Author Archives: dougdraper

“Ontario is proud to be part of North America’s first national, cross border test drive in our Automated Vehicle Pilot Program.” – Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca

Province and Michigan Testing New Technologies to Drive Innovation in Auto Sector

News from the Office  of Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation

Posted July 31st. 2017 on Niagara At Large

Ontario and Michigan are completing North America’s first national, cross-border automated vehicle test drive through Southern Ontario and Michigan, promoting innovation in the auto sector and driving economic growth.

Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del-Duca

Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca and federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Navdeep Bains, were in Windsor this morning to mark the milestone.

The test drive began in Detroit and will continue from Windsor to Sarnia before crossing back over the border. The drive will conclude in Traverse City, Michigan later today with the signing of a new agreement between Ontario and Michigan to continue collaboration in testing, developing and marketing automated and connected vehicle technology. Continue reading →

Congressman Higgins Wants Algal Bloom Coordinator to Have Adequate Resources To Protect the Fresh Water Supply

News from the Buffalo, N.Y. office of U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins

Posted July 28^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Waves laced with toxic forms of algae slime shores of Lake Erie

Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) is pushing for more to be done to address toxic algal blooms that threaten the health of Lake Erie and is writing to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator requesting the Harmful Algal Bloom Coordinator be provided with the resources to combat the problem.  Continue reading →

A Message from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Posted July 28th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Across the country, more and more Canadians are tuning in to follow developments in the fast-moving arena of international trade.

As Canada’s leading voice on fairer trade policy, that means we’ve been busier than ever. From new research, to federal consultations, to media appearances—we’re hard at work making the case for a radical transformation of Canada’s trade agenda, which is far too lopsided in the interests of big business.

With looming NAFTA renegotiations, and a potential new Canada-China trade agreement, the stakes are high. But the time has come for Canada to take a stand against the uninspiring status quo, and push for a truly just, sustainable and equitable international trade agenda that improves the welfare of all citizens and workers. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Draper, veteran environment writer/publisher, Niagara At Large

Posted July 27^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Region – Are local environmental groups and members of Niagara’s Indigenous communities responsible for stalling a $1.5 billion development project some of the region’s municipal politicians say could draw millions of visitors and thousands of jobs to the Niagara area?

Are scientists working for Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry doing anything that could place the future for this big ticket project proposed for a 484 acre tract of land known to many as the Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls in jeopardy?

To read a story about the Thundering Waters issue in the July 26^th edition of Canada’s national newspaper – The Globe and Mail – one might come to that conclusion.

And it is a conclusion that would not only be wrong, but would also do  a disservice to the many Indigenous and non-Indigenous citizens in the region who are raising concerns about the fate of the forest and the provincial significant wetlands (PSWs) beneath its canopy.

Members of Niagara’s Indigenous communities gather to save Thundering Waters from urban development.

It also does a disservice to the ministry scientists who are only doing their job according to the rules on the books for reviewing development proposals in this province. Continue reading →

“More than 26,000 Canadians – some only teenagers, others veterans of the Second World War – crossed the Pacific Ocean to fight under the flag of the United Nations. Over 500 Canadian soldiers, sailors, and air personnel made the ultimate sacrifice, and the lives of countless others were forever changed.” – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

A Statement from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Korean War Veterans Day

Posted July 27th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Canadian soldier during Korean War

“Today, we remember the brave members of the army, navy and air forces who fought so valiantly, and sacrificed so greatly, during the Korean War.

“Sixty-four years ago today, a ceasefire put an end to active fighting in the Korean War. After the Communist North’s invasion of South Korea in 1950, the brutal war lasted more than three years and cost hundreds of thousands of military and civilian lives. More than 26,000 Canadians – some only teenagers, others veterans of the Second World War – crossed the Pacific Ocean to fight under the flag of the United Nations. Over 500 Canadian soldiers, sailors, and air personnel made the ultimate sacrifice, and the lives of countless others were forever changed. Continue reading →

‘A home to a teeming array of marine wildlife, including the endangered leatherback turtle and blue whale’

A Message from Daniel Green, Deputy Leader of Canada’s Green Party

Posted July 26^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

My patience with Prime Minister Trudeau is starting to wear thin. His cabinet recently proposed that the Laurentian Channel in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence — home to a teeming array of marine wildlife, including the endangered leatherback turtle and blue whale — be designated as a Marine Protection Area (MPA).

Endangered blue whales just below the surface of a Gulf of Saint Lawrence that should be more of a marine sanctuary than an offshore oil drilling field

That sounds great. But there’s a catch.

The Liberals’ proposed regulations allow for oil and gas exploration in 80% of this area. Continue reading →

Engaging with Economic Leaders Will Expand Partnerships and Trade Opportunities

“This business mission will build on our productive partnerships with China”    – Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

News from the Office of Premier Kathleen Wynne

Posted July 26^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne heading to China – again

Premier Kathleen Wynne will lead a delegation to China and Vietnam this fall to strengthen trade partnerships and promote Ontario as a key centre for investment and innovation. Premier Wynne made the announcement in Toronto at the headquarters of green technology company Nanoleaf.

This is the first-ever Ontario Premier’s mission to Vietnam, and Premier Wynne’s third mission to China. Continue reading →

Trump and his anti-EPA lap dog – Scott Pruitt – would gut a ‘Superfund’ program that helped bring the Niagara River and Lake Ontario back from the brink

An Introductory Message from NAL publisher Doug Draper, followed by a Call to Action from veteran U.S. environmentalist Lois Gibbs

Posted July 24th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

To fully understand the outrage of Trump and his anti-Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt moving to gut programs key to keeping hazardous chemicals out of our Great Lakes, it is important to recall a little history from the not-to-distant past.

Lois Gibbs during a Christmas at Love Canal during the late 1970s, where buried chemicals destroyed her Niagara Falls, N.Y. nieghbourhood and spread onward to the waters of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario.

That history stretches back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, when citizens on both sides of the Niagara River learned, to their horror, that some of the most lethal chemicals created by modern science – chemicals like dioxin (an ingredient in the Vietnam War-era defoliant Agent Orange), mirex and a witch’s brew of cancer-causing chlorinated benzenes – were bleeding their way into the waters of the river and Lake Ontario from industrial waste dumps dotting the American side of the river.

 Most of the attention focused, and quite understandably given the monster size of the dumps and the lethality of the tens of thousands of chemicals buried in them, on four sites in Niagara County, New York – Love Canal, Hyde Park, S-Area and the 102^nd Street dumps, all sitting on highly fractured bedrock and located within a short walking of the Niagara River or creeks flowing into it. Continue reading →

 The Trudeau government is under no requirement under Canadian law to make public its negotiating objectives on trade agreement. This is both wrong and unacceptable.

A Column from Brent Patterson, Council of Canadians

Posted July 25^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

This past July 17th , the Trump administration released its objectives for the upcoming renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),

It did so because under the so-called ‘fast-track’ legislation in the U.S., it must give 30-days notice of its negotiating objectives to give Congress time to provide feedback. Fast-track also means that Congress will only be able to vote on the whole NAFTA text once negotiations are completed, it won’t be able to reopen or vote down specific provisions. Continue reading →

A Feature Story on how Canada is falling behind other nations on protecting biodiversity

A Brief One from Doug Draper, environment writer/publisher, Niagara At Large

Posted July 24th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

For those of us fighting to keep developers and their political allies in Niagara from moving forward with an urban development plan in Niagara Falls’ Thundering Waters Forest and from gutting ever more of what little we have left of our natural heritage in this region, Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail has a front-page story this July 24th that is a must read.

A look at just a piece of the provincially significant wetlands under the canopy of the Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls, Ontario

The story, headlined; ‘Canada Lags on Biodiversity Pledges – The country ranks far behind g7 counterparts and other industrialized nations in meeting commitments to protect its lands and fresh waters’, notes that “Canada has 20 per cent of the Earth’s forests and 24 per cent of its wetlands, but has done far less than many other countries when it comes to putting areas beyond the reach of development,” says the Globe story. Continue reading →

An Invite to All from the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre

Posted July 24^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

 Niagara, Ontario – The Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial Task Force is hosting guided cemetery tours on the civic holiday long weekend to share stories of the fallen workers who died during construction of the Welland Ship Canal.

The tours are free, however participants are encouraged to make a donation towards the Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial which will be unveiled later this year beside the Welland Canal at Lock 3. Donations can be made online at www.stcatharines.ca/donate or at the start of the tours. Continue reading →

–         At Welland City Hall on Thursday, August 3rd

Support the citizens campaign to keep quality health services at the Welland hospital in south Niagara

A Call-Out from the Ontario Health Coalition

Posted July 24^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Join us at our next Save Our Hospital regular monthly planning meeting, Thursday August 3, 6:30 pm. In Committee Room of the Welland City Hall, First St. in downtown Welland in Niagara, Ontario.

All are welcome! Continue reading →

Haven’t we had enough of the NPCA’s ‘Chamber of Horrors’!

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted July 21^st, 2017 on Niagara At Large

“Aggressive or intimidating behavior, aggressive or course language will not be tolerated.”

Those were the words on one of the signs, greeting any and all members of the public who took the trouble to show up at one of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authorities monthly board of director meetings this past April.

“Look at that,” said one member of the public reading one of these signs, taped on a door to the NPCA’s Balls Falls meeting room. “That’s kind of insulting”

A sign that greeted members of the public, taped this spring on the outside doors of a room where the was holding its monthly board of directors meeting. File photo by Doug Draper

Kind of insulting, indeed!

I have taken to calling it the “behave yourselves, you unruly animals” sign. Continue reading →

The Ontario Liberal government’s proposed labour bill “has more loopholes and exemptions than actual protections. It does not provide stability to the growing number of workers in unstable jobs.”                                                                                                          – NDP Labour critic and Welland Riding MPP Cindy Forster

A Message from the Ontario New Democratic Party

Posted July 21^st, 2017 on Niagara At Large

NDP Labour critic and Welland Riding MPP Cindy Forster

Niagara, Ontario – After two weeks of public hearings on Ontario’s new proposed labour legislation, Ontario NDP Labour critic Cindy Forster says the NDP will be tabling a package of amendments to strengthen the Wynne government’s weak labour bill – a bill Forster says misses the mark.

“We’ve spent the last two weeks hearing from workers, unions, community members and business owners on the government’s proposed legislation, and the message we’re hearing on all sides is clear: this bill has more loopholes and exemptions than actual protections,” said Forster. “It does not provide stability to the growing number of workers in unstable jobs.” Continue reading →

–  Protecting Diverse Habitats Across Ontario

News from Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry

Posted July 20^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Ontario is strengthening the protection and increasing the rate of wetland recovery across the province.

Wetlands are an essential component of Ontario’s biodiversity and are vital in mitigating the impacts of climate change by lowering the risk of flooding and drought, preventing erosion and moderating climate extremes. These diverse and productive habitats have many economic and health benefits, including improving water quality and offering excellent recreation and tourism destinations.

The Ontario government would do well to start by protecting the provincial significant wetlands, like this on, in the Thundering Water Forest in Niagara Falls – a place now targeted for urban development.

Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, Kathryn McGarry met with wetland conservation partners today to speak about Ontario’s Wetland Conservation Strategy. Continue reading →

Niagara town council offers not a word of support for one of Lincoln’s gold star citizens

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted July 19^th, 2-17 on Niagara At Large

Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly. – Mahatma Gandhi

Niagara, Ontario – Lincoln Mayor Sandra Easton and her town council had at least two opportunities to publicly speak out in support of one of their town’s most respected and dedicated public servants and citizens. And both times, they did not.

Town of Lincoln Mayor Sandra Easton.

That public servant and citizen is Bill Hodgson, a Lincoln regional councillor a mayor and school board trustee for the municipality who, until recently, also served as one of 15 appointed members on the board of directors for the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority.

This spring, a majority of the other 14 NPCA board members – a majority of them elected Niagara mayors and councillors appointed by Niagara’s regional council – went behind closed doors like the snivelling cowards and creeps most of them are and voted to “censure” Bill Hodgson – as in slam the guy with a formal expression of disapproval tantamount to a pillorying or shaming – for reasons many of the rest of us do not understand. Continue reading →

 “This announcement is great news for Fort Erie and Niagara. A new seniors’ facility at this site changes the entire dynamic for the neighbourhood.”  Fort Erie Mayor and regional councillor Wayne Redekop

From a Niagara regional government  news release

Fort Erie Mayor and Niagara regional coouncillor Wayne Redekop

Posted July 20^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Region has purchased a property in Fort Erie that will serve as the future home of Gilmore Lodge long-term care home. 

The 11-acre site, located at 200 Garrison Road, is ideally suited to accommodate a campus of facilities and services to better support Fort Erie’s aging population. It will accommodate a new long-term care home and additional residential and mixed-use facilities.  Continue reading →

A News Release from the Ontario New Democratic Party and Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

Posted July 20th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario  – In response to Ontario auto insurance rates rising for the second quarter in a row, Ontario NDP Transportation critic and Niagara Falls MPPWayne Gates issued the following statement.

Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

“After dismissing her promise to Ontarians to reduce auto insurance rates as a ‘stretch goal,’ Premier Kathleen Wynne is now siding with insurance companies.

Instead of helping Ontario drivers and their families who are already paying the highest auto insurance bills in the country, Wynne is allowing insurance companies to continue raising the rates.

Under Premier Wynne, Ontarians pay more than 55 per cent more than anyone else in the country, while being among the safest drivers in Canada. Continue reading →

“By paying my staff a living wage, it encouraged them to take ownership of their positions, build confidence, and find value in their work. This increased overall productivity, boosted company morale and virtually eliminated turnover.”                                         – Damin Starr, Owner, Pre-Line Processing, Niagara, Ontario

A News Release from Ontario’s Liberal Caucus Service Bureau

Posted July 19th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

‘Workers, small businesses and academics agree new legislation helps Ontarians’

Niagara Falls, Ontario – Today (this June 19th), Liberal MPPs were in Niagara Falls to hear about the importance of making sure everyone is sharing in the benefits of our growing economy. Here’s what local workers, small businesses and academics are saying about the new Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs legislation:

Simon Black, Professor, Centre for Labour Studies, Brock University –

“As those with lower income spend more of what they earn then those with higher incomes, raising the minimum wage will improve macroeconomic conditions overall.”  Continue reading →

Can we develop a more just system?

“We see corporate greed all around us. Four out of 10 Canadians – many of them earning around $11 an hour – can’t pay their bills but Canadian corporations are sitting on at least $630-billion in cash they’re refusing to invest in the economy.”               – Nick Fillmore

A Commentary by veteran Canadian journalist Nick Fillmore

Posted July 5th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Aggressive capitalism is kicking the crap out of us, so we should see if we can start a public conversation about the need for an alternative political and social system.

It’s shocking that capitalist businesses have become so dominant. They literally rule the world.  In Canada, the low-profile Canadian Council of Chief Executives is all powerful when it comes to influencing government. Continue reading →

GNCC Advocates for Evidence-Based Policy, Warns of Dangers in Bill 148 Standing Committee Hearing

A Message from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Posted July 19^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls, Ontario– This July 19th, the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs convened a public hearing in Niagara Falls to gather community input on Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act (2017). The GNCC represented the interests of Niagara’s employers.

The Act includes a large number of changes to Ontario’s labour law, but most importantly, raises the minimum wage to $15/hr over 18 months, starting with an increase to $14/hr on January 1st, 2018.

The GNCC noted that the pace of this change was unprecedented, and while Seattle, New York, and California have opted to phase a similar increase in over four to six years, Ontario will complete the bulk of the increase within only seven months. Continue reading →

A Brief Call-Out from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Posted July 19th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

“I was brought up to believe that there is no virtue in conforming meekly to the dominant opinion of the moment. I was encouraged to believe that simple conformity results in stagnation for a society.” – Jane Jacobs

For all of us across this greater Niagara region who all too often find ourselves wondering if there is anything citizens can do to stop moneyed developers and their political friends from forcing bad planning on our communities, ‘Citizen Jane – Battle for the City’ is a documentary film that should inspire us all to lock arms as citizens in our communities and fight on because it is possible to win!

I saw this great documentary when it was screening at the Amherst Theatre in Buffalo this spring and tonight – this Wednesday, July 19^th at 7 p.m. at the Film House at the First Ontario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines off St. Paul Street – it is screening again.

Sorry I missed getting this post on earlier, but if you are interested and can still catch this July 19^th screening of Citizen Jane, I know you will love it.

Here is a trailer for the film that you can click on followed by a brief write-up

Read a Buffalo News review of Citizen Jane – http://buffalonews.com/2017/05/11/citizen-jane-hero-time/ .

Back to NAL publisher Doug Draper again – Continue reading →

”Two-thirds of NPCA employees indicated they have experienced workplace bullying, while 70 per cent say they have witnessed “offensive behaviours”.’

 A News Release from the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU)

Posted July 19^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

OPSEU president Smokey Thomas (right) and David Barrick, NPCA corporate services director and Port Colborne regional councilor, exchange a few words before an NPCA board meeting at Balls Falls this past spring. Photo by Doug Draper

Niagara, Ontario  – More than 85 per cent of Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) workers say their workplace is harmful to mental health, according to a stress survey conducted by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), in co-operation with the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW).

Almost 90 per cent of NPCA employees completed the survey, which asked them to evaluate the psychological climate in their workplace. Two-thirds of NPCA employees indicated they have experienced workplace bullying, while 70 per cent say they have witnessed “offensive behaviours.” Continue reading →

We, the people, along with our municipal councils can begin the process of dissolving the NPCA now

A Brief One by Doug Draper, environment writer/publisher, Niagara At Large

Posted April 18th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Lincoln regional councilor heading in to what would be his last NPCA board meeting this spring before being censured by the board and tendering his resignation

Over the past couple of years there has been much to do about the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and the concerns growing numbers of Niagara area residents and municipal councils have that all is not well with this body and the way it is going about business with millions of our tax dollars.

In the last year alone, we have witnessed the NPCA’s board of directors – a board stacked not with conservationists, but with regional councillors and mayors who may not see protecting and preserving what is left of our natural heritage as any more of a priority than sacrificing ever more of it to sprawling development – use some of the tax dollars the NPCA receives from local municipalities to sue a private citizen who has been lobbying for an independent audit of its operations.

We have witnessed some members of this board insult and smear Cindy Forster, a provincial member of parliament representing the Niagara riding of Welland, who has been among those leading the charge for more transparency and accountability from this board. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Doug Draper, environment writer, publisher, Niagara At Large

Posted July 8^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

“There’s been no pause,” Kimberley Nemrava, vice-president for the British Columbia and Yukon division of the Canadian Red Cross was quoted saying of the wildfires destroying homes, communities and vast tracts of wilderness around them in the heart of B.C. this July. “We’ve moved right from floods into fires.”

No pause, indeed!

 As the late, great writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin put it in one of his most searing essays on the follies of humankind – “God gave Noah the rainbow sign. No more water, the fire next time.”

For those who are taking the trouble to pay attention to what is going down in the world around us, it’s as clear as the hell we are collectively creating for ourselves that the floods and the wildfires, and droughts and wind storms are becoming ever more frequent and severe, costing lives and costing our economies escalating billions and trillions of dollars in property destructing, insurance and health costs, and on and on. Continue reading →

A Public Advisory from the Constituency Office of Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey

Posted July 18^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario –Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre would like to alert the public about renewed Canada Revenue Agency scams going on in the region.

Mr. Badawey would like to remind the public to be vigilant when dealing with callers or emails claiming to be from CRA officials. The scam claims to be about a tax audit performed on past tax filing years, the result of which is that you are owed a refund. They state that your refund cannot be processed until you provide your credit card information. Continue reading →

Premier Kathleen Wynne’s State on U.S. Release of NAFTA Negotiating Objectives

Posted July 18th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Premier Kathleen Wynne released the following statement this July 17th  on the U.S. federal administration’s release of its negotiating objectives in advance of NAFTA renegotiations:

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

“As Premier, I am committed to standing up for Ontario workers and businesses. I see this as the next step in defending Ontario’s interests and strengthening our trading relationships across North America.

While the renegotiation of NAFTA will be a complex undertaking, it is a chance to bring the agreement into the 21st century so that it better reflects the way we do business today. Continue reading →

Help save Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls, Ontario from developers’ buzz saws! Sign the Petition below.

Posted July 17th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

An Introductory Message from Doug Draper, environment writer, publisher, Niagara At Large

Niagara At Large is pleased to post the necessary links to a very important petition now being circulated far and wide in social media circles, urging Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and her government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government and other political leaders to save some 500 acres of forested lands, provincially significant wetlands, and savannah grasses in our Niagara River watershed before it is too late. Continue reading →

From Tuesday, July 18th to Thursday, July 20th, 2017  at the Welland International Flatwater Centre

News from the Office of Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey

Posted July 17^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Welland, Ontario – Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre is preparing for a busy week ahead as the canoe and kayak portions of the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) come to the City of Welland. Badawey, one of ten members of the Liberal Indigenous Caucus, is proud to be showcasing Niagara Centre to indigenous athletes and their families from all across Canada and the United States.

From July 18 to July 20, indigenous athletes will be competing in canoe and kayaking competitions at the Welland International Flatwater Centre.  The events will be open to the public free of charge. Continue reading →

I’d be happy to see him thrown in the slammer for the wildlife he’s blown away, alone!

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted July 15^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

“The children asked him if to kill was not a sin
‘Not when he looked so fierce’, his mummy butted in
If looks could kill it would have been us instead of him
All the children sing

Hey, Bungalow Bill
What did you kill, Bungalow Bill?
Hey, Bungalow Bill
What did you kill, Bungalow Bill?”

–      from The Beatles’ song ‘Bungalow Bill’

Check out the following two disgusting photos from about seven years ago – the first one of Donald Jr. (left) and his idiot brother Eric doing a grip and grin with a wild cat they shot on safari, and the second of Donald Jr. – he’s a “good boy,” his old man insists – posing cheerfully with an African buffalo he apparently bullet-drilled down.

If these two rich, white boys like stalking around in the fields and woods so much, all suited up in camouflage, gum boots and totting a gun, why don’t they do what tens of thousands of other young Americans do and volunteer to serve in the armed forces for the nation their daddy claims he wants to put so first and make so great again? Continue reading →

News from the Office of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

Posted July 15th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Premier Kathleen Wynne released the following statement this past Friday, July 14th regarding her participation in the National Governors Association (NGA) Summer Meeting in Rhode Island:

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

“We are at a critical point in our North American trade relationships. Now more than ever, we must reinforce the need for free trade and cross-border partnerships to grow our economies and create good jobs.

I was pleased to join Prime Minister Trudeau at the National Governors Association Summer Meeting to do just that. Over two days, I have connected with U.S. governors to discuss our common interests and the need to continue working together to advance our shared prosperity. Continue reading →

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted July 14^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

I can’t help it, Niagara At Large readers, and I hope you will indulge me on this one for a few moments.

Former U.S. Preisdent Jimmy Carter as he looked during his years in office

In what so often seem to be these scoundrel times we live in, it is important to remember that there are good people among us, devoted to making our world a little better.

With that in mind, here is to one of my favourite people and one of the most decent people ever elected to the to the U.S. presidency – Jimmy Carter, who at the age of 92, is still out there volunteering his time to Habitat for Humanity, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to building affordable housing for people in the United States, Canada and other parts of the world.

This July 13^th, while working on a building project for the organization in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Jimmy Carter collapsed from dehydration and ended up spending the night in hospital. Continue reading →

What’s the point of holding a nomination meeting in Niagara?

A Commentary from the Ontario Liberal Party

Posted July 14th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Amid accusations from PC Party Members and former executive members that Patrick Brown’s PC Party is stuffing ballot boxes and fixing nomination meetings, Rick Dykstra, the President of the PC Party, submitted sworn testimony to a court highlighting the contempt Brown’s PC Party has for their own party members and their nomination process.

Ontario PC Party president and former St. Catharines Harper/Conservative MP Rick Dykstra

In an affidavit obtained and reported on by the CBC, Mr. Dykstra (a former federal Conservative MP for St. Catharines) admitted that Conservative nominations don’t actually matter, with PC Leader Patrick Brown hand-picking his party’s nominees and bypassing hard-working nomination candidates, like Mike Strange, Dan Sadler, and Nick Lauwers.

“The nomination meeting is not determinative of who will ultimately be listed on the ballot as a PC party candidate in the general election… There is no requirement in the Election Act, the Constitution or the rules that the party leader must endorse, or can only endorse the nomination contestant who is successful at the nomination meeting.” – Rick Dykstra, CBC News, July 10, 2017.  Continue reading →

Sanders speaks up for ‘people power’ and grassroots democracy on cable news program

A Brief One from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Posted July 14^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

I travel across the Ontario/New York State border quite often to visit some of my American friends, and they are repeatedly telling me how depressed they are with Trump and his stupid tweets and temperament scorching their land.

“I can barely stand to turn on the news,” one of them told me recently. “It leaves you feeling hopeless, depressed.”

I dig it. There are many here, on the Canadian border, who worry about the impact the Trump rampage will have on our health and welfare too. Continue reading →

“Our thoughts are with all British Columbians dealing with the devastating impacts of these wildfires. ” – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

A News Release from the Prime Minister’s Office

Posted July 14^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Ottawa, Ontario – The Government of Canada will do its utmost to help the people of British Columbia facing the immediate and long-term impacts of destructive wildfires.

That is why the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced the creation of a new ad hoc Cabinet committee to coordinate federal efforts to help the many communities affected by the wildfires raging through British Columbia. Continue reading →

 A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted July 13^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

“It seems in the silly season of an election year this government’s coming up with new promises every single week,” said Ontario Conservative Party leader Patrick Brown during an interview earlier this July on a southern Ontario radio program. You know – policies like the overnight increase in the minimum wage.”

Brown’s “silly season” missive was aimed at promise made by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and her Liberals this spring to raise the minimum wage in the province from the current $11.40 to $15 an hour by2019.

It’s “too much, too soon,” Brown insisted.

You know, Mr. Brown, a lot of things have gone up ‘too much, too soon’ over the past two or three decades, like the price of groceries, tuition fees for college and university, home and car insurance, just to name a fuel. All while, wages for many have hardly gone up at all, and while for the better part of 10 years while your Tory buddy Mike Harris was premier of Ontario, the minimum wage did not go up one penny. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Desmond Sequeira, Multi-Faith Chaplain (Rtd.), Government of Ontario, and a resident of St. Catharines, Ontario

Posted July 13^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Along with millions of other Canadians, I fully support the Government decision to apologize to and compensate Omar Khadr for the callous injustices inflicted on him by successive governments of Canada, purportedly representing Canadians including me.

Omar Khadr, then and now

Persons seeking the truth would do well to visit the details of the “firefight” that started all this ( https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/07/10/omar-khadr-fact-check-paints-a-clearer-picture-of-the-case-and-the-incident-underlying-it.html ) Just don’t ask Jason Kenney for the facts of that firefight!

The subsequent events are now well known. Most significantly, none other than the Supreme Court of Canada has  pretty much declared the whole U.S. Guantanamo Bay judicial process in which Canadian investigative agencies were fully complicit to be nothing short of a kangaroo process. Continue reading →

News from the Office of Welland Riding MPP and NDP labour critic Cindy Forster

Posted July 13th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Welland MPP and Ontario NDP labour critic Cindy Forster on her feet in the provincial legislature. File photo

An all-party committee of MPPs is touring the province to hear feedback regarding proposed changes to labour laws – but Wednesday night, Wynne’s Liberals and the Conservatives refused to support a move from NDP MPP and Labour critic Cindy Forster meant to extend the committee’s hearings.

The proposal was aimed at accommodating a young worker who wanted a chance to speak. Conservative and Liberal MPPs joined together to cut the proceedings  and send him, and anyone else that wanted to speak away.  Continue reading →

A Call-Out from Niagara Action for Animals

Posted July 12^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Dear friends of Animals 

The Calgary Stampede is in full progress now.

One of many protest demonstration over the years at the Calgary Stampede

Rodeo is a spectacle of trauma and violence, causing immense animal suffering.

Chuckwagon races, calf-roping, bronco riding, and steer wrestling events subject animals to physical pain and psychological torment. Sensitive horses, cows, and calves are lassoed, wrestled, or roped to the ground. Continue reading →

An Invite to all smokers from Niagara Region’s Public Health Department

Posted June 12th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

​Niagara, Ontario – Free quit smoking patches are available to Niagara residents for a limited time. The STOP (Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients) Program offers eligible participants in Niagara five weeks of cost-free nicotine replacement therapy and smoking cessation information to help them in their quit attempt.

• WHAT: Free patches for adults in Niagara to quit smoking
• WHERE: STOP workshops will be held in Thorold, Welland and Port Colborne
• WHEN: July 19, August 17 and September 28, 2017

Registration is necessary. To find out if you are eligible and to register for a workshop, call 905-688-8248 ext. 7240, or 1-888-505-6074. Continue reading →

A Message from Niagara’s regional government

Posted July 11th, 2017 on Niagara at Large

Niagara, Ontario – Thanks in large part to the feedback and continued support of Niagara’s growing number of transit users, Niagara is set to begin making service improvements and governance changes to prepare for a new region-wide transit system.

The Niagara Region Transit pilot service has been in operation for the past six years.

During that time customer feedback has helped to shape a number of service improvements, such as the enhancement of Routes 40/45 to service the Niagara Outlet Collections in Niagara-on-the-Lake, later hours servicing Brock University and Niagara College, and the realignment of several routes to better integrate with local systems. Ridership has also risen during that time as more and more residents rely on the inter-municipal connections the service provides.   Continue reading →

“This report demonstrates that the costs of pollution amount to tens of billions of dollars a year. These costs are real and will be borne by Canadian families, businesses and governments into the future unless we take action to minimize pollution.”                          – Scott Vaughan, president-CEO, International Institute for Sustainable Development

News from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, a non-profit organization of experts in economics, law, environmental sciences and a host of other fields, with offices in Canada, the United States and Switzerland

Posted July 10^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

A  from Niagara At Large journalist and publisher Doug Draper –

One of many  fish kills in the Great Lakes over my more than 35 years of following Great Lakes environmental issues

This report, released this spring by a team of researchers for the International Institute for Sustainable development, speaks to a very costly reality that, in my more than three and a half decades of covering environmental issues, flies in the face of those in government and industry who repeatedly argue that environmental protection regulations are a burden to the economy.

This rap against “burdensome environmental regulations” has almost always come from politicians on the right end of the spectrum – members of federal and provincial Conservative parties in Canada and Republicans in the United States – who represent the interest of corporation and other entities pushing to advance narrow, short-term interests and gains over long-term consequences that can often prove very costly, and even deadly, for a great many people. Continue reading →

 City now inviting public feedback on plan

News from the City of St. Catharines

Posted July 10^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – The last time the City of St. Catharines created a transportation master plan Brock University had just opened its doors, the population was around 85,000 and St. Catharines Transit had been in operation for less than five years.

A City of St. Catharines transit bus. File photo by Doug Draper

The transportation needs of residents have expanded considerably since 1965, which is why City staff are embarking on a new Transportation Master Plan to shape the future of walking, driving, cycling and commuting in St. Catharines.

“Transportation is about more than just cars and streets,” said Brian Applebee, manager of transportation services for the City. “It’s about providing alternative and sustainable ways to connect residents to the places they need to go, both within the city and beyond our borders.” Continue reading →

A Call-Out from the Niagara Activist Network

Posted July 10th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Hello Niagara Activists,

This is 10 Men in a Tent. A movie about how the Niagara community rallied together to save the local food bank, Project Share.

In 2009, 10 community leaders spent 5 days and 5 nights in a tent, eating only food provided by the food bank and with nothing but a tent and a sleeping bag. The event raised $302,000 in food and donations. Continue reading →

Start getting informed and engaged now, people. It’s our region and future at stake here!

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted July 7^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” – from Dante Alighieri’s 14^th century poem Inferno

I too often find these words – intended by Dante to greet any and all unfortunates passing through the gates of hell -– crossing my mind when I dare to enter Niagara Region’s headquarters for another meeting of regional council or begin to watch a live stream of the meeting on a screen.

And I say this as someone who, for most of the 47 years we have had regional government in Niagara, Ontario, has been a strong supporter of transitioning from local municipalities to one ‘City of Niagara’ as possibly the best way of providing all Niagara residents, urban and rural, with equal access to water, waste management, public transit and other services we need.

Well I haven’t got a dying breath left in me to support a regional system of government in our Niagara any more – not with what I, along with many other residents from all corners of Niagara – have witnessed of this current edition of regional council under the chairmanship of Al Caslin.

Depressing, dispiriting, disturbing … these are just a few of the politer words that come to this reporter’s mind at far too many of the committee and council meetings Caslin and his pals have chaired over the going on three years since the last municipal elections and the end of Gary Burrough’s four-year tenure as regional chair.

Think I’m being over the top? Continue reading →

News from the Ontario government

Posted July 7th, 217 on Niagara At Large

With forest fire season well underway in Ontario, the province has increased the maximum fines for individuals and corporations for starting forest fires.

If found responsible, individuals can now be fined up to $25,000 for starting a forest fire, with fines for corporations that start a forest fire going up to $500,000. These increased maximum fines will help deter human-started fires.

Approximately half of all forest fires are started by people. Forest fires can cause considerable risk to public safety, can cause expensive property damage and have broader impacts on communities and regional industry. Continue reading →

Money should go to committed Internet news sites

A Commentary from Veteran Canadian journalist  Nick Fillmore

Posted July 5th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

News Media Canada – formerly the Canadian Association of Newspapers – has submitted a proposal to Minister of Canadian Heritage Mélanie Joly for a whopping $350-million a year to prop up the journalism of the country’s struggling 105 dailies.

The publishers are asking for:

• $175-million of our tax dollars per year to subsidize the first 35 per cent of the salaries of hundreds of journalists who are paid $85,000 or less, including luminaries such as the Globe and Mail’s  columnist Margaret Wente, who creates her own reality, and the National Post’s right-wing reporter Christie Blatchford.
• And $90,000 a year to help each of these newspapers improve their presence on the Internet – a request that comes 18 years after Kijiji and others began grabbing their classified ads. This reveals their ineptitude to successfully get on the Internet themselves.

Continue reading →

 “I firmly believe that Niagara Centre’s designation as a Foreign Trade Zone, combined with our Gateway incentives, creates an environment that perfectly aligns with the Minister’s vision for a ‘Trade and Transportation Corridor’.” – Niagara Centre Riding MP Vance Badawey 

News from the Niagara Centre Riding constituency office of Liberal MP Vance Badawey

Posted July 5^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper – This initiative may face at least one problem Canada has little control over. Trump doesn’t seem much interested in a future trade relationship with Canada.)

The Peace Bridge between Niagara, Ontario and Buffalo is a major Canada-U.S. crossing for people and goods

This July 4^th, Canada’s Minister of Transport, Marc Garneau, unveiled details of the Government’s new Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative, which seeks to increase the efficiency of Canada’s transportation systems in order to ensure that goods are better able to reach domestic and international markets.

• $2.1 billion dollars will be invested in order to support the government’s plans.  This includes:
• $2 billion over 11 years, to develop a National Trade Corridors Fund.  This merit-based program is geared towards strengthening the efficiency and reliability of Canada’s trade corridors in order to best get people and goods to market. 
• $50 million directed towards establishing a Trade and Transport Information System. Working with Statistics Canada, public, and private partners, increase data collection will allow for sound scientific-based decision making in order to streamline all modes of transportation.   
• $50 million towards the adoption of autonomous vehicles and unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), in particular the development of regulations and standards which will ensure that these new technologies are developed and implemented with the highest degree of safety.

Today’s announcement includes a preliminary call for “expression of interest projects” under the National Trade Corridors Fund. Continue reading →

If you believe in Climate Change, join the petition calling on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to isolate Trump at the G20 pushing the 19 remaining countries to sign a pledge to switch to 100% clean energy!

A Call-Out from the global, online citizens’ campaign network, Avaaz

Posted July 5th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Dear friends,

The international environmental group Greenpeace projected this image on the U.S. embassy headquarters in Berlin, Germany this spring after Trump announced his intentions to back away from the Paris climate agreement.

Trump’s going to try to hijack a meeting of the world’s 20 most powerful nations and turn it into an attack on our planet and the Paris climate deal.

Unless Germany’s Angela Merkel stops him. She’s one of the great climate leaders of our generation and could push hard to isolate Trump with a plan for 100% clean energy from the remaining 19 countries.

But she’ll need to know she has massive support from everywhere to take this unprecedented step. Sign and share the open letter to Merkel — we have just days to hit 1 million and Avaaz will print it in major German media ahead of the summit!

To read and sign your name to the petition, click on – Add My Name Continue reading →

“New Democrats call on Premier Wynne to stop running roughshod over Ontario workers and Ontario’s workplace safety and insurance system.” – Cindy Forster, NDP labour critic, Welland Riding MPP

A Message from Ontario’s New Democratic Party

Posted July 5^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Welland Riding MPP Cindy Forster

Queen’s Park – Cindy Forster, the Ontario NDP’s labour critic and MPP for the Niagara riding of Welland, issued the following statement in response to the Wynne government’s refusal to drop its defense of discriminatory practices that are currently denying injured workers their WSIB claims after they developed mental health issues while on the job –

“Instead of helping workers who were injured on the job, the Wynne government is going to court to fight them. Continue reading →

News from Canada’s Chamber of Marine Commerce

Posted July 5th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from Niagara At Large – Trump may not give a damn about addressing climate change, but since he announced his intentions this June to walk away from a Paris Climate Agreement endorsed by Canada and many other countries around the world, numerous parties, including U.S. state governors and industries in and outside his country, have pledged to forge ahead with plans to reduce carbon emissions that impact the earth’s climate.

The following statement from Canada’s Chamber of Marine  is but one example of those pledges. It was shared with Niagara At Large earlier this June, during a  period our site was shut down due to technical problems, but we still feel it is worthwhile posting as one more message of hope during a time when  Trump’s madness has so many of us feeling down.

So here it is – )

June 7, 2017 – The Chamber of Marine Commerce (CMC) is endorsing proposed international targets to reduce marine shipping’s carbon emissions per tonne-km by 50 per cent by 2050 in order to match the ambition of the Paris Agreement on climate change. Continue reading →

• Keep Peace, Liberty and Democracy Alive!
  

A Brief Message  from Doug Draper, NAL publisher

Posted July 4th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

What a difference an election can make!

A lot has changed – and certainly not for the better – in the 12 months since July 4th, 2017 when Barrack Obama was still in the White House, and Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were still competing for delegates to become the Democratic Party’s  candidate for president of the United States.

Yet ‘Lady Liberty’ still stands tall with her torch in the harbour, and millions of Americans have risen up to resist efforts to pull them away from the torch’s light, to darker corners where fear, anger, hate and oppression crawl up from the swamp where the orange-hair creature resides. Continue reading →

 News from the Niagara Parks Commission

Posted July 4th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

A re-enactment of battle at Niagara Park’s Chippawa Battlefield Memorial Park. File photo

Niagara Falls, Ontario – Niagara Parks and the Chippawa Branch 396 of the Royal Canadian Legion will hold a commemorative ceremony to honour those who served on the Chippawa Battlefield on Wednesday, July 5 at 7 p.m., at the Chippawa Battlefield Monument.

Fought on July 5, 1814, the Battle of Chippawa was the opening engagement of the Niagara campaign, the longest and bloodiest military operation of the War of 1812. Each year on July 5, a memorial service is held to honour the legacy of those who fell in service of their nation. Continue reading →