Author Archives: dougdraper

There Were Some Good People Serving Over the Past Four Years Too. In These All-Too Angry & Cynical Times, It Is Important To Remember That

A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted November 19^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

More than a month has passed since October’s municipal elections, and some may be wondering why on earth I would be bringing them up again.

I can hardly blame anyone for wondering after all of the controversy we suffered through during the last four years of municipal governance in Niagara.

A special meeting of Niagara Region’s council, called by a majority of councillors this past Augustl, to discuss what to do about controversies surrounding the hiring and job contract of the Region’s CAO Carmen D’Angelo. The Region’s chair, Al Caslin, did not attend this meeting. It was chaired instead by St. Catharines regional councillor Kelly Edgar, who fell just short of winning a seat on the incoming regional council.

When it comes to the Region’s council, I’ve heard more than a few people say, in so many words; ’We (at least those of us who bothered to vote) kicked most of the bums out, and let’s just leave it like that. Time to move on.”

Niagara Regional Headquarters

This chronicler of what was too often bad and ugly during the last term of regional council is all for moving on, but not until I pay tribute to some of the good people on the Region’s council who either ran for another term and lost or decided not to run again.

Here is my list of outgoing councillors that I believe tried to stand up to what I saw as the darker forces at work at the regional council level, and on certain bodies like the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) and Niagara Regional Police Services Board. Continue reading →

Filing Factum Detailing Constitutional Case Against Federal Government’s Carbon Tax Plan

“Ontario is already doing its part (to address climate changing carbon emissions) and our families, workers and businesses have already sacrificed a lot. There is no justification to punish them further with a carbon tax.”

News from Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his “Government for the People”

Posted November 30^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

This Ontario premier has declared war on what he vilifies as a “carbon tax” and what others in the environmental field call placing a price on emitting climate altering carbon emissions to the atmosphere.

Today (this November 30^th), Ontario’s Government for the People is taking its next step in opposing the federal government’s unconstitutional carbon tax, which threatens Ontario jobs and would make life less affordable for families each time they leave home.

“Most of Canada’s progress towards meeting its greenhouse gas emission targets is due to action Ontario has taken without having to resort to a job-killing carbon tax,” said Rod Phillips, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. “Ontario is already doing its part and our families, workers and businesses have already sacrificed a lot. There is no justification to punish them further with a carbon tax.” Continue reading →

‘General Motors has justified its decision to close its Oshawa assembly plant by saying it needs to quickly shift to electric and self-driving vehicles. Premier Ford should be pressing GM and other automakers to make these cars of the future here.’

If You Agree, Please Sign the – Petition

A Call-Out from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance

Posted November 30^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Premier Doug Ford loves to say that Ontario is “open for business.”

But if that business is building electric vehicles (EVs), his government has not provided much encouragement. Cancelling the province’s cap and trade system and, with it, incentives for electric vehicles, did not exactly communicate a strong desire to support this fast-growing sector.

General Motors has justified its decision to close its Oshawa assembly plant by saying it needs to quickly shift to electric and self-driving vehicles. Premier Ford should be pressing GM and other automakers to make these cars of the future here. Continue reading →

“Auto manufacturing has been the cornerstone of the Niagara region’s economy for over half a century. The news that the GM plant in Oshawa could be closed by the end of next year is causing anxiety for all those who rely on the auto sector for their livelihood.” – Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch

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

Posted November 30th,  2018 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park – As workers and families continue to reel from the news that General Motors will close its Oshawa plant next year, NDP MPPs Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre) and Lisa Gretzky (Windsor West) said the province’s refusal to create an auto and manufacturing strategy is a big failure that has their communities worried.

“Auto manufacturing has been the cornerstone of the Niagara region’s economy for over half a century,” Burch said during question period Thursday. “The news that the GM plant in Oshawa could be closed by the end of next year is causing anxiety for all those who rely on the auto sector for their livelihood. Before and after the last election, we wanted to see an auto and manufacturing sector strategy in place. Ontario has been a world leader in the auto industry, and we can do it again — but it won’t happen by accident.” Continue reading →

Ford government to spend $400 million paying polluters while setting some of the worst emissions targets in the world

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

Posted  November 28^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

“This Conservative scheme puts us on the road to disaster. At the end of the day, Doug Ford’s insiders win, the environment loses and Ontario families pay for it.” – NDP Energy and Climate Change critic Peter Tabuns

Queen’s Park — Ontario NDP MPPs Ian Arthur (Kingston and the Islands) and Peter Tabuns (Toronto–Danforth) called out the Ford government’s climate change announcement as a dangerous scheme, and a favour to the province’s biggest polluters.

Arthur, who is the Official Opposition critic for Environment and Sustainability, addressed the government’s policy announcement in a press conference at Queen’s Park on Thursday.

This Ontario premier has declared war on our province’s programs and institutions for protecting our environment.

“This so-called climate plan is Doug Ford’s gift to big polluters,” Arthur said. “Instead of having polluters pay for the damage they are doing, Doug Ford wants to use your money to line their pockets. Continue reading →

Wednesday, December 19, 2018 • 3 – 5 p.m. EST

How Do We Reverse the Trends to Achieve
Net Habitat Gain for Great Lakes coastal Wetlands?

Join the International Joint Commission’s Water Quality Board Emerging Issues Work Group and the Great Lakes Coastal Assembly to discuss the challenges and opportunities to achieving net habitat gain for Great Lakes coastal wetlands.

Niagara area citizens have been fighting to save wetlands like this provincially significant one – on lands targeted for development – in Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The lands fall within the Niagara River watershed in the Great Lakes basin. File photo

Brief presentations will focus on the status and need to assess coastal wetlands, how to advance practices that enhance and expand them, and pilot efforts to set and track ecological targets. We also look forward to hearing your views on what actions are needed to reverse the trend in wetland loss and achieve net habitat gain in the Great Lakes. Continue reading →

“I believe there is an ethical and moral responsibility to step down.” – Welland Mayor Frank Campion

A News Report from Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

Posted November 28th, 2018

In a firestorm of anger over recent moves by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority’s board of directors, Welland Mayor Frank Campion is resigning his board seat.

In the wake of growing public anger over members of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) current board ‘apparent refusal to give up their seats, one board member – Welland Mayor Frank Campion – has tendered his letter of resignation.

In a brief, November 28th letter to the NPCA board’s chair and recently defeated Fort Erie regional Councillor Sandy Annunziata, Campion wrote the following:

“Chair Annunziata – 

“This correspondence is to advice you that I am resigning from the board of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) effective November 30. 2018. Continue reading →

‘Government for the People’ Taking “Immediate Action” With Health Infrastructure Investments in West Niagara

News from Ontario’s “Government for the People”

Posted November 28th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Ontario Premier Doug Ford

Grimsby, Niagara — Ontario’s Government for the People is supporting infrastructure investments that will ensure patients and families have access to the health care they need in West Niagara.

Premier Doug Ford, accompanied by Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Monte McNaughton, Minister of Infrastructure, and Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West, were at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital today to announce the government’s intention to rebuild the site. To begin this work, the Premier announced a $500,000 grant to fund early planning. Continue reading →

A Call-Out to All – Urgent Attendance Needed!

From Marcie Jacklin, Fort Erie, Canada

Posted November 27^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

The Pre-Hearing Conference for the appeal to save Waverly Woods is tomorrow, Wednesday November 28th at 10 am.

The location is the Council Chambers, Town of Fort Erie on 1 Municipal Centre Drive.

It is critical that you attend and very important that you ask to be a Participant at this meeting.

This will enable you to speak to the Tribunal about your concerns at the Hearing. The date of the Hearing will be determined tomorrow. You won’t get a second chance to ask to be a Participant so tomorrow critical. Continue reading →

“I think that it’s very important that the old board just go away.” – St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik

A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted November 27^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

“If you step on people in this life, you’re going to come back as a cockroach.” – former American NFL player Willie Davis

I know this may sound a little odd, but something about the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) and its ‘when-in-hell-are-the-going-to-go-away’ board of directors reminds me of an apartment my wife and I rented many years ago while we were graduate students at the University of Windsor.

It was a nice apartment or at least it would have been, except for one thing other than the landlord. It was infested with cockroaches.

Have you ever tried to get rid of cockroaches?

You can swat hem with enough force to knock out a horse and, like the Energizer Bunny, they just keep going.

Short of spraying them with something as deadly as Strychnine or Agent Orange, it hardly seems to matter what eradication plan you put in play. They are right back the next night, mocking you with their presence.

When is the NPCA board of the past four years going to go away?

And so it was this past November 21^st – almost five weeks to the day that municipal elections swept a number of key members of the NPCA’s board out of their regional council seats – that this board had the audacity to meet again, less than a month before a newly sworn in Niagara regional council, in partnership with local councils across the region, finally gets the chance to green light what we hope will be a brand new board that gets back to what our Conservation Authority used to do – place conservation and environmental protection front and centre. Continue reading →

The public made it “very clear” in October municipal elections that it wants the Conservation Authority’s current board to “just go away.” – St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik

By Doug Draper

Posted November 27^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik

The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority needs a brand new board “as soon as possible,” said St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik as the NPCA’s  CAO, Mark Brickell, sat in the city’s council chambers this November 26^th, shaking his head ‘no’.

“I’m sorry Mark, but that old board has got to go,” added the mayor as he looked back and saw Brickell shaking his head with the recently defeated St. Catharines regional councillor and NPCA board member Bruce Timms sitting beside him.

The public made it “very clear” during this October’s municipal elections that it wants to see things change at an NPCA, Sendzik said.

 “I think that it is very important that the old board just go away.” Continue reading →

Province’s NDP Leader  says Ford is Wrong to throw in the Towel

Ontario Opposition and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

“We know that electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles will be at the heart of the auto industry moving forward. … Let’s be on the leading edge of the evolution. Let’s make the investments that need to be made. Let’s convince GM now that the vehicles of tomorrow will be built right here, in Oshawa and in Ontario.” Ontario NDP and Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath

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

Posted November 26th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

A shocking announcement for auto manufacturing jobs in Oshawa. Could St. Catharines/Niagara be next?

Queen’s Park — “Thousands of workers and their families have been devastated by the news that GM is leaving Oshawa, and my heart is with them on this difficult day. But I believe the Province of Ontario can, and must, do much more than extend sympathy.

The province needs to fight like hell to protect the roughly 5,000 jobs at GM’s Oshawa operations, and the 5,000 families that count on them.

We know that electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles will be at the heart of the auto industry moving forward. So instead of sitting back and letting other jurisdictions lead while waving goodbye to thousands of good jobs, let’s be on the leading edge of the evolution. Continue reading →

Niagara Regional Headquarters

A Public Service Message from Niagara’s Regional Government

Posted November 26^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – ​Ontario Works clients will be able to pick up their social assistance payments at Niagara Region Community Services offices.

The decision not to mail the monthly payments was made earlier this week due to the current labour disruption at Canada Post, which could have delayed payments. Continue reading →

Citizens Raise More Concerns about Fate of these Biodiverse Lands in our Region

A photo taken of what citizens say is a mud road recently cut in to the Thundering Waters property in Niagara Falls

A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted November 23^rd, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Calls and email were being fired back and forth rather furiously for the past few days leading up to this post – between citizens in the Niagara area, and between them and elected representatives, and municipal and provincial staffers – over what is happening to trees and other natural features inside Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls?

This close to 500 acres of trees, provincially significant wetlands and meadows hosting a diversity of wildlife in the Niagara River watershed – is now owned by a China-based corporation called GR (CAN) Investment Ltd. Inc. that is still waiting for final permits to build a massive, billion-dollar-plus, what it calls “Riverfront Community” on pieces of the land in the southwest end of the city.

Many citizens in Niagara Falls and other parts of the region and province and been pressing for more than three years now to save this rich green area from development while the mayor of the city, Jim Diodati, Niagara Region’s outgoing chair, Al Caslin, and others have been arguing for urban development to go in this place in the name of economic growth and jobs.

One of many citizen demonstrations over the last three years – this one in front of Niagara Falls City Hall – for saving Thundering Waters Forest from urban development. File photo by Doug Draper

On top of all that, there are recurring rumours that GR and its China-based investors are losing patience, so when citizens in the area hear or see any activity involving heavy machinery in Thundering Waters they grow very concerned. Continue reading →

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted November 23rd, 2018 on Niagara At Large

As a life-long student of music, I have come to believe that a well-crafted song can be as mighty a force as any in the struggle against deception, corruption, social  injustice and tyranny.

I think that such a song, written, produced and performed by American singer Barbra Streisand, and released at the beginning of this November, along with an equally mighty video, on her latest album called Walls.

The song is called Don’t Lie to Me and Streisand has launched it, like a bunker-busting, multi-megaton, smoke-and-mirrors seeking missile, right at the monster in her country’s Oval Office,

I included the song and the video at the end of a plea I posted to our American neighbours on the eve of this November’s U.S. mid-term elections to vote for any candidates they could to resist Trump and his dangerous, hate-drenched agenda, and I also sent it in separate emails to a number of my American friends in New York State, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

I quickly got back notes from them, after they experienced the song and video, containing words like “wow”, “powerful”, and “I’m going to share this with as many people as I can.”

So before this November comes to an end, I thought I would post the song and the video on Niagara At Large again, higher up this time so it doesn’t possibly get lost above everything else.

Here it is. Play it and share it with your friends –

To read Doug Draper’s commentary, urging our American neighbours earlier this November, to vote for anyone who will resist Trump, click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2018/11/06/a-plea-to-our-american-neighbours/ 

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

1,000,000 Reasons to Celebrate Housing in Canada

News from the Constituency Office of Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey

Posted November 22^nd, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey

“With the investment of nearly $18 million in Niagara, we are ensuring families have a safe and affordable place to live and grow. I am proud to be a part of a government that is focused on helping all Canadians.” – Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre 

Niagara, Ontario – Every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home.  That is why, starting in Budget 2016, the Government of Canada made significant investments to build affordable housing and to make housing more affordable in general across Canada.

Since 2016, the Government of Canada has invested more than $5.7 billion across Canada. These investments have helped almost a million families, seniors, women and children fleeing domestic violence, Indigenous people, persons with disabilities, persons with mental health and addiction issues, veterans and young adults. Continue reading →

​Key local stakeholders in Niagara gathered to discuss Affordable Housing Development Toolkit

News from Niagara Regional Housing (NRH)

Posted November 22^nd, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Regional Housing board chair Henry D’Angela

“We all know that affordable housing is an essential building block in the foundation of healthy lives for individuals and families. Each year, National Housing Day is an opportunity to recognize all the work being done to provide affordable housing to those in need. It is also an opportunity to draw attention to the solutions that are possible here in Niagara. Today that is our focus, the tools that we can use to create appropriate and affordable housing to address our local need.” ~ Henry D’Angela, Board Chair, Niagara Regional Housing (NRH)

Niagara, Ontario – As the availability of affordable housing continues to be a challenge in Niagara, local stakeholders joined together on the 20th Anniversary of National Housing Day to share information and tools to support affordable housing development.

For the third year in a row, Niagara Regional Housing, Niagara Region and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) partnered for this event, with the City of St. Catharines also sponsoring this year.  Continue reading →

From Niagara At Large, on American Thanksgiving Day

Posted November 22nd, 2018 on Niagara At Large

“Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.”           – Native American Saying

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”     – John F. Kennedy, former President of the United States, assassinated in Dallas, Texas, 55 years ago this November 22nd

A replica of the Mayflower, the ship that transported the Pilgrims from England to America, 398 years ago in 1620. The Mayflower II, built in England from the original ship designs kept in archives, crossed the Atlantic as a gift to America in the 1950s and is docked in Plymouth Massachusetts where, we are told, the Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving. Photo by Doug Draper

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

And Let’s Hope It Is Their Last, Already!

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted November 21st, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Someone in the region shot me off a quick email earlier this week asking if I was going to this November 21st meeting of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority’s (NCPA) board of directors.

I took one look at the note and said; “What? This board is holding another meeting? I find that hard to believe.”

Yet believe it or not, the note writer’s news turned out to be true. There on the NPCA’s website, on the calendar for board meetings, was one scheduled for this Wednesday, November 21st at 9:30 a.m… And once again, I am thinking; “WHY?!!!”

We need a new NPCA board of directors ASAP. Here is a file photo of the outgoing board in session.

What is this outgoing board of directors doing holding another meeting now? This is seems well beyond what is often referred to as a “lame duck meeting” a public body holds in the weeks leading up to an election. It seems more like a “dead duck meeting.” Continue reading →

Dr. Andrew Sancton Hosting Public Meeting to Seek Input on Niagara Region Governance

News from Niagara’s Regional Government

Posted November 21^st, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Regional Headquarters

(A Brief Foreword Note from Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper– If you are one of the many residents across Niagara who have not been too pleased with the way we have been governed at the regional level in recent years – and the feedback NAL has been getting, especially over the past four years, says there are certainly many of you – you should come to this public meeting, armed with ideas on how to fix things up.

Thanks to the results of the October 22nd municipal elections, most of the faces on the next regional council, to be sworn in this December, will be new, and now may be the best time the public has had in the almost five decades long history of regional government in Niagara to press for a more open, accountable council that serves in the interest of all residents.

So please consider attending the following public meeting with your ideas.)

WHAT: 

As part of a Niagara Region Independent External Governance Audit approved by Regional Council, Dr. Andrew Sancton and Dr. Tim Cobban are hosting a public meeting to seek community input on Niagara Region Governance. This feedback will be used to assist Dr. Sancton in developing recommendations and advice to Niagara Region and Regional Council on how to improve and enhance organizational and governance practices. Continue reading →

“There is no public interest justification for this ill-conceived proposal,” said CELA lawyer Richard Lindgren of Ontario’s Ford government to shut this environmental watchdog body down. “For over 25 years, the ECO (Environmental Commissioner of Ontario) has helped hold successive provincial governments accountable for their environmental decision-making, and the ECO has assisted countless Ontarians in exercising their legal rights under the Environmental Bill of Rights.”

An Urgent Message from the Canadian Environmental Law Association

Posted November 20^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Toronto – The Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) reacted strongly to the Ontario government’s introduction of Bill 57, which proposes to wholly eliminate the independent Office of the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO), and to transfer the ECO’s existing duties to the Environment Minister and the Auditor General. Continue reading →

“The rate of recession of The Falls has varied over time, with estimates of about an average of 1 meter per year and a current rate of recession of about 0.1 meter per year.”

By Derrick Beach, Canada/U.S. International Joint Commission

Posted November 20th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

The location of Niagara Falls has changed over time. About 12,500 years ago, “The Falls” was at the current lip of the Niagara Escarpment near current-day Lewiston, New York, and Queenston, Ontario, (Picture 1).

From the time of the end of the last North American ice age, when the Niagara River began taking its current day path from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, the crest of The Falls has migrated about 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) from its original location near Queenston-Lewiston to today’s Horseshoe Falls crest location.Picture 1: Niagara Falls since the last ice age,with the top of the photo facing south. Credit: Google Earth, Niagara Board

The migration occurred because water flowing through the Niagara River slowly eroded away the rocks of the Niagara Escarpment to form the Great Gorge that the current Niagara River runs through. Continue reading →

Canadian civil rights icon Viola Desmond

“In 1946, Viola Desmond took a courageous stand against injustice that helped inspire a movement for equality and social justice in Canada. … More than 70 years later, we honour her as the first Canadian woman to appear on a bank note, and hope her story inspires the next generation of Canadians to follow in her footsteps.” – Jennifer O’Connell, Parliamentary Secretary to Canada’s  Minister of Finance

News from the Bank of Canada

Posted November 19^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

The Bank of Canada today issued the new vertical $10 bank note featuring the portrait of social justice icon Viola Desmond, during a ceremony at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) in Winnipeg. Canadians will start to see this new note over the coming weeks and months as it gradually enters into circulation alongside existing $10 notes.

Bank of Canada Governor Stephen S. Poloz and Wanda Robson, Viola Desmond’s sister, spoke about Desmond’s legacy and the ongoing pursuit of human rights and social justice in Canada. They spent the first new bank notes at the CMHR, which itself is featured on the back of the new note. Continue reading →

Expert Panel to discuss the issue of Free Speech on Campus

Join the Discussion, Wednesday, November 21^st at 7p.m at the St Catharines Public Library on James Street in the City’s downtown.

An Invite to All from Brock University

Posted November 19^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Are some ideas too dangerous to teach? That question is at the heart of a panel discussion taking place Wednesday, Nov. 21 at St. Catharines Public Library.

Brock University Political Science Professor Leah Bradshaw and Labour Studies Assistant Professor Paul Gray are part of a panel discussion on free speech being held at St. Catharines Library Nov. 21.

Titled “Dangerous Ideas, Dangerous Times: What, if any, are the limits to free speech on campus?” the event brings together a panel of Canadian experts, including Brock University Political Science Professor Leah Bradshaw and two professors from the University of Toronto. Brock Labour Studies Assistant Professor Paul Gray will moderate the discussion. Continue reading →

We need solutions now – not decades from now.

Some Tips for Action from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance

Posted November 19^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

To many of us, the latest IPCC report on climate change was like a siren going off. Never before have the world’s climate scientists issued such a stark and alarming assessment of the disaster that we are racing toward and how little time we have left to change course.

Meanwhile, in Ontario the new government has yet to explain how it is going to achieve real reductions in climate damaging emissions after cancelling both our carbon cap-and-trade system and many renewable energy contracts. Right now, Ontario simply doesn’t have a plan to achieve the kind of immediate greenhouse gas pollution reductions the IPCC has told us are desperately needed. Continue reading →

Meet at 12:30 p.m. this Sunday, November 18th at Charlotte and John Street in Niagara-on-the-Lake

Another Call-Out to Join the effort to save Niagara’s trees from Judith Patey, one of many concerned citizens in NOTL

Some of the grand old trees marked for destruction. This has got to stop here and elsewhere in our Niagara region.

Posted November 17^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

A Reminder (to All across our Niagara region):

We will meet at Charlotte and John Street at12:30 p.m Sunday November 18th to collect black armbands and placards and then march up to the entrance of 588 Charlotte, then back down to John Street and along the front of the Rand Estate.

The march will end up in the park directly across from Marotta’s Two Sisters winery at approximately 1:30 p.m.where we would share eulogies and stories about what once was the greatest estate in Niagara on the Lake.

We did it before when we had six to eight hundred out at the town hall, lets do it again! Niagra Falls MPP Wayne Gates will also be in attendance showing his support.

Several hundred citizens gathered at a town hall meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake earlier this year to show their support for saving trees on the Randwood Estate property

 What follows is a statement this past week from the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake in response to growing citizens’ concerns over what is happening on the grounds of the historic Randwood Estate property. –

The Town is aware of the recent activities which have taken place at the Randwood Estate property. Continue reading →

Ford Moves to Kill Province’s Independent Environmental Watchdog. And Only Enough of Us, Standing Up in Opposition, Can Stop Him

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted November 17^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

This Ontario Premier has declared war on our province’s programs and institutions for protecting our environment.

Industries in Ontario that want to carry on polluting our air, water and soil, or developers who think they need to take out more of our wetlands or wooded areas, or anyone else who views despoiling the environment as a mere business practice, , must be feeling a little bit happier today.

Doug Ford, Ontario’s premier and boss hog of his self-described “Government for the People” who vows to make the province more “open for business,” apparently at any environmental cost, announced plans this November 15^th to shut down the 24-year-old office of the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. Continue reading →

“We urgently need you to let the government know that the ECO’s (Environmental Commissioner of Ontario) vital and independent role enables public participation and government accountability for decisions that significantly impact the environment.”               –   Ontario Nature 

A Call Out to All of Us from Ontario Nature, a province-wide, non-partisan, citzens advocacy group

Posted November 17^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

The Government of Ontario announced plans on November 15, 2018 to eliminate the office of the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO) and transfer much of its responsibility to the jurisdiction of the Auditor General.

This misguided decision effectively undercuts the power and independence of Ontario’s environmental watchdog. Continue reading →

Ontario Releases the Government’s Fiscal Roadmap — Restoring Trust and Putting Money Back in the Pockets of Taxpayers

News from Ontario’s Ford Government and its Ministry of Finance

Posted November 17^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

After 15 years of the previous government’s mismanagement, Ontario’s Government for the People has kept its promises, and continues to take action to restore trust, transparency and accountability in Ontario’s finances, while making life more affordable for individuals, families and businesses.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, left, and his Finance Minister, Vic Fedeli

This November 15th, Minister of Finance Vic Fedeli released the 2018 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review, outlining the government’s plan to help people make ends meet — and get ahead — while making government more efficient. 

Ontario is now projecting a 2018-19 deficit of $14.5 billion — that’s already $0.5 billion less than the $15 billion deficit inherited from the previous government as reported by the Independent Financial Commission of Inquiry just 11 weeks ago. Continue reading →

Hundreds of Niagara Area Residents Expected to Gather to Mourn Massive Tree-Cutting by Developer

A Call-Out to All to Join the Walk and Wake from Irene Bader, one of many concerned citizens in Niagara-on-the-Lake

Posted November 16^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

“Today, as residents look over acres of barren earth and watch the heavy trucks loaded high with 200-year-old oaks and pines leave the site, they can only worry about what might come next.”

Niagara, Ontario – Hundreds of residents of Niagara-on-the-Lake will gather to mourn the loss of hundreds of majestic, mature trees that, until they were leveled by a developer’s heavy equipment earlier this week, graced the historic Randwood Estate.

Residents will meet at the corner of Charlotte and John Street at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 18th to collect their black arm bands and will then engage in an hour-long walk tracing the exterior wall of the estate.

The march will end at the parkland across from the winery at 240 John Street where the official “Wake” for the departed trees will begin at 1:30 p.m. Continue reading →

This November 16^th, 2018 is Louis Riel Day in Canada

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted November 16^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Louis Riel, from dangerous rebel to hero

Louis Riel, the 19^th century Metis leader and activist for his people who is now commonly regarded as the founder of the Manitoba, was certainly not held in very high regard in the history textbooks I grew up with in 1960s Ontario public schools.

Riel, who I happen to have a lot of regard for, was characterized as a dangerous rebel and traitor to the new confederation of Canada and as someone who deserved to be tried and hanged under the eyes of then Prime Minister John A. Macdonald.

Of course, that portrait of Louis Riel was taught to me and my teenage peers by older, mostly white Anglo-Saxon adults who felt just as badly about American civil rights leaders from the 1960s like Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael and Martin Luther King, and about hippies, the Rolling Stones, almost any Black singer who recorded on Chess or Stax Records, the cannabis that the likes of former prime minister Brian Mulroney, Bay Street stock brockers and  several Conservative Party MPs are now making a business investment in, and young people protesting the War in Vietnam on college campuses. Continue reading →

Niagara Parks Commission Chair Janice Thomson

“It was indeed an honour to be given the responsibility of oversight of this important public agency and to work with a talented group of Commissioners and staff to move the organization from a $76 million operation to the current revenue of $120 million, over a seven year period.”                                          – Outgoing Niagara Parks Chair Janice Thomson

Thomson’s Term Ended This Thursday November 15th. Who Might Take Her Place Has Yet To Be Announced

A News Brief from Doug Draper

Posted November 15th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Janice Thomson, outlining Niagara Park’s accomplishments, at a public meeting this October.

Speculation has been out there for weeks that Janice Thomson’s tenure as Niagara Park’s Chair would draw to a close this November 15th, making way for a replacement to be appointed by a Doug Ford government in Ontario that has already been busy filling as many posts as possible with its friends and supporters.Ontario’s Ford government.

A possible replacement has yet to be announcement, but, when contacted by Niagara At Large, Thomson confirmed that her term as chair of the 133-year old Niagara Park Commission’s board came “to a natural end today,” this November 15th.

“I was advised in early September that I could apply for re-appointment, which I have done,” added Thomson, who has served in the part-time post for seven years and is also president of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Chamber of Commerce and Visitors and Convention Bureau. “I was advised that the Government would be posting the position, to which I could also apply; however, to date I have not see the posting.” Continue reading →

Panel was scheduled for this Thursday, November 15th evening

A Message from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario

Posted November 15th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Due to travel and weather advisories, Brock University has decided to postpone tonight’s panel Demystifying Dementia and will reschedule the event for a future date. Continue reading →

Let’s Being The Process of Restoring Public Trust – No More Backrrom Deals. And No Appointments To The Chair’s Job From The Outside.

A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted November 14^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

In one of Woody Allen’s earliest films ‘Sleeper’, his character wakes up after being in a deep-freeze coma for a number of years to surroundings that have completely changed save for one artefact that survived from his pre-coma days – a pair of MacDonald’s Golden Arches looming in the background.

Who should be Niagara next regional council chair, and how should he or she be chosen?

In the film, we watch the character searching around anxiously for some of the old haunts he used to go to for lunch or to enjoy a coffee with old friends, but they were no longer there.

He is a person out of place and time with his current surroundings.

Former Welland Mayor Damian Goulbourne, who did not run in this fall’s municipal elections, says he still has a passion to be regional chair

I thought of the character in that film, searching around for doorways to a place where everything from the people and furniture, right down to the carpeting on the floor have changed, after reading a report in the local media this November 13th – supporting rumours that have been circulating around now for week since the October 22nd municipal elections – t hat Damian Goulbourne still has his heart in a possible appointment to the position of Niagara regional chair if the Region’s new council, to be sworn in early this December, is willing to make that possible.

He is still “passionate about the job of being regional chair,” Goulbourne was quoted saying in one newspaper story. “Over the past three days, I’ve had some calls from people asking if I’m interested.”

Upon reading these words, I am thinking; ‘Who are these people, and how tone deaf can they and possibly Goulbourne be?’ Continue reading →

The Event – to be held Thursday, Nov. 15 at 6:45 p.m. in Brock’s David S. Howes Theatre – Is Free And Open To The Public

An Invite to All from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario

Posted November 14th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – To help raise awareness about the increasing prevalence of dementia in Niagara, Brock University is hosting a free public talk focused on the disorder.

Brock University’s Centre for Lifespan Development Research and the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences have partnered to host “Demystifying Dementia,” which will be held Thursday, Nov. 15 at 6:45 p.m. in Brock’s David S. Howes Theatre.

“We shouldn’t assume that dementia is a normal part of aging,” says Lynn McCleary, Associate Professor of Nursing. “Dementia is an umbrella term for a number of disorders of the brain, where functioning decreases over time and it is important to break down the stigmas associated with them.” Continue reading →

The City is once again teaming up with Santa’s helpers throughout the city to spread some holiday joy

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

Posted November 14^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

The City marked  the kickoff of its 21^st annual Tree of Little Angels this past  Monday, Nov. 12.

The City is launching its annual toy and gift drive. Look for these cards at City Hall and City community centres.

As part of the campaign, the City collects new, unwrapped gifts for local children from the community at locations across St. Catharines. Last year more than 500 toys were donated to Community Care through the Little Angels campaign. Continue reading →

Niagara’s new Regional Council could not be sworn in soon enough

A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher           Doug Draper

Posted November 12th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

What?!!!

The last meeting of the Al Caslin-led Niagara regional council – Thursday, November 1st, 2018, could not end without another in a series of debates over what’s up with the Region’s CAO, Carmen D’Angelo. Photo by Doug Draper

After another insufferable hour of Niagara regional council taken up over what to do with or about the Region’s controversial CAO Carmen D’Angelo – this time over whether or not this character should lead a trade mission to China while the legitimacy of his very hiring is now being investigated by the Ontario Ombudsman’s Office – D’Angelo did not jump aboard the plane China after all. Continue reading →

“Old demons are resurfacing. History sometimes threatens to take its tragic course again and compromise our hope of peace.” – French President Emmanual Macron

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, and French President Emmanual Macron

“There have always been tensions between those who would speak truth to power and those who like having their power, thank you very much, and don’t necessarily want to see it frittered away. … But we are now in a phase where that capacity to speak truth to power, the very capacity for a citizen to engage with truth, is under attack. And not just by the powerful, but by those who would see our institutions themselves weakened.”          – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

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

Posted November 12^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

A number of historical scholars are warning us that there are dark and dangerous forces at work these days, chipping away at the freedoms and rights, and the checks and balances and institutions that are so vital for constitutional democracies like ours to survive. 

Look no further than the conduct of the character now occupying the highest office in the United States, and we have arguably seen some manifestations of that Trump-like conduct in our province of Ontario and even in our region of Niagara. Continue reading →

“At this time, the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One, let us be thankful. Let us never forget. Let us reopen our hearts to the needs and the sufferings of others. And, as we reflect on the “Bells of Peace”, let us rededicate ourselves to justice and to peace in our community.”

A Commentary by Dave Augustyn, former Niagara Regional Councillor and Mayor of Pelham

Posted November 12^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Hundreds of Pelham residents took time to gather with local Veterans, members of the Royal Canadian Legion and the Ladies Auxiliary, the 613 Army Cadets, the Pelham Fire Service, and others at the Veteran’s Park at the Fonthill Legion to commemorate and remember the sacrifices of Pelham’s Veterans.

Others also joined a nation-wide initiative called the “Bells of Peace” as they gathered at five Pelham churches – Holy Trinity, Fonthill United, Fenwick United, St. Ann Roman Catholic, and First Presbyterian. Each of these churches rang their bells 100 times at dusk to mark the 100th Anniversary of the end of the First World War.

This special year and each Remembrance Day it is right to remember those brave men and women who have served, and who continue to serve our country during times of war, conflict, and peace. Continue reading →

We Should Honour Those Who Fought For Our Rights And Freedoms by Using Them to fight for the Common Good

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted November 11^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

A Remembrance Day column, written by retired general and former chief of the defence staff for the Canadian Forces Rick Hillier and published this November 10th in The Globe and Mail, carries the headline; “Canada was forged in the trenches of the First World War,” and begins as follows –

“Life is busy in Canada and for that reason, there seems to be only a fleeting moment in November when any of us pay attention to our history. Nevertheless, Canadians need to remember because in the mud and horror of the First World War, our nation was forged.”

Veterans “Lest We Forget” Memorial and Canadian Flag, St. Catherines, Ontario

In a statement he sent home from 100th year Remembrance and Armistice Day ceremonies in Europe this November 11th, Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, echoed a similar sentiment. Continue reading →

 “The next generation — our children and grandchildren — deserve a stable climate, beautiful rivers and clean air. Doug Ford’s decision to let Ontario go without strong climate protection  threatens that future.”                                                          – Ontario NDP Energy and Climate Change critic Peter Tabuns

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

Posted November 9th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park – NDP Energy and Climate Change critic Peter Tabuns said it’s a sad state of affairs for Ottawa to have to bypass the Doug Ford government in order to make sure carbon-reduction dollars aren’t mis-spent on Ford’s pet projects.

The federal government has decided to cut the Ford Government out of a $420 million Low Carbon Economy Fund transfer to Ontario. Since they can’t trust Ford to spend the money on emissions reduction and creating green jobs, the federal government will decide how to spend Ontario’s money. Continue reading →

“We have a duty to care for those who have served. We can do better to give veterans the care and the home they deserve, when and where they need it.” – St. Catharines MPP and NDP Veterans, Legions and Military Affairs critic Jennie Stevens

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

Posted November 9th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens

Niagara, Ontario — St. Catharines MPP and NDP Veterans, Legions and Military Affairs critic Jennie Stevens has tabled legislation that will give Ontario’s veterans priority access to long-term care beds right across the province, closing loopholes that are forcing those who served to languish on waiting lists.

 Veterans’ Priority Access Beds are designated long-term care spaces that veterans have priority access to over non-veteran applicants. But only some veterans qualify, and those who do have to relocate to designated beds in Toronto, London or Ottawa, often separating them from their families and support networks. Continue reading →

Cabinet Minister Lisa MacLeod Let’s Us In On What A “Compassionate And Caring Society”  Means                    In Doug Ford’s Ontario

A Satement by Lisa MacLeod , Ontario Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, on Ford Government’s Social Assistance Plan

Posted November 8th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

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

Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s Minister of Children, Community and Social Services and a member of Doug Ford’s ‘Government for the People’, looking very self-satisfied in her seat in the provincial  legislature

I’m old enough to remember and report on the suffering so many people in Niagara and other regions in the province went through in the mid- to late-1990s and early 2000s when the then Ontario government of Mike Harris took a meat axe to social assistance program – all with a view to paying for more tax cuts for their affluent friends.

So here we go again, with more cuts to assistance services for the most vulnerable among us, in the name of “compassion” and coming from a premier and a Conservative Party that claim they run a “Government for the People”.

As for the individual Ontario Premier Doug Ford has picked to be Minister of (of all portfolios) Children, Community and Social Services, you don’t have to watch Lisa MacLeod performing on the parliamentary channel for too long to see a smugness, arrogance and a sense of her own entitlement dripping from her.

Take a look at MacLeod’s resume and see that she graduated from university in the 1990s with a degree in political science and has been working as an assistant for politicians before becoming one herself ever since. In other words, she has been feeding from the public trough – living off public welfare, if you like – most or all of her adult life.

Perhaps MacLeod should go out and get a real job, if she can find one.

• Doug Draper

Now here is MacLeod’s Statement on Social Assitance –  

When I was sworn into Cabinet 138 days ago, Premier Ford made two things clear. Not only does Ontario’s social assistance system need to be fixed, it must be both responsive and accountable to the people it’s meant to serve. Continue reading →

“Paying a living wage and providing group health benefits are two key ways to attract quality employees and to reduce on-going costs related to turnover, recruitment, and training.” – Glen Walker, Chair of the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network

A Report from the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network

Posted November 8th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

With the annual cost of household living expenses for a Niagara region family of four conservatively pegged at over $71,000, the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network has calculated the hourly wage necessary for families to meet these expenses, otherwise known as a living wage, to be $17.99 for 2018.

As part of National Living Wage Week, the Network has released two new reports, ‘Calculating the Cost of Living for Niagara Region, 2018’ and ‘Calculating the Living Wage for Niagara Region, 2018’, which outlines the full methodology used. Continue reading →