Author Archives: dougdraper

Dr. Mustafa Hirji, Niagara Region’s Medical Officer of Health (acting)

“As we continue to see growing COVID-19 cases around the world, we expect to continue to see travel-related cases in Niagara.”                                      -Dr. Mustafa Hirji, Niagara Region’s acting Medical Officer of Health

More News on the Coronavirus Outbreak from Niagara, Ontario’s Regional Government

Posted March 15th, 2020 on Niaggara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Region Public Health and Emergency Services is investigating a confirmed case of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in a 55-year-old female with a travel history to Egypt. This is Niagara region’s second case of COVID-19.

The patient is recovering at home in self-isolation. The patient has interacted only with a family member during the time she may have been contagious, and has not exposed anyone in the community. All protocols were followed by health care providers resulting in no exposure of themselves nor other patients.

“As we continue to see growing COVID-19 cases around the world, we expect to continue to see travel-related cases in Niagara,” said Dr. Mustafa Hirji, medical officer of health (acting), Niagara Region Public Health and Emergency Services.

“However, we are not seeing any local circulation of the virus, and so our risk remains low. Everyone should feel comfortable continuing with their daily activities.”

Continue reading →

Both Post-Secondary Schools Now Working on Alternative Forms of Class and Exam Delivery for Students

Statements from Brock University and Niagara College in Niagara, Ontario

Posted March 13th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

First, a Statement from Brock University –

Brock suspending face-to-face classes and moving toward alternative forms of delivery

Brock University in St. Catharines/Niagara

Niagara, Ontario – Brock University is suspending face-to-face classes and exams for the rest of this academic term and is working on a plan to move to alternative forms of class and exam delivery, including online. The academic term is not at risk.

In-person classes will be suspended at the end of classes Friday, March 13.

Faculty members will be asked for alternatives for course delivery, and the goal will be to resume virtual classes the week of Monday, March 23 for those instructors who are able to mount their classes in a virtual environment.

The University will encourage faculty members to consider re-distributing the assessment for a course based on the material and work already completed. Continue reading →

Dr. Karim Ali, director, Division of Infectious Diseases, and Emergency

Investigation into the source for this person’s infection is currently underway. The person does not have any recent travel history

“The patient is currently in an isolation room undergoing treatment by our  infectious diseases team to manage his symptoms and is in stable condition.”                                                          – Dr. Karim Ali, director, Division of Infectious Diseases, and Emergency

News from Niagara’s Regional Government in Niagara, Ontario

Posted March 13,2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Ontario – Niagara Region Public Health and Emergency Services is investigating a confirmed case of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in an 84-year-old male. This is  Niagara region’s first case of COVID-19.

The patient was transferred to the hospital by EMS for another medical problem on March 10 and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 on March 12.

Health care providers and paramedics who interacted with the patient prior to developing symptoms will self-isolate out of an abundance of caution.

“The patient is currently in an isolation room undergoing treatment by our  infectious diseases team to manage his symptoms and is in stable condition,” said Dr. Karim Ali, director, Division of Infectious Diseases, and Emergency Preparedness Lead. “We will continue to take every possible step to ensure the safety of our staff, physicians, patients and families.” Continue reading →

Closings Effective at 4:30 p.m. today (March 13, 2020), until April 5

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

Posted March 13^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines’s downtown Central Libary among many city venues closing due to coronavirus outbreak

Niagara, Ontario – While Niagara Region Public Health has reported the risks surrounding COVID-19 remain low to residents, the City is exercising an abundance of caution, moving forward with closures of all recreational and community facilities to limit spread of the virus.

On Thursday afternoon the City partially activated its Emergency Operations Centre in response to the spread of the virus, moving forward on the best measures to protect the health of the public and staff. As of right now it appears the virus is not circulating locally in the community.  Continue reading →

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

Posted March 13^th, 2020 in Niagara At Large

This March 12^th, as part of continued close monitoring of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the City of St. Catharines partially activated its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), and continues to be activated this morning.

While Niagara Region Public Health continues to advise that the risk of contracting the virus is still low, the City is focused on efforts to protect staff, their families, and the public from potential exposure to COVID-19. Continue reading →

Niagara Centre  MPP Jeff Burch

“Health workers are working around the clock to contain COVID-19, and (the Ford government’s current, ongoing  review of the province’s health services) amid a global outbreak creates unnecessary confusion in trying times.”                                              – Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch

A Statement from Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch

Posted March 12, 2020 on Niagara At Large

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO, Thursday, March 12, 2020

Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch – “People in my community of Niagara are concerned about COVID-19, also known as Corona Virus.

“Niagara Region Public health has been working with the province and the federal government on identifying travellers who might be carrying COVID-19. Locally they have developed multiple scenarios for what may happen and plans for those scenarios are continually being revisited as we learn more from other countries.

“I would join the Association of Local Public Health agencies in imploring this government to put their modernization review of public health and emergency health services on the back-turner. Continue reading →

Partnership will help Niagara Parks sustainably grow its extensive trail network while respecting shared commitment to the environment

Provost and Vice-President, Brock University, and Sandie Bellows, Niagara Parks Chair, sign the additional collaboration agreement between Brock and Niagara Parks. Garrett Hutson, Associate Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Brock University (left) and David Adames, Niagara Parks CEO (right), look on.

News from Brock University and Ontario’s Niagara Parks Commission

Posted March 12th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – A partnership built on the mutual goal of environmental stewardship is taking another step forward.

Two years after signing an initial Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the Niagara Parks Commission and Brock University signed an additional collaboration agreement on Thursday, March 12 at Niagara Parks’ public Commission Meeting that will help the Parks assess and sustainably grow its extensive trail network.

To be known as the Trails Assets and Tourism Initiative, the new partnership involves Brock and Niagara Parks, along with the Ontario Trails Council. Continue reading →

“Our message to Canadians is clear: to every worker and business, in every province and territory, we have your back and we will get through this together.” – The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

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

Posted March 11, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Ottawa, Ontario – COVID-19 is a rapidly evolving global challenge. The Government of Canada is working closely with local, provincial, territorial, and international partners to minimize its health, economic, and social impacts in Canada and around the world.

We have worked closely with Canada’s trained public health and medical professionals to put in place the plans, infrastructure, and resources needed to protect the health and safety of all Canadians.

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today outlined Canada’s whole-of-government response to COVID-19, by establishing a more than $1 billion COVID-19 Response Fund. This comprehensive approach includes measures already underway to respond to the outbreak, as well as new investments to limit the spread of the virus in Canada and prepare for its possible broader impacts on our people, our economy, and our small businesses. Continue reading →

“Canada is a significant contributor to the world’s plastic pollution problem. Every year, 4.5 million tonnes of plastic are introduced to the Canadian market. Only nine per cent of it is recycled.”                                                                                                        – from a new, must-read  Environmental Defence report, ‘No Time to Waste; Six Ways Canada Can Proress to Zero Plastic by 2025

New report provides the first comprehensive roadmap for solving the problem of plastic pollution in Canada

A News Release from the Canada-wide activist group Environmental Defence

Posted March 11^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ont. — A new report provides the first overarching blueprint forCanada’s federal, provincial, and municipal governments on how they can reduce plastic pollution.

The report, No Time to Waste: Six Ways Canada Can Progress to Zero Plastic Waste by 2025 , released today by Environmental Defence, outlines six immediate steps that governments can take to drastically decrease waste caused by single-use plastics.

“Single-use plastics continue to be a massive contributor to the world’s plastic pollution crisis,” said Vito Buonsante, Plastics Program Manager with Environmental Defence. “Canada can be a world leader in turning the tide on this problem, but it’s not simply a matter of better recycling or banning certain plastic items. We need a comprehensive reduction strategy to make plastic waste a thing of the past.” Continue reading →

New York State’s Ban on Single-Use Plastic Bags       Now in Effect

As of this past March 1^st, 2020, single-use plastic bags are gone at retail stores

News from the Sierra Club, one of the oldest and most respected environmental groups in the world

Posted March 11^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper – While Ontario and other provinces across Canada continue to fiddle while plastic waste continues to pile, right across the border in New York State, single-use plastic bags are banned, beginning this past March 1^st.

Plastic bags don’t belong here

Going back to my years as a full-time environment reporter at newspapers in the 1980s and 90s, I can remember when governments in Canada were leaders in taking measures like this. But that hasn’t been the case for much of the past 20 or so years.

Now here is some news from the Sierra Club about the New York State ban on single-use plastic bags.)

Starting  Sunday, March 1^st, shoppers in New York State said goodbye to single-use thin film plastic bags at the checkout lines.

Continue reading →

The Constituency Youth Council Invites All                Young Canadians to Apply

From the Constituencey Office of Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey

Posted March 11^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Centre. Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament for the riding of Niagara Centre, invites all young Canadians from the ages of 15-26 to apply to his 2019-2020 Constituency Youth Council.  

What? The Constituency Youth Council is an opportunity for youth to learn about Canada’s political process, discuss their viewpoints on issues, and most importantly, get involved in their communities. Projects undertaken by past Constituency Youth Councils have ranged from food drives to multimedia projects. Continue reading →

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres

“We will not fight climate change with a virus,” said United Nations chief António Guterres, underlining the importance of not allowing the fight against the coronavirus distract us from the need to defeat climate change.

While the disease is expected to be temporary, climate change, added the Secretary-General, has been a phenomenon for many years, and and will “remain with us for decades and require constant action.”

News of Concern about our Climate from the United Nations

Posted March 10^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A wide-ranging UN climate report, released on Tuesday March 10th), shows that climate change is having a major effect on all aspects of the environment, as well as on the health and wellbeing of the global population.

The report, The WMO Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2019, which is led by the UN weather agency (World Meteorological Organization), contains data from an extensive network of partners.

It documents physical signs of climate change – such as increasing land and ocean heat, accelerating sea level rise and melting ice – and the knock-on effects on socio-economic development, human health, migration and displacement, food security, and land and marine ecosystems. Continue reading →

A Statement from Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Party Leader Andrea Horwath

Posted March 10th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Ontario NDP and Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath

QUEEN’S PARK – NDP Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath has issued the following statement on the urgent need for an Ontario-wide COVID-19 emergency response plan:

“Ontario’s public health units and frontline medical teams are doing an exceptional job containing the COVID-19 virus, and I’m grateful for their tireless work. I am hopeful this outbreak is not going to get worse, and patients with the virus today will make swift recoveries. Continue reading →

A Commentary from Linda McKellar, a Fort Erie, Ontario resident and regular reader of Niagara At Large

Posted March 9^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

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

Linda McKellar’s comment is a reply to a commentary I wrote and posted on Niagara At Large this March 8^th on International Women’s Day.

My commentary, which I admit was laced with anger, was sparked by watching live coverage this past March 5^th of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren announcing her decision end her campaign for the U.S. presidency.

After making her announcement, Warren, who was the last the last serious female candidate running in the 2020 presidential race, was almost moved to tears when she was asked what message her departure from the race sent to other women in the U.S., and she responded by saying; “One of the hardest parts of this is all those little girls (she met on the campaign trail) who are going to have to wait four more years.” Continue reading →

Strategy Outlines Next Steps to Reduce Flooding Risk and Increase Preparedness

For two of the past three years, the Lakeside Park and harbour area along the Lake Ontario shores of Port Dalhousie in Niagara, Ontario  have been swamped like this, causing costly damage and loss of use of the area for the spring and early summer.    file photo by Doug Draper

News from Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry

Posted March 9, 2020 on Niagara At Large

City of St. Catharines built walls of sandbags in spring of 2019 to hold back rising lake water at Lakeside Beach. File photo by Doug Draper

The Ontario government is taking action to protect people and communities from the effects of flooding by reducing flood risk and helping Ontarians to be better prepared for flooding events.

“We know that we can’t prevent flooding in Ontario – we can only become more resilient to it,” said John Yakabuski, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. “Our strategy is designed to increase public awareness and help us to be better prepared and equipped to respond to the devasting effects of flooding.” Continue reading →

Dedicated Website Will Now Include Twice Daily Updates on New Cases

News from Ontario’s Ministry of Health

Posted March 9^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

TORONTO —As COVID-19 evolves, Ontario is taking further steps to inform the public on the status of the virus across the province.

Ontario has been monitoring and reporting on the development of COVID-19 since initial cases of a viral pneumonia were reported in China in late December 2019. Every weekday at 10:30 a.m.

Ontario has been updating its dedicated web page with the most up-to-date information on the status of cases in Ontario, including: the number of cases currently under investigation; and the number of confirmed positive, negative and resolved cases. Continue reading →

Ford Plans To Discontinue Popular ‘Discounted Double Fare Program’ used by Commuters Riding to and from Niagara and Toronto

“We should be making it easier for commuters in the 905 to leave their cars at home, not making it harder to take transit by piling on new expenses.” – Ontario NDP Transit critic Jessica Bell

A News Release from Ontario’s Official Opposition New Democratric Party

Posted March 9th, 2020 on Niagara At Large 

QUEEN’S PARK, Ontario — Today (this March 9th), NDP Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath will debate a motion to make transit more affordable for Ontarians who commute between the 905 and Toronto for work.

Horwath’s motion calls on the Doug Ford government to reverse its cancelation of the Discounted Double Fare Program, and restore the 50 per cent operating subsidy for municipal transit agencies to help make transit fares more affordable.

Next month, the Ford government is planning to scrap the Discounted Double Fare Program, which would stick commuters who use both GO transit and the TTC with an extra $720 in costs every year. Continue reading →

Come Meet ‘Evolve Our Prison Farm’ co-founder Calvin Neufeld on Saturday, March 14^th at 7 p.m. at 7 Gale Crescent in                St. Catharines, Ontario 

An Invite to All from the Niagara, Ontario-based citizen advocacy group Niagara Action for Animals

Posted March 9^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Dear Friends of Animals,

Please mark your calendars now for Saturday March 14th – 7 p.m. and we will be hosting speaker Calvin Neufeld from Evolve Our Prison Farms (EOPF).

The talk  will take place at 7 Gale Crescent (opposite the Rex Stimers Arena). We warmly  invite you to attend. Question time and light refreshments will follow the talk.

EOPF was founded in 2016 by Calvin Neufeld and his mother Franceen Neufeld. EOPF  is a grassroots social justice campaign advocating an ethical and  environmentally responsible approach to Canada’s restored prison farm program, and opposing any exploitation of prisoners and animals. Continue reading →

“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” – what then U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump said about then Fox News Channel anchor Megyn Kelly after she asked him about a number of highly insulting comments he has made about other women

“Nobody respects women more than I do. Nobody!”        – Donald Trump

A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher           Doug Draper

Elizabeth Warren, announcing her decision this March 5th to end her run for the U.S. presidency

Posted March 8th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

“One of the hardest parts of this is all those little girls who are going to have to wait four more years.” – U.S. Senator for Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren, on March 5th, the day she ended her candidacy for whatever now passes as the U.S. presidency, on all of the “little girls” she met on the campaign trail who hoped she might be their country’s first woman President.

Then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump follows then Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton around debate stage in 2016, invading her space like a creepy stalker

“I moved on her like a bitch. … “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. … Grab them by the p—y. You can do anything.”  – Donald Trump, from the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood tape of him bragging about what he can do to women, released weeks before the 2016 presidential election where millions of Americans went out and elected him President of the United States.

This Sunday, March 8, 2020 is or was, depending on when you read this post, International Women’s Day – a day placed on the calendar more than 40 years ago by the United Nations to celebrate women and to raise public awareness about the ongoing struggle to end gender abuse and discrimination.

As the sun rose on this International Women’s Day, one of the first things that came to mind for me was the was the well-attended and very highly moving of women’s struggles and achievements that the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce hosted in Niagara Falls, New York a few days earlier, on Friday, March 6^th. Continue reading →

“I encourage all Canadians to celebrate women’s achievements, and to keep pushing for progress so we can all reach our full potential.” – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Statement by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Posted  March 8th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on International Women’s Day:

Ottawa, Canada – “Today (this March 8th), on International Women’s Day, we celebrate the accomplishments and leadership of women in Canada and around the world, and recommit ourselves to moving forward to a future in which everyone has an equal chance to succeed.

“We all have women in our lives who inspire us every day. This year’s theme, Because Of You, honours those who have paved the way. In particular, we celebrate Canadian women leaders who challenge norms, lift up other women and girls, and change our country for the better.   Continue reading →

15-Year-Old Global  Water Champion  Delivers Keynote Address to more than 700 at Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce International Women’s Day Event

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted March 7th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

15-year-old water activist Autumn Peltier, a global Children’s Peace Prize nominee three years in a row,  was keynote speaker at International Women’s Day event in Niagara Falls, Ontario

If women are looking for up and coming leaders that can inspire, there sure was one in Niagara for this March 6th’s International Women’s Day.

She is a 15-year-old Indigenous water activist and chief water commissioner of the Anishinabek Nation in Canada and the Great Lakes region, and her name is Autumn Peltier.

Within the past year, she has addressed the United Nations General Assembly and United Nations Climate Summit, and this past January, she participated on a panel with the 17-year-old, world-renown Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg at the World Economic Summit in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.

And then here she was this March 6th, in front of an audience of more than 700 mostly women in Niagara Falls, Ontario, at an International Women’s Day event hosted the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce. Continue reading →

“While the NDP welcomes news of more resources to fight human trafficking, a lot of questions remain about whether Ontario’s 42 rape crisis centres will get additional funding this year to provide services to survivors of rape and sexual assault.”                               – Ontario NDP MPPs Jill Andrew and Suze Morrison

A Brief Statement from the Ontario New Democratic Party,s Women’s Issue Critic Jill Andrew and NDP MPP Suze Morrison

Posted March 6^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park – Jill Andrew, Ontario NDP Women’s Issues critic, and Suze Morrison, Ontario NDP critic for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Response, released the following statement in response to the government’s announcement regarding human trafficking:

“While the NDP welcomes news of more resources to fight human trafficking, a lot of questions remain about whether Ontario’s 42 rape crisis centres will get additional funding this year to provide services to survivors of rape and sexual assault. We should be giving rape crisis centres the $14 million dollars the Liberals waited 15 years to promise, and then failed to deliver. Continue reading →

$307 million invested to protect children and youth, crack down on offenders

News from the Office of Ontario Premier Doug Ford

Posted March 6^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines, Ontario — The Government of Ontario is taking strong action to protect children and youth, support survivors, raise awareness and hold offenders accountable by releasing Ontario’s new anti-human trafficking strategy today.

Premier Doug Ford, Jill Dunlop, Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues, and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones released today a new, comprehensive five-year strategy to combat human trafficking and end child sexual exploitation across the province.

The new strategy is the largest total investment in dedicated anti-human trafficking supports and services in the country and is a major step forward in Ontario’s fight against human trafficking.  Continue reading →

From Niagara Region’s Public Health and Emergency Services

Posted March 6th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Region Public Health and Emergency Services is closely monitoring an outbreak caused by a novel (new) coronavirus first identified in Hubei Province, China (including Wuhan).

We’re also collaborating with local hospitals, primary care, emergency services, the Ministry of Health, Public Health Ontario, and other provincial and federal partners to protect Niagara residents. Continue reading →

‘The Ontario Fire Code requires working smoke alarms on every storey of a home and outside all sleeping areas.’

An Important Message to All from the City of St. Catharines Fire Services in Niagara, Ontario

Posted March 6, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario — With clocks rolling forward one hour at 3 a.m. on Sunday, March 8, residents may lose an hour’s sleep, but they don’t need to lose peace of mind when it comes to home fire safety.

St. Catharines Fire Services are reminding residents that with the changing of the clocks they should be taking time to test the smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in their homes. Continue reading →

Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch

“Instead of providing the necessary funding to fix Ontario’s emergency services, the Ford government is busy looking for ways (of) plowing ahead with cutting and merging Ontario’s emergency services.”                                                                                  – Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch

A News Release from Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff  Burch and Ottawa-Centre NDP MPP Joel Harden

Posted March 5^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

QUEEN’S PARK — NDP MPPs Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre), the Official Opposition’s Municipal Affairs critic, and Joel Harden (Ottawa Centre) warned Doug Ford (this March 4rth) that he risks putting lives in danger with his government’s cuts to critical emergency services.

Apparently members of Ontario’s Ford government and their supporters don’t need services like this given their continued record of cutting funding or under-funding them.

A new report published today by CUPE Ontario reveals that pressure on frontline paramedics is reaching a breaking point with more ‘code zero’ events where Ontarians call 911 in need of urgent medical care only to be left waiting with no ambulances available to help. Continue reading →

A New Release  from Niagara Health, Niagara, Ontario’s amalgamated hospital system

Posted March 5^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – A new program at Niagara Health is enhancing care and access to services for palliative patients and their families. Niagara Health’s Palliative Care Consultation Service, which launched on March 2, provides patient care services, including managing symptoms, organizing home or hospice care, and social and emotional support.

Niagara Health Palliative Care Consultation Service team, from left to right: General Internists Dr. Lorraine Jensen, Dr. Manon Tougas and Dr. Andre Maddison (Project Lead) and Nurse Practitioner Andrea Lehal. Photo courtesy of Niagara Health

The team consists of a group of physicians and nurse practitioners who offer in-person and phone consultations on a referral basis. The team works across Niagara Health’s Greater Niagara General, Welland and St. Catharines sites and is dedicated to meeting the needs of patients and their families. Continue reading →

From the Office of Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce

Posted March 5th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Stephen Lecce (PC Candidate, King-Vaughan) addresses media at the Hilton Toronto hotel in downtownToronto, Ont. on Sunday May 27, 2018. Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/Postmedia

TORONTO — Today (this March 5th), Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, issued the following  statement in response to continued strike action by OSSTF, OECTA, and AEFO:

“I have offered all teachers’ union federations a fair and reasonable plan, which should pave the way to reaching a good deal that keeps students in class.

The government has consistently made reasonable moves – effectively freezing class room sizes, a parental opt out for online learning, a commitment to  full-day kindergarten, and one hundred per cent investment in special education.

The time for a deal is now, I urge the unions to stop this disruptive escalation  and return to the table to get a deal that is fair for parents, students, and  educators.” Continue reading →

“We need to fund scientific research that can quickly diagnose and provide therapies to prevent and treat the virus. … And we need to all look after each other.” U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins, a Democrat representing the Buffalo, New York area

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

Posted March 5^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from Niagara At Large – With a virus that has been spreading around the globe like this, it certainly matters what our neighbours are doing about it right across such a heavily trafficked  border. In that spirit, we  post this news.)

Buffalo, New York – Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) announced House passage of H.R. 6074, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020.

The bill provides $8.3 billion for a robust response to COVID-19, the “Coronavirus,” including vaccine development, support for state and local governments, and assistance for affected small business.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a respiratory illness that was first identified as a result of an outbreak in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Symptoms of COVID-19 are similar to those of other respiratory illnesses, and include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Continue reading →

Ontario Official Opposition and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

“The chaotic rollout of these new plates will certainly have costs associated. However, the Government has not revealed the costs.” – from Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath’s March 4^th, 2020 letter to the province’s Auditor General, Bonnie Lysyk

News from the Office of Ontario’s Official Opposition and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

Posted March 4^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

The license plate Ontario vehicle owners have had for decades, on top, and the new one below. They also just happen to feature the Ford government’s Tory Party colours.

QUEEN’S PARK – Ontario Official Opposition and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has formally requested Ontario’s Auditor General review all costs associated with the production and replacement of the Ford government’s defective license plates, and review the non-disclosure agreement signed between the Ford government and manufacturer 3M.

Replacing the new, faulty license plates with even newer ones will, as Horwath notes in her letter, “certainly have costs associated,” including those related to materials, shipping and redesign –  but Doug Ford and his government are attempting to hide those costs with the non-disclosure agreement. Continue reading →

“It’s time to face facts. Based on its weak Environment Plan, the lack of action to reduce carbon pollution, and its commitment to fight well established climate solutions like carbon pricing, it seems the province (of Ontario) has no intention to fight climate change.”

A Commentary by Keith Brooks, Programs Director, Environmental Defence Canada

Posted March 4th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Ontario’s Environment Minister Jeff Yurek, with Premier Doug Ford to the right, waging a post-truth war on climate change

Since gaining office a year and a half ago, the Ontario government has taken a post-truth approach to climate change: they say what they want you to believe, rather than what experts agree to be true.

Specifically, the government claims to have a real plan to fight climate change that proves you can fight it without a price on carbon.

However, experts agree:

• the plan is not based on sound evidence.
• the plan will not meet Ontario’s weak targets to reduce carbon pollution;
• the plan actually does contain an element of carbon pricing (for large polluters).

But so far, none of that seems to matter to the provincial government. They carry on with the post-truth politics on climate change. Continue reading →

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

“We are supporting businesses that are making investments today to help protect our environment for future generations.”     – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

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

Posted March 3rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Just as Canada’s Trudeau government did a year ago, when it moved to make up for the funding Ontario’s Ford Government cut from a province-wide program for planting millions of trees, it is now offering more in the way of financial rebates or incentives to encourage businesses to purchase zero-emission vehicles and other technologies.

One of the many environmental protecting-gutting moves that the Ontario government of Doug Ford made to please its corporate masters in the carbon fuel industry after coming to power two years ago was to quite literally pull the plug on rebates the previous government had put in to stimulate the sale of electric trucks and cars.

For Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford, it has been all about selling more carbon-based fuels, cheaper.

After the rebate was cancelled, sales of electric vehicles in Ontario plunged by more than 50 per cent, which appears to have had little impact on the thinking of a Ford government that is spinning its wheels  in the middle half of the last century when it comes to transportation and to carbon-based  fuels that are contributing to an escalating climate crisis. Continue reading →

“People in Niagara are dying. We lose one Niagara resident to suicide every seven days.” Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

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

Posted March 3^rd, 2020 in Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

Niagara Falls, Ontario  — NDP MPP Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) has responded to the Ministry of Health’s mental health and addictions strategy that fails to include any new funding for the crisis facing Niagara.

“People in Niagara are dying. We lose one Niagaran to suicide every seven days. Over 70 percent of calls to first responders in the region are related to a mental health crisis,” says Gates.

Preventative care and supports to family members helping their loved ones are already inadequate. Even worse, after 9 o’clock at night, there’s almost nowhere for people to go who are in crisis, except our already overstretched hospital. Continue reading →

“The way to stop the spread of the coronavirus is to make sure anyone who might have been exposed can stay home, to avoid spreading it. There are serious concerns about Ontarians who can’t afford to take a day off work if they’re showing symptoms.”                                        – Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

News from Ontario’s Official Opposition New Democratic Party

Posted March 3^rd, 2020 on Niagara At large

Ontario NDP and Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath

Queen’s Park, Ontario  – NDP Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath is calling on Doug Ford to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, by immediately introducing and passing an emergency bill to ensure employees can stay home from work when they’re sick.

Horwath is asking the provincial government to take two specific measures: prevent employers from requiring people to go to a doctor’s office to get a sick note, and make sure employees have access to paid sick days in order to avoid spreading any illness or virus they’ve contracted, and to self-quarantine if they have any symptoms. Continue reading →

News from the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority

Posted March 3rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A red-tailed hawk soaring above the Beamer Memorial Conservation Area and Niagara Escarpment in Niagara, Ontario. File photo courtesy of NPCA

Niagara, Ontario – Monitoring of the 2020 spring hawk migration will once again take place from March 1 to May 15, as members of the Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch (NPH) will be on site counting the number of sightings daily.

“Beamer Memorial Conservation Area is known as the best vantage point in the Niagara Peninsula, with sightings of more than 15,000 hawks, eagles, falcons and vultures on average each spring,” says Kim Frohlich, Ecologist at the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority.

“At this site, members of the public can see a variety of birds of prey, as they migrate from South and Central America, the Caribbean and the United States to their nesting territories in Canada.” Continue reading →

News from the Niagara Centre Constituency Office of Federal Liberal MP Vance Badawey

Posted March 3rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Centre Liberal government MP Vance Badawey

Ottawa, Ontario – MP Vance Badawey was selected as Vice-Chair of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group. This Group is tasked with providing federal legislators in Canada and the United States the opportunity to discuss issues of importance to both countries.

“Canada and United States have a longstanding and productive bi-national relationship that benefits both nations greatly. We continue to work collaboratively on such issues as NAFTA (CUSMA), the Great Lakes, resource management, binational transportation and integrating distribution and logistics, including strategic bi-national infrastructure investments that promotes fluidity.

By working with our U.S Colleagues at the State and Federal levels, we have seen consistent and positive developments emerge on a range of files relating to our shared social, economic, and environmental stewardship,” stated Badawey. Continue reading →

This Is Our First Chance in 12 Years to Press Our Regional Government to set Stronger Tree Protection Laws in Niagara

News from Niagara’s Regional Government

Posted March 2nd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

First, here is a Foreword on the importance of all this by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper –

In all of my years as a journalist covering environmental issues in this region, few have drawn an angrier response from members of the public than the cutting down of mature, healthy trees.

Over and over again, and right up to as recently as the past few months, I’ve continued to receive messages from Niagara citizens who are upset up to a point, in some cases of being, white hot angry over incidents of buzz saws and bulldozers knocking down trees.

Tree cutting on the property of the Randwood Estate in Niagara-on-the-Lake more than a year ago triggered a public uproar in the community. File Photo courtesy of members of the citizens group SORE (Save Our Randwood Estate)

And in some cases, where citizens called the appropriate public authorities to report the felling of trees, they were told that there were few if any punitive measures that could be pursued because of the way the Region’s current Tree and Forest Conservation By-law is written.

That is why the process that Niagara’s regional government is embarking on this month – to receive public input to update this by-law for the first time in 12 years – is so important for those of us who care about protecting and preserving trees, and for the over-all health of Niagara’s environment. Continue reading →

ACTION ALERT – Ontario’s Conservation Authorities Act – Rules that Help Protect Our Wetlands, Woodlands and Natural Heritage as a whole from Urban Planning that is Destructive and Environmentally Unsustainable – Is At Risk

Ontario’s Conservation Authorities Act Is Under Review (Again) – Please Participate in Support of Maintaining Strong Watershed Protection

An Alert to All of Us from the Canadian Environmental Law Association, one of our country’s oldest and most repsected non-profit organization for protecting our natural hertiage

Posted March 1st, 2020 on Niagara At Large

February 27, 2020 – Urgent action is needed in Ontario to reverse biodiversity loss and ensure our communities are climate resilient. Now is the time for increased public investment in the province’s conservation authorities.

The Ontario government has recently released an online survey <https://www.ontario.ca/page/consultation-ontario-conservation-authorities> seeking input on the role of Conservation Authorities with a response deadline of March 13, 2020. Now is the time to make your voice heard.

Ontario’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) is seeking limited input on further changes to the Conservation Authorities Act, despite multiple recent modernization actions.  Continue reading →

“Conservation Authorities (like the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority {NPCA} here in the Niagara/Hamilton/Haldimand area) play a key role in protecting Ontarians from the impacts of climate change. We must resist the trend towards environmental deregulation in Ontario.” – Ontario Nature

An Urgent Call-Out from Ontario Nature, a time-honoured, not –for-profit  advocacy group for the protection and preservation of our natural heritage in Ontario

Posted February 28^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

The province’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks is consulting on the mandate of conservation authorities and has posted a survey.

This follows public sessions where developers and others have been urging the government to remove conservation authorities from the planning process, and to limit their mandate and scope.

We must resist this trend towards environmental deregulation in Ontario. Continue reading →

Doug Ford’s American contractor for Employment Ontario has a Disastrous Track Record

“People complain that they are required to engage in activities that are unrealistic given their circumstances, or the health conditions of their children. If they fail to comply they are “sanctioned” meaning that they lose their cash assistance and opportunities for education and training services.”                           – Christine Hastedt, Senior Public Policy Advisor, Maine Equal Justice, in the State of Maine where this firm Ford wants to enlist in Ontario has been operating.

News from the Constituency Offices of Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch and Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

Posted February 28^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch

QUEEN’S PARK — NDP MPPs Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre) and Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) took Doug Ford to task Thursday at the Ontario legislature for his reckless decision to sell off employment services in Hamilton and Niagara to a US-based multinational corporation which, the NDP revealed, has a disastrous track record.

The Ford government signed a deal with American firm FedCap Inc. to take away Employment Ontario’s work — helping Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Works program recipients find jobs. A recent review by the Maine Department of Health revealed that FedCap Inc. has comprehensively failed to deliver results for people in the State of Maine, and according to their report “lacks the capacity to fulfill its contractual obligations.”

“In Maine only 10 per cent of participants were ever placed in any real skills training program and nearly half of all participants referred to FedCap lost their assistance without securing a job. Based on this disastrous evidence from Maine will the Premier cancel the pilot program and admit this was a mistake?” asked Burch during question period on Thursday, after his office uncovered the disastrous record of FedCap Inc. in Maine.

Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

Forty-eight per cent of people that were referred to FedCap Inc. lost their assistance without securing a job. A review conducted by the Maine Department of Health found that people were deeply unhappy with the employment programs offered by FedCap Inc. that were not individualized or responsive to people’s needs, had poor levels of customer service and professionalism, and failed to safeguard confidential data.

“FedCap has a track record and it’s not good. If the State of Maine’s experience is any indicator, then people in our community have a high risk of losing their jobs, and if we include all of the service providers and front-line workers we may be looking at a lot of good paying jobs lost,” said Gates.

“We must stand up for these workers and their employment and say no to selling their livelihoods to an American company with no roots in Niagara,” added NDP MPP Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines).

All 65 of the good-paying jobs administering employment services in the State of Maine were lost once FedCap Inc. took over and the community agency contracts to administer the programs were terminated by the company.

Background

  *   Fedcap Inc. is a U.S. based multinational non-profit social service provider, with operations in the U.K., Australia, and the United States. In February 2020 it was announced that FedCap was chosen by the Ford government to run Employment Ontario services for the combined service area of Hamilton, Haldimand and Niagara region in one of three pilot areas.

  *   FedCap Inc. received the contract to administer job placement services for welfare recipients for the State of Maine in October 2016. In 2019, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services wrote to the company with a long list of serious concerns, including:

•   *   a lack of capacity to fulfill its contractual obligations
•  *   poor performance
• *   poor record keeping of client’s personal information
• *   a lack of responsiveness to the needs of program participants
• *   48 per cent of people that were referred to them lost their assistance without securing a job (FedCap Monthly Report, Nov. 2019, pg 7)
•  *   65 unionized state employees lost their jobs after FedCap assumed the contract.

Watch Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch raise this issue in the Ontario legislature by clicking on the screen below – 

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 Reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For More News And Commentary From Niagara At Large – An independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara Region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at www.niagaraatlarge.com .

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

You Are Invited to a Community Sustainability Science Café hosted by the Brock University United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

A Free Public Gathering – Monday, March 2^nd, 6:30 p.m. at the Welland Public Library in downtown Welland, Ontario

Posted February 27th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

For more details, view the poster below –

A Footnote by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper –

The Niagara River is a major connecting channel in our Great Lakes and one of the most iconic, scenic and ecologically significant watersheds in the world.

Over the past 100 years it has faced its share of environmental threats from toxic chemical pollution to loss of wildlife habitat, including wetlands and woodlands, to poorly planned urban development. And often government bodies in Canada have been the first to step up to the plate with measures for protecting this precious watershed we share with our American neighbours.

But on this matter – that of getting what is known as a RAMSAR designation for wetlands in the Niagara River watershed – it is parties on the American side of the river, including local municipalities, citizen groups and private landowners, who got the job of ddesignattng this watershed as a globally significant wetland area done first.

Our American neighbours hosted a celebration last year as a wetland designation for their side of the Niagara River became official while Canadians were left watching. Continue reading →

Help the Nature Conservancy of Canada Improve Habitat for Brook Trout in Niagara’s Lathrop Nature Preserve in the Headwaters of Twelve Mile Creek

A painted turtle, one of a host of wildlife that make wetlands, watersheds and other natural areas in Niagara, Ontario their home. A photo by Cameron Curran for the Nature Conservancy of Canada

News from the Nature Conservancy of Canada

Posted February 27^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

The Lathrop Nature Preserve-ON-NCC_thumb

Niagara, Ontario – When you think of the Niagara region, you probably think about the Falls, wine or maybe the War of 1812.

But did you know that this popular tourist spot is actually one of the most biologically rich areas in Canada?

Surrounded by Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment, the region’s unique climate and ecosystems support a vast variety of species — many at the very northern edge of their ranges. Continue reading →

The Husband of Ontario’s Fifth Case Now Confirmed Positive

A News Release from the Ontario Ministry of Health

Posted February 27^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

TORONTO — Today (this February 27^th), Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health, confirmed that the husband of Ontario’s fifth case of COVID-19 has tested positive for the virus. The man, in his 60s, is currently in self-isolation.

“We are working alongside Toronto Public Health, who is now and will continue to be in regular contact with this individual during their self-isolation period,” said Dr. Williams. Continue reading →

News from the Ontario Health Coalition, a province-wide advocacy group for public health care

Posted February 26^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Ontario Health Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra address huge rally in Niagara Falls, Ontario on February 22nd

On Saturday February 22 at the Ontario PC Policy Conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario Premier Doug Ford delivered a tone-deaf speech, calling for a standing ovation for Minister of Education Stephen Lecce, saying they are doing a great job on health care, and crowing about expanding privatized liquor and beer.

Most of this was a rehash of his election stump speech. Weirdly, he conflated the thousands outside protesting his cuts and privatization of vital public services with the Liberals of Kathleen Wynne, blaming the protesters outside for “running the province into the ground”. Continue reading →

New initiative aimed at improving student safety and well-being

News from Ontario’s Ford Government

Posted February 26^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword to this from Doug Draper, reporter/publisher Niagara At Large –

Some of Niagara’s public school teachers picketing next to the Pen Centre Shopping Mall in St. Catharines, Ontario this February 21st, all part of a cross-Ontario mass strike action by more than 2,000 teachers. Photo by Doug Draper

If and when you read the following news release from the office of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s fully on side Education Minister Stephen Lecce, think of all of the elementary and secondary school teachers who are on the front line every day of the school year with students who are being bullied and with students who are bullies, and who are sometimes the targets of bullies themselves.

Doug Ford, who had a reputation for playing the bully when he was a Toronto city councillor and his late brother Rob was the city’s mayor, showing his stuff in 2013, when someone shouted criticism from the council’s public gallery

Those teachers have been out on picket lines, on rotating, one-day strikes, in recent months, fighting planned cuts to Ontario’s public education system by one of the biggest bullies of them all – Doug Ford.

If and when you read the following news release from Ford’s government, consider how much of what his government is recommending below will add to the amount of training and the amount of work these teachers will have to do – even as Ford is moving to significant reduce the number of teachers in the province, increase class sizes and cut hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for support staff, including guidance councelors, and other academic and classroom-related resources. Continue reading →

MPP Jennie Stevens says Doug Ford must put a stop to the renovictions crisis now hitting Niagara

A News Release from the Constituency Office of St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens

Posted February 25th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens

QUEEN’S PARK – NDP NPP Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines) has demanded the Ford government put a stop to ‘renovictions’ and intimidation tactics by developers in this province, that’s leaving vulnerable people without a home and nowhere to go.

Stevens said that the scourge of renovictions, where long-time tenants are forced out by landlords using the excuse of renovations who then jack up rents, is now spreading to every corner of Ontario including St. Catharines in the Niagara region.

“This government has scrapped rent control on new units. They have sat by and allowed rents to skyrocket, and they have created an environment that encourages landlords to pursue aggressive and illegal renovictions,” said Stevens on Thursday during Question Period at the legislature. Continue reading →

‘Housing prices are skyrocketing in cities around the world. Incomes are not.

PUSH sheds light on a new kind of faceless landlord, our increasingly unliveable cities and an escalating crisis that has an effect on us all.’

An Invite to a Screening of PUSH, from the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network and The Film House in Niagara, Ontario

Posted on February 25th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – The Niagara Poverty Reduction Network (NPRN) has teamed up with United Way and The Film House (on 250 St. Paul Street in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario) to join us for this special learning event and screening of PUSH – a film documentary investigating housing across the globe.

PUSH – The Film is from award-winning director Fredrik Gertten featuringLeilani Farha, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing. Leilani investigates the factors that make housing one of today’s most pressing world issues.

A panel featuring the voices of local experiences and experts (Niagara resident Christina Thomas, Jeffrey Sinclair of the Niagara Region, and Elisabeth Zimmermann of the YWCA) will be moderated by Frances Hallworth, executive director of United Way Niagara following the film.

*Mark your calendar for Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 7pm to be at The Film House.*

This is a free, ticketed event. Make sure to reserve your ticket!

*GET YOUR TICKET HERE <https://firstontariopac.ca/Online/seatSelect.asp>!*

As always, should you have any questions, please feel free to connect back!

With kindness, Rachel Gillmore*

*Niagara Poverty Reduction Convener*

To learn more about the film and watch some of it, click on – <http://www.pushthefilm.com/>,

To learn more about the good community work of the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network, click on – https://www.wipeoutpoverty.ca/ .

To learn more about The Film House and what it is featuring, click on – https://firstontariopac.ca/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=FilmHouse&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=

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 Reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For More News And Commentary From Niagara At Large – An independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara Region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at www.niagaraatlarge.com .

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

This February 22nd, in Niagara Falls, the People Were Outside – Thousands of Them – and They’ve Got a lot of Beefs With You!

(This post reflects on the massive‘People Vs. Conservative Cuts’ Rally that took place outside the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls, Ontario this past Saturday, February 22^nd, while members of Ontario’s Ford government were inside, holding a two-day “policy convention.)

By Linda Babb, Niagara Falls resident, community activist and host of the popular online site, The Peoples’ Platform

Posted February 24th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

THIS is COMMUNITY COMING TOGETHER!

THIS is “holding space”, “holding and building the “vision” for what we can ALL create together.

Yes – there are “aspects” we dislike.

Yes – we are human and we complain about “stuff” that goes on.

But THIS is what happens when, as Kyle Hoskin says, we break free of the silos and what we think separates us. Collectively “people” do change things. Let’s keep that in mind as we progress towards a strong, liveable, vibrant community for everyone.

Now here is a great take on the massive February 22nd protest rally in Niagara Falls by Niagara resident and member of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1287 Kyle Hoskin –

These last three weeks have been a blur. So much organizing, so much planning. But it’s been worth it. Never mind the rally. The work leading up to it was the best part. Organizing and mobilizing this community these last two weeks has been the proudest moment one of my life. Continue reading →

Governments Ordering Police On To Traditional First Nations Lands Clash With and Arrest Indigenous People

We’ve Come a Long Way from “Sunny Ways”, Reconciliation and the Promise of a Real Climate Plan, Mr. Prime Minister. You’ve Blown It!

A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher           Doug Draper

Posted February 24^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Indenous people rally in Niagara Falls, Ontario earlier this February in support of support land rights and pipeline blockades. photo by Doug Draper

When you have political leaders like the one Canada currently has in the Prime Minister’s office who has no clear vision or plan, let alone the strength or  courage to  follow through on it, it is should not come as a surprising to anyone that you end up with people on all sides of an issue who end up feeling confused, frustrated, angry and betrayed, and who sometimes even resort to civil disobedience and violence.

Before I comment further, click on the screen below and watch the video, posted by APTN News (a national media outlet from and for Canada’s First Nation People) on the clash that took place between Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and Indigenous people on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in Ontario this Monday, February 24^th.

And while you are watching, consider the possibility that it did not have to come to this if we had real political leadership in this country–

In my view, we cannot ultimately blame either side – the police or the Indigenous people – for what we just saw here. Continue reading →

One of the many inhabitants of Waverly Woods near the shores of Lake Erie in Fort Erie, Ontario

Like Thundering Waters in Niagara Falls, this natural heritage gem in Fort Erie, Ontario is one more of our ever fewer green places in Niagara being targeted for Urban Development

A Message from Marcie Jacklin, for the Niagara, Ontario based citizens group Community Voices of Fort Erie

Posted February 24^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Hello everyone.

I’m thrilled to let you know that we gained over 120 signatures last week mostly from people in St. Catharines and Buffalo who have been to Waverly Woods but didn’t know what was happening.

We now have 5,367 signatures!

Inside Waverly Woods in Fort Erie, Ontario. How many more places like this in our region are we willing to lose in an era of growing wildlife losses and climate crisis?

So what is happening. The Hearing date is set for May 25, 2020. Our experts are busy preparing for the best outcome.  Continue reading →

Regional Councillor Peter Nicholson’s Bewildering Bid to have Region Reconsider Suing Caslin and Company is Swiftly Shot Down

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

Posted February 21st, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Region has slapped former regional chair Al Caslin with a $500,000 lawsuit

Despite a last-minute bid by a Niagara Falls Regional Councillor Peter Nicholson to throw a wrench into the works, Niagara Region’s council voted 24 to 1 to pursue lawsuits against former Niagara Regional chair Al Caslin, the Region’s former CAO Carmen D’Angelo and two other key players in what has come to be known as the ‘CAO hiring scandal.

The almost unanimous vote – recorded during the end of this past Thursday, February 20^th’ regional council meeting – brought a quick end to Nicholson’s out-of-the-blue motion to reconsider filing lawsuits against the four, which also include former regional policy director Robert D’Amboise and former communications director Jason Tamming.

This is good news for countless residents across Niagara who have been following the unfolding details of this sordid affair, going back to the events leading up to  Caslin and he regional council of the day hiring Carmen D’Angelo to the $250,000-plus job of chief administrative officer (CAO) of what is a more than a billion-dollars-a-year public corporation.

What is also good news is that this past Wednesday, February 19^th, possibly unbeknownst to most, if not all on the Region’s council, lawyers for the Region had already filed a statement of claim in the Ontario courts against Caslin, D’Amboise and Tamming, suing the trio for a total of $850,000.

The claim breaks down to $500,000 against Caslin, $250,000 against D’Amboise and $100,000 against Tamming.

Continue reading →

“Mayor Diodati is Trumpian in his vendetta against a Councillor who he appears to dislike and who consistently votes and speaks her mind.”

A Call of Support for the Councillor from A Better Niagara, a Niagara-wide citizen watchdog group

Posted February 20^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

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

The outspoken Niagara Falls City Councillor Carolynn Ioannoni, loved by many citizen activiists across Niagara, but often at outs with Niagara Falls’ Mayor Jim Diodati and others on the council.

When I first read the news earlier this February that Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodiati and a majority on his council had moved hyper harshly to punish one of their own, City Councillor Carolynn Ioannoni, by suspending her council pay for 90 days and removing her from all committees and boards for the rest of the council term, my head was left spinning.

My thoughts immediately went back to a few weeks earlier to a January 30^th public meeting in Niagara Falls, Ontario, where more than 200 residents came out, many of them to voice their opposition to a controversial proposal – supported by Diodati and a majority on his council – to urbanize property within metres of provincially significant wetlands inside a place known as Thundering Water Forest.

Among the very first to speak, Ioannoni received applause from the gathering when she leaned into a microphone and told  representatives of the corporation responsible for the proposal; “I don’t think you would have a room full of people here because they believe that the wetlands are going to be preserved.” Continue reading →

We, the People, deserve to see justice done in this matter

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

Posted February 19^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

What gives with first-term Niagara Falls Regional Councillor Peter Nicholson? Why is he reportedly having second throughts about the Region filing a lawsuit against former CAO Carmen D’Angleo, former regional chair Al Caslin and two others?

What gives with the freshman regional councillor from Niagara Falls, Peter Nicholson?

If a story on the front page of February 19^th edition of the St. Catharines Standard is correct, this  regional councillor wants fellow members of Niagara Region’s council to reconsider a motion they reportedly passed in closed session this past January to file lawsuits against four of the main players in what has become commonly known as the ‘tainted CAO hiring scandal’ – what Ontario’s Ombudsman dubbed an “inside job” in a report he released he released last November – that rocked and ravaged our Niagara regional government as a credible, functioning public body over the past four or five years.

The four individuals our Regional Council reportedly voted this January to file lawsuits against are the former CAO at the heart of the hiring, Carmen D’Angelo, former Niagara regional chair Al Caslin, a former regional policy director Robert D’Amboise and former communications director Jason Tamming. Continue reading →

The Provincially Significant Wetlands in Thundering Waters Forest – in the long-troubled waters of our Bi-National Niagara River Watershed – Should Not Be Paved Around At All!

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

Posted February 14th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Let me segue into yet another call for saving Thundering Waters Forest and the rich abundance of wetlands inside this jewel of a place in our bi-national Niagara River watershed this way.

A look inside the wetlands-rich Thundering Waters Forest in the Niagara River watershed.

At a meeting this past February 12th of Niagara Region’s planning and economic development committee, Wayne Redekop, a member of the committee and Mayor of the Town of Fort Erie, said  the following before the committee was about to defer any decision on a request by Ontario’s wine industry to relax rules over what then can do on Niagara Escarpment lands – some of which are designated, through the United Nations, as a globally significant “biosphere reserve.”

Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop believes that in this age of climate change, our region has to do everything possible to save what is left of our natural heritage

“Our interest is obviously in ensuring that we have a vibrant economy,” Redekop told fellow members of the committee. “But we also have an interest in ensuring that we protect natural heritage features.”

“And for as long as I have been here,” he added, “we have heard people talk about what a great area Niagara is to live, to do business and to raise a family. And I am trying to get my head around how do we do that if we don’t have some regard for what people really do think is significant about Niagara. And that is our natural heritage.”

“With all of the stuff that is happening with respect to climate change, the Fort Erie mayor concluded, “with the significance of biodiversity, I am really not supportive of …eroding the natural heritage area that we’ve got in Niagara, whether it is NEC, whether it is the greenbelt, whether it is the wetlands in Fort Erie.  I think we’ve got to keep our eye on the ball.” Continue reading →

“Niagara Health has a bright future ahead of it and it’s because of our people…. I’m very impressed by the professionalism, care, and compassion of everyone here.” – Lynn Guerriero

News from Niagara Health, Niagara, Ontario’s amalgamated system of hospitals

Posted February 18th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Health’s new president, Lynn Guerriero

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Health is welcoming our new president, Lynn Guerriero, to her role today. Ms. Guerriero will play a critical role in helping us achieve our purpose of extraordinary caring to every person, every time.

“I’m excited to join Niagara Health, which has such dedicated staff, physicians, learners, volunteers, and board members,” said Ms. Guerriero. “Niagara Health has a bright future ahead of it and it’s because of our people. As I learn more about the organization, I’m very impressed by the professionalism, care, and compassion of everyone here.”

“Lynn is strongly committed to providing patients and families with extraordinary caring in every aspect of their experience. With her passion and deep understanding of healthcare, she was the unanimous choice of the selection committee and is an outstanding executive leader who will be a positive presence at Niagara Health,” said Mr. John Bragagnolo, Chair of the Board of Directors at Niagara Health. Continue reading →

This School Board Owes Trustee Kate Baggott and All of Her Constituents an Apology

“To think is sacred; let every person think freely!

“To express what you think is sacred; let every person express his thought freely! If you do this, you prove that you are a conscientious and a moral human being!

“If you don’t do this, you just declare yourself being fascist!”

―Mehmet Murat ildan, Turkish playwright and writer, world-renown for his work, including his play on the legendary activist and advocate for non-violent protest against oppressors, Mahatma Gandhi

A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted February 16^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

This Niagara school board trustee, Kate Baggott, gets publicly pilloried by the board for having the nerve to communicate with a parent who has concerns

Let’s revisit for a second or so more the point that Mehmet Murat ildan makes about living and operating in a world where we can express our thoughts freely.

Is there anyone out there, aside from the kind of person who would support a politician like Donald Trump, who doesn’t believe there something sacred about that?

If you truly believe that the right to express ourselves freely should be a guiding principle for living in a healthy, functioning democracy, then the answer to any question about how sacred or sacrosanct that is should be a no-brainer.

It should be, but apparently it isn’t such an easy question to answer these days  at the District School Board of Niagara (DSBN). Continue reading →

“He’s now president for life. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot           someday.” – U.S. President Trump, seemingly “joking” to an adoring audience of supporters  at a May 2018 Florida fundraiser about a power grab that had just been made by China’s president, Xi Jinping, to rule his country for life

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

Posted on this Presidents Day in Trumpland, February 17^th, 2020

“Donald Trump is functionally a monarch at this point. … If the king does it, it’s okay.”                                                              – American historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Jon Meacham, shortly after Moscow Mitch delivered Trump an acquittal shortly after the sham of an “impeachment trial” held in what is left of the U.S. Senate this January

“Every public official that I know believes that his election (in 2020) is in the public interest,” said Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard University law professor, acquaintance of convicted sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein  and member of Trump’s legal team from hell, during what so many mainstream American media lemmings dutifully called an “impeachment trial.” Continue reading →

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh

“Today in Canada, one-in-five Canadians – close to 7.5 million people – either has no drug coverage at all or effectively has no coverage due to high deductibles and co-payments. As a result, nearly three million Canadians do not take their medication as prescribed because they cannot afford it – leading to hundreds of preventable deaths every year.”                                                             – Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh

News from Canada’s New Democratic Party

Posted February 14th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

 Ottawa, Ontario – This week, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh sent a letter to Premier Doug Ford to update the government of Ontario on the NDP’s plan to bring in pharmacare for all and to seek his government’s support to make sure every person in Ontario is covered.

“New Democrats know that sky-high prices put enormous pressure on the provinces. In fact, prescription drugs are now the second largest spending category in Canadian healthcare, costing more than physicians’ services,” said Singh. Continue reading →

An International Celebration of Winter Birds in our Bi-National Niagara River Corrirdor – Identified as a “Globally Significant Important Bird Area”

A Great Snowy Owl on the Niagara River. Photo courtesy of Jay Burney

An Invite to All from the Niagara Falls Nature Club and Bert Miller Nature Club in Niagara, Ontario and the Buffalo Audubon Society in Western New York

Posted February 14th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara’s three naturalist clubs have partnered with Niagara Parks and several organizations on the US side of the river to welcome birders; from beginners to experts to get outside and experience the stunning natural beauty of the Niagara River corridor.

Photo courtesy of Jay Burney

Hundreds of thousands of birds representing over 40 species of waterfowl, including colourful ducks, and sociable swans, snowy owls, gulls and other birds visit here from the north and can be found on the Niagara River during the winter. Continue reading →