Author Archives: dougdraper

The laugh is on we, the people! Did you vote for up to an 11 per cent hike on your auto insurance premiums?

Doug Ford dings Ontario drivers with another insurance rate hike

Auto Insurance Rates Expected to Soar as High as          11 Per Cent in Ontario 

News from Ontario’s Official Opposition New Democratic Party

Posted February 11th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

QUEEN’S PARK – Tom Rakocevic, Ontario NDP Auto Insurance critic, released the following statement in response to news that some Ontario drivers will be paying up to 11 per cent more for auto insurance this year as rates continue to climb in the province:

Get your stacks of cash ready, if you have any. More of it needs to go to some of the businesses that fund the Ford Tories’ election campaigns

“It’s wrong for the Ford government to let auto insurers pile on with another rate hike as Ontario drivers struggle to keep up with skyrocketing auto insurance rates.

Adding insult to injury, Doug Ford campaigned on lowering auto insurance rates and he’s turned around and done the exact opposite, driving premiums up and up.

This confirms that there is no relief in sight for Ontarians as Doug Ford’s Conservatives pick up where the Liberals left off. Continue reading →

“Ontario is required to consider climate change before exempting forestry from environmental assessment. … This didn’t happen for Temagami,”                                                                                            – Joshua Ginsberg, a lawyer with Ecojustice’s law clinic at the University of Ottawa.

These old=growth trees have been standing in Ontario’s Temagami Forest for hundreds of years. Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his Tories across the province would have them cut down in a matter of days without a proper review of the consequences.

“These 400-year-old trees are not something that is a sustainable harvest. You’re not talking about regrowing them. … They started growing before Champlain discovered this part of the world, “We’re not talking about a cycle of regrowth and return.We’re talking about ancient creatures that have acquired and protected this carbon for centuries.”                                             – Gord Miller, a former Environmental Commissioner for Ontario and now Chair of  Earthroots, an Ontario-based grassroots conservation organization

A News Release from Ecojustice, Canada’s largest environmental law charity, and the Ontario-based environmental groups Earthroots and Friends of Temagami

Posted February 10th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Don’t simply let more of this happen in Ontario’s Temagami Forest

Ecojustice lawyers, on behalf of Earthroots and Friends of Temagami, have filed a lawsuit against the Ford government for refusing to take into account climate-related considerations in its forestry management plan for Temagami.

“Ontario is required to consider climate change before exempting forestry from environmental assessment. When this condition is not met, the environment ministry is legally required to kick-start the individual environmental assessment process. This didn’t happen for Temagami,” said Joshua Ginsberg, lawyer with Ecojustice’s law clinic at the University of Ottawa.

“This is a systemic problem across the province where climate-related impacts are left out of the picture for Ontario’s forests despite the legal requirement for it to be included.”

In Ontario, forestry management plans benefit from a class-based exemption from environmental assessment, provided the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) addresses a list of mandatory conditions, including efforts toward climate change mitigation and carbon management. Continue reading →

‘Ontario’s industrial carbon pricing plan is weaker than the federal system, and was tabled after the deadline set by  Ottawa needs to stand firm and keep the existing federal system in place.’

“Ontario has been openly hostile to the environment and has taken this country backward in the fight against climate change,” – Keith Brooks, Programs Director at Environmental Defence Canada

An Urgent Call-Out from Environmental Defence Canada, Burlington Green, the David Suzuki Foundation and 27 other environmental organizations across Ontario and Canada

Posted February 10, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario – Over 30 Canadian environmental organizations sent a letter to 85 Ontario MPs calling on them to urge the federal government to keep Canada’s industrial carbon pricing policy in place in Ontario, and not approve the province’s weaker proposed system.

Ontario’s proposed system would give polluters a big break by putting a price on far fewer emissions than the current federal system. There is no justification for giving Ontario’s inferior proposal a pass, the groups said. Continue reading →

The Antarctic’s “immense ice sheet is up to 4.8 kilometres thick and contains 90 per cent of the world’s fresh water, enough to raise sea level by around 60 metres, were it all to melt.”                  – Experts in the United Nations’ global weather agency

Aerial view of melting glaciers on King George Island, Antarctica. UN Photo

News from the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization Posted February 10th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A Foreword from Doug Draper, a veteran environment writer, and a reporter and publisher of Niagara At Large –

Anyone who still thinks that the melting of our planet’s polar ice caps – happening much faster than experts predicted even 10 or 20 years ago – is not going to have a drastic impact on climate conditions for all of us – conditions that lead to even more costly and devastating floods, droughts, wildfires, violent windstorms and the collapse of plant and animal species – has not been paying attention to the science and the growing number of expert reports on what is going on.

Save Thundering Waters – 

The more I read reports like this latest one from experts at the United Nations, the less patience I find myself having for the provincial and municipal politicians and bureaucrats in our Niagara region who refuse to think globally and act locally to do whatever needs to be done to join the world in addressing what countless thousands of experts now agree is a full-blown climate emergency.

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

When I read this report, one of the first things I thought of was that young Niagara mother at a recent public meeting in Niagara Falls, asking for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer out of Helen Chang, the president of a China-based company pressing to do urban development in the wetlands-rich Thundering Waters, to the question; “Do you believe we face a climate emergency?” Continue reading →

The Antarctic’s “immense ice sheet is up to 4.8 kilometres thick and contains 90 per cent of the world’s fresh water, enough to raise sea level by around 60 metres, were it all to melt.”                  – Experts in the United Nations’ global weather agency

Aerial view of melting glaciers on King George Island, Antarctica. UN Photo

News from the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization

Posted February 9th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A Foreword from Doug Draper, a veteran environment writer, and a reporter and publisher of Niagara At Large –

Anyone who still thinks that the melting of our planet’s polar ice caps – happening much faster than experts predicted even 10 or 20 years ago – is not going to have a drastic impact on climate conditions for all of us – conditions that lead to even more costly and devastating floods, droughts, wildfires, violent windstorms and the collapse of plant and animal species – has not been paying attention to the science and the growing number of expert reports on what is going on.

Save Thundering Waters – 

The more I read reports like this latest one from experts at the United Nations, the less patience I find myself having for the provincial and municipal politicians and bureaucrats in our Niagara region who refuse to think globally and act locally to do whatever needs to be done to join the world in addressing what countless thousands of experts now agree is a full-blown climate emergency.

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

When I read this report, one of the first things I thought of was that young Niagara mother at a recent public meeting in Niagara Falls, asking for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer out of Helen Chang, the president of a China-based company pressing to do urban development in the wetlands-rich Thundering Waters, to the question; “Do you believe we face a climate emergency?” Continue reading →

Governor Andrew Cuomo Calls Trump’s Move “Politically Motivated,” and a Form of “Extortion”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ready to take Trump administration to court over move to mess up matters for New Yorkers wanting to cross Canada/U.S. border

“Time and time again President Trump and his Washington enablers have gone out of their way to hurt New York and other blue states whenever they can as punishment for refusing to fall in line with their dangerous and divisive agenda.”                           – New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

News from the Office of New York State Government Andrew Cuomo

Posted February 9^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

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

If you are wondering why an online news and commentary site in Niagara, Ontario is posting yet another news release on Trump’s move to make it harder for law-abiding New Yorkers to gain access to services that make it easier to cross the Peace Bridge and other U.S./Canada border crossings, it is out of concern for what collateral damage this move could do to people and to economies on both sides of the border.

Trump has already shown hostility toward Canada. What else might he do to hurt relations between the two countries?

Who knows what further steps this erratic and vengeful president may take next?

Could he take steps that makes crossing a Canada/U.S. border that feeds countless billions of dollars in back-and-forth business each year to both countries even more difficult, if not impracticable or impossible? Continue reading →

50 Million Tree Program Reduces Tree Planting Costs for Landowners in the Niagara Watershed

Forests Ontario has planted almost 600,000 trees in the Niagara region

A Call-Out to Tree Lovers in Niagara from Forests Ontario, a not-for-profit charity organization in the province, dedicated to planting trees

Posted February 7^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

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

Early this past year, Ontario’s Ford Government confirmed once again that when it comes to protecting and preserving our natural environment, it could care less.

In April 2019, much to the chagrin of many tree lovers across Ontario, and Conservation Authorities, including the Niagara Pensinula Conservation Authority, that work with landowners and community volunteers to plant trees for the future, the Ford government decided to completely cut more than $4 million in annual funding to the charity group, Forests Ontario, 50 Million Tree Program, effectively killing it.

Fortunately, Canada’s Trudeau Government decided in June 2019, to step in and cover the cost of the program – a move that will hopefully keep it going, in an era of climate crisis when we need trees more than ever before, for many years to come.

Now here is a February 7^th, 2020 news release from Forests, Ontario, encouraging landowners and others in the Niagara Watershed to step forward and help with the continuation of planting trees for present and future generations. –

A News Release from Forests Ontario, February 7th, 2020 – 

Planting trees in our province, Photo courtesy of Forests Ontario

Property owners in the Niagara watershed plan to plant more than 45,000 trees in 2020 under Forests Ontario 50 Million Tree Program (50 MTP), according to new data.

Forests Ontario recently modified the program’s criteria. In the past, landowners needed to commit to planting on 2.5 acres of land to participate in the 50 MTP, but now anyone with room to plant a minimum of 500 trees may apply. Though planting sites vary, 500 trees can usually be planted on less than one acre.

“The 50 MTP is better and more accessible than ever,” said Rob Keen, Registered Professional Forester and CEO of Forests Ontario. “The new, expanded criteria opens the program to more land and property owners, meaning more trees in the ground. It’s a win-win for landowners, who save on tree planting costs, and for the environment.” Continue reading →

Cars and trucks lined up to clear homeland security on the U.S. side of the Peace Bridge

“Over 16.8 million truck and passenger vehicle crossings occurred on New York bridges in 2018, including more than 11.79 million right here on Western New York’s four northern border bridges. This (Trump) … threatens the future viability of Western New York’s commerce, auto manufacturing, health care and cultural economies that are highly dependent of predictable and efficient access to and from Southern Ontario. … Make no mistake, the White House actions will directly and indirectly hurt all of us.”                                                                                                       – Buffalo, New York area Congressman Brian Higgins

A Statement from U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins, Buffalo, New York

Posted February 7^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

On Trump Administration Policy Excluding All New Yorkers from New Enrollment in Trusted Traveler Program

Trump is now moving to make it harder for Americans, including commercial vehicles, to cross Canada/U.S. borders like the Peace Bridge

“White House actions against New York and Western New York trusted travelers are punitive and unacceptable. We are already receiving calls from Western New York residents in the final stages of trusted traveler enrollment who are being turned away today, and others confused as a result of this hasty, heavy handed and ill-conceived decision.

“Over 16.8 million truck and passenger vehicle crossings occurred on New York bridges in 2018, including more than 11.79 million right here on Western New York’s four northern border bridges. Continue reading →

The WNY (Western New York) for Bernie Team is holding a Fundraiser in Buffalo, New York on Sunday, February 9^th, 2020 at 6 p.m.

If You You Are Still ‘Feeling The Bern’, Read Below for Details

Bernie Sanders at a huge rally in the Buffalo area during the 2026 primaries

A Call-Out from the WNY for Bernie Team

Posted February 7^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Welcome to the WNY for Bernie mailing list!

It’s an indisputable fact that Bernie won the popular vote in Iowa! Energy is high and the Bernie campaign just pulled in 25 million dollars in January. Lets keep the momentum going!

How you say?

Continue reading →

Honour it by reading books or by watching some good documentaries about black history, and or by attending some of the events planned for Black History Month in our greater Niagara region

A Brief One from Doug Draper, NAL

Posted February 5^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Wilma Morrison has possibly done more than anyone else in Niagara to archive black history in the region. She has received the Order of Ontario and numerous other awards for her many years of volunteer work.

As many bad actors committing bad acts we have weathered in Niagara over the past number of years, it is important to remind ourselves that, among our ranks, we have good people doing, or at least trying to do  good things in this region too.

If you follow Niagara At Large on a fairly regular basis, and I hope you do, I hope that you also know that, along with watchdogging bad actors, I also like to use this site as a platform for paying tribute to some of those good people too.

And when we turn the pages of the calendar to February and to Black History Month, one of the very first of the good people who come to my mind each year is Wilma Morrison, a Niagara Falls, Ontario. Continue reading →

“Let’s make sure we can promise Ontarians, going forward, that we’re doing everything we can to protect their families.”                – Andrea Horwath, leader of Ontario’s Official Opposition       New Democratic Party.

News from Ontario’s NDP/Official Opposition Party

Posted February 5^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Ontario NDP and Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath

Queen’s Park, Ontario – Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is calling on Doug Ford to return public health to 2019 funding levels, and commit to undertaking a review of the novel coronavirus outbreak response to determine future provincial funding levels.

“I am so grateful to public health unit staff, and frontline health care and emergency services workers that have been protecting us all from this latest coronavirus outbreak, and caring for those affected in Ontario,” said Horwath. “The response of our public health staff in the face of the novel coronavirus has been outstanding, and we need to keep it that way. Continue reading →

An Invite to All from the Niagara District Council of Women

Posted February 5th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

INVITES  YOU TO  A WEDNESDAY  FEBRUARY   12^TH  PUBLIC MEETING

IMPROVING  NIAGARA’S HEALTH SERVICES – Everyone has a Role to Play

8 p.m.St. Catharines Central Library 54 Church Street, St. Catharines, Ontario 

SPEAKER: MADELYN LAW

Associate Vice Provost Teaching and Learning and Assistant Professor Health Science, Brock University

For more information on the Niagara District Council of Women, click on – http://ndcw.ca/

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

‘Destroying our environment, damaging our homes, risking our lives and those of our children and grandchildren because of wilful neglect to address climate change cannot be allowed.’

A Commentary by Brigitte Bonner, a long-time environmental advocate living in Fort Erie, Ontario

Posted February 4^th, 2020 in Niagara At Large

I am totally appalled by the lack of action by politicians on climate change.

A kangaroo attempting to flee from the fires engulfing Australia

Even more sickening is the active ways that many of them are promoting policies that directly cause climate destruction. This needs to stop now!

The raging fires that are causing up to a billion animal deaths in Australia are one example.

 Cruelty to animals is against the law.  So why is this massacre not being punished?

These fires are potentially wiping out thousands of species and entire ecosystems. Not to mention the devastation to humans because of politicians’ neglect to protect the environment and purposely promoting destructive environmental policies.

Koala bears, suffering from burns they received in the wildfires of Australia. There are estimates that more than a billion animals have perished in these fires, fueled by climate change

Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, is only one example.

President Bolsonaro in Brazil is actively promoting deforestation of the Amazon Rain Forest, leading to devastating and unprecedented fires. Continue reading →

On Thursday, February 6^th at 6 p.m. on the Second floor of the Crane Library on 633 Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo, New York

An Invite to a Community Solar Forum from the Sierra Club’s Niagara Group in Buffalo

Posted February 4^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

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

The Sierra Cub group has had a long history of hosting public forums and meetings on topics that matter to the health and welfare of communities we should all want to live in.

So it is always a pleasure to post information about the public meetings they are hosting, like this one –

For more information on the Sierra Club Niagara Group, click on – https://niagarasierraclub.com/

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 http://www.niagaraatlarge.com .

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

One of the Niagara region’s largest employers set to fill over 500 student and seasonal positions

Job Fair Dates – Saturday, February 8^th and Saturday, March 7^th (read details below)

News from Ontario’s Niagara Parks Commission

Posted February 4th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls, Ontario – The Niagara Parks Commission, one of the region’s largest employers with over 1,700 full-time and seasonal employees, will host two Job Fairs on Saturday, February 8 and Saturday, March 7 at Niagara Parks’ Legends on the Niagara Golf Complex.

Annual Job Fairs allow Niagara Parks to showcase the seasonal job opportunities that exist within the Commission each year, while providing individuals with an opportunity to connect directly with various departmental hiring managers. Representatives from Niagara Parks’ Human Resources Department will also be on-hand to help answer any questions. Continue reading →

“We’ve put up with this mess for too long,” says (St. Catharines) resident Susan Rosebrugh, who has been demonstrating Wednesday mornings on Ontario Street (where the GM property is located). “I won’t be done until I see some real progress.”

The abandoned General Motors site off Ontario Street in St. Catharines, Niagara – a rotting eyesore near residential neighbourhoods and the city’s downtown

A News Release from the Niagara citizens group, Coalition for a Better St. Catharines

Posted February 2^nd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A look inside the abandoned industrial mess near downtown St. Catharines

Niagara, Ontario – Over 2,000 residents of St. Catharines have asked the City to make the GM Lands safe and secure by signing a petition organized by the citizens group Coalition for A Better St. Catharines. At least 90% of the signatures were collected in person with additional signatures coming from an online portal found on the group’s Facebook page.

The petition drive has been ongoing for about 30 days and continues via volunteers in the neighbourhoods adjoining the half demolished former manufacturing site.

“It is no problem getting signatures,” says Coalition for A Better St. Catharines organizer Peter Russell. “In fact, wherever I go people ask to sign the petition. They thank me for helping to get the community organized behind this action.” Continue reading →

Chamber Calls on Ford Government to Offer Businesses Incentives “to hire and retain full-time workers, especially younger workers.”

News from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Posted February 3rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario –The Government of Ontario has issued a call for submissions in its pre-budget consultations, and the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce (GNCC) will offer suggestions for the 2020 budget.

The vision of the GNCC is to see the Niagara region at its social and economic best, and the Chamber will be presenting policy options that would support not only business growth, but general prosperity. Continue reading →

“Vaughan Working Families” – the name of the group posted on the ad – “looks like a shell group, and Ontarians deserve to know where the piles of money to attack teachers is coming from.” – Ontario NDP MPP Ethics and Accountability Critic Taras Natyshak

News from Ontario’s New Democratic Party

Posted February 3^rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

So far, no one can contact anyone from the group that put this out, raising suspicions that some “shell group” may be involved.

(A Brief Foreword Note from Doug Draper, Niagara At Large –

This call for an investigation will be interesting to watch given concerns raised in other regions, including Niagara, in recent years that there may be entities out there, including online sites posturing as news media outlets, that are shells for one special interest group or another, or for certain political groups.

There were also suspicions last year that Ontario’s Ford government was using those stickers it was ordering gas stations to put on their pumps, opposing the federal government’s so-called “carbon tax,” as a way of using provincial tax money to help the Scheer Conservatives in a federal election. It is somewhat surprising that the federal Liberal government has not filed a complaint with Elections Canada about that.)

Queen’s Park, Ontario — The NDP has called on Elections Ontario to investigate advertising by a group calling itself “Vaughan Working Families.” The anonymous group placed full-page political advertisements that attack teachers in weekend newspapers — ads which appear to violate Ontario’s political advertising laws. Continue reading →

What is Left of Niagara’s Biodiversity is WORTH FAR MORE  than this Billion-Dollar Development Monstrosity proposed for Niagara Falls

A Call-Out to All of Us from the region-wide citizens watchdog group, A Better Niagara

Posted February 2^nd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper –

I urge you to read the following and use the links in this post, for contact information for the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) and Niagara Region representatives, to press our decision-makers to do everything they can to save our sprawling Thundering Waters, with its many acres of wetlands, woodlands and savannah grasses, before it is to late.

Now Here is the Call-Out from A Better Niagara – 

Time for Thundering Waters is running out and the need to make your voice heard is urgent. The NPCA and the Region will decide what they will allow on the site in the next few days.

Those who oppose the development of Thundering Waters must write the NPCA and the Region, copying the Niagara Falls Council now (email addresses listed below). Continue reading →

Paving Paradise – Gutting Planning Rules Sacrifices Natural Heritage to Urban Sprawl

“They paved paradise, put up a parking lot. …”– Joni Mitchell, from Big Yellow Taxi, 1969 

A Brief Introduction by Doug Draper, February 2nd, 2020  – 

Here we now are in the second decade of the 21^st Century, with a potentially catastrophic climate emergency facing us down, and we still have individuals in decision-making positions and developers, stuck in the last century and ready to pave over even more of what’s left of Niagara’s natural heritage.

Among the more precious places that these dinosaurs in the development industry and public office are looking to wreak havoc on now are Waverly Woods in Fort Erie and Thundering Waters in Niagara Falls.

I wrote and posted the following Foreword piece in July of 2019 to a commentary I wrote while I was still working as an environment reporter at The St. Catharines Standard in the 1980s and 90s.

That commentary, on the costly , destructive impact of run-away, urban sprawl on our communities and on our environment is unfortunately still relevant, thanks to those dinosaurs in the development industry and who we still, tragically, still have in public office who opt for unsustainable growth over a healthy, sustainable future for present and future generations.

How sad and disturbing it is that commentary I wrote more than two decades ago is still relevant today.

Here it all is –

A Foreword by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted February 2nd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

To repeat one of those mangled phrases made famous by the late New York Yankees baseball legend Yogi Berra; “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford pitches for “business” at almost any cost to the environment.

It is a phrase that seems fitting in Ontario these days as the province’s current premier, Doug Ford, and his Tory government take us back a couple of decades to the dark years of Ford’s old friend and mentor, former Tory premier Mike Harris, when cutting and gutting policies and programs for protecting what is left of our natural heritage to unleashing low -density urban sprawl was the rule of the day. 

Doug Ford, then still leader of the opposition Ontario PC Party, in Niagara Falls, already pledging  to make Ontario “open for business” in the weeks leading up to the June, 2018 provincial election. Continue reading →

“I don’t think you have a room full of people (from across Niagara) here because they believe that the wetlands are going to be preserved.” – Carolynn Ioannoni, one of the all too few Niagara Falls city councillors opposed to the controversial Thundering Waters development project, speaking to representatives for the developers at a public meeting this January 30th

It was standing room only at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls, Ontario for a public meeting on conroversial plans to urbanize the Thundering Waters Forest

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

Posted January 31st, 2020 on Niagara At Large

It was a heated public meeting, to say the least.

Niagara citizens making their statement at a public meeting over plans to contaminate a Thundering Waters Forest rich with wetlands with urban sprawl.

The big room in Niagara Falls’ Gale Centre was full – there were more than 200 people and there was standing room only – and you could cut the anger and the lack of any further patience for the proposal at hand with a knife.

And the overriding message that this large gathering of Niagara citizens – young people and old, and parents and their grandparents concerned for their children’s future – had for a China-based developer called GR (CAN) Investments, and for Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati and those on his city council who have shamelessly rode shotgun for this foreign development group could not have been more clear.

That message, to the China-based developer and to Diodati and the majority on his council, was this – ‘How much of we don’t want you setting a foot inside Thundering Waters Forest with our buzz saws and bulldozers do you not understand?”

Diodati, not so surprisingly, was not in that room this January 30^th to hear it. Continue reading →

Creating a ‘Geopark’ designation in Niagara for Recognizing and Protecting our Geological Heritage

A Free Public Discussion – On Monday, February 3^rd, 2020 at 6:30 P.M at the Main (downtown) Branch of the Welland Public Library

An Invite from Jocelyn Baker and the Brock University United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Posted January 31st, 2020 on Niagara At Large

You are invited by the Brock University United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair, Community Sustainability: From Local to Global to a Community Sustainability Science.

Café Series

The winter 2020 series aims to present the different United Nations designations that are already existing or are coming to the Niagara region. These cafes are a great opportunity to learn about the various designations and the benefits that they can bring to our community. Continue reading →

‘All of this plastic pollution is ending up in the food that we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe.’

Plastic waste washed up along the shores of the Great Lakes

A Statement from Vito Buonsante, Plastics Program Manager at Environmental Defence, on the federal government’s Draft Science Assessment of Plastic Pollution

Posted January 31, 2020 on Niagara A Large

A poster circulated in 2019 by the Alliance for the Great Lakes. a lakes-wide citizens group that has been fighting plastic and other forms of pollution in the Great Lakes now for years.

Toronto, Onario – The federal government’s Draft Science Assessment of Plastic Pollution confirms what we already know: plastic pollution is everywhere and that urgent action is needed to stop it.

Plastics are harming wildlife and possibly human health. According to the assessment’s findings, 29,000 tonnes of plastics escape into the environment in Canada annually.

All of this plastic pollution is ending up in the food that we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. Meanwhile, wildlife are getting entangled in it or are ingesting it, causing injury or even death. Continue reading →

St. Catharines MPP demands action to fix  shortage of PSWs (personal support workers) in long-term care homes

A Statement from St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens

Posted January 30^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens

St. Catharines, Ontario  — NDP MPP Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines) has released a statement in response to a new report from the Ontario Health Coalition revealing that over the last decade, the number of support hours provided to residents in long-term care has gone down despite an increase in demand due to a shortage of trained personal support workers (PSWs).

“Residents in long-term care are not getting the level of care they deserve, while thousands more are left to languish on wait lists, often stuck on gurneys in overcrowded hospital hallways and emergency rooms. Continue reading →

Breaking News from the World Health Organization

Posted January 30th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Note from Niagara At Large – This brief media advisory was posted on the afternoon of Thursday, January 30^th, 2020.)

Following the advice of the Emergency Committee today, WHO Director-General has declared the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

In China, more than 7700 cases have been confirmed, and 170 people have died.

There are 82 additional cases confirmed in 18 countries (including three, to date, in Canada).

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 http://www.niagaraatlarge.com .

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

Four Years On, It’s Time for the China Developers and their Enablers to Take a Walk

Attend the Open House on this Controversial Development Proprosal, this Thursday, January 30^th at 5 p.m., at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls, Ontario

ACommentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher            Doug Draper

Posted January 29th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Four year!

Some four years have passed since residents across Niagara began fighting a foreign corporation and its  local enablers to save a gem of an ecosystem in our Niagara River watershed  from urban sprawl. 

Indeed, it was almost four years ago to this day, on January 27^th, 2016, that more than 200 residents  –  many of them young people feeling passionate about protecting what is left life-sustaining resources of this region for their future, packed the big meeting room at the Balls Falls Conservation Centre in Niagara.

A peak at the rich biodiversity inside the Thundering Waters Forest.

They came to protest plans by China investors to intrude on areas in and around wetlands, woodlands and wild grasses in Niagara Falls’ 484-acre Thundering Waters Forest, located  in the southwest end of Niagara Falls, Ontario.

The China-based investors were, and still are  proposing to build what they called a ‘PARADISE’ community  (now rebranded  ‘RIVERFRONT’) with the support of Niagara area decision makers, including Niagara Falls’ Mayor, Jim Diodati. Continue reading →

Province Appoints Hodgson to Serve as Chair of Niagara’s Source Protection Committee for Water

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

Posted January 29th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Then Lincoln regional councillor Bill Hodgson aslo voted ‘NO’

Members of the old  cabal tried to crush him but he’s back.

Bill Hodgson, a former Niagara regional councillor who disappeared from the board of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority three years ago and in the wake of his efforts to have an independent audit done on NPCA operations, is back.

The Ontario’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation Parks has just appointed him to serve for a two-year term as Chair of the Niagara Source Protection Committee – a committee that works hand-in-hand with the NPCA to monitor and protect local sources of water in the Niagara watershed.

News of Bill Hodgson’s appointment came this January 28^th in an NPCA media release that Niagara At Large is including below. Continue reading →

What is Left of our Natural Heritage is this Region of Ours is Worth Far More than $1.5 Billion to This and to Future Generations

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

Posted January 27^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

It would mean an investment of $1.5 billion into the Niagara region, claim the representatives of the China-based GR (CAN) Investment firm that have been pressing for more than four years now to build a residential and commercial complex within the perimeters of 484 acres of lands many of us in Niagara, Ontario have come to know as the Thundering Waters Forest.

It would, they go on to claim, create hundreds of jobs (perhaps as many as a thousand) in its construction, and thousands more once it is built.

An important  question that all of us, including our decision makers in Niagara, should consider is this.

How much is a place like Thundering Waters – a green area rich with trees and other vegetation, and with some of the small percentage of provincially significant wetlands we have left in our region – worth?

The Thundering Waters lands in Niagara Falls, Ontario, inside the orange lines to the left in this aerial photo, with the Niagara River, spilling over the Falls, in the upper right.

I am betting that a majority of people living in this region believe that it is worth far more the way it is – as a priceless piece of our natural heritage – than $1.5 billion and however many of those jobs they are dangling out there will be offered to Canadians. Continue reading →

Wife of First Case, Now Confirmed Positive, has been in Self-Isolation

News from the Ontario Government

Posted January 27th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Ontario’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. David Williams

TORONTO, Ontario  — Today (this January 27th), Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health, confirmed  that the wife of the province’s first case of Wuhan novel coronavirus has tested positive for the virus at Ontario’s public health laboratory. Since arriving in Toronto with her husband, this individual has been in self-isolation.

“We are working alongside Toronto Public Health, who has been in regular contact with the individual during their self-isolation period,” said Dr. Williams.

“Given the fact that she has been in self-isolation, the risk to Ontarians remains low.”

Map of cases of the virus across Canada and the United States as of January 26th, 2020. As of this January 27th, add one more case to he map of Ontario

A Footnote from Doug Draper, Niagara At Large – NAL will continue posting news on any f significant developments releated to this extremely serious health issue. Continue reading →

‘Niagara Region’s waste audit results show approximately 50 per cent of what residents put in their garbage is organic waste and 14 per cent is recyclables which could have otherwise been diverted using the Blue Box, Grey Box or Green Bin.’

News from Niagara’s Regional Government

Posted January 27^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Region is changing the price of garbage tags from $2.00 per tag to $2.50 effective Feb. 1, 2020. This is to move towards full cost recovery of garbage collection and part of our continued effort to increase the diversion of  recyclable and organic materials, which are currently being placed in the garbage stream.

Each year Niagara Region staff  look at the costs of garbage collection, including the costs associated with collecting and disposing of an additional garbage bag or container. The price charged for the garbage tag is meant to cover the cost of the collection of that additional garbage bag (or container). Continue reading →

“Sadly, Jewish communities in Canada and around the world continue to face threats of violence, xenophobia, and rising anti-Semitism. As a country, through our words and actions, we need to address the resurgence of anti-Semitism at home and abroad.” – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

A Statement by Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Posted January 27^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today (this January 27^th) issued the following statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day:

“The Holocaust was one of the darkest chapters in human history. Today, we remember and pay tribute to the more than six million Jews who were senselessly murdered during the Holocaust, and the countless other victims of Nazi atrocities.

“We also honour the survivors and share their stories of courage, hope, and perseverance against unspeakable evil, and recognize the heroes who risked their lives to save others.

Child survivors a the Auschwitz death camp when it was liberated in January 2020.

“Governor General, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette, is in Poland today to attend  the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Burkina and highlight Canada’s continued commitment to preserve the memories of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. Today’s  visit follows her trip to Jerusalem to attend the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, “Remembering the Holocaust: Fighting Antisemitism.” Continue reading →

NPCA Enforcement Actions Come Days Before City of Niagara Falls Hosts Open House Meeting on Controversial Thundering Waters Development Project

A banner place across one of the entrances to Thundering Waters by concerned citizens in 2017. File photo

A Foreword by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper, followed by posts from the citizens group A Better Niagara and Niagara environmentalist Owen Bjorgan

Posted January 26th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

From Doug Draper –

Let me say right up front that over the past week or so,  Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) field staff appear to have taken actions that were both necessary and highly commendable to protect significant features of our natural heritage within the Niagara watershed.

One of the many frogs making their home in wetlands, designated as provincially significant, in Thundering Waters in Niagara Falls, Ontario. File Photo courtesy of Owen Bjorgan

And for that, staff at the NPCA, responsible for enforcing government legislated conservation and environmental protection rules, and for investigating possible violations of them, deserve credit from all of us who want to see what is left of our natural heritage protected and preserved for generations to come.

The actions taken by NPCA staff over the last number of days include the issuance of a stop work order, followed by the issuance of a notice of violation to the China-based development firm GR (CAN) Investment Co. Ltd for allegedly disturbing or damaging provincially significant wetlands (PSWs) and/or protected buffer zones around them. Continue reading →

Extensive Protocols in Place to Detect and Contain Cases

January 25, 2020 5:55 P.M.

From the Ontario Ministry of Health

Posted January 25th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

TORONTO — Today, Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, announced Ontario’s first presumptive confirmed case of Wuhan novel coronavirus in Toronto.

On Thursday, January 23, 2020, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre admitted a patient brought in by paramedics who presented with fever and respiratory symptoms. The patient was screened, recent travel history to Wuhan, China, was confirmed and the patient was immediately put under isolation. The hospital and paramedic service took all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of staff and other patients. Continue reading →

Niagara Centre Liberal MP Vance Badawey

“We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to protect and preserve (our) waterways, ensuring that we continue to be responsible stewards of the environmental, economic, and social impacts the Great Lakes have on our daily lives.”                             – Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey

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

Posted January 24^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A view of Lakes Erie and Ontario from space. We are down there, somewhere between them, and it is our job to protest, restore and preserve what is left of the natural features vital to the health of these fresh waters and our lives.

Welland, Ontario – Across the country, Canadians are leading grassroots action to protect the environment, tackle plastic pollution, conserve nature, and protect our waterways. These initiatives are creating good local jobs and improving the environment for the next generation.

This January 24th, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, launched the annual call for proposals for eight environmental funding programs. These programs will contribute to community-based projects that will have positive and measurable impacts on the environment and Canadians. Continue reading →

“It’s a respiratory infection with a virus apparently new to humans, which has shown capacity for person-to-person transmission through direct contact with respiratory secretions.” – Eduardo Fernandez, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences, Brock University

News from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario

Posted January 24^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – As reported cases of the Novel coronavirus in China and other east-Asian nations fuel global fears, a Brock University expert says specific factors could influence further transmission. Continue reading →

“There are very few really stark black and white stories.”

The Veteran PBS Journalist Died This January 23^rd at age 85 – R.I.P.

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

January 24^th, 2020 at Niagara At Large

Jim Lehrer, the consummate journalist, the way he looked during the Watergate years in the 1970s. He was often quoted saying that he never wanted the story to be about him – something you don’t hear from many ‘celebrity news show hosts’ today.

Long before the  relentless parade of circus barkers we have posing as journalists and polluting the cable networks and airwaves today, there were towering figures in broadcast news like American anchors Walter Cronkite and John Chancellor, and Canada’s own Barbara Frum and Peter Gzowski.

And there was one of the very first pioneers of news on public television, Jim Lehrer.

Jim Lehrer, who died this January 22^nd at age 85, also grew to prominence in his field when there was still a generally agreed to set of facts, and long before politicians and others frightened by the truth and opposed to serious scrutiny began branding  journalists as “enemies of the people” and purveyors of “fake news.” Continue reading →

The Ford Government’s Cuts  Are Just Making It Worse

A  Commentary by Linda McKellar, a retired hospital nurse living in Niagara, Ontario

Posted January 23rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

(The following commentary by Linda McKellar is a response to a January 22nd, 2020 news release from Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates.

In the  news release, posted on Niagara At Large earlier this January 23^rd, Gates  raises concerns and admonishes Ontario’s Ford government over what he characterizes as “shocking overcrowding” conditions in Ontario hospitals, including those at the Greater Niagara General Hospital (GNGH) site in his home riding. Gates was reacting to overcrowding statistics cited in a recent CBC news report.

Now here is Linda McKellar’s response from the perspective of someone who spent many years working in Niagara hospitals.)

Why was Wayne Gates shocked?

I’ve been retired (from hospital nursing) for ten years and it had already gone on for a decade even then! Do people have their heads in a box?

Members of the Niagara citizens group the Yellow Shirt Brigade, from left, Merilyn Athoe, Joy Russell and Linda McKellar, the author of this commentary, in front of a sign protesting plans in progress a decade ago to gut the hospital in the Niagara, Ontario municipality of Fort Erie. File photo by Doug Draper

I presented this case to Andrea Horwath in a speech at a public hearing ten years ago. To her credit, she was the only provincial politician there and I know she did bring it up at Queen’s Park.

Hallway medicine was always bad but with Ford’s cuts (to health care and related progams and services)  it can only get worse.

If you don’t have enough of something already, why would you reduce it even more? Continue reading →

The History Lab, a partnership between academic historians and community organizations, will be holding its third annual Honouring International Holocaust Remembrance Day event on Monday, Jan. 27 at the Niagara Artists Centre in St. Catharines from 6 to 8 p.m.

Memorial ceremonies marking the end of the Holocaust and the end of the Second World War will be held around the world.

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

Posted January 23^rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines resident Jack Veffer will be talking about his experiences as a child survivor of the Holocaust at a special event to mark the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday, Jan. 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Niagara Artists Centre in St. Catharines. The event is organized by Brock Associate Professor of History Elizabeth Vlossak, The History Lab, and community partners.

Born in Amsterdam in 1940, Jack Veffer and his brother Maurice survived the Holocaust by fleeing to Switzerland with a neighbour.

His parents and much of his extended family died in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

“The road to recovery has been long and painful,” says Veffer. “We survivors all have a sacred mission to bear witness as long as we can. It might help rid humanity of racism and provide the healing the world so badly needs.

“Knowledge is the bulwark against racism and antisemitism.”

With only around 5,000 Holocaust survivors still alive in Canada, the opportunity for younger generations to learn from eye-witnesses is dwindling. Continue reading →

‘For 181 days between January to June of 2019, the Greater Niagara General Hospital Site was over 100% capacity for 176 days.’

(And that is just one hospital site. What about the other hospitals  in Niagara and neighbouring regions?)

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

Posted January 23^rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

QUEEN’S PARK, Ontario – Wayne Gates, NDP MPP for Niagara Falls, responded to a report from CBC news that over the course of 181 days in 2019, the GNGH Niagara Falls Site was over 100% capacity for 176 days.

“I’m shocked but not surprised to see that number – residents have been letting this government know for years that this hospital is chronically overcrowded and underserviced,” said Gates. “These stats should be a slap in the face to the government, Ford’s government has the ability to provide that care – so what are they waiting for? What other stats do they need to see before they act?” Continue reading →

A Statement from Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority Board Chair Brenda Johnson Regarding Board Expenses

Posted January 23^rd, 2020 at Niagara At Large

NPCA’s new board Chair, Hamilton City Councillor Brenda Johnson

Niagara, Ontario – In a continued effort to be transparent regarding NPCA board member expenses, Chair Brenda Johnson would like to publicly disclose she has voluntarily donated her NPCA per diem to the Glanbrook Conservation Committee to support their volunteer work at Binbrook Conservation Area, in Hamilton.

The Glanbrook Conservation Committee is a group of volunteers working to improve the habitat for wildlife in what was previously Glanbrook Township, now the City of Hamilton.

The group includes, naturalists, environmentalists, bird watchers, hikers, canoeists, as well as fishermen and hunters. They have been active in the community for over 25 years, accomplishing many projects at Binbrook C.A. such as maintaining the Tyneside Trail, installing blue bird boxes, fish habitat cribs, invasive species identification and removal, the annual Spring Fishing Derby and many more conservation related initiatives. Continue reading →

Greta Thunberg, at a 2019 climate action rally in Vancouver B.C. in

The Now 17-Year-Old Swedish Activist and Winner of the 2019 International Children’s Peace Prize, Who Last Year Triggered A Global Climate Action Movement, Laid It On The Line for International Leaders this January 21^st at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

“Planting trees is good, of course,” she said, “but it’s nowhere near enough. … Let’s be clear. We don’t need a ‘low carbon economy.’ We don’t need to ‘lower emissions.’ Our emissions have to stop if we are to have a chance to stay below the 1.5-degree target. … We must forget about net zero. We need real zero.”

“Our house is still on fire,” added the young climate activist, in conclusion. “Your inaction is fueling the flames by the hour. And we are telling you to act as if you loved your children above all else.”

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

Posted January 22^nd, 2020 in Niagara At Large

“We are telling you to act as if you loved your children above all else.”

Greta Thunberg made the cover of Time Magazine this December 2019 as its “Person of the Year’ during a year she played a leadership role in building a world-wide movement for climate action.

Those were among the final words that Greta Thunberg, who was named Time Magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ this past December 2019, and who has emerged as a hero to countless millions around the world, including this veteran environment writer, for her clarion call for climate action, to an audience, generations older than her, at the World Economic Forum this January 2020 in Davos, Switzerland.

You will act, she told them, if you love your children above all else.

I have often whispered the same words as I have thought about so many people who are members of my Baby Boomer Generation, and about generations younger than older than mine, who have children and, in some cases, grandchildren of their own, yet continue wanting to delay action on addressing the climate crisis, or continue to deny that there is anything humans are doing that is driving us, ever more rapidly, to the point of no return. Continue reading →

“I think much of the discussion concerning plastics in the environment has been focused on the oceans and we are quickly understanding that plastic pollution is also an important issue closer to home in the Great Lakes.” – Professor of Geography and Tourism Studies Michael Pisaric, Brock University

News from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario

Posted January 22nd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A collection of plastics picked up on Sunset Beach in St. Catharines in October, 2019. Photo courtesy of Brock University

Niagara, Ontario – A day at the beach doesn’t often involve lab work, but for a group of Brock University fourth-year Geography students tasked with assessing plastic waste on the shores of Lake Ontario last fall, it was just that.

Back in October (2019), students from Professor of Geography and Tourism Studies Michael Pisaric’s GEOG 4P26 class visited Sunset Beach in north St. Catharines to measure the quantity of plastics turning up in the sand.

Students measured out plots on the beach and sifted through the sand to collect as many tiny pieces of plastic as they could. They compiled their findings in lab reports for the end of the Fall Term.

The results are now in, and they’re alarming.

Continue reading →

A Free Event in St. Catharines, Ontario, with Holocaust Survivor and Book Author Jack Veffer

On Monday, January 27^th, 2020 at the Niagara Artists Centre on 354 St. Paul Street in Downtown St. Catharines

An Invite from St. Catharines/Niagara resident and community activist Desmond Sequeira

Posted January 22nd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Dear Fellow-Advocates for Systemic Social Justice and Everyone,

With the completely unacceptable rise of anti-Semitism in North America, I  encourage you to attend this event.

Thanks, Des

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 http://www.niagaraatlarge.com .

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

Poverty Reduction Network in Niagara Celebrates Griffiths Performance Physiotherapy

“We are pleased to pay a living wage to our staff and to show that we value them. We hope to inspire businesses around us to get on board with paying a living wage and to also give back to our community.”                                                                                         – Amanda Griffiths, Clinic Director and Co-owner of Griffiths Performance Physiotherapy.

News from the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network

Posted January 22^nd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Poverty Reduction Network’s past Chair Glen Walker (right) presents living wage certificate to Griffiths Performance Physiotherapy owners in Niagara Falls

The Niagara Poverty Reduction Network is pleased to announce that Griffiths Performance Physiotherapy has become a certified living wage employer at the Champion level. 

Griffiths Performance Physiotherapy is a family-run business based in Niagara Falls and currently employs two full time staff, one part time staff and one contractor. They provide a variety of physiotherapy services for treatment of pain and injury recovery.

We are pleased to pay a living wage to our staff and to show that we value them. We hope to inspi“re businesses around us to get on board with paying a living wage and to also give back to our community” says Amanda Griffiths, Clinic Director and Co-owner of Griffiths Performance Physiotherapy. Continue reading →

Some of the Trump Juggernaut’s Most Recent Attacks on Water Protection Rules Post Risks for 36 Million Americans and Canadians Living in the Great Lakes Basin

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

Posted January 20^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Since the celebration of the first Earth Day 50 years ago this coming spring, Canadians and Americans have both had their share of weak federal, provincial and state governments when it comes to doing what is right to protect the water and air we collectively share and count on for our health and prosperity.

Yet none – I believe it is safe to say- come close to matching the current administration of U.S. President Donald Trump when it comes to the hyper level of abandon and psycho-like relish it employs as it eviscerates so many of environmental protections that generations of citizens, scientists and government agencies have worked so hard, with their counterparts in Canada and other regions of the world, to put in place.

Trump is moving to rip apart water protection rules that would protect wetlands like this one, which many citizens in Niaara and other regions of Ontario are fighting to save in Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls.

According to some of the latest reports in major American media outlets, Trump and his all-too-many supporters and followers are now hard at work – outside any consultation they should be doing with knowledgeable scientists in what is left of what was a world-class Environmental Protection Agency before they began hollowing out it – rolling back policies and programs for protecting wetlands and other critical bodies of water. Continue reading →

Racism Remains a Cancer to Contend with  in Both Countries

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” – from the iconic address that the late American Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered during the Civil Rights Movement’s historic March on Washington in August of 1963

A Brief Commentary by  Doug Draper on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States

Posted January 20^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

When the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. became a leader of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 195os, many Black people in his own country were forced to endure segregated schools, washrooms and water fountains, had to sit at the back of the bus and had a difficult, if not impossible time exercising their right to vote in elections.

Today, more than 50 years after his assassination, much progress has been made in eliminating those and other racial barriers. Continue reading →

“Thousands of our residents are in shelters or emergency hotel accommodations, unable to find affordable housing. We have heard stories of people in our community forced to sleep under bridges.”

News from Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch, St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens and Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

Niagara MPPs Jeff Burch, Wayne Gates and Jennie Stevens

Posted January 20th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

QUEEN’S PARK – NDP Official Opposition MPPs Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre), Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines), and Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) have issued an open letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

The letter, posted below, highlights the devastating impact of the unfair funding formula under the Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative (CHPI) that fails to provide the resources needed for Niagara.

The MPPs are calling for a new funding model that matches local demand for homelessness services and ensures equitable allocation.

Open Letter to  Steve Clark, Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing –

Dear Minister Clark:  

We are sending you this letter on behalf of the people of Niagara. Niagara is facing a critical issue of housing and homelessness. Continue reading →

“All residents and visitors are invited to shape the Thorold Business Improvement Area’s vision because our Downtown is for everyone.”                                                                                               – Serge Carpino, Thorold Business Imrovement Area (BIA) Chair

News from Thorold’s Business Improvement Area

Posted January 20^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Thorold’s downtown, featured in national heritage magazines and winner of a prestigious Prince of Wales heritage prize.

Thorold, Ontario – People with ideas to improve business in Downtown Thorold can have a part in shaping the community by participating in a 2020 survey to help form a flourishing future in downtown Thorold. 

The public survey sponsored by the Thorold Business Improvement Area along with other community stakeholders including Thorold Tourism and the Thorold Public Library will be open to all people in an online format.  Continue reading →

Niagara’s Conservation Authority Needs Leadership that Takes the Science of Climate Change Seriously

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

Posted January 17^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

When West Lincoln Mayor Dave Bylsma made what turned out to be hisill-fated  pitch to fellow members of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority’s board of directors this January 15th to serve for a second one-year term as the board’s Chair, he finished by motioning an arm in the direction of the entrance to the NPCA’s Ball’s Falls Conservation Centre.

Some of the protesters who greeted NPCA board members, including David Bylsma, outside the Conservation Authority’s Annual General Meeting this January 15th.

It was there, at the Conservation Centre’s entrance way, where a number of citizens staged a protest earlier on, urging him to step down.

Welland resident Robert Milenkoff joined in call for David Bylsma’s resignation from NPCA board’s Chair post. Photo by Doug Draper

“I have held every member of this board and every staff member in the highest respect,” said Bylsma as he was about to make his arm gesture.

“I do not deserve that,” he said, his voice slightly quivering.  “I have been a good Chair.”

Talk that he should not be Chair, Byslma may or may not know, was always there, looming in the background, going back a full year ago, when a majority of fellow board embers first appointed him to that position. 

It lingered with people who, rightly or wrongly, also wanted to give him a chance … give him the benefit of the doubt, , in spite of whatever off the rail views he may hold on the issue of climate change.

But the calls caught fire during the first week of this New Year when  For Our Kids  Niagara – a recently organized group made up mostly of young parents concerned about their children’s future – circulated an open letter highlighting one of Bylsma’s other roles as president of the Christian Heritage Party, a fringe political organization that characterizes climate change as a “phony crisis” and accuses  United Nations science bodies and individuals  like former U.S. vice-president Al Gore, who won a Nobel Prize for his part in raising public awareness about climate change, of engaging in dangerous propaganda. Continue reading →

Ontario Environment Minister Jeff Yurek (left) with Premier Doug Ford at his back. File photo

“Ontario Helping to Build Healthier, Safer Communities Faster” – Claims Doug Ford Tories

“Reducing delays and duplication through proposed changes to Class Environmental Assessments”

News from the Ford Government’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks

Posted January 16th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

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

During a conference with mainstream media outlets in Niagara this January 16th, Ford’s Environment Minister Jeff Yurek announced that the government is now moving to make changes to Ontario’s Environmental Assessment process – to environmental protection legislation  that took citizen groups have past governments many years to enact for the betterment of our air, waters and lands – in order to “exempt  projects” from a thorough review.

The full range of projects the government has in mind, and how  and who would do the exempting is not entirely clear, except to stress, as Ford’s Environment Minister did in his announcement, that “this is an example of how our government is looking at smarter, more modern ways of doing business to remove unnecessary costs and delays for important public services and infrastructure projects.” Continue reading →

NPCA’s Board of Directors Holds Its 2020 Annual General Meeting at Balls Fall’s Conservation Centre

January 15th Meeting is First for Chandra Sharma as NPCA’s new CAO, and first for Board Members Brenda Johnson of Hamilton and Bruce Mackenzie of Grimsby in their new roles as Chair and Vice-Chair, Respectively

A News Release from the Niagara PeninsulaConservation Authority 

Posted Jauary 15th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) held its Annual General Meeting of 2020 at its Ball’s Falls Centre for Conservation.

Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority’s new CAO Chandra Sharma, left), and the new Chair of the NPCA’s board of directors, at the table during the Conservaton Authority’s 2020 Annual General Meeting this January 15th. An NPCA photo

The Business portion of the meeting was called to order by CAO, Chandra Sharma, who conducted the election of officers for 2020. Ward 11 Councillor for the City of Hamilton, Brenda Johnson, was elected as Chair, and Board Member for Grimsby, Mr. Bruce Mackenzie was elected as Vice-Chair. Continue reading →

Kennedy Will Be Niagara College’s Sixth President, Succeeding Long-Time President Dan Patterson

A News Release from Niagara College in Niagara, Ontario

Posted January 10th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – The Niagara College Board of Governors announced this January 10th  that it has selected Sean Kennedy, an experienced post-secondary leader with 20 years of experience leading teams in several areas of higher education, as Niagara College’s sixth president.

Niagara College has a new President, the Sixth in its history- Sean Kennedy

Currently Niagara College’s senior vice president, International, Kennedy has been a part of the College’s senior leadership team since 2006.

“Sean is student-focused, and embodies the Niagara College DNA – the welcoming, passionate and trailblazing qualities that set Niagara College apart and form the foundation of its success,” said John F.T. Scott, chair of the Niagara College Board of Governors. Continue reading →

If They Were Shot Down Deliberately or Accidentally, Then Someone South of the Border has Blood on his Hands

Trump plays the strong man this January 8th, 2020 in his showdown with Iran. Look at the  holy man, Mike Pence, on the right who has been helping Trump lie his way through this. Is that what he learned in church?

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted January 9th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Three of the 63 Canadians, Bahareh Hajesfandiari, his wife Mehdi Sadeghi and their daughter Anisa, who perished when a Ukrainian jetliner went down in Iran.

There may be at least a few out there who look at this and ask why is he commenting on this mess in Iran again, when he should be focusing on issues closer to home.

Fair enough.

Yet when I was out and about in Niagara this January 8th, stopping off at a few stores, one of our public libraries and at an auto-care centre, getting a minor repair done to my car, just about everyone I crossed paths with had what has been going down with the U.S. Trump administration and Iran on the top of their minds.

Many went out of their way to express their concern and even some of the anger they were feeling about circumstances that a number of experts on foreign affairs fear could lead to a catastrophic war.

A field of burning debris, leftover from down jet that carried 176 people, including 63Canadians, to their death in Iran

And one part of this whole affair people I crossed paths with mentioned the most was the crash of the Ukrainian jetliner in the early morning hours (Middle East time) inside the borders of Iran that ended the lives of all 176 people aboard, including 63 Canadian men, women and children. Continue reading →