Author Archives: dougdraper

“No new fossil fuel extraction or transportation infrastructure should be built, and governments should grant no new permits for them.” – from Oil Change International, a Washington, D.C.-based  research and advocacy organization

News from Hamilton, Ontario’s Citizens at City Hall

Posted September 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Hamilton, Ontario – The embattled National Energy Board opens hearings in Hamilton in mid-October on an Enbridge oil pipeline proposal that runs 35 kilometres across the city’s rural area between Westover and Nebo Road.

It will face local protests aligned with a rapidly growing continent-wide movement that is challenging all projects that increase the extraction or transportation of fossil fuels.

One of many protests against Enbridge’s Line 9 pipeline running through Ontario

The Hamilton 350 Committee wants the October 18 hearings suspended until the Trudeau government’s promised reforms are put in place. That echoes the demands delivered to the Prime Minister earlier this month by fifty Canadian organizations.

And the climate-driven protest is also bolstered by a national aboriginal declaration last week, and a “spectacular” international investment shift away from fossil fuels that coincides with new evidence that any expansion of the sector will sink last year’s Paris climate agreement. Continue reading →

A Call-Out from Avaaz, an international online citizens advocacy group

Posted September 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Dear friends,

Nestle just outbid an Ontario town for the right to purchase a local well, risking the town’s long-term water security. Let’s stop Nestle from sucking Ontario dry to line their pockets!

The small town of Centre Wellington tried to purchase a nearby well to ensure its future water supply was secure. But Nestle beat their offer.

Now Nestle’s waiting for approval from the government to start testing water quality and quantity — so they can get to work profiting from their purchase.

Sign the petition to Premier Wynne saying to reject the permit, and tell Nestle to get their hands off our water supply! Add your name: Click to sign the petition Ontario sells millions of litres of ground water every day to companies like Nestle, at incredibly favourable rates, letting them profit from what should be a public good. Continue reading →

Wynne Government’s Approach To Project-Based Mental Health Funding On Campuses Is Failing Ontario Students –  NDP MPP Peggy Sattler

A Message from Ontario’s New Democratic Party

Posted September 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – An alarming report released by the Ontario University and College Health Association confirms that there is a mental health crisis in Ontario postsecondary institutions, with 2016 survey results showing that student mental health has worsened since 2013.  Addressing the report, the President of the Association said, “lives are at stake.”

In Question Period today, London West MPP and NDP postsecondary education critic Peggy Sattler pointed out that “in my own community of London, the new 24-hour mental health crisis centre has been overwhelmed by college and university students since it opened its doors in January this year.” 

Satter called for a coordinated provincial strategy for student mental health, rather than project funding, and urged the Liberal government to “commit to moving forward immediately with a province-wide strategy for mental health services on Ontario campuses.” Continue reading →

A Brief One by Doug Draper

September 28^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Canadian-born rock starNeil Young has been performing and composing protest songs going back to the  1960s in groups like Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and on his own, right up to the last couple of years with songs that have slammed chemical and oil corporations and others for poisoning and suffocating the life-support systems of our planet.

petroleum corporation hires private cops to sick dogs on Native people attempting to stop construction of pipeline earlier this September

Earlier this September, Neil Young released a song and video in support of Native American communities fighting to stop the Dakota Access oil pipeline in the mid-western United States – a David vs. Goliath battle being played out between Aboriginal and other peoples in the U.S. and Canada, and corporations and government determined to pipe dirty gas and oil to our east and west coasts, and south to refineries near the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

Here are some of the lyrics to Neil Young’s new song ‘Indian Givers’, followed by the video you can click on and view. Please contact your elected representatives and do whatever else you can to fight climate change and the criminal corporations operating these tar sands and constructing these pipelines with greed in their eyes and no real regard for the future of our planet and all who depend on it for survival.

“Bring back the days when good was good Lose these imposters in our neighborhood Across our farms and through our waters All at the cost of our sons and daughters. …

Our brave sons and daughters We’re all here together fighting poison waters Standing against the evil way That’s what we have at the end of day. …

I wish somebody would share the news.”

To hear the song and view the video ‘Indian Giver’, click here –

For more of Neil Young taking musical shots that those who are poisoning the planet, check out his latest CDs – ‘The Monsanto Years’ and, most recently, ‘Earth’.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION BELOW – Niagara At Large encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie quote below. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

 “A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

By Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, Ontario Health Coalition

Posted September 28^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Mariel Schoof was referred to a private clinic in B.C. for sinus surgery. She was appalled when she was charged more than $6,000. So she wrote to her provincial government to have them take action.

Ontario Health Coalition executive director & long-time citizen advocate for public health care Natalie Mehra

Like most Canadians, she expected health care to be provided without charge, paid through our public taxes. But the provincial government did nothing in response to her complaint.

Her experience touched off a set of legal challenges that could change the face of health care in Canada.

In provinces like B.C. and Quebec, recently Saskatchewan, and to a lesser extent, Ontario, private clinics have been taking over more and more from public hospitals. These private clinics sell diagnostics and surgeries as profit-seeking businesses. They make their profits from government contracts and, too often, from charging patients extra user fees for access to health care.

Concerned about other patients being denied care if they couldn’t afford to pay thousands of dollars in extra fees, Mariel Schoof and four other patients took the B.C. government to court for failure to enforce the laws that protect patients against extra-billing by private clinics. (Extra-billing is when doctors charge OHIP – or the equivalent in other provinces such as BC’s MSP – and then also charge patients on top. Continue reading →

Coordinator Will Assist In Implementing Sexual Violence & Harrassment Policy For University

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted September 28^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines, Ontario – Brock University’s new Sexual Violence Response and Education Coordinator, Allison Cadwallader, has been on the job for less than a month but her important work is already well underway.

Allison Cadwallader, Sexual Violence Response & Education Coordinator at Brock University. Photo courtesy of Brock U.

Cadwallader comes to Brock with experience in the area of sexual violence prevention and support to survivors of sexual violence through her various roles at the University of Windsor and the Sarnia Sexual Assault Survivors’ Centre. She started her new position at Brock on Sept. 6.

Cadwallader will provide support to Brock community members who are affected by sexual violence and she will offer education and training on sexual violence prevention and response to members of the Brock University community. Continue reading →

Thank You, Donald, For Sharing That With Us

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 27^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

In the weeks leading up to last year’s federal election in Canada, a few candidates and even fewer media outlets attempted to make an issue of the fact that members of super-rich in this country are flying billions of dollars to off-shore tax havens so they don’t have to do what most mortal Canadians have to do to avoid criminal charges – pay taxes.

A public broadcaster, to its credit – TV Ontario – aired a documentary a number of times before the election called “The Great Canadian Tax Dodge” – detailing how government-sponsored loopholes in the tax laws care allowing an estimated $200 billion a year to fly off to tax havens, leaving the rest of us holding the bag for covering the costs of health care and other necessary public services.

I’m watching and reading  reports about all of this high-flying tax dodging, and I’m thinking – naively or stupidly perhaps – where is the outrage? Why aren’t Canadians standing up, en masse, and demanding that this be an issue in the election, and that candidates and the parties they were running for either draw up a plan to address it or get creamed at the polls. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Posted September 26^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath made a stop at Brock University in St. Catharines this September 26^th to meet with students about the burdening tuition fees and debt loads they are carrying these days.

While on the campus, Horwath, who was accompanied by Niagara NDP representatives Cindy Forster and Wayne Gates, pledged that if her party forms the next Ontario government, it will erase the interest students are forced to pay back on student loans they receive from the province.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwth,, flanked by Niagara representatives Wayne Gates and Cindy Forster, and a gathering of Brock University students, announces pledge to eliminate interest from student loans if her party wins 2018 provincial election.

“The government should not be making a profit off of the fact that students in Ontario need to take out laonds to afford post-secondary education,” said Horwath. “It’s just not right.” Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 25^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

“Everywhere there’s lots of piggies, living piggy lives. You can see them out for dinner, with their piggy wives, clutching forks and knives, to eat their bacon.”    – from the George Harrison song, Piggies

Who do you know in the world of everyday Canadians, who needs more than $100,000 to cover the costs of moving their families from one home to another, just a couple of hours’ drive away in the same province.

Probably no one, unless you are unfortunate enough to know someone who works in a senior position in federal government.

And if they happen to have a job working for the prime minister of the country, it’s a free-for-all on what you can charge the taxpayer for expenses – right up to the time you get caught, of course. Then you might have to practice looking contrite while you are paying some of it back.

You know, it was just about a week ago when I was standing in a long check-out line at a local grocery store that people in the line began engaging in a discussion about how corrupt and how wasteful of our money they feel the still relatively new Liberal government of Justin Trudeau is. “They’re no better than Stephen Harper,” said one to the nodding approval of others.”

Never one to shrink from a discussion about politics, I took a stab at defending Trudeau and company. Continue reading →

Posted by Doug Draper, September 26th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

“If we – and now I mean the relatively conscious whites and the relatively conscious blacks, who must, like lovers, insist on, or create, the consciousness of the others – do not faulter in our duty now, we may be able, handful that we are, to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country, and change the history of the world. If we do not now dare everything, the fulfillment of that prophecy, recreated from the Bible in song by a slave, is upon us:   God have Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, the fire next time.”

–from the late American writer James Baldwin’s epic 1960s epic essay ‘The Fire Next Time’ which still stands to this day as one of the most eloquent and stirring plea for racial reconciliation ever written.

Flames light up the night in Charlotte, North Carolina following another fatal shooting of a black man in the streets.

When ‘The Fire Next Time’ was first published in the early 1960s, Harper’s and Atlantic magainzes .took turns praising it as “a compassionate and eloquent sermon, demanding the most agonizing self-examination from anyone who reads,” and as a work that is “scorching in its candor” and “plunges to the human heart of the matter.”

Yet apparently even Baldwin’s passionate words – still very much available in numerous newer editions of his writings on racial relations for anyone who cares to read them, have not been enough to dampen down the level of racial violence documented on American streets in recent years, or the hateful rhetoric spewing from the mouth of a certain candidate who is dangerously close to being voted in as the next president of the United States.

And for those of us in Canada who believe this is mostly an American problem, we might want to remind ourselves that the kind of prejudices and intolerances we are seeing play out south of the 49th parallel are still alive in this country for millions of people who vote for politicians at the federal, provincial and municipal level who want to ban from entry or screen certain classes of immigrants for whatever their definition is of “Canadian values” or who engage in bashing members of the LBGT community or others they viewas a threat to those values.

More than 50 years after James Baldwin wrote ‘The Fire Next Time’, we still have a long way to go in the peace and tolerance department and it might not hurt both Americans and Canadians to start with a collective re-reading of that essay and national discussions on what the essay was trying to say.

In that spirt, I’ll finish here with a few more words from ‘The Fire Next Time’.

“In short,” writes Baldwin in the final pages of the essay, “we, the black and the white, deeply need each other here if we are to become a nation – if we are really, that is, to achieve our identity, our maturity, as men and women.”

Find out about a new book of essays and poems inspired by James Baldin’s original essay, called ‘The Fire This Time – A New Generation Speaks About Race’, compiled by award-winning writer Jesmyn Ward by clicking on – http://www.simonandschuster.ca/books/The-Fire-This-Time/Jesmyn-Ward/9781501126345 .

JOIN THE CONVERSATION BELOW – Niagara At Large encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie quote below. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

 “A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

– – a on …..

Summit To Focus On Niagara’s Job Market, Skills Gap & ‘What Makes Millennials Tick’

An Invite from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Posted September 23, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – On October 27^th, Niagara’s leaders in business, government, non-profits and community will convene again for this year’s Niagara Economic Summit, hosted by the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce at White Oaks Conference Resort and Spa.

This year, the Summit will dive into myths and misconceptions about Niagara’s economy. A range of panellists and speakers from business, government, and non-profits will bring out the truth about Niagara’s most pressing economic concerns.

The first theme to be explored is Niagara’s job market. Some say it’s a slack labour market and that it’s hard to find work here. Others believe Niagara has plenty of jobs if you know where to look, and the biggest problem is that employers can’t find good people.

Helmut Pastrick, chief economist of Central 1 Credit Union and editor of Economic Analysis of Ontario and Economic Analysis of British Columbia, will deliver a plenary address on the labour market, and then join a panel of experts that will attempt to answer this burning question.

The Summit will also dive into the question of the skills gap, aiming to establish whether it’s real, and if so, what its extent and nature are. A panel of experts from diverse backgrounds including recruiting agencies, major HR departments, trades education and organized labour will join plenary speaker David Tsubouchi, President of the Ontario College of Trades, on this subject.

Finally, the subject of the millennial generation will be addressed. Educators, entrepreneurs, and community leaders will investigate what makes the millennials tick, and how there’s good business in hiring and marketing to that generation. Brand Blvd. Vice-President Chris Sinclair will explain how his business prospered with both.

For anyone interested in Niagara’s economy and the future of business in the region, this is one event that cannot be missed. For a complete list of speakers, further information, and to register for the Summit, visit  http://www.gncc.ca/economicsummit/ .

The Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce is the champion for the Niagara business community. With almost 1,600 members representing 50,000 employees, it is the largest business organization in Niagara and the third largest Chamber in Ontario. The Chamber Accreditation Council of Canada has recognized the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce with its highest level of distinction.

For more information click on –@GNCCadvocacy  www.greaterniagarachamber.com

Niagara At Large now encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie quote below. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

 “A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

Now Madam Minister, It Is Also Time To Focus On Taking Action On Protecting Wetlands, Biodiversity & On Auditing A Conversation Authority Many Have Lost Trust In

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 23^rd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne unveiled a set of mandates for members of her cabinet this September 23^rd, with one for her Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, Kathryn McGarry, focusing on issues that have become a focus on quite a bit of public debate in Niagara lately.

Those issues include what to do about protecting wetlands and strengthening biodiversity in the province, and how Conservation Authorities should be government in the future.

All three of these issues have generated a good deal of heated discussion and debate in recent months as growing numbers of residents across Niagara have joined efforts to save hundreds of acres of forest, savannah and wetlands – located in the southwest end of Niagara Falls and known to many as Thundering Waters Forest – from being bulldozed away for urban development. Continue reading →

Here’s Some Great News For Those Of Us Who Want To See Canada’s God-Awful Tar Sands Shut Down

Posted September 23th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

News from a Coalition of First Nations & Tribal Chiefs in Canadan and the United States

First Nations and Tribes Sign New Treaty Joining Forces To Stop All Tar Sands Pipelines

Montreal/Vancouver — First Nation and Tribal Chiefs gathered this September 22nd in Musqueam Territory (Vancouver) and Mohawk Territory (Montreal), to sign a new continent-wide Indigenous Treaty — the Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion — that commits already some 50 First Nations and Tribes from all over Canada and the Northern United States to working together to stop all proposed tar sands pipeline, tanker and rail projects in their respective territorial lands and waters.

The First Nations and Tribes are committed to stopping all five current tar sands pipeline and tanker project proposals (Kinder Morgan, Energy East, Line 3, Northern Gateway and Keystone XL) as well as tar sands rail projects such as the Chaleur Terminals Inc. export project at the Port of Belledune in New Brunswick. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Doug Draper

Posted September 22nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Can you believe it, it’s September 22nd and the summer of 2016 – the hottest one on record for most regions of Canada and the U.S. (unless you are a climate change denier) – is officially over.

And with it goes that (actually its been gone for about three or four weeks now) is that giant yellow duck – billed as “the world’s largest rubber duck” – in the Canalside waters of Buffalo, New York.

Actually, I could not figure out what the huge yellow duck was doing there, with the old grain mills of Buffalo looming in the background but like numerous others, I had to stop and take a picture of it and here is my dumb excuse to use it here – as passing memory of a summer dominated by a nut-bar billionaire, yelling about building a wall and banning Muslims while sporting a comb over just as yellow as that duck.

So goodbye to Donald Duck and hello to pumpkin patches in the Short Hills of Niagara, and here is bidding us all  a warm and peaceful Fall season.

Pumpkins in the Shorthills of Niagara, Ontario. File photo by Doug Draper

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post in the space below the Bernie quote . A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

 “A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

A Comment from Linda McKellar, a retired health care worker and Niagara,Ontario resident living in the Town of Fort Erie

Posted September 22^nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

This past Tuesday, September 20^th, I had occasion to go to the “marvellous” (sarcasm) new St Catharines hospital from Fort Erie for the first time.

A sunny day, late morning, not rush hour, no accidents, some construction, but it took almost an hour. Lots of traffic on the adjacent streets and numerous stoplights to go through. ER wait time was listed as four hours, which I realize is inconvenient but not dastardly for non urgent issues.

The Grim Reaper in this 2010 rally to save the Fort Erie Hospital ultimately got his way. That hospital is now a shell of what it was a decade ago. File photo by Doug Draper

I had to wait for someone to leave to find a parking space costing $8. (Even staff pay for parking. Imagine demanding GM employees pay for parking so they could go to work!).

Meanwhile, I’m SO glad I wasn’t sick myself or having a major acute incident of any type. Lovely lobby but who cares? If I want a lovely lobby I can go to a Hilton or the Savoy. Also interesting that it is adjacent to a rail line carrying who knows what? The bed space is less than in the hospitals it replaced.

Meanwhile, Fort Erie (the one-time hospital there) is reduced to a clinic and palliative care (where people are sent to die, often from other communities inaccessible to their elderly loved ones) and Port Colborne is reduced to a clinic. Even a lot of equipment acquired through local donations to the auxiliaries were pilfered for other sites.

Next will be Welland. Continue reading →

From Niagara Action For Animals and Brock Students for Animal Liberal

Posted September 22nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

For a related post on the reasons for this vigil click on – https://voiceofniagara.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=21245&action=edit .

Niagara At Large now encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie quote below. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

 “A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

A Message from Peter Joe Certo for the Columbus Park Association, a neighbourhood group in Buffalo, New York

Posted September 22^nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper – Regular NAL readers may note that this is the third post in as many days on concerns over air pollution from traffic bottlenecks at the Peace Bridge crossing between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York.

If three posts in a row seems like overkill to some, I would repeat a few points I have made in the past.

Concerns over the health impacts of breathing poisons spewing from the exhaust pipes of cars and trucks gearing up and down while waiting for clearance at the Peace Bridge crossing have been longstanding for people living and working in neighbourhoods near the bridge. And the contamination in question has no respect for the border and can be just as harmful to people on both sides.

A further point we may want to consider is the responsibility we collectively have to address the concerns of those who are most impacted by a car and truck dependent world of our own making.

In that spirit, Niagara At Large is posting below a message we have received from residents living on the Buffalo side of the Peace Bridge in response to a front-page story published in the September 21^st edition of The Buffalo News and to a media release that was circulated by he New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on air quality tests conducted in the vicinity of the bridge.

That DEC release was posted on Niagara At Large this September 21^st and we believe it is only fair and right to post the following response to it and The Buffalo News story.

From the Columbus Park Association –

We wish to point out, on behalf of the Peace Bridge neighborhood–and specifically the Columbus Park Association (on the Buffalo, New York side of the border —we most certainly were not “collaborators” on the DEC (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation air monitoring) project. Continue reading →

Results Similar to Other New York Urban Areas

News from The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Posted September 21^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

DEC Continues Calls on EPA to Lower Emission Standards for Diesel Trucks, and Evaluate New Standards for                            Ultra Fine Particles

Buffalo, New York – The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced (this September 21^st) that the results of an extensive air monitoring study conducted on the west side of Buffalo near the U.S. Peace Bridge Plaza indicate that air quality in this area is consistent with levels found in other similarly sized metropolitan areas and meets federal standards.

The Peace Briidge crossing between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York in our Greater Niagara Region. Residents living near the bridge and its large flow of traffic have expressed concern about airborne emissions from all that traffic for many years. Photo by Doug Draper

The study was designed with public input and assessed changes in air quality associated with the redesign of the Peace Bridge Plaza and access to I-190. The study expanded upon an initial DEC investigation conducted between 2012 and 2013.

Using two air monitors and data collected by community members, the study measured black carbon, carbonyls, fine particulate matter, ultrafine particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds over a full year, allowing DEC to compare data to annual standards and guideline concentrations and to capture periods when traffic is heavier on the Peace Bridge and I-190. Continue reading →

A Call-Out from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario

Posted September 21^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Residents in downtown St. Catharines are pleased with downtown revitalization efforts, but would like to see more open spaces and places to sit, relax and stroll, according to research by Brock University’s Niagara Community Observatory (NCO).

Downtown St. Catharines, Ontario streetscape, St. Paul Street, south of James Street. Photo by Doug Draper

“They want to see places where people are comfortable and engaged in pleasurable, low-cost or free leisure activities,”said Brock geography Professor Michael Ripmeester, who surveyed 300 residents as part of the NCO’s research paper released this summer (click on following for report), Downtown revitalization in St. Catharines: Building the public space. Continue reading →

News from the Niagara Sustainability Initiative

Posted September 21st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – September 20, 2015 – We’re pleased to announce that Tikvah Mindorff, Executive Director of Niagara Sustainability Initiative, has been honoured as a 2017 member of Canada’s Clean50-Emerging Leader.

Tikvah Mindorff, executive director, Niagara Sustainability Initiative

Canada’s Clean50 recognizes 50 leaders in sustainable development and clean technology, selected from an initial pool of more than 500 nominees from across Canada. The nominees reflect a wide range of industries; their innovations, programs and strategies are helping to reduce energy and waste and along the way improve Canada’s sustainability record.

Of the applicants, Delta Management Group has selected and named 10 absolutely outstanding younger Canadians as “Emerging Leaders”.  In many ways the description is unfair – they are, quite simply, “Leaders”, who in every case have already accomplished a great deal. Many of the “Emerging Leaders” could be full Clean50 Honourees – something Delta Management Group fully expects in the near future. Continue reading →

Join Us In Honouring Indigenous Adoptees 

An Invite to You from the Niagara Regional Native Centre 

Posted September 21^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large 

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario – The Nurturing Our Roots Powwow is an annual Traditional Powwow held on the grounds of the Niagara Regional Native Centre in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  

All are welcome to attend this family friendly celebration of Indigenous culture at 382 Airport Rd,, Niagara-on-the-Lake, just off the QEW, on Sunday, September 25th, 2016.

The Grand Entry, which is the official commencement of the event, starts at noon and the festivities will carry on until the flags are retired between 4 and 5 pm. Continue reading →

Trollers’ Threats Are Hurting Fight To End Animal Cruelty

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 20^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

This past Saturday, I turned on the radio  in my car to a report on CBC that a veterinarian in St. Catharines who was recently suspended for abusing animals in his car was receiving death threats.

And that, on top of the hitting and choking of animals that the vet admitted doing before the College of Veterinarians of Ontario suspended him for 10 months with a chance to return to work in six months if he paid $10,000 for some training on how to properly restrain animals, was bad enough.

Now I pick up one of the daily newspapers in Niagara to a front page headline that now, according to the vet’s lawyer, his children have become targets of threats by people irate over the stories circulating earlier this September about the vet’s cruel treatment of the animals in his care. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Doug Draper

Posted September 20^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

It is very easy to forget or to not be aware at all that while many of us are sitting there in long lines of cars and trucks, cursing at the time it is taking to cross the Peace Bridge between Fort Erie and Buffalo, there are very nice neighbourhoods full of people nearby who have to put up with all this.

Cars and trucks waiting to cross on the Buffalo side of the Peace Bridge, on a far less busy day than most.

They not only have to put up with all the noise of idling engines and squeaky brakes, they also have to put up with all the poisons in the air, courtesy of emissions spewing from line after line of cars and trucks crossing the bridge night and day.

Then long after those of us waiting in those lines are finally through and on our way to the art festival, sports arena or shopping mall or where ever else we want to go, the people in those neighbourhoods are still there, breathing the toxins in the air. Continue reading →

“The Faceless Dolls Project is an opportunity to visually and physically create a representation of the known cases of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada.” – Celeste Smith, co-founder, Indigenous Solidarity Coalition

An Invite to You from the Indigenous Solidarity Coalition at Brock University

Posted September 20^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines, Ontario – Too many of Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls remain nameless and faceless.

The Faceless Dolls Project seeks to raise awareness about the epidemic and ensure that each statistic has a story behind it.

Panels of faceless dolls in honour of murdered and missing women

Two workshops for the Faceless Dolls Project will be held at Brock University this week on Monday, Sept. 19 and Thursday, Sept. 22, both at 3 p.m. in Sankey Chambers.

Just a few of the more than a thousand faces of missing Indigenous womenand girls in Canada

The sessions are organized and facilitated by Brock’s Indigenous Solidarity Coalition, and the faceless dolls being created will become an exhibit on display at Brock as a reminder of the MMIW issue. Continue reading →

From Molly Flanagan, Alliance for the Great Lakes, a U.S.-based advocacy group for the binational waterbodies

Posted September 20th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Every year tens of billions of gallons of sewage and stormwater are released to the Great Lakes. The result: closed beaches, polluted drinking water, and illness.

But too often communities don’t know about this pollution problem until long after it happens. Tell US EPA to require public notification ASAP when a sewage overflow occurs.

About 22 billion gallons of this sewage-tainted water ended up in the lakes in nearly 1,500 overflows in 2014. Once in the water, bacteria and viruses from the waste can make people sick. That’s why it’s important the public is notified right away of a sewage overflow so people know to stay out of the water. Continue reading →

A Call-Out from Catherine Ens, Director, Niagara Action For Animals

Dear Friends Of Animals –

We hope that you will be able to attend the Candlelit Vigil on Monday September 26 from 7:15 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at Skyway Animal Hospital – 514 Welland Ave. (near Bunting), in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Brock Students for Animal Liberation (BSAL) and Niagara Action for Animals (NAfA) will be hosting a candlelit vigil for the animals who have suffered at the hands of local veterinarian Dr. Mahavir Rehki of Skyway Animal Hospital.

Recent undercover footage come out exposing Dr. Rekhi’s violent handling of the animals in his care, and concerned citizens are outraged at the lax discipline he faces.  See full story here:http://www.lfpress.com/2016/09/15/i-was-disgusted-ont-vet-caught-choking-punching-animals

Please join us for a silent vigil standing up for animals who have been subjected to this cruel behaviour. Continue reading →

“Canada is a nation built from the ground up by immigrants and refugees. We have a proud history of opening our arms—and our borders—to those most in need.” – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

A Media Release from the Office of Canada’s Prime Minister

Posted September 19^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

New York, New York – The Government of Canada is playing a leadership role on the world stage in refugee resettlement and international migration issues.

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced this September 19^th that the Government of Canada will increase humanitarian assistance this fiscal year by 10 percent. The Prime Minister also announced over $64.5 million in new multi-year funding to support people affected by humanitarian crises around the world, and $467 million in programming as part of Canada’s strategy to address the crises in Syria, Iraq, and the surrounding region.

Prime Minister Trudeau co-chairs a roundtable on “International Action and Cooperation on Refugees and Migrants: The Way Ahead” with Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah – Photo from Prime Minister’s Office

The Government of Canada recognizes the significant contributions migrants and refugees can make to sustainable economic growth and to building dynamic, inclusive societies. In Canada, migrants and refugees fill skills gaps and labour market shortages, address some of the challenges associated with an aging population, increase international trade, and draw in investment from around the world – all of which strengthen the middle class at home. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Doug Draper

Posted September 19^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Ken Burns has shown once again why he is one of my all-time favourite documentary filmmakers.

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns makes a powerful case for opening the doors to  refugees

The producer of ‘The Civil War’, ‘The Central Park Five’, ‘The Roosevelts’, ‘Mark Twain’, ‘Jazz’, ‘The Dust Bowl’, ‘The National Parks – American’s Best Idea’ and so many other great documentaries has once again produced a film that everyone should see at a time when Donald Trump and others like him in the United States and Canada question whether our countries should accept refugees fleeing from war-torn regions of the world.

The film is called ‘Defying The Nazis: The Sharps’ War’ and is about brave people who not only defied Hitler’s Nazis, but defied people in North America who did not want to open the doors to Jewish refugees, to help Jewish families fleeing from certain death in Nazi-occupied Europe. Continue reading →

We’re Still Working To Get The Bugs Out and Get Your Comments and Email Through

A Brief Note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Posted September 19th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

On the one hand, it is kind of nice to wake up on a Monday morning and not find a couple hundred new messages in my Inbox.

Our mascot Pinky continues to beg your patience. She’s got calls in to our IT people now.

On the other hand, it is not – especially when this online news and commentary site’s very survival depends on a healthy flow of information between our end and you.

Things started screwing up badly for us on the internet mailbox side of things this past Friday, September 16th and while we’ve been able to get a few posts out since then, very little in the way of email, Facebook messages or comments to our posts is coming in.

But keep sending sending your messages, stories and commentary to us anyway because, when the greenlight comes on, it will flood in like a tsunami and the next challenge will be finding the time to go through it all.

In the meantime, I will have our small but mighty canine mascot Pinky ask you again for your patience because she is much cuter than I am and may have a better chance of begging all of you good readers and supporters of Niagara At Large for a little more time while we get all the internet bugs out of the way.

Never stop fighting for a just and peaceful world – Doug Draper

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post in the space below the Bernie quote . A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

“A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

NPCA Missed An Opportunity To Do Just That

By John Bacher

Posted September 19, 2016 on Niagara At Large

A few years ago, the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority conducted a strategic plan review of its operations.

This review, quite tragically, turned out to be a great opportunity that was missed – one that could have, if it were properly conducted, served as a way to look at the looming threat to our region’s environment from human induced climate change.

Summer fires in Wainfleet Bog in Niagara, Ontario could be one more worrisome sign of climate change calamities to come.

The fires this summer in the Wainfleet Bog – a large tract of wetland in the southern Port Colborne/Wainfleet region of Niagara that makes up one of three dozen ‘Conservation Areas’ the NPCA is responsible for – are a vivid warning of the dangers of increased summer drought and higher temperatures that are a consequence of climate change.

This fire threat illustrates the importance of restoring and protecting the health of our wetlands, through putting water back into them and putting a stop to a two-century-old trend of draining water out of natural places like this (often to create ever more room for stretch-out, man-made development).

Although most of the Thundering Waters Forest is in Niagara Falls – now a high-profile target for urban development – hosts prime wetland, there are areas within it that have been degraded through the digging of drainage channels. Continue reading →

News from the Ontario Health Coalition, a Toronto-based advocacy group for preserving quality public health care

Posted September 19^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

The following note on this public meeting – just as a way of placing its purpose in some context – was prepared by NAL publisher Doug Draper –

The Welland Hospital Site, serving the Niagara City of Welland and neighbourning communities, including Wainfleet, Port Colborne, Fort Erie and southern reaches of Pelham and Thorold.

The Ontario Health Coalition’s Niagara chapter will be hosting a “Save Our Hospital” meeting in Niagara region’s southern tier community of Welland where concern remains high that what is left of the hospital services there are on death row.

The meeting, which is free and open to everyone, is scheduled for Wednesday, September 28^th at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Room of Welland City Hall on 60 Main Street in that city.

Residents in Niagara’s southern tier have been expressing upset and anger over what has been happening to their hospitals for most of the years since the former provincial government of Mike Harris amalgamated of all the region’s hospitals (except for one in Grimsby) under the umbrella of a ‘Niagara Health System’ 16 years ago. Continue reading →

“The Niagara Wine Industry could not exist, nor could it achieve any of the success it will be celebrating during the Niagara Wine Festival, without the work of migrant agricultural workers. And yet, they are denied access to basic rights. …”

An Invite To All from Justice For Migrant Workers & Cinema Politica Network

Posted September 18^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large.

First – Join us this coming Wednesday, September 21^st from 5 to 8 p.m. in Brock University’s Thistle 258 (in the Brock Tower) for the St. Catharine’s Screening of Min Sook Lee’s documentary, ‘Migrant Dreams’!

The film is presented by Justice for Migrant Workers, J4MW and Cinema Politica Network, as part of the Harvesting Freedom Campaign’s stop in St. Catharines, Ontario  in partnership with Brock’s sociology professor Jane Helleiner who teaches a third year Global Migration class and local community activists. Join us for the film, post-screening discussion and how you can support the Harvesting Freedom campaign i…n St. Catharines, Ontario! Continue reading →

That’s Right. He’s ‘A Cool Rocking Daddy In The U.S.A.’

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 16^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large.

We’ll there we have it folks. One of the most perplexing questions next to one that has dogged humankind through the ages – “why are we here?” – has finally been answered.

Barrack Obama, whose most egregious crimes according to many of the more right-wing, evangelical members of America’s Republican Party are that his middle name is Hussein, that his late father was black and was born in Kenya, and that he is a Democrat who had the audacity to run for and win the office of President of the United States, was actually born in the United States.

So now Obama can take the stage at a political to the music of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the U.S.A’ with more bounce than he ever has before.

And why? Because Donald Trump who has spent the better part of Obama’s last seven and a half years in the White House, claiming that was not born in the U.S.A., finally conceded this September 16^th that he was, that’s why. Continue reading →

Serious Offenders Should Get Jail Time – No Questions Asked!

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 16, 2016 on Niagara At Large

I want to begin here by applauding Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates for writing the letter, posted below, that questions the far too lenient treatment a St. Catharines, Ontario veterinarian received at the hands of his own professional association for repeatedly abusing animals he was entrusted to care for.

Dylan and Dexter – both safe and secure -are members of the Niagara At Large family. Photo by Doug Draper

I think we should all encourage Wayne Gates and other MPPs across the province to follow up this letter the Niagara Falls representative sent this September 15^th to the College of Veterinarians of Ontario with legislation that includes far stiffer penalties up to and including time in prison for those found guilty of abusing animals.

The penalties that have long been on the books in Ontario constitute little more than a slap on the wrist – they are a pathetic job and as I have stated in columns I have posted in Niagara At Large and have had published in several other media outlets going back for many years, they almost completely fail to consider research by law enforcement agencies across North America that many people with a history of animal abuse to on to commit violent acts against people. Continue reading →

A Brief Message from Niagara At Large publishers Doug Draper

Posted September 16th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Due to some wild things happening with our internet services here, NAL may not be able to post news and commentary again until Monday, September 19 or Tuesday September 20th..

Our mascot Pinky begs your patience.

So please stand by while we get things fixed.

And thanks again, for all of the support we are getting from growing numbers of visitors to Niagara At Large for our efforts to build a truly independent voice for news and commentary that you rarely find anymore in the mainstream media.

Now I have to send this message out to you before we have a complete meltdown.

Look forward to catching you all again on the flip side.

Keep the faith, Doug Draper

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post in the space below the Bernie quote . A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

“A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

A Call-Out to all Niagara residents from the citizens coalition No Burn Niagara

Posted September 15^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – The City of Thorold, Ontario has said ‘No’, but Niagara Region still supports building an incinerator (somewhere inNiagara) .

Liz Benneian, speaking at a public meeting this spring on an incinerator proposal for the Port Robinson, Thorold area of Niagara.

Is your community about to get burned?

Everyone is welcome to a free public information session at 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 15 at the Gale Centre, 4171 Fourth Avenue, Niagara Falls.

Guest Speaker will be Liz Benneian, founder of the Ontario Zero Waste Coalition. Learn why incineration poses a danger to human health and our agricultural lands and what the alternatives are to burning waste — alternatives that can also boost the economy. Continue reading →

“All governments lie.” – the late, legendary American investigative journalism I.F. (Isador Feinstein) Stone

A Media Release from the Government of Ontario

Posted September 13^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Editorial Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper – As I read this Wynne government release, wordsmithed to put the best spin possible, on a cynical bid to tamp down the anger of people all over Ontario over hydro bills that have been rising well above the rate of inflation or any raise in wages or social security benefits most people get – most of all, people at the lower end of the income spectrum who are suffering disproportionally from these over-the-top bill hikes.

At the same time, Ontarians have had to suffer through a premier who never seems to tire of insulting their intelligence and talking at them like a schoolmarm, while  feeding them a heaping mountain of dung about her Liberal Party’s reckless spending of their tax dollars.

Wynne has fed Ontarians shovels full of dung about her party’s blowing about a billion of their tax dollars on cancelling the construction of gas-fired power plants in two Greater Toronto Area ridings where Liberal candidates were vulnerable to defeat in the 2011 provincial election and about;

• giving millions of dollars to teachers unions to cover their share of the costs of negotiating new salary and benefit contracts with the province and school boards;
•  introducing a cap and trade system (rather than a straight carbon tax) that has proven to be a costly, bureaucratic nightmare (placing a disproportionate amount of financial pain on lower income people) in almost every other regions of the world where it has been implemented;
• and putting publicly owned pieces of the province’s once-celebrated Ontario Hydro out to a yard sale for her wealthy private sector friends.

A front-page story in the September 13^th edition of The Globe and Mail says the latest rebate scheme for hydro bills, announced in the Wynne government’s September 12^th Throne speech, will cost the province’s treasury an estimated $1 billion annually.

Where is Wynne going to find the money to make up for that deficit since she’s never shown the courage to go after rich tax dodgers or see a raise in income taxes which are at least more fairly apportioned to those who can most afford to pay?

If she is going to keep her promise to balance the province’s budget next year, she’s going to have to make up the billion-dollar-cost of the hydro rebate somewhere? Will it come from cap-and-trade and other fee hikes that almost always have a way of hitting poorer people the most or will it come from more cuts to essential services, or a combination of both?

Some talking heads in the mainstream media say that this premier is pursuing a “social justice agenda.”

She is? Where is the social justice in any of this?

The next provincial election could not come soon enough!

Now here, for your edification, is the September 13^th  media release from Wynne’s government on “electricity bill reductions.”

Five Million Families, Farms and Small Businesses Will See Bill Reductions

As part of its balanced plan to build Ontario up and help people in their everyday lives, Ontario is taking action to reduce electricity costs and intends to introduce legislation that, if passed, would rebate the provincial portion of the HST from the electricity bills of residential, small business and farms as of January 1, 2017.

Rural electricity ratepayers would receive additional relief and commercial, institutional and industrial ratepayers would also benefit from lower electricity costs.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

Over the last number of years, Ontario’s economy has recovered from the impact of the global recession. While the province and independent economic analysts project consistent economic growth for Ontario, many families are not yet feeling the impact of the recovery in their everyday lives.

Therefore, Ontario intends to take action to help with the costs related to electricity.

Together, these actions would provide a benefit to all electricity consumers in Ontario, including:

• Reducing Ontario residential electricity bills by 8 per cent on the amount before tax, an average savings of about $130 annually or $11 each month
• Providing eligible rural ratepayers with additional relief, decreasing total electricity bills by an average of $540 a year or $45 each month
• Empowering businesses to reduce their bill by up to 34 per cent through the expansion of the Industrial Conservation Initiative

About five million residential consumers, farms and small businesses, along with more than one thousand industrial customers will be positively impacted by these changes.

Helping Ontarians with the cost of everyday living and helping businesses compete are part of the government’s economic plan to build Ontario up and deliver on its number-one priority to grow the economy and create jobs.

The four-part plan includes helping more people get and create the jobs of the future by expanding access to high-quality college and university education. The plan is making the largest investment in hospitals, schools, roads, bridges and transit in Ontario’s history and is investing in a low-carbon economy driven by innovative, high-growth, export-oriented businesses.

The plan is also helping working Ontarians achieve a more secure retirement.

QUICK FACTS

• Since 2003, Ontario has invested more than $35 billion in over 16,000 megawatts (MW) of new and refurbished clean generation, including nuclear, natural gas and renewables – this represents about 40 per cent of our current supply.
• Ontario eliminated coal-fired electricity generation, replacing it with cleaner sources of energy, which has decreased electricity sector emissions by approximately 80 per cent since 2003.
• To help reduce electricity costs, Ontario has already removed the Debt Retirement Charge from residential electricity bills and introduced the Ontario Electricity Support Program (OESP) to provide a monthly credit to low-income households who have applied and meet the eligibility requirements.
• As outlined in the 2016 Budget and the Climate Change Action Plan, the government intends to use a portion of the cap and trade auction proceeds to reduce greenhouse gases by helping industrial and commercial electricity consumers use less electricity, which will also help to keep rates affordable.
• ICI provides a strong incentive for large electricity consumers to shift their electricity consumption to off-peak hours to reduce their bills by up to one-third. Expanding ICI would reduce cost pressures on the electricity system by enabling more consumers to lower their electricity demand during peak periods.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

• Existing Programs To Reduce Electricity Costs for Consumers and Businesses
• Electricity Rate Relief For Ontario Consumers

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Read Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan
• Read Ontario’s Long-Term Energy Plan

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post in the space below the Bernie quote . A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

“A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

You Are Invited To This Free Learning Session In Buffalo, New York On Thursday, September 22nd At 6 p.m.

Posted September 13, 2016 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper – In both the United States and Canada, Native peoples are finding themselves at the forefront of battles against powerful corporate and trade union interests to stop pipelines that would carry tar sands and other dirty oil products to refineries and ports in the east and west coasts and the Gulf of Mexico.

In the spirit of reconciliation, let us all join them in this fight for a healthy environmental future for all of us, for generations to come.

And thanks to the Sierra Club of Western New York for hosting this important session for the community at large.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post in the space below the Bernie quote . A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

 “A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

Will She Succeed? Urgent Issues Still Need To Be Addressed

“The Wynne government must stop the planned closure of hospitals in Niagara.” – Ontario Health Coalition

An Analysis of the Throne Speech by the Ontario Health Coalition, a citizens advocacy group for public health care

Posted September 13, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario – With this September 12^th’s Ontario Throne Speech, the Liberal government of Premier Kathleen Wynne is trying for a fresh start.

Ontario Health Coalition’s executive director Natalie Mehra

If this is to succeed, some long-simmering health care issues must be addressed to realign her government’s health policies with the values and priorities of Ontarians. “More than eight years of austerity budgets in Ontario’s public community hospitals has left a trail of service cuts, longer travel distances for patients and dangerous overcrowding, ” said Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the Ontario Health Coalition.

“As a priority, there must be a full moratorium of cuts, and a plan developed to rebuild capacity to meet Ontario’s communities’ needs — that means both a fiscal plan that prioritizes people over Bay Street and financial interests, and a hospital capacity plan that moves money to care and restores services in Ontarians’ home communities. Continue reading →

News from the Niagara Falls Riding Constituency Office of Wayne Gates

Posted September 13, 2016 on Niagara At Large

“For six years, New Democrats have been calling on the Liberals to take the HST off hydro – but we meant it as just the first step to lower hydro bills not the only step.

Wayne Gates, the NDP Ontario rep for the Niagara Falls Riding

“The only reason we have the HST on hydro in the first place, is because the Liberals put it there. Now they’re offsetting it in the form of a rebate which means it’s not permanently gone. What stops them from just putting it back on when they need more money?

“Instead of making Ontarians wait four months for the rebate, why not just remove the HST permanently. Families need the relief on their bills now

“Our message to the Premier is this: Just take the HST off hydro already, once and for all. Just get rid of it. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 12th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

“Is that all there is,” asked Peggy Lee in her song.  “If that’s all there is my friends, Then let’s keep dancing, Let’s break out the booze and have a ball , If that’s all there is.”

Ms. Lee could have sang that song this September 12th for Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Throne Speech, billed since she prorpogued the provincial legislature on September 9th to make way for it, as her chance to reboot her government’s flailing agenda since one of her Liberal candidates got the boot from voters in a recent Greater Toronto Area by-election.

Of course, Wynne did not actually deliver her speech. That was done by

Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor, doing her thing for the Queen. And please try not to snore while she’s doing it.

, the “representative of Her Majesty the Queen,” who would be God’s gift to curing insomnia across the province if you could talk TV Ontario into having her on all night reading chapters of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations.

Dowdeswell reminds me of a teacher I had in hight school who repeatedly had to interrupt herself to say; “Class! Pay attention! I don’t think it ever once fizzled on her that her delivery was so bad, she could read the most stirring passages from Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech and still bore the crap out of everybody around her. Continue reading →

“We’ve heard countless stories about Ontario families struggling to pay their bills or put food on the table. Where was this government then?” – Ontario PC  Leader Patrick Brown

Statement from Leader of the Official Opposition Patrick Brown on the Speech from the Throne

Posted September 12^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

This Monday, September 12^th, Leader of the Official Opposition Patrick Brown issued the following statement following the Speech from the Throne:

 “This throne speech is too little, too late. It’s simply a band-aid solution for Liberal mistakes. At the end of the day, Ontarians’ hydro bills are going to continue to get more expensive.

Ontario PC Opposition Leader Patrick Brown

“Every single failed policy decision the Wynne Liberals have made over the last 13 years has made life harder and more unaffordable for Ontarians and no Throne Speech is going to change that.

“The Throne Speech recognizes that “the cost of electricity is now stretching family budgets.” But, according to the Liberals, it wasn’t a crisis in May when former Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli said “Ontario’s residential rates are and will remain competitive.” And, it wasn’t a crisis when the new Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault said he’s “still not using the word crisis.” Continue reading →

“Today’s throne speech could have done so much more to give immediate relief to families, to improve the quality of work in this province, to stop the sell-off of Hydro One, and to make sure everyone has health care they can count on.” – Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

News from Ontario’s New Democratic Party

Posted September 12^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto –  Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said that the throne speech must commit to actions that will make a real difference in people’s lives when it comes to hydro costs, healthcare, and jobs.  It’s now clear that the Liberal plan does not go far enough to in any of these key areas.

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath

“We’re at a tipping point in this province. In today’s throne speech New Democrats hoped to see big changes so that the next generation will have more opportunity and a better future.” said Horwath.

“Today’s throne speech could have done so much more to give immediate relief to families, to improve the quality of work in this province, to stop the sell-off of Hydro One, and to make sure everyone has health care they can count on. After listening to the Throne Speech, I can tell you New Democrats will keep working for the real action that people need to see.” Continue reading →

News from Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

Posted September 12^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – On behalf of Pelham Council and the community, it was my honour to help unveil and rededicate two significant historic and cultural artifacts – a World War 1 Cenotaph and the newly restored Worold War 1 Mortar – at Old Pelham Hall this past Saturday, September 10th.

Because of the generous partnership of the Town with the Canadian Government, the Royal Canadian Legion, and caring citizens, these newly restored artifacts now stand as a constant reminder of the ultimate sacrifices paid by Pelham residents and other Canadian soldiers in World War I to secure our freedoms.

The beautifully restored cenotaph was completed last year, in time for our 2015 Remembrance Day commemoration. May the names of those 18 local soldiers killed in battle for our freedoms also be engraved in our minds and on our hearts.

The WW1 German Trench Mortar (called a minenwerfer) was captured by the 31st Battalion, Alberta Regiment, Canadian Expeditionary Force, in a raid on enemy trenches at Neuville Vitasse, France, on 23-24 of June 1918. Continue reading →

“Trump is all about dividing us, pitting Americans against each other, and against the rest of the world. What better way to defeat him than coming together in unity like never before, with globally aware Americans at the forefront.”

A Call-Out from Avaaz, an international, online citizens activist group

Posted September 12^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Dear friends,

Here’s an amazing new way for ALL of us to help stop Trump, and bury his hateful, fear-mongering, sexist, racist politics forever: Over eight million US citizens live outside the US — enough to deliver an election landslide.

Most of them are as horrified by Trump as the rest of us, but only 12% of them vote! So Avaaz has built a simple tool to help Americans vote from overseas!

Registration closes in days — we need to get this tool RIGHT AWAY to every American we or our friends know – share it with EVERYONE: Click to stop Trump now “President Trump” terrifies all of us — he wants to ban Muslims, tear up the world’s agreements on climate change, murder the families of suspected terrorists and doesn’t understand why he can’t use nukes! Continue reading →

News from the Hamilton, Ontario-based Citizens At City Hall (CATCH)

Posted September 12th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Hamilton, Ontario – The City of Hamilton is still pushing for lands to be removed from the Greenbelt and it is also opposing higher densities in new developments and greater intensification targets proposed by the province.

It has submitted more than three dozen objections to the growth plan and Ontario foodland protection policies to a provincial review that concludes next month after nearly two years of public consultations.

The Greenbelt protecton zone (identified in green on this map) in Ontario has received international applause as a major step for saving farmland, but many developers hate it and so do groups representing farmers in the Niagara, Ontario region. Some have called it a “nightmare” and want it scrapped.

Foodland protection advocates celebrated in May when the province released its draft changes to the Greenbelt boundaries without removing 104 hectares in lower Stoney Creek and 28 hectares in Waterdown that had been pushed by a majority of councillors. But there’s one more kick at the can before the revised Greenbelt Plan and Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe are finalized so the city is trying again – and groups like Environment Hamilton are continuing to offer assistance to residents to keep pushing in the opposite direction. Continue reading →

Canadians Should Call On Their Government To Keep These Harmful Invaders Out Of Our Great Lakes Water Too – Read More On What You Can Do Below

A Call-Out from the Alliance for the Great Lakes, a U.S.-based citizens group

Posted September 12, 2016 on Niagara At Large

A Message to all who care about the health of the Great Lakes

The U.S. Congress is at it again.

Despite our efforts to remove an amendment that would significantly weaken ballast cleanup rules, the main way to stop new invasive species introductions via ships on the lakes, Congress is again trying to attach it to legislation in both the House and Senate.

Quagga Mussels are native to the Ukraine and Eastern Europe region and is not supposed to be in the Great Lakes because it competes and pushes away native species that are a vital part of the foodchain. They got her in the ballast water of ocean-going ships and that must stop! Photo by Dave Britton, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

If this sounds like a broken record to you, then you are right.

Thanks to your help, we have fought off this bad bill repeatedly over the last two years, ensuring that provisions to clean up ships entering the Great Lakes stay in place. But the efforts to pass this bad bill are back again and we need your help again to protect the lakes.

We know invasive species like zebra mussels, quagga mussels and round gobies were brought into the Great Lakes via ship’s ballast water tanks. And these critters are wreaking havoc on the lakes’ ecosystem. They’re also costing Great Lakes communities upwards of $200 million due to damage to critical infrastructure like drinking water intakes. Continue reading →

“While 9/11 will long be remembered as a day of destruction and terror, let us also remember it for the remarkable humanity that was shown in such a tragic time.” – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on the anniversary of 9/11 and the National Day of Service

Posted September 11th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Ottawa, Ontario – The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on the 15^th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the National Day of Service:

“Today, we mark the 15^th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the United States that killed nearly 3,000 innocent victims – including 24 Canadians.

“On this solemn day, we join with the families and friends of the victims to remember and honour those who fell. We also offer our heartfelt support to those still struggling with the physical and emotional injuries they sustained on 9/11. Continue reading →

How Far Have We Come In Dealing With Fear & Terrorists        15 Years Later?

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

It’s a small world, some will say, and 15 years ago this September 11^th, 2016, the world got very small, indeed.

The twin towers of the World Trade Center in flames on the morning of 9/11

It’s as if people all over the world were gathered in the same square of Marshall McLuhan’s “global village,” watching on our electrical devices in real time as the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City burned and pancaked to the ground, and two more commercial jets crashed into the Pentagon outside of Washington D.C., and into a field in Pennsylvania.

The world seemed smaller still as I, like many others I’m sure, witnessed this horror and wondered with concern about friends who might be in harm’s way, steered deliberately by zealots into their targets. Continue reading →

By veteran journalist and former CBC employee Nick Fillmore

Posted September 10th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

The latest water cooler chat among many Canadians this week is speculation about who will replace Peter Mansbridge as host of The National, CBC-TV’s flagship news program. He announced earlier this week that, after 30 years as host of  the program he is leaving.

As Peter Mansbridge prepares to leave The National’s anchor chair, finding a new host should not be CBC’s first prority.

The long-time anchor seemed to be trying to give his departure considerable significance by announcing 10 months ahead of time that he is leaving. Also boosting his own importance, his departure also coincides with the occasion of Canada’s 150th birthday.

One wonders if Mansbridge expects an honorary star-studded tour hosting The National from CBC stations across the country, much like the retiring New York Yankees’ star shortstop Derek Jeter was honoured in every ball park during his last year. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Doug Draper

Posted September 9th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

If you have been following the ongoing battle of the Standing Rock Sioux in the American Dakotas to stop construction of a pipeline through environmentally sensitive lands that include  Native burial sites, you know that there have recently been  violently clashes – with the oil industry and its hired  cops and attack dogs shown on film to be the instigators.

Private security contractors for oil pipeline company recently wade into Native protesters with attack dogs and pepper spray.

You may also know that a U.S. judge ruled this September 9th to allow the oil barons to continue laying the pipeline, worsening tensions between  construction crews and Native protesters until, later in the day,  the federal government intervened with a call on the pipeline company to “voluntarily halt” work until talks take place with Native communities on improving government-to-government consultations on infrastructure projects impacting their lands.

But why is digging a pipeline through sacred Native lands to carry dirty oil even negotiable? This brings me to a very telling image that one Niagara At Large shared with me over the last few days that I will share here now.

Meanwhile, back in Canada, we now have Native people fighting to stop the construction of a pipeline for carrying dirty oil to the east coast for exportation to countries like China. Lined up against the Natives are tar sands oil barons and some of the largest labour unions in the country, including unions that, out of the other side of their mouths, say they are against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal negotiated by the former Harper government and now being considered for ratification by the Trudeau government.

More on that sad state of affairs later. For now, I’ll leave the last word on fighting oil pipelines to one of the few living politicians I continue to have any respect for.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post in the space below the Bernie quote . A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

 “A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 9^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Well here we go again.

This past Tuesday, September 6^th, after another one of those long weekends that almost always mean excruciatingly long waits for people crossing border bridges in our Greater Niagara Region, The Buffalo News published yet another well-justified rant on the issue.

In a lead editorial on its Opinion Pages, the newspaper again points out that Canada’s Border Security Agency (CBSA) is not employing enough officers to accommodate the amount of traffic crossing the Peace Bridge and other crossings along the Niagara River.

The result is backups on lanes heading into Canada that, at the busiest of times, that can have people waiting in their vehicles for an hour or two or even longer to get through.

It was only a week or so before this editorial that my wife and I were returning from visiting friends in Buffalo to when we encountered a situation on the Canadian side of the Peace Bridge that was not dissimilar to others we’ve experienced in recent years. Continue reading →

News from Ontario’s New Democratic Party

Posted September 9^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – After travelling across the province, and listening to the concerns of Ontarians this summer, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath outlined her priorities for the fall legislative session.

Horwath said it’s clear that people expect immediate action in three key areas: healthcare, hydro costs, and jobs.

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath

“For the Premier’s ‘reset’ to actually mean something, we need to see action that makes a real difference in people’s lives. We’re at a tipping point in this province. We need to make big changes, now, so that the next generation will have a better future, right here in Ontario,” said Horwath. “We need action now, on the most important priorities for people. We need to improve health care, lower hydro bills, support good jobs, and improve the quality of work across the province.” 

The NDP Leader said that the first step to improving healthcare in Ontario is for the Liberals to stop the cuts in our hospitals and to get wait times and overcrowding under control. Continue reading →

Brian Higgins  & Canada’s Ambassador To U.S. Have Productive Discussion Toward Improving Border Efficiency

News from U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26)

Posted September 8th, 2010 on Niagara At Large

Buffalo, New York – Congressman Brian Higgins is encouraged that progress will be made to address staffing issues on the border between the United States and Canada following today’s Northern Border Caucus meeting in Washington, D.C. with Canadian Ambassador David MacNaughton.

U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins, representing the Buffalo, New York area has been an ongoing voice for improving the flow of traffic at Buffalo/Niagara border bridges

Prior to the meeting with the entire caucus, the Congressman and the Ambassador met briefly and discussed the specific staffing and the resulting traffic problems at the Niagara River crossings.

Congressman Higgins, who serves as Co-Chair of the Northern Border Caucus and is a member of the House Committees on Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs, previously led a letter requesting increased U.S. staff levels which were later implemented along the US/Canada border.   However in recent months Canada Border Services Agency staffing shortages have contributed to lengthy delays for motorists crossing at the Peace Bridge and other international crossings. Continue reading →

“We hope Premier Wynne (isn’t) just using prorogation to change the channel on her failed record.”

Statement from Ontario NDP House Leader Gilles Bisson

Posted September 8th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario NDP House Leader Gilles Bisson issued the following statement (this Thursday, September 8th) in response to the Liberal decision to prorogue the Legislature.

It’s now lights out in the Ontario legislature, at least until this coming Monday, September 12th

“It’s clear that Ontarians are not happy with the direction in which the Liberal government has been taking our province. Under Premier Wynne’s leadership, families are struggling and people are worried about the future.

We hope Premier Wynne has finally decided to stop ignoring the voices of Ontarians instead of just using prorogation to change the channel on her failed record. If the Premier is really determined to turn the page, then she can prove it in Monday’s throne speech by halting the sale of Hydro One, reversing her deep cuts to healthcare, and committing to good jobs for the future.

Ontarians will not be fooled by another Liberal public relations exercise. They want to see real action on their priorities.”

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post in the space below the Bernie quote . A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

 “A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

All Government Bills to be Reintroduced This Fall, Kathaleen Wynne Pledges

News from Ontario’s Liberal Government

Posted September 8th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced today that the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, accepted the Premier’s advice to prorogue the legislature as of 12 p.m. today. The Lieutenant Governor will deliver a Speech from the Throne outlining the government’s plans for the new session when the legislature convenes on September 12, 2016.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Premier Wynne said the government will reintroduce, this fall, all government bills that were before the legislature prior to prorogation, so that debate on them can continue.

This includes election finance reform legislation, which the government intends to reintroduce on September 13, 2016 with all the amendments agreed to at the committee stage prior to the prorogation of the legislature. The government also intends to move amendments during the committee stage of the bill to prohibit MPPs in all parties from attending fundraising events. Continue reading →

“Ok. Let’s not take over a bus service. Let’s take over two airports.” – Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop, on Niagara, Ontario’s regional government appearing to show more interest in taking regional control of airports than in regionalizing       bus transit services  

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 7^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Let me start by making a couple of pretty safe bets.

I bet that far more residents across this Niagara region  – especially people on lower or fixed incomes and younger people and students – would benefit more from a convenient, affordable bus transit system than they would from our regional government taking over the operation of a couple of money-losing airports in rural Pelham and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

One of Niagara’s inter-municipal buses makes a stop in Welland. File photo by Doug Draper

I’m also willing to bet that a more affordable and convenient bus service in Niagara would do more than a fleet of airplanes to bring people together with jobs and to keep younger people who either don’t want or can’t afford a car from leaving Niagara for more transit-friendly regions of Ontario where it doesn’t take a ridiculous amount of time to travel a few kilometres between one town or city and another.

But this is Niagara, where a person might just as well talk to a tree than try convincing a majority of our municipal leaders to put together the kind of 21^st century, regional transit system regions like Waterloo have had up and running for years now. Continue reading →

By John Bacher

Posted September 7^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(The second of two pieces Niagara At Large is posting by John Bacher on why Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls, Ontario should become a Native-administered nature refuge.)

It is to the credit of inspiring leaders like Karl Dockstader, a member of this region’s Indigenous community, that Native people in Niagara have made the protection of the Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls, Ontario an issue of treaty rights.

A giant white oak tree is part of the rich biodiversity in the Thundering Waters Forest, a natural area under threat of urban development in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Why can’t it be preserved as a Native-administered nature sanctuary?

One great hope is that this issue can be resolved through the forest becoming a healing park- dedicated to the protection of ecology and the culture of Native peoples.

To that end, Canada’s federal and the government of Ontario should purchase the land from the current owners for this purpose.

A piece I wrote and was posted in Niagara At Large this Tuesday, September 6^th, I focused on the combined oppression of Natives and the destruction of wetlands in southern Ontario.

The situation was so extreme that wetland destruction was seen as a way to remove Natives from what white settlers viewed as a ‘lazy way of life’ by making it impossible to gather rice, berries and other resources that supported Navie communities. Continue reading →

Unveiling Of ‘Landscapes of Nations’ Memorial To Take Place Sunday, October 2^nd

 ^“We take tremendous pride in helping Canadians and international visitors better understand the rich history of this country and the important contributions the residents, soldiers, and First Nations peoples of this region.” – Niagara Parks Commission Chair Janice Thomson

News from Ontario’s Niagara Parks Commission

Posted September 7^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario  — After more than two hundred years the significant sacrifices and contributions made by First Nations during the War of 1812 will be permanently recognized.

Landscape of Nations: The Six Nations and Native Allies Commemorative Memorial, a public artwork of deep meaning, exquisite beauty, and power will be unveiled on the historic battlefield in Queenston Heights Park on Sunday, October 2, 2016 at 2:00 p.m.

A view of the lower Niagara River, showing U.S. side on the right, from Queenston, Heights on the Canadian side in Niagara, where a memorial to Native peoples will be unveiled this coming October 2016

The memorial also recognizes the historic ceremony of peace and reconciliation held in Niagara on August 31 and September 1, 1815 that restored peace among the Native nations who fought on opposing sides.

Undertaken eight years ago by the Working Group, a volunteer sub-committee of the Niagara-on-the-Lake War of 1812 Bicentennial Committee, the memorial will become an important heritage destination asset for The Niagara Parks Commission (NPC) and is intended to serve as an educational beacon illuminating the critically important contributions Native peoples made to Canada during its formative years. Continue reading →