This Incident – Captured in the Middle of a Rapid Upsurge in COVID-19 Cases in Ontario – Has Some Calling for Oosterhoff’s Resignation As Assistant to the Province’s Education Minister
A News Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper
Posted October 26th, 2020 on Niagara At Large
Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff, member of Ontario’s Ford Government and assistant to the province’s Education Minister, finds himself in a bit of hot water – again.
This first term in the Ontario legislature is turning out to be quite a learning experience for the province’s youngest elected member – 23-year-old Niagara West MPP and Ford Government member Sam Oosterhoff.
Among other things, Oosterhoff – who grew up as a home-schooled kid who now, quite interestingly, serves as an assistant to the Ford Government’s Education Minister in charge of our public schools – has learned that it is not necessarily good public optics to have the police called on a peaceful group of seniors protesting public library cuts at his Beamsville constituency office.
Nor is it the best of public optics to celebrate your wedding at a Conservation Area managed by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority at a time when the Ford government you seem to hold such allegiance to is thinking of winding down some of the environmental protection activities of Conservation Authorities across the province.
Now Oosterhoff who, don’t get me wrong, seems like a nice young man to the extent I have met him, finds himself in hot water again after posting a photo on social media, featuring himself and and numerous others, gathered together, void of any social distancing or mask wearing – right in the middle of a pandemic unlike any the world has seen in a century, and even while daily cases of Ontarians diagnosed with COVID-19 are hitting record highs. Continue reading
It’s pretty sad when you find yourself breathing a sigh of relief when the daily COVID19 case count over the past 24 hours in this Province of Ontario comes in at 851 – almost 200 lower than an all-time high of 1,042 cases recorded the day before.
In Niagara, we can breathe some relief in knowing that on the same day of October 25th that Ontario recorded its highest overall daily case count, the count here was 23, although the highest number of new positives came from the Greater Toronto Area, and to the extent that people from there continue to visit tourist venues in the Niagara Falls area, that might pose a problem.
Niagara, Ontario – As part of its continued response to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Regional Council passed a by-law (this past Thursday, October 22nd) to amend Niagara’s temporary Face-Covering By-law to include common areas of residential apartment buildings and condominium buildings, including lobbies, elevators and other common-use facilities.
Right now we need a massive expansion of public health for testing and contact tracing in every community in the province. We need real protections in long-term care, including hiring thousands of PSWs and putting infection control experts in every home. We need a 15-student class cap in schools. People can’t afford to have Mr. Ford delay another day.”
Niagara, Ontario – Brock researchers will share their findings on how the global pandemic is shaping lives at a free public webinar on Tuesday, Oct. 27 from 12:30 to 2 p.m.
“Devastating, emotional”… “lonely, depressed”… “muzzled, trapped”… “broken-spirited, boredom”… “terror awakened” – Words used by LTC residents and Board Members, Ontario Association of Residents’ Councils, to describe their lived experiences during the first wave of COVID-19 – from the Ontario Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission’s Interim Report, released this October 23rd, 2020
Toronto, Ontario – The Ford government has introduced legislation that would make it significantly harder for residents and families to hold long-term care homes liable for harm resulting from exposure to and infection with COVID-19. 
In early October, Prime Minister Trudeau directed the
QUEEN’S PARK – MPP Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls), Official Opposition NDP critic for Workplace Health and Safety, took Doug Ford to task this past Monday (October 19th) for not releasing information on which Ontario employers have COVID-19 outbreaks in their facilities.
TORONTO — Ontario is kicking off Waste Reduction Week by unveiling regulations to improve the blue box program. The enhancements include expanding the items that can be recycled and making producers of products and packaging fully responsible for the waste they create.
Niagara, Ontario – This past October 14th,, Niagara Region’s Planning and Economic Development Committee put its stamp of approval on the Region’s updated Woodland Conservation By-law after a comprehensive review and public and stakeholder engagement process.
Niagara, Ontario – The FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (PAC) and Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre (NFAMC) are pleased to announce a new virtual project intended to put a spotlight on local newcomer entrepreneurs as well as established ethnocultural groups working to share their cultural knowledge and welcome the newcomer community.
Hamilton, Ontario – On the heels of York Region Council’s attempt to get the provincial government to open the Greenbelt to development, the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance (OGA) today (this October 15th, 2020) launched a program to do the exact opposite: stop sprawl-style development and bring more lands into the protected Greenbelt as part of government COVID-19 recovery plans.
Niagara, Ontario – The Paramedic Memorial Bell honours the Paramedic Services line of duty deaths in Canada.
“Contaminants (including PCBs) entering Twelve Mile Creek , a tributary of Lake Ontario, is significant in terms of international efforts to protect Great Lakes habitats. (Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks testing shows) that a number of other contaminants like Poly Hydrocarbons (PHCs) and metals hazardous to human health and the environment were also leaking off the site.”
Congratulations to all of you anti-maskers and virus spreaders out there.
As we continue to address the health, social, and economic impacts of COVID-19, we are also working toward a sustainable and greener economic recovery that will create new jobs and opportunities for workers and businesses alike.
The findings of this poll point to a caring Canadian society that wants immediate pandemic relief while understanding that climate action is needed now to save future generations from grave harm”
Comprehensive plan includes banning harmful single-use plastic items like bags and straws
NIAGARA FALLS — Ontario will soon be home to a new renewable natural gas (RNG) facility, which will create local jobs, stimulate regional economic development, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
1. Immediate action by the Ford government to recruit & train staff, improve pay and working conditions and provide full-time work. The conditions of work are the conditions of care
Niagara, Ontario – Well here we are – going on five full years now – and the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario’s Mayor Jim Diodati’s is still hosting public meetings on one of a pet project, scorned by so many citizens across this Niagara region.
ST. CATHARINES, Niagara – The Ontario government has invested $500,000 to help 92 Niagara-area residents train for careers as personal support workers (PSWs).
How disturbing it was to log on to a general meeting of Niagara Regional Council this past September 17th and see some seven or eight residents from across the region, spouting just about every screwball argument out there against wearing masks as a protective measure during aCOVID-19 pandemic that is continuing to cause so much sickness and death, as well as emotional and economic pain.
Niagara, Ontario – This weekend (Saturday, October , the community would have normally gathered in Montebello Park for the 3rd and Sunday, October 4th) Niagara Regional Native Centre’s annual Nurturing Our Roots Powwow, which has become a highly anticipated part of Niagara’s fall season. In partnership with the FirstOntario PAC, the Powwow will go on – virtually!
Ottawa, Ontario – The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, (this October 1st) issued the following statement for Women’s History Month:
TORONTO — This September 30th, Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs, issued the following statement on Orange Shirt Day:
Niagara, Ontario – On the advice of his provincial experts, Ontario Premier Doug Ford confirmed yesterday that we are in the second wave and is cautioning that it may be more challenging than the first wave.
More than a decade has passed since Niagara’s Regional Government last updated its tree protection by-law, and many Niagara citizens have made it clear, in one way or another, that a revised by-law for better protecting what wooded areas Niagara has left is long overdue.
Beautification and decoration of public spaces helps to instill a sense of civic pride and support community belonging. Town staff work to beautify the public realm and animate spaces through year-round seasonal plantings and decorations.
The Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce is the largest business organization in Niagara and the third-largest Chamber of Commerce in Ontario, with 1,600 members representing 50,000 employees.
BEAMSVILLE in Niagara, Ontario – Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West, has been formally acclaimed as the riding’s Progressive Conservative candidate leading into the next provincial general election.
Niagara At Large 