Author Archives: dougdraper

Leading Canadian Environmental Organizations Release Responses from Federal Parties on 10 Environmental Priority Questions

A News Release from Environmental Defence Canada, a citizens’ advocacy group for our environment

Posted October ??, 2019 on Niaggara At Large

Ottawa, Ontario – This October 1st, Canada’s leading environmental organizations released the answers to a Federal Party Survey on Environmental Platforms that address the climate change, biodiversity, toxics and waste crises harming our country.

The survey was distributed to the six main political parties in July 2019 and responses were received from five of them: the Bloc Quebecois, Conservative Party of Canada, Green Party of Canada, Liberal Party of Canada and New Democratic Party. The People’s Party of Canada did not respond.

The survey represents the collective priorities of the 14 environmental organizations and outlines required actions to address the environmental protection, economic justice and human rights issues facing Canadians. Continue reading →

Greta Thunberg, left, marches with thousands of others ahead of a first of a kind Youth Climate Summit that the United Nations is hosting in New York City this September 21st

“We demand a safe future. Is that really too much to ask for?”     – from an address by 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg at a New York City rally this September 20^th, as millions of people around the world went out on “strike” for climate action ahead of a United Nation’s sponsored Youth Climate Summit this September 21st

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 21^st, 2019 on Niagara At Large

In what may be the largest global demonstration of its kind for protecting our earth’s environment, literally millions of people around the world took part in “strikes” this September 20^th for climate action.

The growing size of these demonstrations, expected to continue in communities and countries around the world in the weeks and months ahead, raise hope that upcoming elections in Canada (we have a federal election this October 21^st) and in the United States next year will be used to sweep those politicians not committed to act decisively NOW on the climate emergency out of office.

Climate deniers and laggards in public office can no longer be tolerated given the seriousness of the threat to survival that the world faces today. Continue reading →

‘LINDA RONSTADT – The Sound of My Voice’

A Brief One from Doug Draper

Posted September 21^st, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Linda Ronstadt, during her Stone Poney days in the late 1960s, before she went solo.

Linda Ronstadt has, by almost any measure in the world of music, made her mark as one of the greatest singers of the past 50 years.

I confess that I have a bit of a bias here. I had a massive school-boy crush on Linda Ronstadt going back to her first hit, ’Different Drum’ with a folk-rock group called the Stone Poneys in 1967.

But bias or no bias, the boat-load of Grammy Awards, the decades-long string of hits on the Billboard charts record sales totalling more than 100 million, and the induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, speak for themselves. Continue reading →

From Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

Posted September 18th, 2019

Niagara At Large is taking a little time off to walk the beaches of Cape Cod and think about where a news and commentary site like this may go in the future, if anywhere?

I know I leave myself wide open to Trump-inspired trolls out there who hate so much of what we post here, but I will ask you the question anyway – “Any suggestions?”

We have a strong and loyal readership now, but we need to grow and we are going to need some support in the future in order to survive.

Thanks so much to all of our many readers for supporting us with your visits and comments over the past 10 years.

With more support, we can build this independent, alternative news voice into a real tour de force for democracy and for social and environmental justice in our greater Niagara region.

Doug Draper, journalist

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 –  moan 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

“This new hospital represents a significant and important investment in healthcare in Niagara. With the government’s support, we are one step closer to a new hospital and we look forward to our continued work with the Ministry of Health to plan the next stage.” – Angela Zangari, Interim President, Niagara Health

A News Release from Niagara Health, formerly the Niagara Health System

Posted September 18^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Planning for the new South Niagara Hospital took an important step forward as Infrastructure Ontario has listed the project (Niagara Falls Hospital) in their Market Update for Projects in Pre-Procurement.

The proposed site for a new hospital for Niagara’s south end is in the southwest end of Niagara Falls off the QEW. Is that a good location for people in communities like Welland and Port Colborne?

  The South Niagara Hospital is listed in the Market Update to start issuing RFQs (Request for Qualifications) in spring 2021 and issuing RFPs (Request for Proposals) in winter 2021 with a financial close in 2022.

With a Stage 2 revised submission soon to be provided to the provincial Ministry of Health, the project will move through important milestones. The submission outlines the program and service requirements, equipment and space needs and has been developed with extensive input from Niagara Health’s staff, physicians and community partners.   Continue reading →

In the Case of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, We Are Talking No More Than Two to Four Per Cent

A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher           Doug Draper

Posted September 15^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

To Ontario Premier Doug Ford – How about adding more to the pot, if you want to have a say in how Conservation Authorities do business?

There is an old saying that goes like this; “If you want to play, you gotta pay.”

Some attribute the line to American novelist Stephen King, although I always tied it to Bruce Springsteen, who used it as far back as the 1970s to rev up audiences at his shows.

At the risk of insulting those two guys, I could hear a line like that coming out of the mouth of Ontario’s premier, Doug Ford, because it does seem to have a bit of a free market ring to it, doesn’t it?

“If you want to play, you gotta pay,”

In other words;‘If you’re not going to put down more doe, it’s time to get up and go.’

Continue reading →

A Video of Activists Naomi Klein from Canada and Greta Thunberg from Sweden, on Stage in New York, September 10^th, 2019, and brought to us by the award-winning international news organization, The Intercept

A Foreword from Niagara At Large reporter and publisher             Doug Draper

Posted September 15^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Climate activists Greta Thunberg and Naomi Klein. Photo downloaded from Twitter

Long-time Canadian activist, journalist and best-selling book writer Naomi Klein and 16-year-old Swedish activist extraordinaire Greta Thunberg, who has almost single handedly kindled a world-wide youth movement to address what is a full-blown climate emergency we face today, are heroes of mine.

And I hope they become heroes of yours too, if they are not already.

But more than that, I hope that their  words and actions inspire all of us to exercise the intelligence, forsight and moral fortitude to act decisively now to make the changes necessary to save the life-sustaining resources of this great earth of ours for ourselves and our children.

Here are Naomi Klein and Greta Thunberg together recently, sharing their concerns, their call for action and their vision for a better future, all ahead of a major United Nations gathering later this September for a summit on climate action  in New York.

Their appearance also predates public strikes being organized by individuals and groups of people – young and old and many in between – around the world this September 20^th and 27^th to build the push for climate action now

Click on the screen below to watch and share it around using the hashtag #ourclimatefuture –

Before we leave you, here is a link to a commentary posted on Niagara At Large this past September 9^th on the need to make the environment a major issue in Canada’s October 21^st federal election – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2019/09/12/in-this-federal-election-in-canada-vote-first-and-foremost-for-our-environment/

In response to that September 9^th commentary, one of Niagara At Large’s regular readers and commenters on issues discussed and debated on this site, shared the following comment that I believe is worth repeating here. –  

By Linda McKellar, Fort Erie, Ontario –

The climate should be PRIORITY ONE!  What good is a booming economy if you can’t breathe the air or drink the water (if you even have any) or your home burns in a forest fire or gets washed away by flooding?   Continue reading →

“Imagine two elders with no vested interest in the status quo speaking out about climate change and the kind of world we are leaving to our children.” — David Suzuki

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

Posted September 13^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

It is heartening to know that not every person over the age of 70 is either treating the climate emergency our world faces as some kind of joke or commie plot, or is out there saying; “Why should I care what the world’s like in 20 or 30 years. I’ll probably be punching out before then anyway. So I’m supporting politicians like Harris and Scheer, just to long as they keep their hands off my pension and health care, and give me cheap gas and more tax cuts.”

We’ve got what a recent best-selling book by the same title calls “a generation of sociopaths” – otherwise known as aging baby boomers  and older – who we can count on to drive to the polls in droves in this October’s federal election, to vote for any candidate that promises to strike down putting moe of a price (what the likes of Harris and Scheer demonize as a “tax”) on climate-changing carbon pollution.

So thank God there are at least some people over 70 out there – in this case, 83-year-old David Suzuki, a scientists and host of the long-running CBC program, A Nature of Things, and 81-year-old Stephen Lewis, a former Ontario politician and United Nations Ambassador for Canada – who are prepared to go out there and speak out for climate action and our children’s future.

Suzuki, Lewis and another great Canadian over the age of 70 – 78-year-old folksinger and social justice activist Buffy Sainte-Marie, who is joining them as a special guest – are embarking on what they are calling a “Climate First Tour” of five key cities across the country this September and October, starting at 7p.m this September 14th, at Convocation Hall at the University of Toronto. Continue reading →

Personal Watercraft Operators in Restricted Waters Faces Federal Charge

A News Release from Ontario’s Niagara Parks Police

Posted September 13^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls, Ontario – On September 11th, 2019 at approximately 7:00 p.m. emergency services responded to the upper Niagara River following a 9-1-1 call that an individual had fallen off his personal watercraft in restricted waters at the International Control Dam.

A second personal watercraft operator was observed in these restricted waters but steered back towards shore.

Niagara Parks Police Service members positioned themselves along three shoreline locations between the Toronto Power Generating station and the brink of the Horseshoe Falls with rescue throwlines. Continue reading →

A Statement from Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch and Ottawa MPP Joel Harden for Ontario’s New Democratic Party

Posted September 13th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park –  Ottawa NDP MPP Joel Harden and NDP Municipal Affairs critic, Jeff Burch,  issued the following statement after the City of Ottawa’s finance and economic development committee approved a property tax increase, a direct result of Doug Ford’s cuts to Ontario municipalities.

“Doug Ford is cutting critical services — including public health — and downloading the costs of those provincially funded programs onto municipalities, and families that pay municipal taxes.

Let’s be clear: if Ottawa or any other community has to raise municipal taxes this year, it’s a Ford Tax.

The alternative, with Ford’s funding cuts, is forcing cities to look at cutting community programs that families depend on. Either option is unthinkable for many city councillors and municipal leaders. Continue reading →

“At a time where we’re losing our grants, we’re losing OSAP, it should be more important than ever to fund student jobs, and jobs that allow us to excel in our career after graduating. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be a priority for provincial government.”

A News Release from Ontario’s Official Opposition and New Democratic Party

Posted September 12^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Ontario — NDP MPPs Jessica Bell and Chris Glover are calling on the Ford government to reverse its attack on student unions and services, which has put campus and community radio stations across the province under threat.

“Doug Ford’s cuts mean that half of Ontario’s community radio stations are at risk of having to close down over the next two years,” said Bell, MPP for University-Rosedale. “Ford forcing universities and colleges to implement his personal student fee policy means many campus radio stations face considerable financial instability, and are laying off students. That’s simply unacceptable.” Continue reading →

They Have Big Sales On This September. If You Love Books, Do Yourself A Favour and Check These Stores Out

A Brief One from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Posted September 12th, 2019  on Niagara At Large

Hannelore Headley Old & Fine Books in St. Catharines, Niagara on 71 Queen Street near Montebello Park

(Let me start by saying that this is not a paid ad. It  is an updated version of a piece I posted about this two great bookstores when they both hold month-long sales like this a year or so ago – Doug Draper, NAL)

I am posting this one because I’ve always been a strong supporter of what are left of our great old brick and mortar book and record stores in Niagara, Ontario and across the border in the Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York areas, and I urge you to support them as a friend of book and record stores by becoming a customer.

And it is a great time to become a customer because right now, two of the very best of the used bookstores in our Niagara region are having sales of  50 per cent off most of their inventory, every day they are open, right up to the end of this month of September.

The Write Bookshop, in the downtown of St. Catharines on 285 St. Paul Street

Those two stores – both of them independently owned and run by very nice and knowledgeable people – are Hannelore Headley Old & Fine Books on 71 Queen Street, off Lake Street near Montebello Park in St. Catharines, and The Write Bookshop, right in the downtown of St. Catharines on 285 St. Paul Street.

The following is a short message from the people at Hannelore Headley Old & Fine Books on their sale –

“There is still time to stop by for our spring book sale; 50% off all used books, and 20% off books marked firm.

There are exceptions, for example books mark new or on consignment can’t be discounted and credit slips won’t apply. So come by and help us make some space, let’s get those books out of boxes! (Sale runs until end of this September). 

And don’t forget the similar sale at The Write Bookshop on nearby St. Paul Street in the city.

Please check these two great stores out, and vote as often as you can with your wallet to keep real book and record stores alive!

For more information on Hannelore Headley Old & Fine Books in St. Catharines, Niagara, click on – https://www.facebook.com/Hannelore-Headley-Old-Fine-Books-Inc-533950869988039/ .

For more information on The Write Bookshop in downtown St. Catharines, Niagara, click on – https://www.facebook.com/TheWriteBookshop/ .

For a related post from the Niagara At Large archives – a goodbye tribute to Hannelore Headley, founder of  Old And Fine Books who died five years ago this June, click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2013/06/28/a-sad-goodbye-to-one-of-niagaras-greatest-lovers-of-books/ .

Feel free to name some of your favourite book stores in Niagara, Ontario and the Buffalo, New York area below.

NIAGARA AT LARGE encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space below the Bernie quote.

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

“Our communities – and the province as a whole – risk falling behind if we do not leverage the rich and diverse competitive advantages of our local economies.” – Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce

A New Report from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce  and Ontario Chamber of Commerce

Posted September 12^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Niagara,Ontario – This September 12th, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) and the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce (GNCC) released a new report, The Great Mosaic: Reviving Ontario’s Regional Economies.

The report outlines how government of all levels can work with industry to unleash the potential of Ontario’s regional economies and reinforce the competitiveness of the province as a whole.

“We are only as strong as our weakest link and our ability to prosper depends on the strength of our different regions. Economic and population growth rates in the Greater Golden Horseshoe and Ottawa have far surpassed those in other areas of the province,” said Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. Continue reading →

Vote As If Our Whole Future Is At Stake – Because It Is!

“This election, who we vote for matters more than ever before. It matters not only for our country, but also for our children’s future and the health of our planet.” – Sierra Club Canada

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

Posted September 11th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

As of this September 11^th, 2019, a federal election in Canada is officially on and for Canadians from coast to coast, this may very well be the most important election in our lives.

This federal election is of critical importance because as many of the best scientists and climate experts around the world have been warning us over and over again, we are facing a full-blown climate catastrophe and breakdown of the systems that support life on this planet if we don’t take strong action now to stave it off.

We now have possibly a dozen or so years left before we reach a perilous tipping point – a point of no return – some of the most recent scientific models tell us, and the rate of melting ice, rising waters, severe winds, droughts and wildfires is escalating beyond almost any and all predictions made 10 or 20 years ago.

One of today’s great champions for our planet and we adults need to listen to her – 16-year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden. “You say you love your children above all else,” she said, “and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes.”

As that remarkable young climate activist from Sweden, Greta Thunberg, put it during a presentation she made to some of the world’s financial leaders at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this past January; “I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is.”

Greta’s call to them must be the call we Canadians make to ourselves and everyone around us in the 40 or so days we have leading up to an October 21^st vote. If we do not make that call our own, if we don’t go to war now on this over-arching threat to our planet, then nothing else – what we do on health care, on education, on job creation and on a host of other issues – will matter because there will be no ground left to build a life on. Continue reading →

“We saw the best and the worst in humanity in that moment, and we will never forget those who lost their lives.”                                      – from a Statement by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo

A Brief News Commentary by  Doug Draper

Posted September 11^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Anyone who was over the age of 10 on September 11^th, 2001 probably remembers where they were and who they were with when countless millions around the world turned on screens to the sight of fire and smoke billowing out of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on the lower shores of Manhattan in the City of New York.

Some 3,000 people died when those two towers cratered, and when commercial jetliners filled with passengers were used as missiles to take out them and a section of the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C. Depending on what media sources you go to, 26 or more of the victims of the terror attacks that day were Canadians. Continue reading →

A New CBC Report Says Doug Ford Is Continuing To Talk Up Urban Development In Greenbelt

Jim Bradley, during one of the many times he, as an MPP for St. Catharines, spoke to a gathering of Niagara residents working to protect and preserve green space in the region.

“When our (Ontario Liberal) government was elected to office in 2003, urban communities were sprawling at a dangerous rate and tens of thousands of acres of precious land were being gobbled up for development. To counter this worrisome trend, our government created the largest permanent Greenbelt anywhere in the world, which protects almost two million acres of pristine land and fresh water.”                                                  – then-St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley, in a statement in the Ontario legislature, delivered May 1st, 2018

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

Posted September 190^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

“One of the main reasons I decided to run for public office at the provincial level was to protect our valuable farmland, green fields, wetlands, ravines, rivers streams and environmentally sensitive areas from unwise and reckless development.”

Those words were spoken in the Ontario legislature on May 1^st, 2018 by Jim Bradley, who was the Liberal MPP for St. Catharines at the time, and who earlier in his long tenure in provincial politics, served twice as Ontario’s environment minister.

Now Chair of Niagara Region’s council, Jim Bradley’s words recall the concern he already had for the survival of what is left of our natural heritage in the Golden Horseshoe while he was a a St. Catharines city councillor in the late 1970s, preparing to run as a candidate provincially.

Bradley’s words were also spoken after a video tape was leaked to the news media a year ago this spring, showing then Tory leadership candidate Doug Ford speaking to a group of developers in what he thought was a private setting about allowing “chunks” of the province’s protected Greenbelt to be paved over for housing if he were to become premier.

“People of all political persuasion have … expressed support for the Greenbelt,” added Bradley during his statement in the provincial legislature in May of last year. “They would be appalled and extremely concerned when viewing a video of (then) PC Party leader Doug Ford promising developers to open up a “big chunk” of Ontario ‘s greenbelt for development, and admitting that he had already talked to some of the biggest developers in the country (about doing just that.)”

Before I go on to comment on Ford’s continued, obsessive interest in turning over “chunks” of our world renown Greenbelt running through Niagara and around Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area, here is that infamous video that you can watch by clicking on the screen below –

After this video went public, political critics like Jim Bradley slammed Ford. And the video also  triggered an outcry from environmentalists and members o the general public alike.

So much so that Ford quickly retreated from the words he was caught uttering in the video. Continue reading →

This year – 2019 – on Track to be Worst for Toxic Blooms Causing People to be Sick and Pets to Die

Toxic Algae is killing fish and threatening other life in Great Lakes

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

Posted September 10^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large 

Buffalo, New York – Congressman Brian Higgins  is asking the United States Army Corps to expand a pilot project, which is seeing success in combatting Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB), to the Great Lakes.

In his letter Higgins says, “I write today to respectfully request that, simultaneous with the pilot effort on Lake Okeechobee, similar pilot efforts be undertaken in Lake Erie, which has suffered, in recent years, from serious harmful algal blooms.

A shot from space shows mats of green algae spreading through Lake Ontario. File photo

  “These phenomena (the letter continues) are not merely an impediment to recreational activities on the lakes, but the toxins associated with algal blooms threaten the water supplies of major cities.  This crisis is significant and growing and requires a rapid and coordinated response.” Continue reading →

Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterfhoff

“Adding new long-term care beds and upgrading older beds to modern design at Shalom Manor (in Grimsby), and across the (Niagara) region, is key to our government’s transformational strategy to end hallway health care in Ontario. … “We owe it to the older generations who need care now, and for our children. One day, they will need this care too.” – Niagara West MPP and Ford Government rep. Sam Oosterhoff

A News Release from the Government of Ontario

Posted September 10th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Grimsby, Ontario  — Across the province, there are more than 34,000 Ontarians waiting to get into a long-term care home, putting strain on the health care system and leaving residents waiting too long for the care they desperately need.

The government is taking swift action and delivering on its commitment to end hallway health care by adding more long-term care beds in communities across Ontario.

This September 10th, Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Long-Term Care, was joined by Effie Triantafilopoulos, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Long-Term Care, MPPs Sam Oosterhoff, Toby Barrett, Will Bouma and Donna Skelly at Shalom Manor & Gardens in Grimsby to announce the government is allocating almost 1,000 new long-term care beds and upgrading almost 800 existing beds to modern design in Haldimand-Norfolk, Brant, Hamilton and Niagara. Continue reading →

Reiger Begonia Show at the Floral Showhouse this Fall·   Floral Showhouse takes on fall harvest theme, September 14 – October 21, in Niagara Falls, Ontario 

An Invite from Ontario’s Niagara Parks Commission 

Posted September 10^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large 

Niagara Falls, Ontario – A wonderful mix of fall colours will be featured in this year’s Reiger Begonia show at the Floral Showhouse, from September 14 – October 21. 

The floral design theme is Rooted: Fall Harvest, with collections of rooted vegetables showcasing orange and red begonias in the north house. Continue reading →

Will Niagara West MPP and Ford Government Rep Sam Oosterhoff be Among the Last to Enjoy a Wedding at NPCA’s Ball’s Falls Conservation Area?

What more will Ontario Premier Doug Ford do to province’s cash-strapped Conservation Authorities?

And How Much Right Does The Province Have Left To Dictate Anything  Conservation Authorities Do When It Contributes So Little To Conservation Budgets?

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

Posted September 9th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

This August, in a letter to Conservation Ontario – an umbrella group for the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) and 35 other Conservation Authorities across the province – Jeff Yurek, Ontario’s Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks, recommended that Conservation Authorities begin to “wind down” any activities that “fall outside the scope of (their) core mandate.”

Kim Gavine, general manager of Conservation Ontario, responded that the recommendation, or “request as Yurek put it, in the minister’s August 16^th letter “stunned” Conservation Authorities and left them “caught completely by surprise.”

Ontario Environment, Conservation and Parks Minister Jeff Yurek stuns Conservation Authorities with letter suggesting they should “wind down” some activities.

In the wake of Yurek’s letter, Conservation Authorities were left wondering what “activities” he was referring to and what exactly the Ford government he serves views as their “core mandate.”

As the dog days of August dragged on, Ontario’s Conservation Authorities and the public at large were treated to at least a partial list of what activities the provincial government has in mind.

In media interviews, Yurek and one of his spokespersons were quoted in newspapers listing activities like zip-lining, maple syrup festivals, and photography and wedding permits in their conservation areas among the activities that should be wound down.

“Over the years, conservation authorities have expanded past their core mandate into activities such as zip-lining, maple syrup festivals and photography and wedding permits,” Yurek was quoted saying in an August 21^st story in the Toronto Star.

Weddings, just to focus on one the possible activities on the Ford government’s wind down list, have been very popular at the NPCA’s Ball’s Falls Conservation Area for many years now and through the fees the NPCA charges wedding parties for use of the facilities on the area’s scenic lands, it has also been an important source of revenue the NPCA uses to help cover the costs of watershed restoration and other conservation projects that are arguably part of its core mandate.

Niagara West MPP and Ford Government representative Sam Oosterhoff and his new wife recently enjoy their wedding reception at Ball’s Falls Conservation Area. (This photo was taken this August on front steps of historic Ball family residence.) Will they be among the last to do so as Ford government eyes winding down such activities at Conservation Authority sites? A Facebook image.

And it just so happens, as Niagara At Large recently learned from sources outside of the NPCA and this region of the province, that just two weeks before Yurek “stunned” Conservation Authorities with his request that such activities be wound down, that Niagara West MPP and Ford government representative Sam Oosterhoff, had his wedding at the Ball’s Falls Conservation Area, located in the Niagara municipality of Lincoln.

One of the many guests at wedding, sources confirmed was Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Continue reading →

Government of Ontario is proposing to open up hunting of wolves and coyotes across the north.

Ontario’s Ford Government is moving to put more of province’s wolves and coyotes in the cross-hairs. An Ontario Naturephoto of Grey Wolf cubs.  Photo by John Pitcher

An Action Alert from Ontario Nature, a non-partisan, not-for profit advocacy group for protecting and preserving Ontario’s natural heritage

Why are these wolves being scapegoated? Why, indeed, when there is no scientific evidence to justify Ford’s proposed cull? Ontario Nature photo by Douglas Sprott

Posted September 6^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Without a shred of supporting scientific evidence, the Government of Ontario is proposing to open up hunting of wolves and coyotes across the north.

The reason?

They claim that it’s to address the declining moose populations. But the evidence doesn’t add up. Continue reading →

“The Tongass (National Forest) is an essential carbon sink. It stores more atmospheric carbon than any other U.S. forest.  Each tree that is cut down removes a piece of this invaluable resource that helps slow climate change.”                                                                                – The Sierra Club, in an open appeal for our help to save this rich, life-giving forest

One of North America’s greatest stand of trees is now in Trump’s sights for destruction

A Call-Out for Support from the Sierra Club

Posted September 6^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from NAL’s Doug Draper – I am generally reluctant to post calls for support that involve asking for dollar donations on Niagara At Large, outside of a shortlist of exceptions.

I am making an exception in this case because the organization asking for donations – the Sierra Club – is one of the oldest and most respected conservation groups in the world – and the battle they need funding for is against efforts by the Trump administration and some of the greediest pirates in the logging industry to literally cut the life out of one of the last great stands of trees on this continent that Canada shares with the United States.

This disgusting and dangerous move, along with so many others Trump and his fellow swamp creatures are making around deconstructing a legacy of environmental safeguards has the potential to seriously compromise a healthy and prosperous future for all of us.

So we need to support groups like the Sierra Club in whatever way we can to fight these battles.)

Now here is the Sierra Club’s call-out for support –

In the last week of August, President Trump told the Forest Service to exempt the Tongass National Forest from the Roadless Rule that has protected it ; and millions more acres of National Forest System land; from road building and logging for 20 years. Continue reading →

* St. David’s Public School on Regional Rd. 81 (York Rd.) from Queenston Rd.    to Concession 3 Rd. in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake 

* Twenty Valley Public School on Regional Rd. 24 (Victoria Ave.) from    Frederick Ave. to Regional Rd. 81 (King St.) in the Town of Lincoln

Community Safety Zones will help get students to school safely at two locations in Niagara this September

A News Release from Niagara’s Regional Government

Posted September 6^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – It’s back to school time, and Niagara Region is launching Community Safety Zones at two locations on Regional Roads to help improve safety for students and their families travelling to and from school.

Community Safety Zones are intended to modify driver behaviour including reducing speed and distracted driving, and improve safety on certain sections of road where public safety is of special concern. Continue reading →

Ford Is Trying to Bully Gas Stations Into Affixing  Propaganda Stickers to Their Pumps

A News Release from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association

Posted September 5^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

This Ford government sticker is a shot at one of the federal Liberal government’s efforts to place a price on climate-changing carbon pollution by, in part, demonizing it as a “tax.” Many critics see the sticker as propaganda Ford is putting out there just in time to assist his federal Tory friend and ally Andrew Scheer in the upcoming October federal election.

As promised, this September 4^th the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) filed its legal challenge to the mandatory anti-carbon tax gas stickers required by Ontario law, failing which gas retailers will be fined up to $10,000 per day.

The government stickers direct consumers to a website to read about how the Ontario government has a “better way” of fighting climate change.

“The provincial government can engage in a war of words with the federal government over the carbon tax, but it cannot use the threat of fines to conscript private businesses to take up its cause,” says Cara Zwibel, Director of the Fundamental Freedoms Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

CCLA’s claim argues that the law violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ protection of freedom of expression. Forcing retailers to post a particular, government-mandated message about a political issue, particularly just prior to a federal election, is compelled speech that is not reasonable and cannot be justified by any compelling government objective.

The CCLA is represented by Sandra Barton and Steven Sofer of Gowlings LLP in Toronto.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) is a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization that works to protect the rights and freedoms of all people in Canada.

For more information on the CCLA and its Civil Liberties work, click on the association’s website at – https://ccla.org/ .

To read a recent Niagara At Large commentary on this issue, click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2019/09/03/fords-devious-and-dishonest-carbon-tax-sticker-now-on-display-on-gas-pumps-near-you/ .

The following image has recently been making the rounds on Twitter, and has been posted here by Niagara At Large because NAL believes, based on Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s record, that it makes a valid point. (It has nothing to do with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.)

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

A News Brief by Doug Draper

Posted September 5th, 2019 on Niagara At large

Niagara, Ontario – Just ahead of what is expected to be a close and hotly contested federal election, it is hardly unexpected that Canada’s current federal government has finally come through with $29 million in funds for the 2021 Canada Summer Games to be hosted in Niagara.

The announcement of the funds – a dollar for dollar match with those secured days ago from Ontario’s Ford  government, was made this September 5th in Niagara by Canada’s Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, François-Philippe Champagne, and comes just 10 days before the September 15th deadline for calling the federal election, set for October 21st. Continue reading →

Niagara Parks’ Botanical Gardens are transformed into a hub of activity over four weekends in September

Festival grounds are free to the public with a variety of family activities

Access to workshops, demonstrations and tours included with purchase of a Rooted Pass

An Invite to All from Ontario’s Niagara Parks Commission

Posted September 5th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

One of the many majestic trees in Niagara Parks’ Botanical Gardens

Niagara Falls, Ontario – Niagara Parks’ signature autumn experience, Rooted, returns to the Botanical Gardens this September. Guests are invited to enjoy the beautiful gardens through interactive workshops, talks, tours and demonstrations that explore how the natural environment sustains and nurtures us physically, mentally and creatively.

The Rooted festival presents four specially themed weekends with workshops led by local experts, behind-the-scenes tours and demonstrations with Niagara Parks staff, and other interactive events, all taking place within the stunning Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens. Continue reading →

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

Posted September 5^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large 

Niagara Falls, Ontario – This September 3^rd, Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey and St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle visited the future space of the Niagara Falls Creative Hub and announced funding of up to $3,000,000 for the Corporation of the City of Niagara Falls.

Attending funding announcement, from left to right are Kim Van Stygeren, City of Niagara Falls Cultural Program Assistant;
Kathy Moldenhauer, City of Niagara Falls Director of Recreation & Culture; Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey;
Jim Diodati, Mayor City of Niagara Falls;
Clark Bernat, City of Niagara Falls Culture & Museums Manager; St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle; and Janet Zylstra, City of Niagara Falls Farmers’ Market Coordinator

This funding will support the creation of a new multi-use creative hub designed to bring together professional artists, artisans, and arts and heritage organizations from a variety of creative disciplines. Continue reading →

Living Wage Certification Goes to one of Ontario’s first shelters for abused women and children 

News from the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network 

Posted September 5^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large 

Gillian’s Place managers received Living Wage Certification

The Niagara Poverty Reduction Network is pleased to announce that Gillian’s Place has become a certified living wage employer at the Champion level.

As one of Ontario’s first shelters for abused women and children, Gillian’s Place has grown to provide services throughout North and West Niagara.

With the 34 bed shelter and two office locations, Gillian’s Place provides safe refuge and non-residential programs that enable women and their children to break the cycle of violence for over 40 years. They currently employ 24 full time and 18 part time staff. Continue reading →

From his Bully Pulpit, Ford orders Gas Retailers to Affix this Propaganda to Gas Pumps – Just in Time to help get his Tory pal Andrew Scheer elected Prime Minister

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

Posted September 3^rd, 2019 on Niagara At Large

How sad it was to go to a gas bar at a Canadian Tire outlet in Niagara this Labour Day weekend and see Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s propaganda sticker, decrying a price the federal government is placing on carbon pollution, displayed on all of the pumps.

This sticker, for anyone who has not yet seen it, claims that the current federal Liberal government’s move to place a price on carbon pollution – a cost that Ford and his Tory allies across the country, including federal Tory leader Andrew Scheer, choose to demonize as a “carbon tax” – is now costing Ontarians4.4 cents for every litre of gas they purchase at the pump, and will cost 11 cents for every litre if it is still in place three years from now.

You can take a look at the English-language version (and yes, there is a French-language version too) of content on this sticker, all featured on a background of Tory blue, just in time for a federal election in which Scheer is sure to bring this issue up, right here, alongside this paragraph, where you can also note something else.

This the sticker says absolutely nothing about the fact that most Canadians will be eligible for a tax rebate or refund each year that runs in to the hundreds of dollars and may, for many of us who are not huge carbon emitters, more than make-up for any “carbon tax” we pay at the pump.

After all, the whole idea behind this “carbon tax” Ford and company claim to hate so much is to use financial costs as one way – and not the only way, by any means – of shifting slowly but surely away from an economy that involves pumping so much climate-changing carbon into the earth’s atmosphere. Continue reading →

At The First Ontario Performing in downtown St. Catharines/Niagara- Thursday, September 6^th to Sunday, September 8th, 2019

“The programs we’re producing will present a wide range of Indigenous artistic expression and knowledge, combined with scientific research, designed to nurture human connections to the natural world that foster environmental ethics and manifest our responsibility for future generations.”                                                   – Artistic Director Michele-Elise Burnett

News from The FirstOntaro Performing Arts Centre 

Posted September 2nd, 2019 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines, Ontario – The FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre and Kakekalanicks Indigenous Arts present Celebration of Nations, a gathering of Indigenous arts, culture, and tradition in downtown St. Catharines from *6–8 September 2019*.  

*More than 40 events will take place in downtown St. Catharines, within the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre’s four venues, as well as The Mann Raceway Plaza (the FirstOntario PAC’s outdoor gathering space commonly referred to as “the Backyard”), and within spaces at Brock University’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. Continue reading →

Niagara, Ontario City Wins Bid to Host Prestigious World Rowing Championships

“This is a great day for rowing in St. Catharines and Canada.”    – St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik

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

Posted September 3, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Linz, Austria –  At the FISA Congress, held annually after the World Rowing Championships, the organization that represents the world of rowing voted on future sites for the World Rowing Championships. 

 The City of St. Catharines, in partnership with St. Catharines World Rowing and Rowing Canada Aviron submitted a bid to host the World Rowing Championships in 2024, which includes Senior, Under 23 and Junior championships.

It is the largest rowing event in the world. Continue reading →

City’s Council moves to plug loopholes Ford Government has created in planning rules to encourage sprawl

“The provincial rules approved  (by the Ford government) in June (2019)allow any owner of rural property to initiate an urban boundary expansion of up to 40 hectares – a process that until now has been reserved to municipal governments.”

News from Citizens at City Hall (CATCH) in Hamilton, Ontario

Posted September 2^nd, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Hamilton, Ontario – In the wake of new provincial loopholes, local developers may be lining up to convert their rural properties to subdivisions, but the city says it’s determined to block them.

It has approved prohibitive application fees and warned developers that it will almost certainly reject any attempts to use the Ford government rule changes to expand Hamilton’s urban area.

That doesn’t mean an end to conversion of foodlands into residential suburbs just that this will continue to be driven by city initiatives not those of private landowners.

Indeed the main justification city planning staff are providing for their dramatic anti-developer moves is so they can uninterruptedly proceed with the GRIDS2 and MCR process whose primary purpose is to justify “orderly” urban boundary expansions. Continue reading →

“From universal healthcare to fair wages, weekends, and paid vacations, the movement (that the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919) transformed the lives of millions of Canadians, and laid the foundations of a growing economy and a strong middle class.”     – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

A Statement from Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Posted September 2^nd, 2019 on Niagara At Large

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on Labour Day: 

“On Labour Day, we celebrate the workers who have built our country and made workplaces from coast to coast to coast safer, more equitable, and more just.

“This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike, one of the most influential strikes in Canadian history. It launched a labour movement that fought for – and won – many of the benefits and protections Canadian workers can count on today.

“From universal healthcare to fair wages, weekends, and paid vacations, the movement transformed the lives of millions of Canadians, and laid the foundations of a growing economy and a strong middle class. Continue reading →

We could use more environmental champions like Greta Thunberg in Niagara

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate activist from Sweden, should serve as an inspiration to all of us all to stand up to power and greed  before it is too late to save some of the last of our  rich natural places in Niagara, Ontario like Waverly Woods in Fort Erie and Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls.

“From Lakes Ontario to Erie, our forests, thickets, savannahs, PSWs (provincially significant wetlands), shorelines, water tables, watershed at large and all of the life they support as well as climate they protect/enhance are under siege, leaving it up to local citizen activists to protect what is left.” – Carla Rienzo, Niagara Falls, Ontario

Will enough of us in Niagara act to save what is left of this?

“Groups trying to preserve Thundering Waters, Waverly Woods/Beach and hundreds of other sites around the province (and the entire world) wish the powers that behad as much common sense and the guts to stand up to greed and selfishness as Greta.” – Linda McKellar, Fort Erie, Ontario

Or will we keep seeing more of this?

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

Posted August 30th, 2019 on Niagara At Large 

When a 16-year-old Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, who is now known around the world for her activism and her urgent call-outs to all of us ‘act as if our own house is on fire’ to address a global climate emergency, arrived from Europe, via sailboat, to attend a United Nations climate summit this September in New York, Niagara At Large posted a news release from the UN this August 29^th on that.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, seen here on the bow, sails in to New York Harbour from Europe for this September’s UN climate summit

The post received comments from some of our readers, including Carla Rienzo from Niagara Falls, who has been involved in the ongoing battle with local politicians and developers to save Thundering Waters Forest, and Linda McKellar of Fort Erie, who has been involved in a similar ongoing battle in that community to save Waverly Woods and Beach. Continue reading →

“We are looking at the best plant material for Ontario’s industry, not only now, but moving forward with climate change uncertainties.” – Jim Willwerth, Brock University’ Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) Senior Scientist

News from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario

Posted August 30th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Thousands of grapevines have been planted in two CCOVI research vineyards for a clone and rootstock evaluation program.

Niagara, Ontario – Two research vineyards filled with thousands of grapevines are being used by Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) to help Canada’s grape growers and wineries.

CCOVI partnered with two commercial grape growers to plant the St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake vineyards that are being used for a clone and rootstock evaluation program of the main VQA grapevine varieties in Ontario. Continue reading →

“Businesses across Ontario have expressed their belief that the stickers are partisan, noting, for instance, that it only mentions costs and not the substantial rebates to households that the carbon tax offers.” – the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Ontario’s Ford Government, often boasting that it wants to cut red tape and get out of businesses way as much as possible, has ordered gas stations across the province to display “carbon tax” stickers on their pumps – stickers that many argue appear to be politically partisan in nature

A News Release from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Posted August 29^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

On the Ford government’s insistence, here is the sticker that gas stations across Ontario are now instructed by the government to display on their pumps.

Niagara, Ontario  – Today (Thursday, August 29^th) marks the Government of Ontario’s self-imposed deadline for the imposition of carbon tax pricing stickers as part of the Federal Carbon Tax Transparency Act, 2019.  

After today, gas stations across the country will have to display a sticker on each pump advising motorists of the costs of the federal carbon tax. 

The GNCC is opposed to this requirement.

Firstly, it is an additional regulatory burden upon businesses, and the penalties for non-compliance are disproportionately harsh. This is doubly jarring from a government that has pledged to reduce red tape for Ontario.  Continue reading →

Tell Ontario’s Doug Ford Government Where to Put its “Carbon Tax” Stickers

A Call-Out from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance 

Posted August 29^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

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

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has clearly sided with petroleum corporation polluters

Just as the earth-plundering pirates running the petroleum industry must be cheering Donald Trump on today for gutting standards in his country for reducing emissions of methane – one of the more significant greenhouse gases – they have got to be pleased with Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s efforts to do their dirty work for them too.

It is not enough that the Ford government has just filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada to overturn the top Ontario court’s ruling in favour of the federal government placing a price on carbon pollution in the province by charging a few more cents a litre on gas sold at the pump.

The Ford government has also pressed ahead with directing petroleum companies to attach stickers to all their pumps – highlighting how much extra per litre consumers are paying thanks to what Ford and company prefer to demonize as a “carbon tax” rather than a price on pollution.

Those propoganda stickers go on the pumps just in time to possibly help this guy, federal Tory leader Andrew Scheer, standing next to Ford (right) in the upcoming October federal election

The stickers are going on the pumps now – just in time to help Ford’s political pal, federal Tory leader Andrew Scheer, use this so-called “carbon tax” as another way to paint Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberals, in this coming October’s federal election, as government out to make Canadians’ lives less affordable.

As for the petroleum corporations, why would they not comply with the Ford government’s order to put these “carbon tax” stickers on their pumps? There is no profit for them in shifting away from carbon-based fuels as something we have got to do to address the climate crisis. Continue reading →

St. Catharines federal NDP candidate Dennis Van Meer

A Message from Dennis Van Meer, Federal NDP Candidate for St. Catharines

Posted August 29^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper –

After Niagara At Large recently posted news from the Green Party of Canada, highlighting its plans to cut cell phone and internet costs for Canadians, I received this message from St. Catharines federal NDP candidate Dennis Van Meer, including a link to the federal NDP’s website that lists plans for making life more affordable for Canadians in this and a number of other areas.

In the spirit of fairness, with a federal election coming this October, Niagara At Large is posting Dennis Van Meer’s message here)

Doug, 

Your readers deserve to know that months ago the (federal) NDP declared their commitment to making cell phone service affordable for all. Continue reading →

Niagara Region’s municipal long-term care homes will lose $164,000 in 2019 and $391,000 in 2020

“These cuts will hurt vulnerable seniors living in long-term care.”

An Open Letter To Ford Government’s Minister of Long-Term Care Merilliee Fullerton from Ontario NDP MPP Teressa Armstrong

Posted August 29^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Dear Minister Fullerton, 

Last week, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said Premier Doug Ford indicated in a private meeting that cuts should not be made to long-term care homes.

The City of Ottawa is poised to lose about $800,000 in provincial funding for the four long-term care homes it operates as a result of your planned cuts to the High Wage Transition and Structural Compliance Premium Funds.

Warnings of billions of dollars in cuts to public services – this one circulated by the Ontario Health Coalition just before the June, 2018 Ontario election – failed to stop Doug Ford from getting elected with a majority government. Does anyone out there regret voting for him now?

Mayor Watson said he hoped the premier would follow through on his private comments with a formal and public statement. 

I’m writing to add the voice of the Official Opposition to Mayor Watson’s request. I urge you to publicly renounce these cuts and immediately reverse them. 

Your plan to cut these funding streams will have serious financial consequences for many long-term care homes in Ontario. Continue reading →

The young environmental campaigner (a 16 year old from Sweden) has been captivating people around the world since she waged a one-girl ‘school strike’ for climate action last August.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg, arrives in New York Harbour ahead of United Nations September, 2019 climate change summit

New from the United Nations

Posted August 28^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from Doug Draper at Niagara At Large – I continue to post the efforts of Greta Thunberg, to raise the world’s awareness of the global threat the climate crisis poses to us all because this  remarkable 16-year-old is a hero in my books. We desperately need more individuals that show her concern and dedication in positions of government leadership.)

After a two-week sail across the Atlantic, youth climate activist Greta Thunberg arrived in the Big Apple on Wednesday (August 28^th) to take part in two major climate summits to be held at UN Headquarters next month.

Refusing to take a gas-guzzling plane, the Swedish teen decided on a zero-carbon mode of transportation to further bring awareness to the dangers of rising global emissions and pollution caused by human activity. Continue reading →