban boundaries. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

“There is only one word to describe our health system and it is chaos,” said Pat Scholfield of Port Colborne toward the beginning of a public hearing the Ontario Health Coalition held this March 9 in Welland, Ontario on the state of services in smaller hospitals across the province.

This sign loomed at public hearings over hospitals, though no Welland city councillors made a presentation at the hearings.

More than 250 people from across the Niagara region attended these bipartisan hearings – a series of which is taking place across the province – to address concerns people have over the loss of services at smaller and rural hospitals in Ontario.

The Niagara hearing featured presentations by more than two dozen individuals and groups, including two mayors (Vance Badeway of Port Colborne and Doug Martin of Fort Erie), the president of the Canadian Auto Workers’ Local 199, Wayne Gates, doctors, nurses, paramedics and others

Almost to a person, those who spoke at these hearings expressed concern for diminishing services at the hands of government bodies unresponsive to them. Some, including Badeway, also spoke of building new health system for their communities despite what is being lost through the province’s status quo. Continue reading →

By John Kennedy, grandfather of the late Reilly Anzovino, on behalf of his wife Phyllis, daughter Denise and the rest of Reilly’s family and friends

To Whom It May Concern … And it won’t be (Ontario’s premier) Dalton McGuinty or (the province’s health minister) Deb Matthews that’s for sure.

Reilly's grandfather, John Kennedy, her aunt Marnie Kennedy, mother Denise Kennedy and her brother Kain look on as Sue Salzer reads a message from the family to a public hearing in Niagara on our diminishing hospital services. Photo by Doug Draper.

First of all, thank you to everyone that is working passionately at getting our Fort Erie hospital or what they call “small town facilities” secured. Please forgive me if I sound a little bitter but I woke up this morning again…. a grieving grandfather who has lost his beautiful, sparkling granddaughter Reilly! My granddaughter, who I hugged not knowingly (for) the last time on Christmas Eve.

We all watched Reilly in amazement like we always did, tell us about school and her future plans….. and how happy she was to see her friends and family for Christmas Break. (It was) a visit that was cut short because, and I will try to be nice… of maybe, the McGuinty government’s negligent thinking and paying out millions to restructure our small town health care. … 40,000 people (in Fort Erie when, during the summer, the Buffalo area and other U.S. summer cottagers come in) is apparently considered a small town now?? Continue reading →

By Hillary Beney and Nikki Caperchiono

(Two close friends of Reilly Anzovino, a Fort Erie, Ontario teen who died following a tragic traffic accident in her hometown this past Boxing Day, could barely contain their tears as they asked tearful listeners at a public hearting in Welland this March 9 if Reilly might still be alive today had the province not shut down the emergency rooms in Fort Erie and Port Colborne.)Reilly was not only an amazing daughter and sister, but also the best friend anyone could have asked for.

Denise Kennedy, mother of Reilly looks on as two of Reilly's close friends hold back tears after delivering a message during a public hearing on hospital services in Niagara, as Sue Salzer, a Fort Erie advocate for hospital services in south Niagara looks on.

When she walked into a room, her angelic smile and beauty took over. She was artistic, beautiful, funny, clumsy, smart, passionate and outgoing.

She was the best prom date (anyone) could have asked for. She brought laughter into the lives of everyone she knew. We have all felt as though Reilly had a greater purpose in life, this may just be it.

On December 26th, Reilly passed away in a tragic car accident. Each and every one of us can remember the exact moment when we received the news and the overwhelming rush of heartbreak and disbelief.

What happened that night forever changed our lives and our outlook on this community? We believe that this irrational decision to close down emergency rooms within the area played a big role in the death of Reilly.

The closure of the emergency rooms forced the ambulance to travel a greater distance and ultimately cost Reilly valuable time. In those critical moments we lost the girl who would buy you lunch, when you ran out of money, lend you her clothes if you had nothing to wear and run to your house, in a heartbeat when you needed her just because you had a bad day. Continue reading →

By Linda McKellar

(from a presentation Linda McKeller delivered during public hearings hosted this March 9 by the Ontario Health Coalition in Welland Ontario, as part of a series the not-for-profit, province-wide coalition is holding in regions across Ontario on concerns over service cuts to our hospitals.)

I have been asked to give a presentation representing the point of view of a group who have been reluctant to speak out due to fear of repercussions – the front line nurses.

Retired Niagara nurse Linda McKellar testifies at public hearing about diminishing hospital services in Niagara. Photo courtesy of Donna Frankson.

By way of introduction, I was a nurse for 40 years, the last 25 in Welland ER (emergency room), so I feel I can speak accurately about the conditions.

Conditions in the entire hospital have gotten progressively worse. The staff attitude has become one of despair and frustration and public opinion of services has gone down the toilet. This started with cutbacks and closures under the Conservatives and now continues under the Liberals. Care has suffered horribly.

These initiatives didn’t work then and they won’t work now. Continue reading →

(From an address Dr. William Hogg presented to public hearings hosted this March 9 by the Ontario Health Coalition in Welland Ontario, as part of a series tof public hearings he not-for-profit, province-wide coalition is holding in regions across Ontario on concerns over service cuts to our hospitals.)

By William Hogg, MD

Hello everyone.

Dr. William Hogg, a retired Fort Erie physician, speaks on concerns over cuts to Niagara's hospital services at public hearings in Welland, Ontario.

I’m a retired doctor who has done acute emergency work – and taught it on both sides of the border.

Today I’ll try to translate a tiny part of the grievous loss of Ms Reilly Anzovino into a plea and rationale for local Medicare repair. In June of last year, concerned about the Niagara Health System’s depredations, I sent a series of short notes to NHS – warning of deaths to come. SURELY to come – should the small town Emergency Departments in our region’s southern tier be shut down?

NHS did not acknowledge my early warnings. It did not care enough to act humanely for any of the critically injured or sick people in our area. | NHS just ploughed ahead unwisely. Both emergency rooms WERE closed. And deaths HAVE happened – unwarranted and wrongful deaths! Now – the kinds of deaths I predicted and warned of happen during so-called ‘TIME-critical’ emergencies.

They can come on in a split second. They can happen anywhere. At home. On a country road. In ambulances. If a ‘far away’ hospital IS reached, disability or death may still occur – even there. Continue reading →

In his first address to an annual meeting as leader of Ontario’s Conservative Party Leader,  Tim Hudak – a Fort Erie native and Niagara area MPP – vowed to “modernize” his party, “once again lead as the province with the strongest economy, best hospitals, best schools and best jobs in Canada,” and “leave behind the failed policies of the McGuinty Liberal government.”

Ontario Conservative leader and Niagara area MPP Tim Hudak delivers keynote address at party's annual meeting in Ottawa this March.

In a continued spirit of publishing, for the record, statements by significant others on matters of importance to the residents of our

 region, Niagara At Large is providing Tim Hudak’s first address, as Conservative leader, to the party’s annual meeting below.

Please feel free, at the end of the text for this speech, to join the discussion and debate where we as a binational region of this province should be going by sharing your views in the comment boxes below.

We encourage your views and believe they are as vital to the process of building healthier communities as those of anyone holding an elected or non-elected office in government today. We also welcome the opportunity to review for publicaltion addresses on matters of interest and conern from other residents and community leaders in our region. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the following media release from Ontario’s colleges with quotes from Niagara College president Dan Patterson, praising the throne speech delivered this March 8 by the provincial government of Dalton McGuinty. NAL posts it, without edits, with a few questions we are not sure have been answered through the throne speech, including – What is the government specifically going to do to take the burden off our college and university students around the costs for tuition and the outrageous prices charged for text books? Or is most of this provincial initiative all about packing our colleges and university – many of them built through donations by generations of Ontarions in our communties with more foreign students, at even higher tuition rates, so they can go back to their countries with the skills and knowledge they learned here to fuel the futures of their countries’ economies? Again, what is there in the McGuinty throne speech that will make it more affordable for young people in Ontario to receive a college or university education?)

March 8, 2010 – Ontario’s colleges, including Niagara College, are praising the important commitments made by the Ontario government today to produce more college and university graduates.

“Greater numbers of people will get the higher education and training they need to achieve success,” said Anne Sado, the chair of the colleges’ committee of presidents, “This is an important commitment to people’s futures and to producing a stronger workforce in this new knowledge economy.” Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

If we need one more reminder that the party is over for all the relentless binging aging baby boomers like me have been on for everything from pet rocks to big, bloated vanity homes for just two boomers with no kids, consider the news last week that General Motors is at long last closing the curtains of its show rooms on the Hummer.

Seems GM could not find another buyer on the planet for this gargantuan, gas-sucking pig of a vehicle – not even from auto manufacturers in China – and had no choice this March but to shut the “brand” down.

And thank whatever god you and I pray to for that!

There are possibly few more conspicuous symbols of the ‘no-holds-barred, let’s-live for-today’ drive to consume almost anything and everything we boomers can grab on to, regardless of the consequences, than the Hummer.

There was something very obvious about the Hummer and many of the larger Sport Utility Vehicles (more infamously known as SUVs) that spoke to a culture – pre-soaring oil prices and 2008 economic meltdown – that said; ‘We who drive this car couldn’t give a damn about energy conservation, air quality or anything else. … If we happen to get in a collision and you are driving a smaller car, we’ll just brush you off the grill and move on.” Continue reading →

By Dan Wilson

Bob Timmons, an artist, vegan and animal rights activist, spoke about ocean life at the Niagara Action for Animals Vegan Potluck Friday night in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Bob Timmons, artist and advocate for marine life, speaks in Niagara. Photo by Dan Wilson.

Timmons, who is based in Toronto, was in town to raise awareness of the plight of sea animals, including sharks, which are being slaughtered by the millions for the shark fin trade.

According to Timmons, 90 million sharks are fished every year, with 80 per cent of the shark fins going to Hong Kong. Many shark species are on the verge of extinction because of over-fishing and shark fining, the practice of catching sharks, cutting off their fins and throwing them back in the water to drown. Continue reading →

By Larry Beahan

Buffalo’s own Senator Antoine Thompson, Chair of the New York State Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, proposes that the State borrow $5 billion to pay for clean water, clean air and, in the process, create green jobs. Sometimes you need to borrow money.

Waters both Buffalo area and Niagara, Ontario residents share could benefit from a 'Green Bond' being proposed by Western New York Senator Antoine Thompson. Photo by Doug Draper

My friend Chuck’s grandfather arrived in New York City from Russia with no money at all. He borrowed $5 from relatives, rented a push cart, peddled bananas and wound up a successful real-estate developer. New York State’s finances now resemble those of my friend’s forbearer on his arrival here. And since that time we have badly polluted the air and water of our State.

The $1.76-billion-dollar 1996 Clean Water Clean Air Bond Act paid for a lot of wastewater treatment, separate storm sewer systems and aquatic habitat restoration but it is now exhausted. The Environmental Protection Fund, supplied by the real-estate transfer tax, has protected open space, bought parks, revitalized waterfronts and closed dumps all over the State.

But in these difficult times the Governor has used his power to sweep it clean of cash. He has used the money to plug holes in the leaking dike that is the New York State budget. Problem Number One is that our economy is stalled. There are not enough jobs to go around. People who are out of work don’t pay taxes and without tax revenues we cannot attack Problem Number Two, our polluted environment.

This $5 billion will buy us an enormous push cart, a push cart of green jobs, a push cart full of clean water, clean air, and reclaimed land. To bring it right home, Woodlawn Beach State Park has a magnificent wide sandy beach and it is close to where a lot of Western New Yorker’s live. Continue reading →

By Bob Korol

Dear Honourable Members of the Legislature,

It has been brought to my attention that the Ontario government is considering re-designating 827 acres of good quality agricultural lands to site a proposed motorway, aka a NASCAR race track. 

I wish to express most strongly my opposition to the proposal for several reasons. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

When it comes to the Niagara Regional Police Service and its plans for building a new police headquarters, any semblance of openness and transparency too often flies out the window for Niagara, Ontario’s regional council.

The Niagara Regional Police Service's existing headquarters in downtown St. Catharines. Photo by Doug Draper

For about the umpteenth time over the past two or three years, the doors to the regional government’s council chambers were closed to members of the media and general public this March 4 – this time for more than four hours. The doors were shut for so long that Cogeco’s Cable 10 media crew, which dutifully trains the eyes of their cameras on regional council proceedings for the public, finally packed up their gear and went home.

The optics of those doors remaining closed until members of the public finally get fed up and leave on Thursday council meeting nights are not good for a regional government that otherwise has a pretty decent record for openness.

And to swing those doors shut almost every time there is a discussion or debate over a police headquarters that would amount to one of the largest capital investment of our money the regional government is perched to make in its 40-year history is unacceptable.

The region has been drawing a curtain of secrecy around this issue for far too long now and it is about time members of the public began contacting their mayors and directly elected regional councillors and demanding some disclosure. Continue reading →

By Rob Nicholson,
Niagara Falls, Ontario MP and Canada’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General

Canadians lose faith in the criminal justice system when they feel that the punishment does not fit the crime. They have told us they want criminals – particularly violent offenders or those involved in gangs and organized crime – to serve a sentence that is proportionate to the severity of their crimes.

Niagara Falls MPP and Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson

I am pleased to write that we have met those expectations in the Truth in Sentencing Act, which came into force Monday, February 22. This piece of legislation strictly limits the amount of credit granted for time served in custody prior to sentencing, thereby ensuring offenders will serve sentences that are more appropriate.

In the past, courts often applied a credit of two-to-one for time served in pre-trial custody when sentencing criminals.  In some circumstances, certain offenders even received three-for-one credit.

This awarding of extra credit lead not only to the perception that sentences were too lenient – it also lead to the reality that, all too often, criminals were being released back on our streets far too soon.

Like the majority of Canadians, our Government believed that this situation was unacceptable. So, we acted on it.  Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Beyond the sandy dunes lining the northeastern shores of the Cape Cod community of Provincetown, Massachusetts, is one of the most fertile areas for marin

Humpback whale off coast of Cape Cod's Provincetown. This Photos and others below courtesy of the Dollphin Fleet of Provincetown.

e life in the coastal waters of the North Atlantic.

This 842-square miles of ocean – known since its designation by an act of U.S. Congress in 1992 as the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary – is still thankfully host to Humpback, Minke, Finback and other species of whales, and to sharks, seals, porpoises and tuna. On a good day of sailing on these waters, a person may enjoy the spectacle of dozens, if not hundreds of dolphins dancing in the boat’s wake.

Thanks to the Dolphin Fleet of Provincetown – a company of boats that, in concert with marine experts like Carole Carlson and others from the Center for Coastal Studies, my family and others have enjoyed the experience of viewing these wondrous beings in their natural habitat now for more than 30 years. I can still remember taking my daughter Sarah out on one of these excursions a good 15 years ago when she was only five-years old, and watching her eyes turn wide as boat cut off its engines and all we could hear was the sound of water lapping against the bow as a female Humpback and her calf glided by.

Since then, this is the only way our daughter has experienced these great creatures. She has never expressed any desire to go to SeaWorld or Marineland, and my wife Mary and I have never had any desire to take her there. And I don’t mind telling you, I am proud of that as the tired old debate of whether whales and other marines mammals comes up again. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper 

A friend to the left and Reilly in pink along the shores of Lake Erie

The mother of Reilly Anzovino – the Fort Erie teen who died following an ambulance trip from a traffic accident scene in her hometown to a hospital emergency room in Welland – hopes that an inquest into the circumstances around her death will lead to better health care for all Niagara residents.

Reilly’s mother, Denise Kennedy, was responding to news this March 2 that Ontario’s chief coroner, Dr. Andrew McCallum, will hold an inquest into the 18-year old’s death in the early morning minutes of this past December 27, following a traffic accident on Hwy. 3 before midnight on Boxing Day.

“Although nothing will bring Reilly back,” Denise told Niagara At Large on behalf of herself, Reilly’s father, Tim Anzovino, and other members of the family, “we hope that this inquest will bring recommendations and changes to the health care of our community. …. “I think it is important to have recommendations that are unbiased and made by a competent expert,” she added. Continue reading →

(As part of Niagara At Large’s mission to provide more information than the mainstream media on issues of concern to residents in our greater binational Niagara region, we offer the following for-the-record exchange between Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty and NDP leader Andrea Horwath on the issue of hospital services in Niagara)

Ms. Andrea Horwath: This is over to the Premier as well. Ontarians are soon going to have some answers about the terrible tragedy that took place on December 27 in the Niagara region. The coroner’s inquest into the death of Reilly Anzovino will determine whether this young woman’s tragic death may have been prevented had the emergency room of Fort Erie not been forced to shut its doors last year.

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath

In the face of growing health care cuts, Ontarians are looking to the government for assurance. If the coroner’s jury determines that the ER closures in Port Colborne and Fort Erie contributed to Reilly Anzovino’s death, will the Premier commit to reopening them?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the outcome that my colleague is speculating about.

Let me just say, on behalf of the government, we welcome this review by the coroner’s office. We look forward to receiving the jury’s recommendations, and we look forward to acting on those in any way that serves the interests of the people of Ontario. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Fort Erie’s mayor Doug Martin says he’s prepared to stake his political future on supporting a controversial high-rise tower for his town’s historic Crystal Beach district, and he has proved it.

Fort Erie Mayor Doug Martin displays images of condo development he's willing to stake his political future on. Photo by Doug Draper

At the end of another marathon meeting before his council this March 1 on the pros and cons of a developer’s plans to erect a 12-storey condominium in front of a publicly owned stretch of the Lake Erie shore, known as Bay Beach to many Niagara, Ontario and Western New York residents who enjoy it during the summer months, Martin stood true to his words.

The mayor – having listened to close to two hours of delegations speaking for and against the council plan – broke a three-to-three tie on his council to support the passage of a bylaw allowing the height restrictions in Crystal Beach (where most of the cottages and buildings presently there are one or two stories) accommodate a building as high as 12 storeys.

“I believe this is the right thing to do,” Martin told Niagara At Large while the marathon meeting was still looming. “It is about Crystal Beach. It is about rejuvenation. It is about laying the foundation for our children to built on.” Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Some breaking news here this March 2.

Reilly Anzovino

Dr. Andrew McCallum, Ontario’s chief coroner, has announced that he will hold a public inquest into the death of Reilly Anzovino, a Fort Erie teen who died from injuries in a car accident in her home town when she was ambulanced to emergency services at a hospital in Welland.

Many south Niagara residents and politicians, including Niagara Falls Liberal MPP Kim Craitor, Welland NDP MPP Peter Kormos and Niagara area MPP and Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak, called on the chief coroner to hold an inquest following Reilly’s death. All, including Reilly’s parents in their own letter to the coroner, wonder if Reilly might still be alive today if the emergency rooms at the Fort Erie and Port Colborne hospitals had not been closed by the Niagara Health System and Local Integrated Health Network as cost cutting measures last year.

Read on for the text of the chief coroner’s announcement, and Niagara At Large will provide more news and commentary on this development as information comes in. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

A few years ago, when Ontario’s environmental commissioner Gord Miller appeared as a keynote speaker at an annual fundraising dinner for the Mel Swart Lake Gibson Conservation Park in the Thorold community of Niagara, Ontario, he proved once again what a fearless voice he was for environmental protection and this province’s people.

Ontario government is pulling plug on Gord Miller's stint as province's top environmental watchdog

 During the course of his speech, he made several references to a lack of priority and resources the Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty was devoting to a host of environmental issues from energy conservation to the protection of our land and water resources. At one point, he went so far as to say that the budget for the province’s Ministry of Natural Resources had been cut so much, its field officers could hardly afford fuel for their trucks. All the while Miller (also a former Ontario Ministry of Environment scientist) was saying these things, Jim Bradley, a St. Catharines MPP and a minister in McGuinty’s cabinet, was sitting there at the head table taking all this in.

When I approached Bradley later, he didn’t give an impression that he minded Miller’s criticism so much and even suggested that he had some respect for the man. But that was a few years ago and still some time away from a 2011 provincial election in which McGuinty, by all accounts, plans to run in and win a third term as premier.

With that election looming ever nearer, we learned late this February that McGuinty and his gang have decided to let their contracts with Miller and with an equally fearless public watchdog – Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin – expire at the end of this March. Continue reading →

By William Hogg, MD

Most people in Niagara see the Niagara Health System as an ogre.
 
Health care delivery here is bad. The lay-administrators of Niagara Health System (NHS), who should be focused on balancing finances properly, have stuck their noses into medical matters and thoroughly botched them.

Emergency department closures in the southern tier of Niagara are just part of the fiasco. But they are enough to gain the bureaucrats a new and sinister slogan to play with: NHS = DOA!!!
 
Not a happy thought. And so recently borne out by the untimely death of an exceptionally promising young girl, Reilly Anzovino. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Fort Erie Mayor Doug Martin calls it a “win-win” for the town and the residents of Fort Erie’s Crystal Beach area.

This image was produced by Crystal Beach area residents as an expression of their concern of what might happen to this historic cottage community if Fort Erie's council passes a plan for a condo tower in the community. Fort Erie's mayor, Doug Martin, insists the plan is a 'win-win' for everyone.

Many residents in Crystal Beach insist it will destroy the character of a quaint little lakeshore community that has a good deal of historical significance attached to it. A history that goes back to the time when it was a summer haven for the better half the last hundred year for residents in Southern Ontario and Western New York, when the grand old amusement park of Crystal Beach was still – up to more than decade ago before it closed – sending visitors on some of the best roller coaster rides in North America.

Many residents also argue that it will diminish access to one of the last remaining beaches along Lakes Ontario in Niagara – the popular Bay Beach are that the Town of Fort Erie purchased at a cost of slightly more than $2 million in 2001.

The “it” this commentary is referring to is a controversial proposal by the Molinaro Goup – a consortium of developers from the greater Toronto area – to build a 12-story condo tower on property in front of the beach, breaching a height restriction now on the bylaw books for the age-old cottage community of Crystal Beach of two-and-a-half storeys. And it is a conflict that may very well reach a crescendo this coming Monday, March 1, when Fort Erie’s council votes on matters that could make the first high-rise condo tower in Crystal Beach a reality – setting a precedent for possibly many more high-rise condos along the shores of Lake Erie to come. Martin believes this new development will make Bay Beach even more accessible to the public and may even make more beaches along the lakeshore open for public use.

“The entire (Bay Beach) will be open to the public,” the mayor stressed, adding that he can’t understand whom others believe the beach will become less inviting to the general public than it has since the town purchased it.

“There is overwhelming opposition to the Bay Beach project,” insists Marcia Carlyn, a Crystal Beach resident in a recent call for fellow residents to attend the March 1 meeting of Fort Erie’s town council at 6 p.m. and express their views. Continue reading →

 By Doug Draper

Great news this February 24 for students at Niagara College and 23 other colleges across the province.

The flag of Niagara College will continue to fly above its campuses with students walking in and out of their classrooms thanks to the end of a strike stand-off with the province's college teachers union.

Late this day, the Ontario Labour Relations Board has finally confirmed that a slight majority of college teachers across the province – 51.45 per cent – has accepted an offer by the province’s college presidents. This close vote in favour of the offer averts a strike that could have wreaked havoc for some 450,000 students – just as they are working to complete an academic year so many of them and their parents have sacrificed so much for in time and money.

The confirmation that a slight majority of college teachers – a total of about 54 per cent of them at Niagara College alone – has accepted this offer that gives the most senior teachers in the province’s college system the highest annual pay (more than $102,000 a year by 2011) of any college teachers in the country, is a tribute to slightly more than half of our province’s college teachers who showed some grounding in the realities most of the rest of us in the world out here are  facing today.

As for the union representatives for Ontario Public Services Employees Union – the union that continued playing a game of brinkmanship with the academic year of our province’s college students, even when it was clear, this January, that they had the thinnest of mandates to strike – I would suggest that those responsible college teachers out there take another look at them to the point of replacing them with representatives that show more respect for the concerns of students and the general public – many on fixed and lower incomes – who are struggling through their taxes to pay for our post-secondary schools and the good work they are doing.

These OPSEU representatives – so arrogant and self-righteous during this latest, so-unnecessary stand off with a college presidents’ group that has offered them a 5.9 per cent increase in teacher’s salaries over the next three years – should be run out off  their  bully pulpits on a rail. Continue reading →