Author Archives: dougdraper

A Brief One from Doug Draper at Niagara At Large

Posted November 22^nd, 2023

(UPDATE – As of 5:15 p.m. after the following news commentary was posted this November 22nd afternoon, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul reported that every bridge but the Rainbow Bridge crossing the Niagara River has been re-opened.)

A file photo of the Peace Bridge crossing, posted here, between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York. The Rainbow Bridge, where the explosion occurred crosses between Niagara Falls, Ontario and Niagara Falls, New York, just downstream from the American and Horseshoe Falls

If you are getting ready to cross – either way the Canada/U.S. bridges along the Niagara River, you might want to reconsider

Due to an explosion involving a car crashing into a customs building on the American side of the Rainbow Bridge earlier this Wednesday, November 22^nd afternoon, the Rainbow Bridge and Peace Bridge, and reportedly even the Queenston-Lewiston have been closed to all traffic while an investigation got underway.

Since the explosion shortly after noon hour, agents from the New York State Police and FBI, as well as investigators from the Ontario Provincial Police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been working together to determine why a car from the U.S. side of the Rainbow Bridge accelerated to high rates of speed and exploded as it crashed into US. Border facilities. Continue reading →

“We need to stop the privatization of our health care system, fully fund public care, repeal harmful legislation like Bill 60 & Bill 124, and address the staffing crisis in our hospitals. The people of Niagara deserve better.” – Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

News from the Constituency Office of Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

Posted November 22, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates whose riding includes Niagara Falls, Fort Erie and Niagara-on-the-Lake

QUEEN’S PARK – MPP Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls Riding) advocated for the restoration of 24/7 services at two urgent care centers in Niagara, including Douglas Memorial Urgent Care in Fort Erie.

In June 2023, it was announced (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/fort-erie-port-colborne-urgent-care-centres-1.6861656) that the Fort Erie urgent care centre would have reduced operating hours as a result of staffing shortages.

“The people of Niagara deserve health care that they can access 24/7,” said Gates. “No one should have to drive upwards of half an hour away to get to a hospital, especially now that winter is quickly approaching. Niagara’s storms last winter left residents stranded in their homes for days on end – and I’m concerned what might happen this year with this limited health care access.” Continue reading →

A Few Words of Tribute from Niagara journalist Doug Draper

Posted November 20^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

“I’ve been thinking about the great migration
Noon and night they leave the flock
And I imagine their destination
Meadow grass, jagged rock ….

Tears and flowers
Dry over time
Memory leaves us
Melody and rhyme
When the cold wind blows

The seeds we gather
From the gardener’s glove
Live forever
Nothing dies of too much love.”

• Lyrics from Paul Simon’s Seven Psalms album, 2023

Don Alexander, RIP

Those Paul Simon lyrics came to mind when I learned late this October that Don Alexander, one of Niagara’s most dedicated community activists, died just about a month shy of his 89^th birthday.

Many younger people might not know who Don Alexander was. But through all of the many decades he worked through words and action to build healther communities and to protect and preserve our natural heritage, he did his part to leave a lasting legacy for the good, for generations to come.

I can say, as a former St. Catharines Standard reporter back in the years when the newspaper was still independently owned by its founders, the Burgoyne family, Don Alexander was among the many people who raised concern and supporter me and my old Standard colleagues when the paper fell into the hands of Conrad Black and his Hollinger vultures who proceeded to gut the newsroom of editors and reporters.

Don truly understood why having a well-staffed newsroom working as a watchdog in the community is so important for keeping people informed on issues of interest and concern, and for safeguarding a free and open democracy.

A celebration of Don’s life will take place on what would have been his 89^th birthday from 2 to 5 p.m. this coming Sunday November 26^th at the Niagara Artists Centre on 354 St. Paul Street in downtown St. Catharines.

Sad to see that Don has joined the great migration. He was an exemplary citizen who will truly be missed.

Please feel free to share your thoughts below.

For more on the life of this extraordinary person, please click on the following link for his obituary – https://memorials.passfieldmortuary.ca/donald-alexander/5317828/index.php

NIAGARA AT LARGE Encourages You To Join The Conversation By Sharing Your Views On This Post In The Space Following The Bernie Sanders Quote Below.

“A Politician Thinks Of The Next Election. A Leader Thinks Of The Next Generation.” – Bernie Sanders

A Brief Remembrance by Doug Draper, reporter/publisher, Niagara At Large

Posted November 21st, 2023

U.S. President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jackie arrive in Dallas, Texas, November 22nd, 1963

“I am sure that almost everyone will always remember where they were when they heard the news,” said one American broadcaster at the time.

The when was Friday, November 22^nd, 1963 and the news was the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy as he rode in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas.

As for the where, I was a 12-year-old kid living in the west end of Welland, Ontario and was just becoming politically aware enough to know who the then-Prime Minister of Canada and then U.S. President were. Continue reading →

“Last week, we learned this Conservative government is paying private, for-profit clinics two to four times more than they pay public hospitals for OHIP-covered surgeries.”  – Niagara Falls Riding NDP MPP Wayne Gates.

A News Release from the Constituency Office of Wayne Gates, NDP MPP for the Niagara Falls Riding which includes Fort Erie and Niagara-on-the-Lake

Posted November 20^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates, whose riding also includes Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie

QUEEN’S PARK – Official Opposition NDP Long-Term Care Critic, MPP Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls), questioned the Ford Conservatives during Question Period about the recent revelation that the government is paying for-profit private clinics substantially more than public hospitals for OHIP-covered surgeries:

“Last week, we learned this Conservative government is paying private, for-profit clinics two to four times more than they pay public hospitals for OHIP-covered surgeries,” said MPP Gates. “Also, the former Minister of Health is now lobbying for Canada’s biggest chain of private surgical clinics.

“This comes after a recent report that noted that expanding private surgeries will NOT reduce wait times,” said Gates. “In fact, it will increase wait times for patients while worsening our staffing crisis in Ontario. Why is the Premier choosing to put profits for private clinics before care for patients in Ontario?” Continue reading →

“With Doug Ford’s Conservatives under RCMP criminal investigation, it’s clear that our integrity laws need to be tightened. We need to put an end to Ford’s preferential treatment (for developers and others).”

News from Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Party

Posted November 20^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles

QUEEN’S PARK – The Official Opposition NDP has tabled the Cleaning up Corruption Act as a step towards restoring ethics and accountability to Queen’s Park.

“Ford’s Conservatives have eroded Ontarians’ trust in their government – from the Greenbelt grab to speculators buying tickets to Ford’s family functions to corrupt planning policies that benefit land speculators – the lack of accountability is stunning,” said Marit Stiles.

“Ford repeatedly prioritizes the interests of wealthy insiders and land speculators over everyone else. I’m proud to be leading our Ontario NDP team as we restore trust and accountability to Queen’s Park.” Continue reading →

Major Enhancements to Wages and Working Conditions Supporting Greater Access to Affordable and Safe Child Care

A News Release from the Niagara West Constituency Office of Niagara West Ontario Conservative Government  MPP Sam Oosterhoff

Posted November 20^th,2023 on Niagara At Large

TORONTO – The Ontario government is launching the most significant and comprehensive Child Care Workforce Strategy in the province’s history. 

Supported by funding through the Canada-Ontario Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, Ontario’s plan will deliver increased wages to Registered Early Childhood Educators and a multipronged strategy to recruit and retain qualified educators.

The Ontario government is also taking action to further protect the safety of children by requiring all licensed child care operators to implement a Safe Arrival and Dismissal Policy by January 1, 2024.  Continue reading →

“The evidence is clear: decades of research demonstrate plastic products are toxic to the environment, and there is increasing concern over its harmful impact on human health too.”

From the citizens advocacy group Environmental Defence Canada

Posted November 17^th,2023 on Niagara At Large

A Statement from Ashley Wallis, Associate Director, regarding the federal court’s decision to strike Plastic Manufactured Items from the Canadian Environmental Protection Act’s list of toxic substances

Toronto, Ontario – We’re dismayed to see that the court sided with Big Plastic despite the industry’s blatant disregard for plastic’s catastrophic impacts on the environment. It’s unsurprising that an industry so closely tied to fossil oil and gas, environmental injustice, and mass consumption would fight the government’s ability to reign in plastics. However, we are confident that this will not derail efforts toward a future free from plastic pollution.

Environmental Defence will not be backing down from this fight, and we urge the federal government to stand firm. Canada must quickly appeal this court decision and move forward with its planned regulatory and policy agenda, including bans on harmful single-use plastics. The evidence is clear: decades of research demonstrate plastic products are toxic to the environment, and there is increasing concern over its harmful impact on human health too.

The world is united in a desire for coordinated action to address the plastic pollution crisis. UN member states from around the world are currently gathered in Nairobi, Kenya to negotiate towards a global treaty on plastic pollution. People in Canada agree too—polling from Oceana Canada shows overwhelming support for action on plastics, including bans on harmful single-use plastics.

We will continue to support federal action on plastics, including legislative pathways that seek to stem the toxic flow of plastics in Canada and around the world.

ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

NIAGARA AT LARGE Encourages You To Join The Conversation By Sharing Your Views On This Post In The Space Following The Bernie Sanders Quote Below.

“A Politician Thinks Of The Next Election. A Leader Thinks Of The Next Generation.” – Bernie Sanders

‘A budget increase of 7.95 per cent for water and wastewater services addresses inflationary pressures, the impact of higher costs for the equipment and materials that keep drinking water safe, and capital renewal needs.’

A Budget Update from Niagara’s Regional Government

Posted November 17th, 2023

Niagara’s Regional Headquarters in Thorold

Niagara, Ontario –At its meeting held Thursday, Nov. 16, Niagara Region Budget Review Committee of the Whole approved operating budget increases for water and wastewater services for 2024.

A budget increase of 7.95 per cent for water and wastewater services addresses inflationary pressures, the impact of higher costs for the equipment and materials that keep drinking water safe, and capital renewal needs.

The approved water and wastewater budgets are effective Jan. 1 of each year and billed to the local area municipalities based on water and wastewater usage. As the wholesaler of water and wastewater services in Niagara, the Region will bill the local municipalities, which will, in-turn, incorporate the new rates into resident water bills. Continue reading →

“It should not take a criminal RCMP investigation to get some honesty and transparency from this government.”  – Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles

News from Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Party

Posted November 17^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles

QUEEN’S PARK – Leader of the Official Opposition NDP Marit Stiles’ crusade to clean up corruption and stop preferential treatment at Queen’s Park has forced Ford’s Conservatives to walk back many of the another controversial policy (http://another%20controversial%20policy/) changes that benefitted a select few Conservative insiders.

“This is a hard-fought victory for all of us, including Ontario’s municipalities, who have fought against this government’s nonsense approach to planning,” said Stiles. Continue reading →

“Ford’s Conservatives must move away from privatization, invest in our healthcare workforce, and ensure every Ontarian has access to the care they rightfully deserve.” – France Gélinas, Official Opposition NDP Health Critic

A Statement from the Ontario NDP’s Health Critic

Posted November 16^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

QUEEN’S PARK – France Gélinas, Official Opposition NDP Health Critic, released the following statement in response to the Ontario Ombudsman’s report, which revealed a staggering record-breaking 33% increase in complaints:

“This report further proves that Ford’s Conservative government is steering Ontario’s healthcare system into dangerous waters. We are witnessing the final stages of collapse, and it’s time for Ford to abandon his privatization scheme. Continue reading →

A Total of 776 Charges Laid In Wake Of Tree Slaughter

“Protecting our trees and green spaces is not just a duty of the City, but a collective responsibility. It’s important that we work together to ensure the health of our trees and safeguard the environmental assets we have .”                                                                                                                  –  Darrell Smith, City of St. Catharines’ Director of Municipal Works

News from the City of St. Catharines in Niagara, Ontario

Posted November 16^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

The City of St. Catharines By-law Enforcement Division and Municipal Works forestry staff have concluded an intensive investigation into the reported destruction of City-owned trees and plants within the Martindale Pond area.

The investigation has led to legal action against four individuals, each facing 194 counts, totalling 776 charges for violations of the City’s tree by-law. The charged individuals are slated to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice later this month to address the allegations brought against them. Continue reading →

Niagara Region Invites Public To Complete Survey On       2024 Budget

“As Regional Chair, I am acutely aware of both the financial difficulties being experienced by Niagara’s residents and businesses, as well as the Region’s challenges to maintain services. Given the pressures on the 2024 budget, it is more important than ever that we hear from our constituents as to what they consider to be a priority.    – Jim Bradley, Niagara Regional Chair

A Call for Public Views from Niagara’s Regional Government

Posted November 15^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

As part of its commitment to transparency and community engagement, Niagara Region announced today the launch of a public survey to gather valuable input for the 2024 budget.

In an effort to ensure that next year’s budget reflects the diverse needs and priorities of the community, residents are invited to participate in this survey, providing a unique opportunity to shape the financial decisions that impact our region. Continue reading →

‘Where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing. Where have all the soldiers gone, a long, long time ago. Where have all the soldiers gone? Gone to graveyards ever one..” – from the song ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone by the late, legendary folksinger and anti-war activist, Pete Seeger

A Brief One for Remembrance Day

Posted by Doug Draper on Niagara At Large, November 10^th, 2023

Grave markers in France, for Canadians who fought and died in arguably the one of the bloodiest wars in human history – World War One or what some at the time hoped would be “the war to end all wars.” It wasn’t.

I could write a few lines about my wish that we, as a supposedly intelligent species on this planet, find a way to forever put an end to war. But how many would bother reading, let alone taking my words seriously.

My guess is, not many.

The war memorial near in my childhood home, in Chippawa, Park in Welland, Ontario, with the names of young people from the community who fought and died in World Wars One and Two. file photo by Doug Draper

This November 11^th, as millions of people across Canada and other countries flock to memorials and cemeteries for a moment of silence, men, women and children are suffering and dying from bullets and bombs in Ukraine, in Israel and the Gaza Strip, and in too many other places around the world.

And in all of the seven decades I have been around and going back for as many centuries as you want to think about, it has gone on and on and on.

So I leave you with the words “when will we ever learn” and to Peter Seeger’s sorrowful and powerful song, that you can hear by clicking on the screen below –

WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN? WHEN INDEED. – Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

NIAGARA AT LARGE Encourages You To Join The Conversation By Sharing Your Views On This Post In The Space Following The Bernie Sanders Quote Below.

“A Politician Thinks Of The Next Election. A Leader Thinks Of The Next Generation.” – Bernie Sanders

“By preserving the ecological value and functions of our local ecosystems, we not only contribute to a global conservation movement, but also provide opportunities for people to connect with nature and enjoy the outdoors.” – Chandra Sharma, CAO & Secretary-Treasurer, NPCA

News from the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, Ontario Nature and Conservation Ontario

Posted November 8^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA), Ontario Nature and Conservation Ontario are pleased to announce the addition of 11 properties, encompassing 790 hectares, towards Canada’s ambitious goal of protecting 30 per cent of its lands and waters by 2030.

With this recent addition, NPCA’s total contributions to the national protected areas target now stands at an impressive 1,622 hectares, which is equal in size to four Stanley Parks in British Columbia, or, closer to home, almost 650 Montebello Parks in St. Catharines.

NPCA’s Wainfleet Wetlands Conservation Area with Lake Erie in the background. Photo courtesty of NPCA

Canada endorsed the goal, known as the 30 by 30 target, as part of the landmark Global Biodiversity Framework at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal last December.

The 11 properties, evaluated in partnership with Ontario Nature, include Beamer Memorial, Cave Springs, Humberstone Marsh, Lathrop, Louth, Morgan’s Point, Mountainview, Mud Lake, Wainfleet Wetlands, Willoughby Marsh and Woolverton. Each property – all of which are accessible to the public with the exception of Lathrop which is held in trust by NPCA – was assessed for its unique ecological characteristics and diverse ecosystems and determined to meet the strict national standards for the protection of biodiversity, qualifying them as Protected Areas. Continue reading →

“Mayors must deliver a resounding “no” to this corrupt, anti-democratic push that would subject boundary decisions to the same corrupting forces that led the provincial government to force sprawl on their communities in the first place.”                          –  Tim Gray, executive director of Environmental Defence.

A News Release from the citizen’s advocacy group, Environmental Defence

Posted November 4rth, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Citizens rally to save Niagara’s natural heritage in front of Niagara Regional Headquarters last winter. file photo by Doug Draper

Toronto, Ontario  – Just weeks after revelations of impropriety forced the Ontario government to reverse its imposition of corrupt settlement boundary expansions on unwilling City and Regional governments, a leaked letter from Municipal Affairs Minister Paul Calandra suggests that the Premier and Cabinet ministers are doubling down and trying to make the mayors of lower-tier municipalities accomplices to the scandal by having them rubber-stamp the government’s forced farm, forest and wetland eating boundary expansions.

While the Ontario government has announced the reversal of the city and town boundary expansions in the short term, a letter from Minister Paul Calandra dated November 2, 2023 revealed a new consultation process calculated to “launder” the same improper planning decisions by replicating, at the municipal level the opaque, arbitrary and concentrated power that gave rise to them. Continue reading →

Economic Statement Supports Growth Across Province

News from the Ontario Government of Doug Ford

Posted November 2^nd, 2023 onNiagara At Large

TORONTO, Ontario — Today (this November 2^nd, 2023), (Ontario) Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy released the 2023 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: Building a Strong Ontario Together.

This update continues the government’s responsible, targeted approach, providing the flexibility needed to help address ongoing economic uncertainty and build critical infrastructure in growing communities while laying a strong fiscal foundation for future generations.

Ontario is seeing significant growth, with nearly 500,000 more people coming to the province last year and more than 170,000 net new jobs created in the first nine months of 2023 alone. Continue reading →

Hugh Segal, a long-time champion for a guaranteed basic income for people struggling to rise above the poverty level

“Poverty … is actually about not having enough money. There’s a notion that, “Oh, there are many complex causes to poverty. We have to get at them and if we took every penny that the provinces and the federal government had and we spent them against all those problems, we couldn’t solve them. … But we can actually solve poverty by topping up the incomes of people who live beneath the poverty line so they can live a slightly better life.”      – Hugh Segal, the late Canadian Senator who died this past August, 2023 and a leading champion for a guaranteed basic income to lift low-income people out of poverty

A Call-Out to All of Us from the Basic Income Canada Network

Posted November 1^st, 2023 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper –

Earlier this fall, in the wake of growing homelessness and dependence of food banks – even among people who have jobs – Niagara Region’s council, much to its credit, pass a motion calling on the provincial and federal government to launch a basic income guarantee project to help lift people out of such dire straights.

Sadly (or should I say disgustingly), the current Ford government in Ontario, which pretends to be a party “working for the people,” gutted a basic income project launched by the former Liberal government of  Kathleen Wynne shortly after it came into power in 2018.

It may very well be that Ford and company will not heed calls to bring such a project back, claiming its recent raising of the minimum wage, which seems designed to keep people in poverty, should be enough.

So a launch of such a program will have to come from Canada’s Liberal government, and in Niagara Liberal MPs like Vance Badawey representing Niagara Centre, and Chris Bittle, representing St. Catharines, should be pressed by their constituents to get on board.

Bittle, in particularly, was recently appointed by his Liberal government to assist in addressing the need for affordable housing. Hopefully he will agree that a guaranteed basic income will help people in their struggle to put and keep a roof of their head.

Now here, directly below, is the call-out for all of us to demand action on this from our elected representatives from the Basic Income Canada Network. – 

This past October 17^th, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, was a fitting day for (Canada’s) Senate finance committee to hear from witnesses on Bill S-233, an Act to develop a national framework for a guaranteed livable basic income. Continue reading →

“Since taking office (in 2018), this (Ford)government has grossly mismanaged Ontario’s energy supply – cancelling hundreds of renewable energy projects and slashing efficiency programs that help Ontarians save money by saving energy.” – Ontario’s Green Party

A Message from the Green Party of Ontario

Posted November 1^st, 2023 on Niagara At Large

As we watch Doug Ford twist in the wind of his many and varied land use scandals – Greenbelt, MZOs, urban boundaries – another massive blunder is unfolding in the background.

Ignoring the growing signs of climate breakdown, the Ford government continues to double down on fossil gas plants to power Ontario. Continue reading →

Judy, along with her close friends and allies, Margherita Howe and Laura Dodson were passionate citizen activists who were never afraid to speak truth to power in the Old Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake

A Tribute to Judy MacLauchlan and Friends by John Nicol

Posted October 31^st, 2023 on Niagara At Large

It was 30 years ago that I wrote about two “old crones” waging battle from a kitchen bunker in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Margherita Howe, twelve years on from her successful fight to clean up the Niagara River, had other fish to, er, unfry. With her was Laura Dodson, who often bankrolled their battles.

Once upon a time and not so long ago, a gathering of three of Niagara, Ontario’s most passionate and effective community acttvists, from left to right, Margherita Howe, Laura Dodson and Judy MacLachlan.

Their adversaries were developers and all-too-pliant town councilors all-too-willing to irrevocably change their beloved Niagara-on-the-Lake.

“We are no more immune than big cities–greed is conquering all,” said Margherita, from her large white house on Gate Street. “Until we get younger people who are going to care–this town is so beautiful, it’s such a jewel–people don’t care.” Continue reading →

“Ford’s Conservatives issued as many MZOs to benefit just the guests at a Ford family wedding as previous government issued in 15 years!” 

News from Ontario’s Official Opposition New Democratic Party

 Posted October 30^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford

QUEEN’S PARK – Ford’s Conservatives issued as many Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) to benefit just the guests at a single Ford family wedding reception as the previous government issued during its entire 15 years in power, Marit Stiles, Leader of the Official Opposition NDP, revealed (this Monday, October 30^th, 2023). 

“From the Greenbelt grab to forced urban boundary expansions to MZOs, Ford has a deeply troubling pattern of putting his friends ahead of everyone else,” said Stiles. “The Ford Conservatives are already under RCMP criminal investigation for the Greenbelt. This is yet more evidence of sketchy land deals that show just how deep this corruption goes.”

The former Liberal government issued 18 MZOs between 2003 and 2018. The Ford government issued 18 MZOs benefiting just the guests at Ford’s daughter’s wedding reception, which took place on September 25, 2022. Continue reading →

“All of (the Ford Government’s) changes, which favoured particular developers, were rushed through without proper consideration of the impact on existing planned land uses, sensitive natural features, water or agriculture.”

A News Release from the not-for-profit advocacy groups ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE AND ECOJUSTICE

Posted October 30^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario –  Newly obtained documents released by Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing as a result of a series of freedom of information requests show that it was partisan Minister’s Office staff – not civil service experts – who directed changes to municipal Official Plans in ways that favoured select landowners and sprawl developers.

The documents also show that their lands were designated for development despite being rejected by both municipal planners and provincial Municipal Affairs planning experts.

The documents also offer evidence that Ministers’ offices, other than that of Housing Minister Steve Clark, were involved as early as January 2022, prior to the June 2022 election, and yet the government still kept Ontario voters in the dark. Continue reading →

News from Hamilton Citizens at City Hall (CATCH), a citizens watchdog on government affairs

Posted October 27^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Pressure is building for a re-examination of provincial legislation that has weakened Conservation Authorities and banned them from providing ecological advice to city governments.

The Ford government has been pushing to weaken the authority of Conservation Authorities and the efforts of others to protect these vitial water resources

Last week the board of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) unanimously asked (https://youtube.com/live/Fc4obxz56g4?feature=share) the Auditor-General to investigate the changes imposed at the end of last year. Continue reading →

A News Release from Niagara, Ontario’s Regional Government

Posted October 26^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – On October 25^th, 2023, Niagara Region partnered with Brock University, Niagara College and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority to host the 2023 Niagara Climate Change Summit. Event participants included energy leaders, municipalities, organizations, environmental groups and businesses in Niagara.

The Summit focused on energy resilience and advancing carbon reduction efforts to inspire and encourage climate action. This was achieved by creating a collective understanding of the key role energy plays in slowing down climate change impacts. Continue reading →

“By reversing these changes, the provincial government has shown its commitment to striking a balance between development and the preservation of our natural and cultural heritage.”- Jim Bradley, Niagara Regional Chair

A Statement from the Office of Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley

Posted October 25^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley,

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley offered the following statement following the provincial announcement this October 23^rd) that changes to municipal official plans would be reversed:

“I would like to commend the provincial government for its decision to reverse the unilateral changes that were applied to the official plans of many municipalities across Ontario, including Niagara.

In my view, Minister Calandra’s decision demonstrates his commitment to engaging with local government across the province, as well as his respect for the autonomy of municipalities. By adopting this more collaborative approach to land use planning, the integrity of Niagara’s Official Plan will be restored. Continue reading →

“How many more seniors need to die in long-term care before this government holds for-profit homes accountable?”

A News Release from the Constituency Office of Niagara Falls NDPP MPP Wayne Gates

Posted October 25^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

MPP Gates questions Ford government for Long-Term Care inspection failures

Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates, whose riding also includes Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie

QUEEN’S PARK – NDP MPP Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls riding) questioned the Premier (this October 24^th)  on recent revelations that the province remains well short of the needed inspectors for Ontario’s long-term care homes.

“The Premier promised he would double the number of long-term care inspectors, so we would have one inspector for every two homes in the province,” said Gates. “But last week, CBC reported (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-long-term-care-home-inspections-1.7001238) that although there are 624 long-term care homes in the province, only 234 inspectors are currently working. That means this government is 78 inspectors short.” Continue reading →

“The (Ford) Government’s two recent reversals, canceling Greenbelt removals and now reversing forced boundary expansions, are onlythe first two steps on a long (to ending Ford’s drive to forever smother  more of our natural heritage lands with urban sprawl).”

A Statement by Phil Pothen, Ontario Environment Program Manager for the citizens group Environmental Defence

Toronto, Ontario – The provincial government will take another modest step to try to end its sprawl and land speculation scandal if it follows through on For Housing Minister Paul Calandra’s promise (this October 23^rd) to reverse the reduced density targets and forced boundary expansions that it imposed on Hamilton, Halton, Ottawa, Waterloo and other Ontario municipality)es (including Niagara.

Reversing forced boundary expansions and the Ontario Government’s loosening of Official Plan intensification targets will make it easier for municipalities to deliver the compact, low-cost family housing in existing neighborhoods that is required to fix the housing shortage. Continue reading →

Join Her on Zoom or in Person at Welland Public Library in Downtown Welland, Tuesday, October 24^th from 6 to 7 P.M.

Posted October 23^rd, 2023 on Niagara At Large

The world is facing enormous environmental challenges that but it is possible to change laws and policies for a better future.

Liz Benneian (right), at one of a number of rallies she helped organize in Niagara over the past year for protecting our Greenbelt. file photo by Doug Draper

Hear about the successes, and learn how to be an effective advocate, as speaker Liz Benneian discusses her 19-year journey through the frustrating and rewarding work of environmental advocacy.

Oct 24, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

In person or via Zoom

Register here:https://www.wellandlibrary.ca/…/climate-action-day-with…

NIAGARA AT LARGE Encourages You To Join The Conversation By Sharing Your Views On This Post In The Space Following The Bernie Sanders Quote Below.

“A Politician Thinks Of The Next Election. A Leader Thinks Of The Next Generation.” – Bernie Sanders

“Environmental Defence, represented by Ecojustice, submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request in late 2022 to find out what kind of influence developers had on the Ontario Cabinet and Premier in its Greenbelt decision. … The Ontario government (of Doug Ford)  has failed to comply with its legislative obligation to respond to this request.”

A News Release from Environmental Deefence, a Canada-wide citizens advocacy group, and Ecojustice, a not-for-profit group of lawyers fighting for environmental protection through the justice system

Posted October 22^nd, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario –   Ecojustice, on behalf of Environmental Defence, is taking the Ontario government to court to make sure it tells the public the truth about the Greenbelt scandal, and about the government’s relationship with developers.

One of many Niagara citizens who have been rallying across the region to save our green heritage from the Ford government and the worst of Ontario’s development industry

Environmental Defence, represented by Ecojustice, submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request in late 2022 to find out what kind of influence developers had on the Ontario Cabinet and Premier in its Greenbelt decision.

The Ontario government has failed to comply with its legislative obligation to respond to this request and has also failed to respond to an Information and Privacy Commissioner Order.

Since these environmental groups submitted the FOI request, the Ontario government has been publicly admonished by the Auditor General and the Integrity Commissioner, several ministers have resigned, and the government has reversed its Greenbelt plan. The government is now under criminal investigation by the RCMP. Continue reading →

Ontario’s Official Opposition Party Tables Bill to Force Premier Doug Ford to Records

A Statement from Ontario’s Official Opposition/New Democratic Party

Posted October 19^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles

QUEEN’S PARK — The Official Opposition NDP have now tabled a motion that, if passed, would force the Ford Conservatives to stop their appeal to the province’s Information and Privacy Commissioner and finally disclose the Premier’s phone and email records.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles issued the following statement:

“The more we learn about the Ford government’s preferential treatment to speculators and personal friends, the more the Premier appears to hide. Continue reading →

It’s Getting Harder and Harder for Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his Party of Climate Laggards like Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff to Continue Wreaking Havoc on Life on this Planet

A Brief Foreword by Doug Draper at Niagara At Large, followed by a News Release from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, a citizens advocacy group for a cleaner, greener energy future

Posted October 18th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff and Premier Doug Ford have been systematically weakening and gutting green energy projects  and others efforts to protect our natural heritage since the Ford government was first elected in Ontario in 2018. At the same time, they continue to push low-density urban sprawl, the building of more multi-lane highways and carbon-polluting, gas-fired energy plants.

After Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his his party of lap dogs like Sam Oosterhoff first formed a government in this province in 2018, among the first things they did while applauding themselves was kill incentives and much of the infrastructure (including battery charging stations across Ontario) the previous Liberal government had put in place to encourage people to buy electric trucks and cars.

Ford and company also ripped up an estimated $230 million in renewable energy projects the previous government had given the nod to.

Ford, who was also poised at the time to diminish the powers of environmental and conservation agencies to protect wetlands, woodlands and species at risk, went so far as to brag about how “proud” he was to shred contracts for the kind of green energy projects being pursued by more environmentally-conscious regions and countries around the world – regions and countries more committed to developing sources for a greener energy that will fuel their economies and, at the same time, protect our collective environment in the 21st Century. Continue reading →

‘Now, instead of the Greenbelt, he’s using urban boundary expansions to force municipalities to abandon their own urban planning priorities and open up land for sprawl housing.’

A Warning andc a Call-Out  to All from the Green Party of Ontario

Posted October 18^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

We may have won back our Greenbelt but in Doug Ford’s Ontario the fight to protect our farmland, forests and wetlands is never ending.

When is the urban sprawl over what is left of our life-sustaining food-growing lands and green places for other living creatures going to end? Perhaps only when Ontario’s Ford government is thrown out of power.

The Premier’s sprawl agenda hasn’t changed. Now, instead of the Greenbelt, he’s using urban boundary expansions to force municipalities to abandon their own urban planning priorities and open up land for sprawl housing. Continue reading →

This Time It Is About Eradicating Poverty. But Then How Come Homelessness and the Demands on Food Banks in Niagara and Other Regions of Canada are Growing So Rapidly?

A Commentary by Doug Draper of Niagara At Large followed by a Statement from Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau

Posted October 17^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau so often fails to follow up his warm and fuzzy rhetoric with real iaction?

If Justin Trudeau’s Liberals wonder why they are sinking like a rock in the polls and why all those ‘F— Trudeau’ flags are out there – flags this journalist finds repulsive, by the way – they may want to consider the possibility that people have just about had enough with their failure to follow up warm, fuzzy promises with effective action.

On every challenge from the climate crisis to protecting democracy, soaring grocery costs, affordable housing and women from sexual abuse, Canadians have seen little more than lip-service or the recycling of promises put off for years (like the waving of the GST to build new rental apartments) from Trudeau’s Liberal government.

As recently as this October 17^th, Trudeau has issued a statement observing the “International Day for the Eradication of Poverty,” followed by a bunch of words on how much r his government has done to eradicate poverty across Canada. Continue reading →

What We Need Now is an Annoucement from Doug Ford That He is Resigning from Politics Forever

A News Commentary by Doug Draper, reporter and publisher, Niagara At Large

Posted October 16^th, 2023

Ontario Premier Doug Ford

How much more hogwash do we, the people of Ontario, have to take from Doug Ford’s Ontario government on the Greenbelt scandal – an episode that has now triggered an RCMP criminal investigation – before Ford does the only decent thing he can do and resign?

In the wake of news of that criminal investigation and two scathing reports on nefarious Ford government activities involving Greenbelt land swaps to Ford-friendly developers, highlighted by Ontario’s Auditor General and Integrity Commissioner this past August, followed by the resigning of two Ontario cabinet ministers, senior staff and a lame apology from Ford, his latest Tory hack in the Ministry of Housing portfolio – one Paul Calandra – has now tabled legislation he claims would  reverse the land swaps with those developer cronies in our precious food-producing Greenbelt.

Paul Calandra, Doug Ford’s latest Housing Minister, works to sweep the Greenbelt land swap scandal under the rug

And Calandra, like his shameless predecessor Steve Clark in the now-so-discredited Housing portfolio, held a news conference this October 16^th,  spouting the same baloney as Ford and Clark have that the Greenbelt land swap was a “mistake of process” and nothing more.

Forget about some of the developers in question showing up at Ford’s daughter’s wedding gatherings and any brown evelops that reportedly were exchanged between them and government staff, and reports of the premier wrongly using private email addresses and phone numbers to communicate with whoever during that period of time. Continue reading →

“For months, Ford has been distracted, handing out MZOs (ministerial zoning orders) or urban boundary expansions to wealthy insiders, instead of concentrating on building the homes we urgently need.” – Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch

A News Release from Ontario’s Official Opposition Party

Posted October 14^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

QUEEN’S PARK – After spending a year wasting precious time with his corrupt attempt to give Greenbelt land to land speculators, Ford’s failed housing policies have left Ontarians with a housing supply that continues to stagnate while demand soars through the roof.

“It’s crystal clear that we need to build different types of homes that can house Ontarians at every stage of their lives, in the communities they want to live in,” said MPP Jessica Bell (University-Rosedale), Official Opposition NDP housing critic.

“We need to get serious about good policies that will help build the affordable homes we need and get the government back in the business of building housing.” Continue reading →

“The climate alarms ring louder every day but the Ford government still isn’t getting the message.”

A Call-Out from the Green Party of Ontario

Posted October 13^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

The records keep piling up – records no one wants to see.

We’ve just had the hottest summer on record. The world saw its hottest day ever. We had three days in a row when much of North America was blanketed in wildfire smoke. And the advent of fall hasn’t seen this trend slow at all. 

In Ontario the unseasonably warm summer weather has continued, making this September the warmest ever and putting 2023 on track to be the hottest year ever. 

The climate alarms ring louder every day but the Ford government still isn’t getting the message. This government continues to ignore cheap, safe renewables while ramping up fossil gas generation and doubling down on a discredited car-dependent sprawl housing policy. Continue reading →

An Action Alert from the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), a long-time defender of a healthy environment for all

Posted October 13^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

The Canadian Environmental Law Association (is issuing this alert) about the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks proposals to exempt certain waste management systems, storm water management, and water-taking from licensing requirements.

These “streamlining” proposals are eliminating critical government and public scrutiny from projects that could have significant impacts on the environment and human health. CELA strong urges the Ministry NOT to proceed with these proposals, and we encourage you to add your voice.

The most important action you can take is to send an email to Ministry staff. Here’s how:

Continue reading →

“With a significant primary care shortage, and lack of access to emergency hospital services, Niagara-on-the-Lake needs the (Ontario Ford Government and its Health) Ministry to follow through on their promise for nurse practitioner services.”

News from the Constituency Office of Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

Posted October 12^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates, whose riding also includes Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario – NDP MPP Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls Riding) joined Niagara-on-the-Lake Mayor, Gary Zalepa, to call for increased nurse practitioner services for Niagara-on-the-Lake with a joint letter released this October 12^th, 2023.

“Seniors in our community deserve access to health care that is publicly available and easily accessible,” said Gates. “As a popular tourist destination and place to retire, additional nurse practitioner services for Niagara-on-the-Lake are critical to help ensure everyone who lives, works or visits the community will have access to the care they need.”

Niagara-on-the-Lake has a high population of senior residents, with approximately 36.2 per cent of the Town’s population 65 years and over. Continue reading →

“While the (RCMP) investigation is underway, immediate action must be taken to reverse boundary expansions and Greenbelt removals to ensure these areas are protected from further development.”

A Statement from Tim Gray, Executive Director of Environmental Defence Canada, a citizen’s advocate for environmental protection

Posted October 11^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Statement on RCMP Investigation into Ontario’s Greenbelt Land Swap from Tim Gray, Executive Director, Environmental Defence

Toronto | Traditional territories of the Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Chippewas and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation – We welcome the news of the RCMP’s initiation of an investigation into the Ontario government’s Greenbelt land swap as an encouraging and significant development.

Considering the far-reaching impact of this scandal, it is highly appropriate that this investigation is now in the hands of the RCMP’s Sensitive & International Investigations (SII) unit, a unit specializing in threats to the political, economic and social integrity of Canada’s institutions. Continue reading →

“It is absolutely shameful that under Premier Ford’s leadership this government has appeared to have acted so improperly that the RCMP was compelled to launch an investigation.”

A Statement from Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Leader Marit Stiles

Posted October 11^th,2023 on Niagara At Large

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles

QUEEN’S PARK – Media reports confirm that the RCMP has launched a criminal investigation into the Ford government’s $8.3 billion Greenbelt land swap.

Leader of the Official Opposition NDP Marit Stiles, whose requests launched the Auditor General and Integrity Commissioner investigations into this corruption scandal, issued the following statement:

“Now we have a Premier under criminal investigation and a government that is spiraling out of control. Continue reading →

‘Verbal abuse, physical assault and sexual harassment against Niagara EMS paramedics and staff is not okay. Those who do so could be charged.’

A Message from Ontario’s Niagara Regional Government and Niagara Health, the region’s amalgamated public health care system

Posted October 11^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

With rising numbers of reported incidents of violence against front line staff, Niagara Emergency Medical Services (Niagara EMS) is taking steps to protect the safety of paramedics, dispatchers and other staff.

Front line staff at Niagara EMS regularly face incidents of violence (e.g., verbal abuse, physical assault and/or sexual harassment) on the job.

These incidents are increasing and often go underreported presenting a significant but common challenge to the profession. In Niagara, reported incidents of violence toward front line staff have increased by 53 per cent since 2018. Continue reading →

“We have zero tolerance for any wrongdoing and expect anyone involved in the decision-making about the Greenbelt lands to have followed the letter of the law.”   – from a statement by Ontario’s Ford Government following news of the RCMP’s investigation

Breaking News on Niagara At Large

Posted October 10^th, 2023

A Brief News Commentary by Doug Draper at Niagara At Large

It is about time.

Now being formally investigated by the RCMP. This image from Ontario’s Green Party which joined other political parties in the province in calling for a full probe of the Greenbelt land swap affair.

For several weeks now, since Ontario’s Auditor General’s Office and its Ombudsman released damning reports on the Ford government’s plans to parcel out land from the province’s precious Greenbelt to its developer friends, and even before the tabling of those reports – when it was clear to observant members of the public and news media that something foul was going on – the RCMP has confirmed that it is carrying out a criminal probe. Continue reading →

A Brief Note from Doug Draper, journalist/publisher , Niagara At Large

October 9^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

‘The Face of War’ by artist Salvador Dali

The terrible news coming out of the Middle East over the past few days is another reminder of four words I have framed on a wall above a desk where I do my writing – “MY SPECIES DISAPPOINTS ME.”

With all of the pressing challenges we face in our communities, our countries and all around the world, from hunger, homelessness, poverty and climate change – challenges that too many of our politicial leaders and to many of the people who support them question whether we have enough financial resources to solve – there always seems to be enough money to wage war.

I am far from being any kind of expert or scholar on Middle East affairs so I won’t pretend to be one here by writing a commentary on the latest shooting war declared there. Continue reading →

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his Conservatives Place Carbon Fuels – Polluting Oil and Gas – Ahead of the Health and Welfare of Present and Future Generations in Our Province

A Call-Out from the Ontario Clean Air Coalition, a not-for-profit citizens group pressing for greener sources of energy

This neanderthal Ontario has for a Premier and his Conservative MPPs would rather keep pumping carbon-olluting gas in the air than work for a better future.

Posted October 6^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Why is Doug Ford ignoring the renewable energy revolution?

The world is going renewable – but don’t take our word for it.  That’s the finding of the International Energy Agency (IEA) [https://www.iea.org/news/renewable-power-s-growth-is-being-turbocharged-as-countries-seek-to-strengthen-energy-security], long a bosom buddy of the oil and gas industry.

According to the IEA, renewables are set to account for over 90% of global electricity expansion over the next five years, overtaking coal to be the largest source of global electricity by early 2025! Continue reading →

“Ontario is grappling with an affordability crisis, and it’s our responsibility to ensure no child goes to school on an empty stomach.”- Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

A News Release from the Constituency Offices of St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens and Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

Posted October 6^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

NIAGARA, Ontario  —NDP MPPs Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines) and Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) celebrated the Niagara advocacy that helped secure province-wide funding for student nutrition programs yesterday.

“We are filled with optimism today,” said Stevens. “This journey began right here in Niagara, and the top-up for school nutrition programs is a credit to the relentless advocacy of our service providers and community members. We are proud to have added our voices to theirs. We took the issue directly to the Minister, worked across party lines, and the result is a positive step forward.” Continue reading →

“The world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point” – Pope Francis in a Report  called ‘Laudate Deum’, released by the Pontiff ahead of the United Nations’ COP 28 Climate Summit this November and December in Dubai

A Brief News Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted October 5th, 2023

Pope Francis urges world leaders and all of us to take stronger action on the climate crisis that has wreaked record-breaking havoc on the world this year..

For the record, I am not now and never have been a member of the Catholic Church or any other church or religious group on this planet.

However, I have always had a great deal of respect for leaders or prominent members of any religious faiths who dedicate time tor the good of humankind and for all life on this one and only place in the universe we know of that is capable of sustaining us if we have the wisdom and courage to protect and preserve it.

On that front, I felt honoured as an environment reporter in the 1980s and 90s to come and to know and respect a late, a heroic Catholic nun named Sister Margeen Hoffmann who led a group in Niagara Falls, New York called the Ecumenical Taskforce and who worked with environmental groups on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border to clean up industrial dumps and effluent pipes poisoning the Niagara River and Lake Ontario.

Sister Margeen Hoffmann was a leadering activist in the fight to reduce the flow of toxic chemicals to the Niagara River and Lake Ontario in the 1980s and 90s

Sister Margeen, who also worked during the latee 1970s and early 1980s to help hundreds of families flee from the chemically-contaminated Love Canal neighbourhood in Niagara Falls, N.Y,  often liked to quote the words ofSt. Frances of Assisi, a Catholic friar and environmental activist from some 900 years, that went like this, and I paraphrase; “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

Now the head of the Catholic Church, who adopted the name of that ancient friar, has released a report, following a summer of record-breaking, destructive and deadly wildfires, droughts, flooding and winds and fjust ahead of an international summit on the climate crisis, that rings of that same message of taking action before we perish. Continue reading →

“The scandal won’t be over until the government’s entire push for car-dependent sprawl on farms, forests and wetlands is abandoned and reversed.”

A Statement by Phil Pothen, Ontario Environment Program Manager for the Canada-wide citizens group, Environmental Defence

Posted October 5^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Photos of rally at Niagara Regional headquarters by Doug Draper

Toronto, Ontario – (This October 4^th’s) leak of internal documents from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing reveals that just as in Halton Region and Hamilton, the Ontario government knew that imposing 3,211 hectares of boundary expansions in Belleville, Peterborough, Waterloo, and Wellington was a threat to more than the environment – it would also make it harder to build more homes.

More broadly, (the) leak confirms what independent experts and environmental and housing NGOs have shown with robust data: the Greenbelt removals are only the most visible part of a much wider sprawl and real estate scandal that encompasses the push to build Highway 413, the rigging of planning processes to railroad municipalities into approving sprawl, and the provincial government’s direct imposition of 10,270 hectares of forced sprawl across the Greater Golden Horseshoe. All of these actions have been taken contrary to its own land use planning rules. Continue reading →

Ford spent $1 billion less on the health sector than this time last year

A News Release from Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Party

Posted October 5^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

NDP: FAO report shows Ford weakened our public health care system just as flu season arrives

Now that – thanks to enough Ontario voters – the Ford government has won another majority, it is moving forward with selling our public health care services off to private corporations.

QUEEN’S PARK – The Financial Accountability Office (FAO) revealed that Ford Conservatives continue to dramatically starve the public health care system of resources – just as flu season arrives, ERs face closures, (https://www.pentictonherald.ca/spare_news/article_bc57d17f-fe25-569e-a86b-6ed546fc85b5.html) and Toronto reported an ambulance shortage (https://globalnews.ca/news/10003186/toronto-ambulance-shortage-union/) just last night. MPP Catherine Fife (Waterloo), NDP Finance critic responds:

“Ford has been recklessly starving our public healthcare system, leaving us all in a vulnerable position as flu season arrives and we may need to access health care services.

It’s alarming that this government seems to have learned nothing from the pandemic. Instead of strengthening our public health care system – and supporting the public services that help people live better lives – Ford hides taxpayer money in contingency funds for his government’s own discretionary use. Continue reading →

News from Ontario’s Official Opposition Party and its NDP Leader, Marit Stiles

Posted October 4^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

A Quick Foreword Note from Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper – I suspect that at least a few people who visit this news site are wondering why we are posting so much news from the Ontario New Democrats on the Greenbelt scandal. Some may wonder if we are doing so because we are NDP supporters. The answer is no. We are not members or supporters of any political party. It is just that in this case, Ontario’s NDP, to its credit and like no other political party in the province, is relentlessly working, like no other party, to get to the bottom of the Ford government corruption here.

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles

QUEEN’S PARK — Official Opposition Leader Marit Stiles says an internal government memo from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing shows the Conservatives knew their unilateral decisions to pave over greenspace and farmland by expanding urban boundaries were wrong but proceeded anyway.

“What we’re seeing is Act II of the Greenbelt corruption crisis,” Stiles said. “This is yet further evidence that this government will stop at nothing to rig the system so long as it helps their close land speculator friends.” Continue reading →

(Ontario Premier Doug Ford) is ducking accountability at every turn. …  Why? What is he trying to hide?” – Ontario’s NDP Leader Marit Stiles

A Statement by Ontario’s NDP  Opposition Leader Marit Stiles

Posted October 4^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Stiles: Ford blocks Greenbelt investigation

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles

QUEEN’S PARK – Marit Stiles, Leader of the Official Opposition NDP, released the following statement after Ford’s Conservatives blocked the formation of a Special Investigative Committee that would open accountability and transparency on the corrupt Greenbelt deal:

“This is shameful, even with this government’s track record. Ford has admitted his corrupt Greenbelt grab was flawed – but has no interest in getting to the bottom of what happened. He’s ducking accountability at every turn and blocking the chance to have trust restored in his own government. Continue reading →

Ford’s Conservative Government So Far Fails to Give An Answer. So Much for Openness and Transparency With We, The People Who Pay For All of This.

” What (are they) trying to hide?”

A News Release from the Constituency Offices of Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch and St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens

Posted October 3^rd, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch

QUEEN’S PARK – NDP MPPs Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre) and Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines) received no answers from the Conservatives this morning as they tried to learn how much money Ford spent on his attempted Greenbelt PR campaign (https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/doug-ford-fights-back-against-greenbelt-report-with-ad-campaign-as-tory-insiders-say-he/article_f72b8fce-e582-5a0b-aa0d-1b0d18059132.html) .

“Ford’s Conservatives are running a months-long advertising campaign – using taxpayer money – to try to sell their unpopular Greenbelt Grab to Ontarians as necessary to build homes,” said Burch. “Now that Ford has been forced to backtrack, how much money was spent on his attempts to benefit land speculators?” Continue reading →

“Everyone deserves to be able to live their lives free from hunger or homelessness, and a living wage can truly make a difference for everyone. The benefits are both personal and public, as the living wage has economic benefits throughout the community. This includes higher worker retention and more money to be spent in local communities.”                                                                       – from Living Wage Niagara, part of an Ontario-wide Living Wage Program now administered in our Niagara region by United Way Niagara and funded through the Niagara Prosperity Initiative. 

News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted October 1st, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Ontario Premier Doug Ford gives the shaft to low-income workers again

As of this October 1st, the minimum wage in Ontario increases from $15.50 an hour to $16.55 – an increase of one dollar and five cents.

And to that news I say, in words you should know are dripping with sarcasm – ‘What a magnanimous gesture on the Ford government’s party.’

At a time when many people, including people with jobs across Niagara and the rest of the province are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and find themselves resorting to food banks to give themselves and their children enough to eat, this minimum wage increase is a sick and cruel joke. Continue reading →

From Saturday, September 30^th Thru some of the first Days of October in St. Catharines/Niagara. See Details Below

A News Release and Invite to All from the First Ontario Performing Arts Centre

Posted September 29^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – In June 2021, the federal government announced the creation a new statutory holiday known as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to be recognized 30 September each year. 

This day fulfills the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call-to-Action #80 and will serve as a day of remembrance, reflection, action and learning. Since 2013, 30 September has been known as Orange Shirt Day, a day to recognize the tragic history and long-standing effects of residential schools.  Continue reading →

“People are still looking for answers. The Premier may have apologized, but that doesn’t change the fact that this government gave preferential treatment to benefit their insiders — to the tune of billions.” – Ontario Opposition Leader Marit Sytles

News and a Statement from Ontario NDP Opposition Leader Marit Stiles

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles

Posted September 27^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

QUEEN’S PARK – Official Opposition NDP Leader Marit Stiles will be calling to issue a Speaker’s Warrant to require public testimony from the two Ford-connected developers who were set to make the highest financial gain from the Conservatives’ $8.3 billion cash-for-access Greenbelt grab. Continue reading →

The Very Ugly Verbal Attacks and Vandalism Aimed at our Politicians is Wrong. But Our Governments Also Need to do More to Address the Causes of the Growing Anger Out There.

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 27^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Canadian Speaker of the House and federal Liberal Party hack Anthony Rota is thankuflly vacating his throne in the House this September 27th, 2023 after embarrassing the country in front of the world.

This past Friday, September 22^nd seemed – at least for a little while, to be one of the better days for a beleaguered Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government.

It was the day that Ukrainian President and champion for democracy Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed Canada’s Parliament and parliamentarians of all political stripes – in a rare moment of unity – demonstrated support for Ukraine’s continued struggle for freedom and sovereignty against Russia’s murderous Putin regime.

Then, just a few days later, we find out that the House of Common’s Trudeau appointed  Speaker of the House – a Liberal hack from north Ontario named Anthony Rota – paid tribute during Zelenksyy’s visit to the House to what he described as a Second World War veteran from Ukraine (but now living in his region of Ontario) who he said fought the Russians during that war. Continue reading →

‘People don’t trust this government to fix a (Greenbelt) mess of their own creation. Who knows how many loopholes they will sneak into any legislation they table.’

A STATEMENT by Ontario NDP Official Opposition Leader Marit Stiles

Posted September 25^th , 2023 on Niagara At Large

Ford’s Conservatives block Greenbelt reversal

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles

QUEEN’S PARK – Despite promising Ontarians that they will restore the removed lands back into the Greenbelt, Ford’s corrupt Conservatives blocked the Greenbelt Restoration Act in the Legislature this afternoon.

Official Opposition NDP Leader Marit Stiles introduced legislation that would restore protection for the Greenbelt lands by reversing the Conservatives’ changes, giving them the opportunity to stick to their word.

“Ontarians have had enough of his broken promises. The Premier needs to stick to his word,” said Stiles. Continue reading →

“Canada will stand with Ukraine with whatever it takes, for as long as it takes. As Ukrainians continue to fight for their freedom and their democracy, our support will be unequivocal until they are victorious. Slava Ukraini!”                                                                   – Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

A News Release from the Office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Posted September 22nd, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Ottawa, Ontario – The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, this September 22^nd, 2023  welcomed the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to Canada to showcase Canada’s ongoing solidarity and unwavering support for Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against Russia’s war of aggression.

The Prime Minister and the President held a bilateral meeting where they discussed Ukraine’s military, financial, development, humanitarian, and other needs, now and into the future.

Both leaders reaffirmed the two countries’ partnership and advanced the development of shared long-term security commitments, discussed efforts to rebuild Ukraine, and highlighted the close ties between our peoples and shared values that unite our countries. Continue reading →

A Statement from the Office of Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley

Posted September 22nd, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley,

Regional Chair Jim Bradley offered the following statement regarding the announcement by Premier Ford that development will not be occurring in the Green Belt – 

“I applaud the provincial government’s decision to reverse their plans to permit development on lands designated as the Green Belt.

“I commend the government for responding to concerns expressed by many Ontarians about the potential impact of development on Ontario’s natural heritage and valuable agricultural land.

“The Niagara Region is committed to working in close cooperation with the provincial government to achieve its goal of providing 1.5 million homes for the growing population of Ontario. Continue reading →

The Niagara, Ontario Municipality’ Council  Deserves the Nation-Wide Praise it is Getting for  Responding with a Unanimous NO to Proposed Gas-Fired Energy Plant in its Community and the City Should Serve as a Role Model for other Municipalities across the Country

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 21^st, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Those who have followed any of my writing as a journalist in Niagara, Ontario over however number of decades, may know that I am hardly the go-to guy when it comes to singing praises for governments on any number of issues.

The City of Thorold’s current council receives Canada-wide praise for its recent decison to reject a plan to build a carbon-emitting gas plant in the municipality

Yet I cannot help but sing some praise for Mayor Terry Ugulini and his Council in the Niagara, Ontario City of Thorold – a municipality I happen to live in – for voting No this past September 19^th to a proposed gas-fired power plant in the municipality – a proposal that was driven by the wrong-headed and dangerous policies of Ontario’s Ford government to continue opting for burning carbon fuels that wreak havoc on our climate over renewable energies. Continue reading →

“To clean up what remains of the Ontario government’s land use and environmental mess, including Highway 413, it is essential to strengthen Greenbelt protections to ensure future government’s can’t try this again.”

A Statement from the Canada-wide citizens group Environmental Defence on Ontario’s Greenbelt Scandal

Posted September 22^nd, 2023 on Niagara At Large

A Statement from Phil Pothen, Ontario Environment Program Manager on Premier Ford canceling $8.28-billion Greenbelt land removals

Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – “While we welcome Premier Ford’s full reversal of the inappropriate removals of Greenbelt lands, the Ontario government’s $8.3 billion gift to developers represented just the most visible part of a dishonest and counterproductive push for sprawl that will only worsen Ontario’s housing shortage.

“To clean up what remains of the Ontario government’s land use and environmental mess, including Highway 413, it is essential to strengthen Greenbelt protections to ensure future government’s can’t try this again. Continue reading →

Ontario Premier Doug Ford tries sweeping Greenbelt scandal under the rug

“I made a promise to you that I wouldn’t touch the Greenbelt. I broke that promise and for that I’m very, very sorry. …. I made a mistake”                                                             –  Ontario Premier Doug Ford at September 21st Press Conference in  in Niagara Falls, Ontario

A Brief News Commentary for now on this  with more to come, from Doug Draper

Posted September 21^st on Niagara At Large

Following two damning reports this past August – one from Ontario’s Auditor General and one from its Ombudsman – and the resignation of two senior ministers and the rolling of heads in senior staff, Premier Doug Ford has announced a decision to reverse any and all multi-billion dollar plans with developers to pave over what he once called “big chunks” of the Greenbelt.

In making this announcement, which is a victory for present and future Ontario citizens who know that value of these precious Greenbelt lands, there was no clear message in Ford’s words that he has come to realize how valuable this natural resource is to we, the people, collectively.

Instead, Ford tried to pass the whole corrupt mess off as a “mistake” with the process the government used to parcel off Greenbelt lands in a manner that the Ontario Liberal Party’s interim leader John Fraser says looks like “insider trading” and a “gravy train” for his development industry buddies. Continue reading →

‘Thorold understand(s) that more polluting gas is the last thing we need. Unfortunately, the Ford government does not.’

A News Release from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, a citizens advocacy group for greener, more renewable sources of energy

Posted September 20^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Last night (Tuesday, September 19^th), the people of Ontario scored a major victory thanks to the determination of a group of local councillors who listened to their constituents.

That resulted in  Thorold City Council voting unanimously to reject Northland Power’s proposal to build a new gas plant in their Niagara Peninsula community.

And that matters, because Energy Minister Todd Smith has stated that no gas plant can be built without municipal approval.

Now, thanks to the work of local citizens who kept the pressure on Thorold Council, making it crystal clear that a gas plant was not welcome in their community, we have created a real test for the minister’s resolve. Continue reading →

“We are encouraged to see communities like Thorold recognize this and stand up for their residents. … In voting against this proposal, Thorold has both helped with the global project of decarbonization and taken an important step to protect air quality in Thorold  and the broader Niagara region.”                                                                         – from the Canada-wide   group Environmental Defence

A Statement on Thorold City Council’s Unanimous Vote Against a New Gas Plant in Niagara, Ontario

From the Canadian citizens advocacy group for green issues, ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE

Posted September 20^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Huron-Wendat – We applaud the members  of Thorold City Council for voting unanimously against this unnecessary and  highly polluting project. Ontario doesn’t need more gas plants.

We are encouraged to see communities like Thorold recognize this and stand up for their residents. In order to ensure a safe and stable future, we need more clean energy, not more fossil power.

Respected bodies like the International Energy Agency have been clear – there is no room for new fossil fuel infrastructure if we want to hold warming to 1.5 degrees. Continue reading →

Investment at Highland Ridge in West Lincoln Part of Province-Wide Push to Competitiveness in Ontario’s Agri-Business

A News Release from the Constituency Office of Niagara West Conservative Government MPP Sam Oosterhoff

Posted September 19^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

SMITHVILLE in Niagara, Ontario  – The Ontario government is investing up to $25 million in fifteen innovative projects through the Strategic Agri-Food Processing Fund to expand food-processing capacity in the province and strengthen food supply.

Niagara West ConservativeMPP Sam Oosterhoff

Through the Strategic Agri-Food Processing Fund, Highland Ridge in Smithville is receiving up to $1.7 million to increase meat processing capacity.  The project includes construction of a 17,932 square foot facility in West Lincoln and installation of meat processing equipment, including slicers, scales, metal detectors, smokehouse, grinders and mixers.

“As a leading meat processor in Southern Ontario, Highland Ridge is a model of innovation and economic growth in our region,” said Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West.

“I congratulate the de Jonge family and the hardworking team at Highland Ridge as they expand their growing operation in Smithville.” Continue reading →

“Ontario’s Greenbelt was established to protect farmland, specialty crop, forests, wetlands, watersheds and communities. It also preserves cultural heritage and supports recreation and tourism in Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe.”                     – – From St. Catharines Regional Councillor Haley Bateman’s motion to Niagara Regional Council to save our precious Greenbelt lands.

Contact your Niagara Regional Councillors and Urge Them to Support5 this Motions 

A News Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted September 18^th, 2023 on Niagara At Large

Since this August’s bombshell reports from Ontario’s Auditor General and Ombudsman on the highly questionable deals members of the Ford government have made to sell off protected Greenbelt lands to powerful developers, we have had little to nothing about this growing scandal from Niagara Region’s chair, Jim Bradley, and most of the others sitting o9r doing whatever else they do on Niagara’s regional council.

St. Catharines Regional Councillor Haley Batement was the only other regional councillor who stood up and said she would vote no to Ford telling the Region who it should have as its Chair.

One of the all to  few on the council who has raised the issue is St. Catharines Regional Councillor Haley Bateman, who let her fellow councillors know at a meeting in late August that she was going to be bringing a motion forward on the Greenbelt at this coming Thursday, September 21^st’s meeting of Niagara Region’s council.

That motion echoes a recommendation Ontario Auditor Bonnie Lysyk made in her scathing report this past August – for Premier Doug Ford and his government to roll back land swaps in the Greenbelt that stand to haul in developers closetothe Ford government more than $8 billion dollars.

If you support protecting our precious food-growing lands and adjoining woodlands, wetlands and other natural resources in a Greenbelt that includes lands in Niagara, please contact and urge your members of Niagara Regional Council to support Haley Bateman’s motion. Continue reading →