Author Archives: dougdraper

“While this is some good news during this challenging time, we will continue to be vigilant and maintain best practices in infection control to keep our patients, staff and physicians safe and protected.”                      – Derek McNally, Niagara Health’s Executive Vice President Clinical Services and Chief Nursing Executive

A COVID-19 Update from Niagara Health, Niagara, Ontario’s amalgamated system of hospitals

Posted April 22^nd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – An outbreak of COVID-19 on inpatient unit 3A at our St. Catharines Site is over.

Niagara Health’s St. Catharines Hospital site

Our Infection Prevention and Control Team declared the outbreak over after 14 days of enhanced monitoring of patients and staff showed there had been no evidence of further transmission and no new additional COVID-19 cases on the unit.

The outbreak was declared after one of our healthcare workers tested positive for the virus. Continue reading →

“Climate change continues to present a long-term threat to our health and economy. …We remain committed to our climate plan, which includes ambitious actions to reduce emissions, promote clean technology and jobs, and put a price on pollution.”                                                                         – Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

An Earth Day Statement by Canada’s Prime Minister, followed by an Earth Day Footnote from Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted April 22nd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, during an Earth Week event in 2017, urging young school students in Niagara-on-the-Lake to get engaged in the environment movement because “it is your future.” With him to the left is then federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna. File photo by Doug Draper

Ottawa, Ontario – The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on Earth Day:

“Today, we join the international community to observe Earth Day

“As Canadians, we are fortunate to be surrounded by an abundance of nature. With this privilege comes a shared responsibility to safeguard our environment and the natural treasures we have inherited.

“We want our children and grandchildren to be able to enjoy our majestic forests, breathe clean air, and play by our beautiful oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams. That is why the Government of Canada has taken important steps to protect our environment, while growing the economy and making life more affordable for families across the country.

“This year, families are going to observe Earth Day in a different way, because our parks are closed and Canadians have to stay home. This does not mean we cannot all still appreciate and continue to share a resolve to protect our natural beauty and our environment. Continue reading →

“We are all seeing the devastating impacts of COVID-19 in long-term care and retirement homes across the country, and here in our region. It is increasingly important that we direct additional resources and efforts to protect this vulnerable population.”                            – Derek McNally, Executive Vice President & Chief Nursing Executive, Niagara Health

A News Release from Niagara Health, Niagara, Ontario’s amalgamated system of hospitals and related health care facilities

Posted April, 21st, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Health (NH) is providing reinforcements in a number of ways to help protect our most vulnerable citizens from the spread of COVID-19 and support those working in long-term care and retirement homes in our region to safely manage positive cases of the virus in their facilities.

NH is working with our partners on an urgent basis, as follows:

Continue reading →

Earth Day celebrates 50 years this Wednesday, April 22nd, 2020

Ending Enforcement Threatens Clean Air and Clean Water for Us All

A News Release from the Buffalo, New York Office of U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins

Posted April 21^st, 2020 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note by Doug Draper at NAL –

We Canadians and Americans share these Great Lakes, and the health and welfare of our communities depend on people and governments in both countries working together to protect them.

As residents on the Niagara, Ontario side of the border  read U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins’ warning, and/or perhaps wonder why a Niagara, Ontario media outlet is posting it, keep in mind that to the extent that all of us – Canadians and Americans in the Great Lakes region – share and rely upon the same water and air for our health and welfare, the stripping away of programs and rules to protect the environment by the current Trump administration, threatens us all.

Unfortunately, very few politicians on the Ontario side of the border – municipal, provincial or federal – have raised their voice with Higgins to fight against it.)

Now here is the Buffalo Congressman’s News Release –

Buffalo, New York area Congressman Brian Higgins

Buffalo, N.Y. – As the United States prepares to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) is deeply concerned that the Environmental Protection Agency’s lax policies are a threat to the incredible progress made to improve Western New York’s air and water quality.

On March 26, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a memo reporting it is ceasing all enforcement actions during the coronavirus pandemic.  This is just the latest in nearly 100 environmental rule rollbacks by the current Administration.

In a letter to the EPA Administrator, Higgins writes – 

“As a representative of a constituency which had experienced more than its share of the negative impacts of historically unchecked industrial pollution, including environmental, economic and public health impacts, it is outrageous to me that the administration would attempt to use one international public health emergency to pursue a dangerous, unwarranted and unlawful policy that, if sustained, could ultimately result in a cascade of new, local public health crises all across the nation.” Continue reading →

Region’s Accommodation and Food Services, Tourism Sector Hit Especially Hard, Local Agricultural Sector Beginning to feel the Economic Squeeze

From Updates released by the Niagara Workforce Planning Board, a not-for-profit body serving Niagara’s regional government and local municipalities

Posted by Doug Draper, April 21, 2020 on Niagara At Large

The Covid-19 outbreak has caused most things to do with the economy, globally and here in the Niagara area, to take a nose dive, with no recovery expected overnight.,

“The COVID-19 pandemic is creating economic and employment disruption in ways that are not familiar to the vast majority of us in Niagara,” reads a statement the Niagara Workforce Planning Board (NWPB) circulated this April 20th with its latest workforce data for the Niagara region.

“As we move forward in these uncertain times,” the statement continues, “NWPB staff is collecting economic and employment information, aggregating facts and figures, and sharing them with our partners in the community.”

NWPB remains committed to offering our economic and employment insight at this challenging time.” Continue reading →

Niagara Health & St. Joseph’s Health System launch new pilot surveillance project to provide protection for the most vulnerable in our health system

A News Release from Niagara Health, Niagara, Ontario’s amalgamated system of hospitals and related health care facilities, and from St. Joseph’s Health System in Hamilton

Posted April 20^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – COVID-19 has had a devastating effect within many congregate care facilities caring for vulnerable elderly residents, prompting the Ontario government to call for greater testing in long-term care and retirement homes.

With that in mind, St. Joseph’s Health System (SJHS) and Niagara Health are taking the vital step in testing all asymptomatic patients, residents and select staff within its long-term care, retirement home and congregate settings as part of a pilot surveillance project. Continue reading →

‘Please stay home unless you absolutely must go out. Keep your distance. Save a life. Maybe your own.’

A Message from one of our regular readers, Gary Screaton Page, a resident of Fort Erie in Niagara, Ontario

Posted April 20^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

This Ad, from the late-1950s Asian Flu pandemic era, promotes a pain-relieving ointment parents could spread on their children’s chests for coughs, congestion and other symptoms related to the flu.

Unless you were born before 1952 you are not likely to remember the pandemic of 1957. I was 15 and in Grade 10 at the time.

The population in Canada then was only 16,561,263. Today. it is over 37 million: roughly double.

That year, the Asian Flu (aka “Oriental Flu”), thought to have originated in northern China in February, had by Fall arrived in Canada. As I went to school each day, I entered classrooms with only four or five other students in them. Over half the teachers in my high school were ill. Classes were combined because supply teachers were ill, too. Continue reading →

Pundits Have Wrongly Predicted His Demise Before. But This Virus May Finally Bring Him Down

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted April 20^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Way back in late February – what seems like a decade ago now – when the known cases of COVID-19 in Ontario and New York State were still very few, and yet when anyone who was paying attention knew that a pandemic that would spell serious suffering was coming was rapidly coming our way, a friend of mine in Buffalo, N.Y. said this –

“It is terrible to think that it might take a disaster like this to get rid of this monster.”

The “disaster” my friend in Buffalo was talking about was the coming of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak, and “the monster” was, and still very much is Donald Trump.

In pockets of the United States, Trump supporters continue to protest protective restrictions governors and mayors have ordered to slow the spread of COVID-19

Sad to report (and it certainly doesn’t say very much for literally millions of Americans who have been okay with marching to the gates of hell with Trump over the past four or five years since he announced his reality show run for the presidency), it appears that my friend may be right.

Trump could lie up a storm about anything he wanted, say just about any degrading or disgusting thing he wanted about women, minority groups, the news media, political critics or just about any other individual group, praise autocrats and tyrants, abroad, insult and alienate long-time allies like Canada and France, tear children away from their moms and put them in cages, and on and on.

On his way way to another one of his daily live-for-TV daily campaign rallies/coronavirus briefings.

And yet, even with all of that, the the same hard-core tens-of-millions of Americans would continue to pack his rallies and cheer him on.

But this virus may finally have awakened enough Americans to the realization that Trump’s reality TV remake of Dante’s Inferno is not what you want for leadership when everything you ever worked for, including your life and those of your loved ones, is on the line.

That leads inevitably to a brand new campaign ad from the presumptive Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden, and one of probably many others like it to come.

You can click on the screen immediately below to watch it –

If Joe Biden remains healthy and can just go on being a good, steady, sound-minded, plain-taking Joe, and enough Americans, including all of the Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders supports out there, get behind him and vote, he might very well rid his country and the world of this highly dangerous clown.

And to harken back to what my friend in Buffalo said, what a terrible shame that it takes something as destructive and deadly as a global pandemic to – most hopefully – finally do his reign of terror in.

For the sake of the whole world, the November U.S. federal elections cannot come soon enough.

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

FACT CHECK: Before COVID-19 Outbreak, Ford cut    $25 million from the Health System Research Fund

A News Release from Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Party

Posted April 19^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

QUEEN’S P ARK, Ontario– The Ford government’s announcement of $20 million for health research to look for a COVID-19 vaccine follows Doug Ford’s $25 million cut to the Health System Research Fund one year ago.

That $25-million cut to the Health System Research Fund was part of the $51-million slash to Health Policy and Research, overall. Continue reading →

“People are training as crisis responders for the Kids Help Phone, writing letters to isolated seniors, and spending hours in food banks to pack hampers with essential items for families in need. Let’s continue these acts of service because Canadians need to stick together during these tough times.”                                             – Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

A Statement from the Office of Canada’s Prime Minister

Posted April 19^th, 2020

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on National Volunteer Week:

“Today is the first day of National Volunteer Week , when we recognize the Canadians who devote their time and skills to making our country a better place.

“This year’s theme, ‘It’s time to applaud this country’s volunteers’, underscores how volunteers work tirelessly and often behind the scenes. It highlights how our charities and non-profit organizations depend on their support to provide services to Canadians who need them most.

“Across Canada, countless volunteers look beyond their circumstances to be there for others. And that hasn’t changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In these difficult times, Canadians are still taking care of each other. Continue reading →

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

“Canada and the United States have agreed to extend by another 30 days the border measures that are currently in place. …This is an important decision and one that will keep people on both sides of the border safe.”                                     – Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

A Brief News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted April 18^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

In his daily COVID-19 briefing this April 18^th, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the closing of Canada-U.S. border crossings to all but essential travel will be extended another 30 days, through at least the third week in May.

Except for transport trucks full of commercial goods and those crossing the border to perform services considered “essential,” the Peace Bridge and other border crossings between Canada and the U.S. will remain closed to the rest of us, for at least through to the last week of May.

That offers at least some relief since, as I stated in a commentary on NAL this April 17^th, and I know other Canadians have said it, there is reason to be concerned about opening border crossings wide up at a time when Trump and so many of his supporters continue to pooh-pooh the need to continue taking protective measures to tamp down such a highly infections and deadly virus that has been ravaging our lives.

Frankly, the idea of the Peace Bridge and other crossings in Niagara, and border crossings in other regions of Canada and the United States opening to regular traffic this April 21^st, which was the original end date set for this crossing restrictions in March, is troubling. Continue reading →

If the Trumpies Want to Play Chicken with this Killer Virus, Let Them Do It In Their Own Country. We Don’t Need Them Bringing That Dangerous Game Across the Border to Canada

We can’t let Trump export his Coronavirus cases to Canada

A Commentary by Doug Draper of Niagara At Large, followed by a demand to keep the Canada-U.S. border closed, issued in a news release from Niagara Falls, Ontario MPP Wayne Gates

Posted April 17^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

The Peace Bridge, a major Canada-U.S. border crossing at Niagara, Ontario and Buffalo, New York. If Trump wants to continue playing a game of chicken with COVID-19, then keep the border crossings closed, please

Before Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates circulated the following news release this April 17th, urging Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford to pressure Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, to keep the Canada-U.S. border closed, I was preparing to post a commentary on this matter on Niagara At Large.

And before my commentary gets started, let me be up front about this.

What I have to say is probably going to come across a lot less diplomatically than the way the Niagara Falls MPP is putting it in his news release, and Wayne Gates should certainly not be blamed in any way for my remarks.

I think it is good of Wayne Gates to say what he has, as diplomatically as he has, about the need to continue keeping the Canada-U.S. border crossings closed to everyone and everything but absolutely essential traffic. Continue reading →

Ontario’s Official Opposition NDP Party Does A Little Fact Checking On A Ford Government  Coronavirus Testing Pledge

A  News Release form Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Party

Posted April 16^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Fact Check: COVID-19 testing is less than half of Premier Ford’s promised 20,000.

QUEEN’S PARK –  Premier Ford said his government had completed 9,000 COVID-19 tests yesterday, but that is less than half of the 20,000 tests he promised by mid-April.

The above slide, dated April 3rd, was produced for and released by Ontario’s Ford Government at the beginning of this April

Moving the goalpost to imply that the government has contained this virus misleads the public and puts lives at risk. Instead of making up numbers, the government must be transparent with Ontarians about the current testing capacity and why Ontario is still not yet testing 20,000 people per day.

Background:

March 27: Minister Elliott tweeted: “We’re increasing capacity every day and plan to be able to run 20,000 #COVID19 tests a day by mid-April.” – (https://twitter.com/celliottability/status/1243575725074141192)

April 3: Premier Ford tweeted: “Cleared the backlog of COVID-19 tests as Ontario increases testing capacity every day with 20,000 tests a day expected by mid-April” – (https://twitter.com/fordnation/status/1246206312289050628)

NIAGARA AT LARGE encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post, along with your name (not a pseudonym), in the space immediately below the Bernie Sanders quote.

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

Ford government must match rhetoric with stronger, concrete measures to protect residents and staff

“We are inundated with calls and emails from families with loved ones in long-term care and staff in the homes, crying, afraid, furious about the lack of testing, even in homes with outbreaks.” – Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, Ontario Health Coalition

‘Since the Ford government was elected, annual unannounced inspections of long-term care homes have ceased. The Coalition is calling for the government to reinstate annual unannounced inspections.’

A Call-Out from the Ontario Health Coalition, a citizens group advocating for quality public health care

Posted April 16th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Natalie Mehre, Executive Director, Ontario Health Coalition

Toronto – The Ford government’s Action Plan to address COVID-19 outbreaks in Ontario’s long-term care homes is still less than what is needed stop the spread of the virus and stabilize the workforce, warned the Ontario Health Coalition today (this April 16th), and is inconsistent with the “iron ring” rhetoric and promises for widespread testing from the Premier.

“We are increasingly frustrated with the disconnect between the statements of the Premier and what is actually being put into the regulations, directives and guidance issued by his own government,” said Natalie Mehra, executive director.

“Yesterday’s announcement was mostly a rehash of measures already announced, many of them less than what has been stated in daily press conferences by the Premier. More importantly, the measures that are being taken are too little and too slow, and the Ontario government appears to be relying too much upon isolation to contain the spread of the virus, which is not practically possible in many long-term care homes.” Continue reading →

Province Needs a Plan to Manage Residential Care Homes in Dire Situations

A News Release from the Ontario New Democratic Party

Posted April 16^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

QUEEN’S PARK – After weeks of COVID-19 sweeping through vulnerable group living facilities, the Ford government is choosing to build dangerous gaps into its new protective orders, leaving seniors and adults with disabilities at greater risk.

Andrea Horwath, Leader of the Official Opposition New Democrats, wants those problems fixed today – alongside a plan to take over management of facilities where residents aren’t protected. Continue reading →

Regulatory Changes Open the Door for Auto Insurance Rebates

“My message to insurance companies has been clear: they should provide relief that reflects the financial hardships their dedicated customers are facing due to the COVID-19 outbreak.”                                          – Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips

News from Ontario’s Ministry of Finance

Posted April 16^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

TORONTO — The Ontario government is enabling auto insurance companies to provide temporary insurance premium rebates to drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The province has amended a regulation under the Insurance Act to help ease the financial pressure on working people and families during this public health crisis.

By amending this regulation insurance companies would be able to provide auto insurance premium rebates to consumers for up to 12 months after the declared emergency has ended. Continue reading →

University President Salutes All Brock Alumni Now Working On the Front Lines in this Pandemic

A Message from Brock University in St. Catharines, Niagara

Posted April 15th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – We hope you are keeping well during these difficult days.

While many of us may feel uncertainty at this time, we also find comfort in one unaltered truth: Our alumni community is strong. We encourage you to (virtually) lean on one another for support and friendship.

We have heard many stories about alumni making differences in their communities, and for every story that we hear we know there are countless others that go untold.

Today, our President, Gervan Fearon, has a message to share. Click on the screen below to listen to it here –

To all of our alumni serving in the health care system, working as first responders and those keeping our essential services running, we thank you. Thank you for your dedication, your empathy, your commitment and the sacrifices you make each day.

We are incredibly proud of you, Badgers.

Continue reading →

All sectors in Niagara have been negatively affected, …. However the arts, entertainment, recreation; accommodation and food service; and retail trade sectors have seen a more pronounced effect.

“These preliminary results illustrate the gravity of the situation Niagara is facing. … They also provide crucial insights that will allow Niagara to be nimble and responsive in supporting our businesses throughout this crisis.”                                              – Valerie Kuhns, Acting Director, Niagara Economic Development for Niagara, Ontario’s Regional government

News from Niagara’s Regional Government and 12 Local Municipalities

Posted April 15^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Economic Rapid Response Team completes first survey of Niagara businesses

Niagara, Ontario –This April 14^th, Niagara’s Economic Rapid Response Team (ERRT) released the results of a region-wide survey of Niagara businesses that gives an early picture of the local impact of COVID-19 on Niagara’s business community.

This almost empty parking lot at the normally busy Pen Centre shopping mall in St. Catharines just about says it all. Stores and other businesses closed for weeks and countless people now out of work here, and across the Niagara region.

Over 2,600 businesses from all of Niagara’s municipalities completed the online survey, administered between March 20 and 30. The results represent over 66,000 employees from all sectors of Niagara’s economy, and provides a snapshot of the immediate effects of the first few weeks of the pandemic. Continue reading →

Province’s NDP Leader says Commitment Needs to Come with Better Job Conditions, Wage Boost

A Statement by Ontario NDP Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath

Another hearse leaves a nursing home in Bobcaygeon, Ontario where more than 25 senior residents have reportedly died from COVID-19 related complications

NDP Leader’s Statement followed by an Afterword by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper, and a disturbing CBC News report on the lack of government oversight of long-term care homes in Ontario

Posted April 15th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Ontario’s NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has been speaking out for better conditions in the province’s long-term care homes for years.

QUEEN’S PARK – NDP Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath released the following statement in response to the government’s announcement about long-term care staffing:

“The NDP has been calling for an end to the practice of staff working in multiple long-term care homes for some time, so we are relieved to see the government finally take this step. It shouldn’t have taken weeks to put a stop to something that put vulnerable seniors in the crosshairs of COVID-19, and I am heartbroken knowing that this announcement is simply too late for some families.

We look forward to seeing the order to ensure there are no exceptions, because the stakes are too high to get this wrong. And it won’t be enough for the government to simply say staff can’t work in multiple long-term care homes – we need to address the reasons why they had to do this in the first place. Continue reading →

Sustained Measures Necessary to Stop the Spread and Protect Public Health

Ontario government decides to extend ‘state of emergency’

“During these unprecedented times, we cannot let our guard down. The actions being taken by everyone to stay home and practice physical distancing are making a difference, but we are not out of the woods yet.”                                                                         – Ontario Premier Doug Ford

A COVID-19 Update from the Office of Ontario’s Premier

Posted April 15^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

TORONTO ― On the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and with the approval of the Ontario legislature, the Ontario government is extending the Declaration of Emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act for a further 28 days.

This will allow the government to continue to use every tool at its disposal to protect the health and safety of the people of Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Passed during a special sitting of the Ontario legislature and with the full cooperation of all parties, the Declaration of Emergency has been extended until May 12. Continue reading →

Another Niagara, Ontario Healthcare worker tests positive for COVID-19

“The unit in question will continue to admit patients with COVID-19 and has a number of enhanced safety measures already in place.” – Derek McNally, Vice President Clinical Services and Chief Nursing Executive for Niagara Health

A COVID-19 Update from from Niagara Health, Niagara, Ontario’s amalgamated system of hospitals

Posted April 14th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Health’s St. Catharines Hospital site where a second COVID-19 outbreak has been declared within a matter of days of the first.

Niagara, Ontario – (This Tuesday, April 14th) Niagara Health has declared an outbreak of COVID-19 on inpatient Unit 4A at the St. Catharines Site after one of our healthcare workers tested positive for the virus.

The outbreak, which is on the unit that is dedicated to caring for COVID-19 patients, was declared because our investigation determined the case was healthcare-associated. The staff member is at home and self-isolating. Continue reading →

‘Record-breaking levels on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River … have taken a toll on homeowners, businesses and shoreline communities, demonstrating the need for governments to take a proactive approach to potential future flooding.’

A Report from Chrissy Chiasson, a policy analyst for the Canadian section of the Canada/U.S. International Joint Commission

Posted April 14, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Record-breaking levels on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River in 2017 and 2019 have taken a toll on homeowners, businesses and shoreline communities, demonstrating the need for governments to take a proactive approach to potential future flooding.

Lake Ontario from space, with the east end of Lake Erie in lower left corner

In March, Quebec released its 2020-2021 budget which included several details about the province’s proposed strategy to reduce its flood risk.

The strategy includes CDN$473 million (from the Quebeci government) to implement solutions, in collaboration with municipalities and the scientific community, to mitigate the impact of flooding on communities.

Recently, Quebec also launched a new website which allows users to view updated floodplain data for more than 730 municipalities in Quebec, including many in greater Montreal. Continue reading →

‘The program provides up to 14 days of boarding at the Lincoln Country Humane Society or fostering by Fido Niagara, depending on the animal’s circumstances and program space availability. … Pets may include dogs, cats, birds, or other domestic animals.’

A News Release from the Lincoln Country Humane Society

Posted April 14^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Pet Emergency Temporary Shelter (PETS) is a newly-established humanitarian companion animal shelter program in support of an expected influx of hospitalized pet owners during the COVID-19 pandemic in Niagara Region. 

Fido Niagara founder Jessica Cohen with a friend

The program was organized by the non-profit Fido Niagara and is a collaborative effort among the Lincoln County Humane Society, Niagara Health and Niagara EMS. The program’s purpose is to remove barriers for pet owners in accessing healthcare, and also prevent animal neglect while a pet owner is hospitalized or unable to provide care for their pet at home.

“We recognize the importance of pets in people’s lives and we don’t want pet care to be a barrier to receiving personal care” said Jessica Cohen, founder of Fido Niagara.

The program provides up to 14 days of boarding at LCHS or fostering by Fido Niagara, depending on the animal’s circumstances and program space availability. Pets may include dogs, cats, birds, or other domestic animals. Continue reading →

Brock University Professor Rebecca Raby

“Clearly, there are children in a lot of stress out there. … I suspect we’re going to learn a lot about personal coping, family dynamics and online peer friendships, providing us with a sense of how children are dealing with this difficult situation.”                             – Rebecca Raby, Professor of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted April 14^th, 2020 on Niagara At :Large

Niagara, Ontario – It was a news report on the dramatic rise in calls to Kids Help Phone that moved Rebecca Raby to action.

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Kids Help Phone in Niagara has experience a dramatic rise in call from young people

As a researcher with a long history of working with children and youth, the Brock University Professor of Child and Youth Studies was concerned, and curious, about how young people are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Raby and her research team of six graduate students have now launched their online study of children’s and young people’s experiences at home during the pandemic.

“Clearly, there are children in a lot of stress out there,” says Raby. “But I suspect we’re also going to hear stories about really cool, compelling things that kids have started to initiate at home with parents, siblings, on their own or online.” Continue reading →

Ontario NDP and Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath

“We do need to do everything possible to protect seniors in long-term care. From the beginning of this pandemic, we should have restricted workers to one long-term care or group living facility each, and mandated higher wages and scheduling practices that would allow them to do that.”                                                                 – Ontario NDP Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath

From the Office of NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

Posted April 13^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

QUEEN’S PARK — NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says the province can save lives with a directive to have long-term care workers each work in one home only, and pay them enough to be able to do that.

“We do need to do everything possible to protect seniors in long-term care. From the beginning of this pandemic, we should have restricted workers to one long-term care or group living facility each, and mandated higher wages and scheduling practices that would allow them to do that. Continue reading →

Here is One Retired Nurse in Niagara Who Says ‘Yes’

A Comment by Linda McKellar, a retired emergency care nurse and resident of the Town of Fort Erie in Niagara, Ontario

Posted April 13^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Numbers of deaths due to COVID-19 and related information, such as age and general location in the Niagara region should be made public. That does not intrude on anyone’s grief or privacy. but gives vital information that people should know.

Names need not be given except by family request. In fact, some families may want the information known, both to give their loved ones respect and to make us aware that there are faces and real people behind the impersonal numbers we see.

Every number represents a REAL human: a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, a child, a friend or other loved one. Continue reading →

All the Changes Outlined Below Are Effective       Monday, April 13,  2020

A COVID-19 Update from Niagara, Ontario’s Regional Government

Posted April 13^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Region is making further changes to curbside waste collection this week to allow collection staff from Emterra and Canadian Waste Management to continue to focus on core services.

The changes are to prioritize the weekly collection of garbage, recycling and organics and to help our collection staff who are working hard to maintain this essential service for the community.

Effective Monday, April 13, 2020, only three (3) bags/cans of yard waste will be collected per collection day, per eligible residential property (i.e. single dwelling homes and apartments with six units or less). There is also restrictions on leaf and yard waste at the landfill and drop-off depots. Continue reading →

Niagara Health Declares “Outbreak” of  COVID-19 on Inpatient Unit at St. Catharines Site

News from Niagara Health, Niagara, Ontario’s amalgamated system of hospitals and related health care facilities Posted April 11^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Health’s St. Catharines Hospital site in Niagara, Ontario

St. Catharines, Ontario – Niagara Health today (this April 11^th) declared an outbreak of COVID-19 on an inpatient unit at the St. Catharines Site after one of our healthcare workers tested positive for the virus.

Our Infection Prevention and Control team has taken immediate action to protect our staff, physicians and patients.

“The health, safety and well-being of everyone is our top priority,” says Derek McNally, Niagara Health’s Executive Vice President, Clinical Services and Chief Nursing Executive.

“Our Infection Prevention and Control experts, working closely with Niagara Region Public Health and the NH Occupational Health and Safety team, will monitor the situation closely and will adjust measures as needed to respond to this outbreak.”

Enhanced safety measures now in place include temporarily closing the unit in question to all admissions and transfers, and following up with patients, staff and physicians who may have had direct contact with the healthcare worker as a precaution. NH Occupational Health and Safety provides members of the hospital team with support on an ongoing basis.

(A Brief Footnote from Doug Draper at Niagara At Large –

This man, standing in downtown St. Catharines/Niagara a few weeks ago, said it all with this sign. Drivers honked their horns and waved as they passed

I am sure our many readers join me in wishing this healthcare worker a full recovery, as we continue to salute the brave efforts of all of our frontline healthcare workers, and the many other frontline workers, from grocery clerks to maintenance workers, and on and on, to keep our communities functioning as best they can through these perilous times.

We have have further updates on this latest news and related news on this ongoing health crisis later.)

NIAGARA AT LARGE encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post, along with your name (not a pseudonym), in the space immediately below the Bernie Sanders quote.

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

Stay Strong and Remember What They’re Saying. The More We Stay Apart Now, the Sooner We’ll Get Back Together!

An Easter Weekend Message from Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted Saturday, April 11^th, 2020 

I’m sure that most of us who were not privy to the kind of ‘intelligence information’ that certain ‘leader’ on the American side of the border failed to read or take seriously, never imagined last New Year’s Day that this Easter Holiday weekend would be like this.

I can drive down the Niagara Escarpment from my home in Thorold this Easter weekend and see enough empty space in the parking lots of the Pen Centre shopping mall to land a whole fleet of helicopters from the last Middle East war.

At any rate, Easter weekend is here and Tigger, one of my favourite cats – a real celebrity of a feline in Niagara, who normally lives at the Pet Valu store at the Pine Plaza on Pine Street in Thorold – is apparently now home, doing his part to keep a safe distance, with some of the good people who share the store with him.

Here is a photo of Tigger with the Easter Bunny, taken by one of his Pet Valu colleagues, Joe Krawchuk, from a Tigger calendar the store puts out every year as a fundraiser for  animal assistance.

I was originally planning to end this Easter message with the photo of Tigger but being who I am, I can’t help but use the occasion to talk a little bit about politics, and social and cultural insanity. So here I go. Continue reading →

  “At a time when government transparency and communication is more essential than ever, Premier Ford has moved to gut public participation under Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights. … It certainly appears that the Ontario government is exploiting this moment (the COVID-19 crisis) to further erode Ontario’s environmental laws and limit the public’s role in environmental policy.”                                                                  – Robert Wright, Ecojustice lawyer

A News Release from Ecojustice, a Canada-wide group of lawyers advocating for environmental justice, with a brief Foreword from Niagara At Large reporter Doug Draper

Posted April 10^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A Foreword by Doug Draper –

With Trump using the COVID-19 disaster as cover to do even more cutting and gutting to air and water pollution regulations, it should probably come as no great surprise that the Ford government in Ontario, with an environmental record that is almost equally as bad, might pull the same stunt here.

In a recent story published in the National Observer on the Ford government’s move, a spokesperson for Ontario Environment Minister Jeff Yurek is quoted saying that “this will ensure our government is able to quickly respond to time-sensitive needs that arise as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic.”

It is hard to image what environmental protection measures in Ontario might get in the way of taking steps that would protect us from this virus. Continue reading →

Enhanced testing strategy will help stop the spread of the virus

“By significantly increasing the number of tests each day, we will identify cases early, contain them and prevent putting more people at risk.”                                                                                             – Christine Elliott, Ontario Deputy Premier and Health Minister

News from the Ontario Government

Posted April 10th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

TORONTO — To stop the spread of COVID-19, the Ontario government is implementing the next phase of its strategy to significantly expand and enhance testing.

In addition to the ongoing testing of the general public at any of the 100 assessment centres now established across the province, Ontario will be proactively testing several priority groups, including:

1. Hospital inpatients;
2. Residents of long-term care and retirement homes;
3. Health care workers, caregivers, care providers, paramedics, and first responders, including police and firefighters;aa
4. Remote, isolated, rural and Indigenous communities;
5. Other congregate living centres, including homeless shelters, prisons and group homes;
6. Specific vulnerable populations, including patients undergoing chemotherapy or hemodialysis and requiring transplants, as well as pregnant persons, newborns and cross-border workers; and
7. Other essential workers, as defined by provincial orders.

Continue reading →

Dr. Courtney Howard, Canadian physician and environmental activist

“The fossil fuel industry is counting on Canadians being too occupied coping with an ongoing health crisis to register that our country is considering a massive transfer of public funds to support the very industry most likely to cause the next health crisis.”                                   – Dr. Courtney Howard, Board President of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE)

A News Release from Environmental Defence, a Canadian advocacy group for our environment

Posted April 10^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

No more of our tax money should go to this. Let’s use it to help the workers transition to 21st century jobs. Jason Kenney and his tar sand bosses have done enough damage to Alberta’s economy and the planet..

Ottawa—A large collection of health, faith, environmental, labour and social justice groups, representing one million three hundred thousand Canadians, have sent a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau and his cabinet asking that in the federal bailout to the oil and gas industry, no more money be given to companies, only to workers.

“The fossil fuel industry is counting on Canadians being too occupied coping with an ongoing health crisis to register that our country is considering a massive transfer of public funds to support the very industry most likely to cause the next health crisis,” says Dr. Courtney Howard, Board President of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE). Continue reading →

‘Stimulus money should offer immediate relief directly to workers and provide opportunities for training, education and employment in existing and emerging low-carbon sectors.’

By Dylan Penner, Council of Canadians

Posted April 10^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Millions of people across the country are facing dual crises: trying to stay healthy during the public health emergency of COVID-19 and trying to pay rent and keep food on the table while more and more people get laid off.

These crises are exacerbated by inequality, racism, the climate crisis and governments bailing out corporations before meeting the needs of communities.

That’s why the Council of Canadians, together with social justice allies, sent this letter calling on the federal government to act now. You might recall that the federal government recently committed to a Just Transition Act. Now, we’re asking them to turn that promise into relief for communities. Continue reading →

On Both Sides of the Canada/U.S. Border, Trump Has Done Immeasurable Damage to Our Economies, to Our Shared Environment and to Our Lives

“Months after he could’ve acted, he sits there today refusing to send the full help that’s needed. … Trump, through stupidity or design, is out to kill us.”                                                                                     – Journalist and Academy Award-winning documentary film producer Michael Moore

“In the case of coronavirus, the Trump administration shelved the war plan, or pandemic “playbook,” prepared by the Obama administration. It disbanded the National Security Council office established to provide early warning and ensure preparedness, and disregarded the intelligence community’s warnings that a global pandemic was likely.

Former UN ambassador for the U.S. Obama administration, Susan Rice

Worse, the Trump team wasted two critical months, as the virus swept to our shores, before starting to send forces into battle. Its failure to act quickly, upon receiving warning in early January of a novel coronavirus, to create and distribute enough functional tests to track the disease, or to help states add hospital beds, procure critical equipment and recruit health care workers, ensured we started the fight trapped behind enemy lines.”                                                   – Susan Rice, former U.S. Ambassador to the United States during the Obama administration

A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher           Doug Draper

Posted April 9th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

No thanks to what U.S. journalist and documentary film-maker Michael Moore rightfully calls that “ignorant, arrogant murdering bastard” now in the White House, our Canadian front-line health workers finally have the shipment of protective respirator masks from the 3M company that Trump and his fellow swamp creatures attempted to ban from coming here.

Shipments for 3M protective masks finally make it to Canada for our frontline health care workers after attempt by Trump to try to stop them.

These were masks that Canadian parties properly ordered from the 3M company by the way, and masks manufactured with raw material that came from Canada in the first place.

And yes, this April 8^th, shipments of the masks were finally allowed to cross the border but only after several days of senior representatives in Canada, including the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Premier of Ontario, getting on the phones to counterparts in the Trump administration and apparently, all but getting down on their hands and knees begging them to let them through.

All of this precious time taken away from our leaders focusing on other life-and-death issues around what this killer virus is doing to peoples’ lives, just so that the “ignorant, arrogant murdering bastard” in the White House could do his tough-guy, put America first” act for the millions of angry, hate-filled xenophobic nitwits who continue to support him, even though their health and welfare is also now hanging in the balance. Continue reading →

Community Food Gardens Should Not Be Ordered Closed Due to COVID-19

A Call-Out from the Green Party of Ontario

Posted April 9^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

We think the government made a mistake by issuing a mandatory closure of all community gardens in Ontario due to COVID-19

It’s an oversight they can quickly correct.

The province classified community gardens as a recreational activity, like ice rinks and swimming pools, instead of an essential food service like grocery stores. Continue reading →

Does the Public have a “Right to Know” this Information? What Do You Think?

“This information provides critical insights about infection rates and locations — details people need to be aware of so they can take the steps necessary to protect themselves and prevent further spread of the disease.”                                                                – Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner  Brian Beamish

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

Posted April 9th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A story posted this April 6th by CBC News reports that “Niagara Region Public Health (the public health department that is part of Niagara, Ontario’s regional government) is refusing to release the number of local COVID-19 deaths, saying that victims’ privacy trumps the public’s right to know how the pandemic is affecting the community.”

The CBC story goes on to say that “Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner doesn’t understand why NRPH is shielding the numbers and wants them released “as soon as possible.”

“This information provides critical insights about infection rates and locations — details people need to be aware of so they can take the steps necessary to protect themselves and prevent further spread of the disease,” commissioner Brian Beamish told CBC News.’

Over the past month or so, and even before Niagara Public health circulated a news release, reporting the first confirmed case of a Niagara resident testing positive with COVID-19 (coronavirus) on March 12th, Niagara At Large, as have other media outlets, been snowed over with news releases, public advisories, updates and the like on this outbreak, coming from one body or another in the private sector and all levels of government. Continue reading →

Less Driving And Fewer Accidents Should Benefit Drivers, Not Just Insurance Companies

(A Note from Niagara At Large – In a report NAL is including directly below this NDP News Release, Canadian insurers are already planning to lower costs to drivers during the Coronavirus shutdown.)

A News Release from the Office of NDP Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath

Posted April 8th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

With the roads and highways of Ontario so empty of traffic, and so many people with their vehicles parked at home during this COVID-19 crisis, should drivers not get a break on their auto insurance?

QUEEN’S PARK – The NDP Official Opposition is calling on the Ford government to give all Ontario drivers a 50 per cent break on auto insurance payments for three months, and let people who have lost a job or income defer payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As Ontarians listen to public health experts and stay home as much as possible, there’s little driving and few accidents happening in the province,” said NDP Auto Insurance critic Tom Rakocevic. Continue reading →

“The Government of Canada has made changes to the Canada Summer Jobs program, so that we can help employers help their communities through good quality, safe job placements for youth.”                                                                                                          – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

An Update on COVID-19 Assistance from the Office of Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Posted April 8^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

The Government of Canada is taking unprecedented action to support workers, businesses, and all Canadians impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Right now, young people are facing serious challenges finding work.

To build the foundations of strong communities, we need a strong workforce that includes good job opportunities for youth. That is why the government is working to help employers adapt to the realities of COVID-19, and supporting young Canadians as they begin to look for summer employment.  

This April 8th , the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced temporary changes to the Canada Summer Jobs program that will help employers hire summer staff and provide young Canadians access to the jobs they need during this unprecedented time. This program will help create up to 70,000 jobs for youth between 15 and 30 years of age. Continue reading →

A Message to the People of Lincoln that is a Good One for all of us in Niagara during these Perilous Times

From the Town of Lincoln in Niagara, Ontario

Posted April 8th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

** Celebrate Holidays in a Different Way

Today (this April 8th) Passover begins, followed by Good Friday & Easter Sunday this weekend. A time we usually spend with family & friends, eating meals together, doing outdoor activities, and attending places of worship for some.

Lincoln is in a State of Emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, we have to celebrate in a different way.

A message from Mayor Sandra Easton:

Mayor Sandra Easton provides an important message to Lincoln residents about staying healthy as we celebrate holidays this week. To hear it, click on the screen –

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 Commentary by Doug Draper (that maybe comes with a few laughs)

Posted April 7th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

At some of his recent meetings, Trump has elbowed Dr. Anthony Fauci and other health experts aside to declare that a “miracle” drug for the virus may be just around the corner

If you have put yourself through some of the same hell I have every day by watching Trump’s White House  press briefings (a.k.a campaign rallies), you might wish, right about now, and that one of the reporters would spring to their feet and give him proper hell.

Well maybe what we need is good ol’ Ralph Kramden in the room. Some of you might remember Ralph from that classic 1950s television series ‘The Honeymooners,” that they continued re-running for decade after decade on cable networks.

But even if you don’t remember Ralph, here is someone’s idea of how Ralph would react after a few minutes of Trump inflicting the world with his self-serving crap.

Click on the screen immediately below to watch –

Before I go, it was one of my favourite community activists in Niagara, Bob Milenkoff, from my old hometown of Welland, who was kind enough to share this video with me. Where he found it, I have no idea. Continue reading →

Province Launches Online Portal to Match Available Health Care Workers with Employers

“Our health care heroes on the frontlines of this battle are doing extraordinary work, but they need reinforcements to step up and lend a hand to help defeat this virus.”                                                    – Ontario Premier Doug Ford

A Call-Out from the Office of Ontario Premier Doug Ford

Posted April 7^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

TORONTO, Ontario — The Ontario government is taking further action to stop the spread of COVID-19 by actively recruiting health care workers to increase the frontline capacity of hospitals, clinics, and assessment centres. Today, the province is launching a new online tool that will help match skilled frontline workers with employers.

The new Health Workforce Matching Portal will enable health care providers with a range of experience to join the province’s response to COVID-19. Those providers include retired or non-active health care professionals, internationally educated health care professionals, students, and volunteers with health care experience.

The portal will efficiently match the availability and skillsets of frontline health care workers to the employers in need of assistance to perform a variety of public health functions, such as case and contact management. Continue reading →

When – Wednesday, April 8 – 12:30-2:00 pm EST

Registration is Required. Click On –  <https://cela.ca/great-lakes-lessons-from-the-past-webinar/>

An Invite from the Canadian Environmental Law Association and the Mott Foundation

Posted April 7^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Dear Great Lakes Friends and Colleagues,

John Jackson, a veteran Canadian environmentalist and former lead member of a now-disbanded binational group called Great Lakes United will be a participant in the webinar session

Thanks to all of you for contributing to the Great Lakes history of activism in the 1980’s and 1990’s project. It is a long time since you have heard from us.

During that time we have been refining the project and getting it to the next stage.

The Healthy Great Lakes Project of the Canadian Environmental Law Association and the Mott Foundation have helped organize the webinar described below. I hope you will get a chance to attend – no problem during the current isolation times.

You will see some of your old-time friends and colleagues on the webinar. Continue reading →

Attorney General Announces $2.7 Million for Crime Victims During COVID-19 Outbreak

“This emergency payment will ensure victims of crime, particularly those who are experiencing domestic violence, get the help they need to stay safe and healthy during this crisis.”       – Niagara West Conservative Party Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West.

News from the Constituency Office of Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff

Posted April 7^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

BEAMSVILLE in Niagara – Ontario is taking emergency action to address the recent spike in domestic violence reported by victims services organizations during the COVID-19 crisis.

The government of Ontario is providing an emergency payment of more than $2.7 million to support services for victims of domestic violence and other violent crimes in response to the evolving public health crisis and challenges victim service providers are facing.

Victim Services Niagara, providing victim assistance across Niagara, will receive $50,500.00 as part of this one-time emergency payment in addition to its annual funding allocation from the Ministry of the Attorney General. Continue reading →

‘Under a “new waiver” from Trump-appointed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) director Andrew Wheeler, a polluter may avoid a penalty even if the pollution problem puts public or environmental health at risk. It also waives some monitoring requirements so the extent of a pollution problem could be unknown. This temporary policy has no end date.’

A Call-Out to All of Us from the Alliance for the Great Lakes, a lakes-wide citizens advocacy group for protecting our Great Lakes basin

Posted April 7^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)  recently issued an “enforcement discretion policy.” It suspends important pollution rules and will allow industrial facilities to avoid monitoring and reporting air and water pollution, without penalty, during the Covid-19 crisis.

We understand the need for flexibility during the current crisis, but this is a serious overreach and puts our communities and the environment at risk. We can’t further risk public health and safety in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis. Continue reading →

“It’s legal to own tigers in most of Canada. … and lions. and monkeys. Trade, consumption and possession of wild animals is not simply ‘over there’ or the domain of Joe Exotic.”

“Research suggests the trade and consumption of wild animals are the origin of this pandemic, and this has been true of most recent outbreaks.”

This magnificant wild animals does not belong in a hallway of a building somewhere in Canada. WE HAVE GOT TO STOP THIS!

A News Release from Brock University in St. Catharines, Niagara

Posted April 7^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Think there are no Tiger Kings in Canada? Think again, says Brock expert

As the world reels from the physical, psychological, social and economic effects of COVID-19, millions of people are being temporarily distracted by the Netflix docuseries Tiger King.

Brock University’s Kendra Coulter has remained a strong voice for protecting wildlife and our environment. Join her in championing these issues.

For many, the show has a Jerry Springer effect, allowing viewers to watch — with their jaws dropped — people and places that seem so different and shocking. But Brock University Associate Professor and Labour Studies Chair Kendra Coulter says Tiger King is more of a reflection of Canadian society than many think it is.

“It’s legal to own tigers in most of Canada,” she says. “And lions. And monkeys. Trade, consumption and possession of wild animals is not simply ‘over there’ or the domain of Joe Exotic.”

Coulter, an expert in animal welfare issues, says that while precise numbers are difficult to obtain, the best data suggests there are more than 1.5 million privately owned exotic animals in Canada, including more than 3,000 big cats. Continue reading →

Daughter of Tommy Douglas – Father of Canada’s Universal Medicare System – Died April 5^th, 2020, Age 86

A Tribute by the Ontario Health Coalition, citizens advocating for public health care

Posted April 7^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

It is with heavy hearts that we mark the passing of long-time friend of public medicare and sister activist, Shirley Douglas. Shirley passed Sunday morning from complications arising from pneumonia and is survived by her ex-husband Donald Sutherland and her children, Kiefer, Thomas and Rachel.

Like her father, Shirley Douglas spent her adult life fighting for health care for all and many other social justice causes

Shirley was an award-winning actress and the daughter of Tommy Douglas, widely known as the father of public medicare in Canada.  Shirley was a spokesperson for the Canadian and Toronto Health Coalitions and a champion of public health care. In her later years, Shirley helped by arranging for her son, Kiefer to do ads against for-profit private clinics, by speaking at public events, and by sending encouraging messages to Health Coalition events.

Natalie Mehra, the executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, tweeted Kiefer Sutherland to express our heartfelt condolences over the loss of his mother: “Your mother was a great Canadian; fierce, stalwart, courageous, dynamic. Our hearts and thoughts are with you and your family today. In her honour we recommit to work our hardest to protect and improve equitable compassionate public health care for all.” Continue reading →

A Statement by Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, on World Health Day

Posted April 7^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Ottawa, Ontario – The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on World Health Day:

“This year, we mark World Health Day at a time when we are facing a rapidly evolving global pandemic. To fight the outbreak of COVID-19, Canadians and people around the world have had to change how we work, how we play, and how we stay connected with our loved ones and communities.

We are all in this together, and we must each do our part to stop the spread of COVID-19.

“Difficult times like these remind us of the importance of working together. In 1948, the World Health Organization was created to do just that. Since its foundation, it has brought countries together to ensure everyone has access to the health services they need. Continue reading →

Beginning this April 6th, people eligible for the drive-through service will be notified when their appointment is booked, and will be guided to the drive-through area when they arrive in their vehicle.

A COVID-19 Update from Niagara Health, Niagara, Ontario’s amalgamated system of hospitals and related health care facilities

Posted April 6th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Health’s St. Catharines Hospital site is also site of new COVID-19 Assessment Centre

Niagara, Ontario – To increase safety, efficiency and screen more patients, the COVID-19 Assessment Centre at Niagara Health’s St. Catharines Site is offering a drive-through service for those referred.

Beginning today (April 6), people eligible for the drive-through service will be notified when their appointment is booked, and will be guided to the drive-through area when they arrive in their vehicle. Continue reading →

British Prime Minister, by many accounts, was way too slow in taking the virus series and launching a pandemic plan

“I am shaking hands. I was in the hospital the other night where I think there were a few people with coronavirus and I shook hands with everybody.”                                                            – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a March 3^rd, 2020 news conference

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted April 6^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Well, guess who needs a ventilator now?

You may very well have heard the Breaking News by now that earlier this April 6^th, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, one of the closest examples of a Donald Trump cut-out on the world stage, has been moved to intensive care after first being diagnosed with COVID-19 several days ago.

We all wish the British prime minister well, yet it should be instructive to all of us, especially his mop-hair, ideological twin in the White House, that this virus plays no favourites.

Johnson and Trump, often looking and acting like they came out of the same peanut shell. Both have played a game chicken with the coronavirus. For Johnson, he is now tragically fighting for his life. For Trump, it may cost him his presidency.

It doesn’t care how much you try to deny it, downplay the death and destruction it can do, shoot the bull about miracle cures or going on with business as usual, or blame all the usual bogey men and women when all hell finally breaks loose. This virus is going to have the last word.

As former U.S. vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said so aptly a month or two ago, and I paraphrase; ‘This virus doesn’t care about Donald Trump’s tweets.

More recently, former U.S. vice president Al Gore, now one of the world’s leading climate activists, said words to the effect of ‘you can’t gaslight a pandemic’. Continue reading →

“Courage,” it is sometimes said, “is grace under fire.” The same might be said for true leadership.

A Brief Comment by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher       Doug Draper

Posted April 6th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

I am about as far away as you can get from a monarchist.

And yet, I took a few moments out of my afternoon this April 5^th to listen to the address Queen Elizabeth II of England delivered to what is left of the United Kingdom in this 21^st Century, and I could not help but feel a little uplifted and assured that we work together and care for one another, we will prevail.

So many of what we all need at a time like this were there, in her words – strength, empathy, reassurance, a reminder that through history, humans have been through dark times like this before, and a will and resolve to find  more sunny days on the other side of this one.

“We’ll meet again,” were among her final words – a nod to lyrics of a morale boosting song sung by Vera Lynn for a people enduring the hellfire of the Second World War at home and abroad.

I wonder how many Americans now wish they had never overthrown the monarchy?

As I reflected on her message, I could not help but compare her composure and the grace of her words to the denial, misinformation and lies, and mad, dysfunctional, self-serving bile spewing from the mouth of the orange-hair monster on the U.S. side of the border – a man who occupies an office that his nation and the world would otherwise look to for strong and steady leadership at a perilous time like this.

First, here is the message from the Queen that you can watch by clicking on the screen immediately below –

Then click on the screen below and take a look at this –

Honest Abe Lincoln must be screaming in his grave right about now.

The late U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, a Republican whose name became synomimous with the party that has been circling the drain since Nixon and finished off by Trump, once said this during a time of great crisis, a Civil War that threatened to forever tear his country in two –

“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”

Clearly, from his words and behaviour before and during this latest crisis, Trump would not have a clue what Lincoln meant by those words, and his country, Canada, and the rest of the world are in all the more danger for it.

I never thought the day would come that I would pray so much on the words of a monarch, but can we all please hear that message from Her Majesty, Queen of England, one more time?

God Bless the Queen!

NIAGARA AT LARGE encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post, along with your name (not a pseudonym), in the space immediately below.

So PLEASE, STAY HOME, STAY SAFE, and when you have to go out, PRACTICE PHYSICAL DISTANCING

It is Time for Authorities to Crack Down on those who go on acting like this killer virus is ‘fake news’. The irresponsible behaviour of a few is endangering us all.

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

Posted April 5^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – According to Niagara Region Public Health, the latest count, as of this past Saturday, April 4^th at noon, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 or Coronavirus in this Niagara region has climbed to 123.

Out of these 123 reported cases, 26 individuals confirmed to have the virus have “recovered” or have been “resolved,” according to Niagara Region Public Health, and that is encouraging.

Quite tragically, at least seven people in Niagara, Ontario that health authorities know of have died.

A stark sign of our times at a children’s playground at a park in St. Catharines, Niagara

Please keep in mind that the very first confirmed case of Coronavirus in Niagara, Ontario was reported barely more than three weeks ago on March 12^th, and the first death was reported barely more than a week ago, during the last full week of March.

That all means that the number of cases and the number of deaths related to Coronavirus in Niagara, Ontario are growing exponentially, meaning that the upward slope of the line of the graph – that line that doctors and nurses and other frontline health care workers are so desperately hoping to see flattened to keep from overwhelming our health care system – has been rising more steeply over the past three or four weeks. Continue reading →

Provincial Investments needed to keep the Main Streets of our Communities Afloat

Ontario Official Opposition and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

“Many small and medium-sized businesses, non-profits and charities are counting down the number of days they can keep their heads above water. …“We not only want them to survive, we want them to be able to keep staff on the payroll as much as possible.”                                – Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

News from Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath

Posted April 5^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A few blocks of downtown St. Catharines, Niagara. We need to do what we can to save the Main Streets of our communities for the future of local jobs and economies. file photo by Doug Draper

QUEEN’S PARK — Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said small and medium-sized businesses, charities and community-based non-profits need more help to make it through the COVID-19 storm, and the provincial government should offer that lifeline.

“Many small and medium-sized businesses, non-profits and charities are counting down the number of days they can keep their heads above water since COVID-19 has taken away their revenue,” said Horwath. “We not only want them to survive, we want them to be able to keep staff on the payroll as much as possible.

Thorold’s downtown has been making a strong comeback in recent years, thanks to community support and local business owners. Let’s not see downtowns like this fall.

“The federal wage subsidy program and loan options are a welcome relief, but still leave small operations unable to pay the rent and bills without sinking into debt. The provincial government can solve that problem.”

Horwath’s said small and medium-sized businesses, charities and community-based non-profits should get help from the province, including: 

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

“Many Canadians rely on food banks and local food organizations to feed their families and find support in hard times. Now, with more Canadians turning to these supports, and donations and available volunteers decreasing, they need our help more than ever.”                          -Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

A News Release from the Office of Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau

Posted April 4^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Ottawa, Ontario – Food banks and local food organizations provide help to Canadians across the country, particularly people and communities most vulnerable to economic uncertainty.

These organizations are facing an increased demand for their services, and added pressure from shortages in donations and volunteers.

Now more than ever, they need our support to continue offering the services Canadians rely on to feel safe and healthy.

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced an investment of $100 million to improve access to food for Canadians facing social, economic, and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue reading →

New online portal connects Food and Ag Biz employers with workers looking to make a difference

News from Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Posted April 4^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

TORONTO – In order to ensure grocery store shelves remain full and families have food on the table during the COVID-19 outbreak, the Government of Ontario is launching a new web portal, connecting workers with employers looking to fill positions in the agri-food sector.

This new online tool will make it easier to match people to essential jobs and training resources throughout the provincial food supply chain.

“Right now, there are important jobs that need to be filled across the food supply chain and we are looking for individuals who embody the Ontario spirit to step up and provide an essential service,” said Ernie Hardeman, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Continue reading →

Ontario Government Provides Full Transparency by Releasing COVID-19 Modelling

Projected number of cases and deaths can be significantly reduced if people stay home

A COVID-19 Update from the Office of Ontario’s Premier

Posted April 3rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

TORONTO – Today (Friday, April 3rd), the Ontario government released extensive COVID-19 modelling, revealing several scenarios that project the potential number of cases and deaths. In doing so, the province is providing the public with full transparency about the consequences should everyone but non-essential workers fail to stay home and practise physical distancing.

Ontario coronavirus death count from March 2nd, when the first two deaths were reported, unitl April 2nd, 2020.

“The models show that the potential to spread COVID-19 is massive and deadly if we don’t act swiftly to stay home and practise physical distancing,” said Premier Ford. “We owe it to our front-line and essential workers, to our family, friends and neighbours to restrict our travel, and act responsibly. This is the only way we are going to minimize the risk to people, stop the spread and reduce the number of fatalities.”

Key highlights from the modelling include:

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