Author Archives: dougdraper

Honouring Indigenous Adoptees That Were Displaced Over    Last Half Century

“In these times of healing (between Canadians and First Nations), coming together for gatherings like the NRNC Powwow are more important than ever.

An Invite to All from the Niagara Regional Native Centre in Niagara, Ontario

Posted September 7^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

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, Ontario.

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 →

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela.

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted September 7^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – As an educator of future teachers, Brock University Associate Professor Dolana Mogadime finds profound meaning in the words of the late South African anti-apartheid revolutionary.

World renown civil rights and peach activist Nelson Mandela

In fact, she uses his book, Mandela’s Way: Lessons on life, love and courage, in her classroom at Brock.

“It helps us to think through our own ways of teaching,” she says.

An important aspect of her instruction is working to understand differences and how they impact a person’s experience.

Mogadime is a member of Brock’s Racial Climate Task Force and the program director of the upcoming White Privilege Symposium being held at Brock on Friday, Sept. 30^th and Saturday, October 1^st. Continue reading →

Province Committed to Responsible and Transparent Executive Compensation

News from the Government of Ontario

Posted September 7th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario is implementing a new framework for broader public sector executive compensation, including capping salary and performance-related payments for hospitals, universities, colleges, schools boards and government agencies.

Queen’s Park legislative building in Toronto, Ontario

The framework regulation comes into force on September 6, 2016, and applies to all designated employers under the Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act, 2014.

The framework caps salary and performance-related payments for designated executives at no more than the 50^th percentile of appropriate comparators and prohibits signing bonuses, retention bonuses, cash housing allowances and pay in lieu of perquisites. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Doug Draper

Posted September 6^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

This past August, Niagara At Large focused attention on a front-page story in The Buffalo News on growing public concern over plans to ship highly dangerous concentrations of liquid radioactive waste across Niagara border bridges from the Chalk River nuclear facilities in Ontario to a site in South Caroline.

Niagara, Ontario activist Gracia Janes and others in region have been sounding warnings about planned cross-border nuclear waste shipments for well over two years now.

This September 5^th, CBC posted a report of its own on this issue which included concerns expressed by long-time Niagara, Ontario activist and National Council of Women of Canada environment convener Gracia Janes.

In the CBC report, headlined “Weapons-Grade Nuclear Waste Shipments to U.S. Prompt Outcry,” Janes is quoted saying; “I’m concerned about the safety issue. … It is not (up until now and) in this kind of quantity and this kind of toxic brew, being shipped anywhere in North America. It’s the first of its kind, and it’s going to be taking place over our highways and near our rivers and streams.”

One of the possible border crossings for these wastes is the Peace Bridge spanning the upstream in of the Niagara River between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York. Continue reading →

Speak Out For A Living Wage & Benefits For All Ontario Workers

A Call-Out from the Niagara Regional Labour Council

Posted September 6^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Be part of a growing movement for decent work for all! Come out to the rally for DECENT WORK to call for safe working conditions, decent hours, paid sick days & vacation, access to a union, $15 minimum wage, an end to the gender/racialized wage gap and much more!

We want our government to #MakeItFair for more than seven million working Ontarians across our province. This rally is family-friendly, with music, activities, and special guests. Continue reading →

By John Bacher

Posted September 6^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(The first 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. The second piece will be posted this September 7^th.)

Part of the challenge in getting Native land claims taken seriously in this Niagara region and across the country is that there is no sense of the historical injustices which the process seeks to correct.

A peak of the rich natural wetlands in the Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls. Most of the wetlands that once made up the biodiversity of the Niagara region have been destroyed.

Regarding Niagara, there is a strong connection between the destruction of wetlands and the injustices that hit native people after the War of 1812, when their lands and resources became subject to the most oppressive thefts.

Karl Dockstader, a member of the Indigenous community in this region, cites  two Niagara treaties  and the Nanfan Treaty of 1701 that contain provisions to ensure sharing based on the conservation of precious resources – provisions that were ignored following the War of 1812 due to circumstances characterized by brutal domination of both Native people and the earth they attempted to defend. Continue reading →

An Invite To A Public Meeting from The Niagara District Council of Women

Posted September 6th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

PUBLIC MEETING on CONSERVING CONSERVATION

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14^TH  7:30 P.M., Mills Room, St. Catharines Centennial Library 54 Church Street

SPEAKERS:

DOUG DRAPER, an award -winning environmental reporter and advocate for conservation, who often features environmental responsibility   in his e-newspaper Niagara At Large

ED SMITH, a Niagara environmentalist who knows a great deal about the Conservation Authority’s mandate to protect our precious natural places

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 5^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

I don’t know about you, but I’ve just about had it with Kathleen Wynne and the disconnect between what she, as Ontario premier, tries to sell us through so many carefully crafted talking points and what she is or is not doing to address real issues in this province.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne celebrates Labour Day

Here’s a premier who, after getting hammered over the head with a by-election defeat in the GTA this past September 1^st, says she finally gets it that people are angry about skyrocketing hydro bills. Yet she still insists on forging ahead cap and trade system for reducing carbon emissions that has proven to be a costly, bureaucratic mess where ever else in the world where it’s been tried – that instead of going for a straight forward carbon tax on the largest polluters.

She flies off on these so-called “trade missions” and you can’t help wondering what decent-paying jobs in Ontario are going to be sold down the drain next. Last year, she went to China and issued a media release promoting a plan by China-based developers to build on hundreds of acres of what’s left of Niagara’s natural heritage in the Thundering Waters Forest of Niagara Falls. Continue reading →

A Statement from Canada’s NDP  on Labour Day 2016

Posted September 5^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Sheri Benson, MP for Saskatoon West and NDP Labour Critic made the following statement on Labour Day:

“On this Labour Day, New Democrats honour the tremendous accomplishments that hard-working Canadians have achieved. Across Canada, workplaces are safer, more equitable, and provide fair wages because workers have risen in solidarity with their unions time and time again.

“While we give our sincere gratitude to the brave organizers who fought and won maternity leave, health coverage, retirement security, and regulated work weeks, we must recommit to the many challenges ahead. Continue reading →

There Are Great Words Here For Niagara’s Thundering Waters

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 2^nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

To all of you out there who are fighting the good fight to save the rich biodiversity in the Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara from municipal politicians and the Darth Vaders on the board of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority who would see that natural place and others in the region ravaged for ever more urban sprawl, here’s one for you.

Here is hoping you find more inspiration for the fight in a brand new message from Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the worldwide Catholic Church.

The message, delivered by the Pope this past Thursday September 1^st in honour of the church’s World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, includes the following words –

glass planet in a forest with sunshine – Usa map

“God gave us a bountiful garden, but we have turned it into a polluted wasteland of ‘debris, desolation and filth.’ We must not be indifferent or resigned to the loss of biodiversity and the destruction of ecosystems, often caused by our irresponsible and selfish behaviour. “Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. We have no such right.”

One need not be a Catholic or a person of faith at all (and I confess that I am neither) to respect this Pope as one of the world’s great moral leaders and as one who certainly lives up to the care shown for the natural environment by his eight-century-old namesake, St. Francis of Assisi. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Doug Draper

Posted September 2^nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

“We are living in fictional times,” said American comedian Lewis Black, his arms flailing nervously  during a recent interview about the bad acid trip that passes for a presidential election now entering its final mad months in his country.

Oh No! Here comes another taco truck. Where is Trump and that WALL?

In this election, Black added, whatever was left of reality has so intersected with satire that there is nothing left for a comedy writer to do – “All you have to do now is ready the morning newspaper.”

A very recent case in point is an interview aired on the American cable network MSNBC this September 1^st with a nut named Marco Gutierrez, founder of a Latinos for Donald Trump organization, which comes off like skit you would more likely see on Saturday Night Live in any previous presidential election year.

In the interview, Gutierrez warns that if something isn’t done to stop the influx of Mexicans across America’s southern border, U.S. will face an invasion of “taco trucks on every corner.”

Oh, there they are. Thank God! Hey, Donald, make damn sure a taco truck can’t drive through it, would ya..

It’s a warning that has already had American political commentators  calling Gutierrez the Latino Paul Revere for the Trump campaign – “The taco trucks are coming! The taco trucks are coming!”

So here, with apologies to our American neighbours, including many of my American friends who are already embarrassed and depressed enough about this election, here is the taco truck segment featuring Trump surrogate Marco Gutierrez.

Keep in mind while you are watching this, is that this is where the discourse has sunk in American politics while little or no serious debate is going on about jobs, health care, war and peace, and climate change. We’re down to the invasion of the taco trucks!

Also for your continued American election entertainment, here is segment featuring Lewis Black on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program, sharing his angst about the 2016 presidential election race.

.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 Brief News Commentary from Doug Draper

Posted September 1^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – You always have to wonder what may really be going on when a public body circulates a media release with bombshell information in it after office hours, when no one is around to contact for further information.

Brock University’s would-be new president. We hardly got to know her.

Such was the case this past Monday, August 29^th when Brock University in St. Catharines, Niagara emailed out a media release after 6 p.m. that the university was already saying adieu (in so many words) to Wendy Cukier, someone it had celebrated just nine months earlier as Brock’s soon-to-be female president in its half-century history.

Brock’s communications office is usually pretty good about getting media releases, complete with ready-to-use photo images, out early enough in the day that there is plenty of time for a media outlet to call if it needs any further information to post a story. And Brock, like most other universities and colleges across the continent, has been busy circulating more media releases than ever before as a way of promoting itself to would-be students, private donors and others.

So when a media release saying that the individual that would be the university’s next president, beginning this September 1^st, suddenly won’t be the next president and it comes out too late to call for an explanation that was absent from the release, you don’t have to take a course in Communications 101 to know that something has gone flying off the rails here. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper, September 1st, 2016 on Niagara At Large                                                                                                                             

“American Hunter Bring ‘Em Up The North Side                                                 Guns, Guns, Guns                                                                                                            Run, Take The Money, Here’s A Bullet For Your Boyfriend                              Guns, Guns, Guns                                                                                                              Eagle All Gone And No More Caribou                                                                       Guns, Guns, Guns                                                                                                            You Be The Red King, I’ll Be The Yellow Pawn                                                          God Speed Mother Nature                                                                                          Never Really Wanted To Say Goodbye…”

From the 1972 song ‘Guns, Guns, Guns’ by Burton Cummings

Burton Cummings,Canadian Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, of Guess Who fame still rockin huge audiences as a solo artist..

This past Tuesday, August 30^th, my wife and I joined quite a few thousand others on the grassy slopes  of ArtPark in Lewiston, New York for a concert featuring one of my all-time-favourite Canadian pop artists – former Guess Who singer, songwriter and keyboardist extraordinaire Burton Cummings.

He was sharing the same bill with one of my other favourite Canadians, singer/songwriters Buffy Sainte-Marie, and they were both put on a great performance and are well worth catching if you love them as much as I do and ever have a chance to get tickets for a show near your home.

That said, it is a moment from Burton Cumming’s part of the show I want to share with you here because it spoke so bluntly and so well to a disgusting crime against life on this planet – one that I posted a commentary on almost 14 months ago to this day.

Cecil, the iconic African lion killed by a trophy hunter.

The moment came when Cummings, who has never been one to shrink from hurling verbal bombs when he’s of a mind to, was introducing one of his old Guess Who songs – a tune called ‘Guns, Guns, Guns’ –  by saying that sadly, it’s lyrics are still relevant today.

He then proceeded to dedicate the song ‘to that prick who shot the lion’ – a line that received a round of applause from people in the audience who seemed to know, without further prompting, that he was talking about the ‘trophy hunter’ dentist from Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. named Walter Palmer who lured an iconic lion named Cecil off a wildlife sanctuary in Zimbabwe, Africa, then blew the feline away with a bow and arrow. Continue reading →

A Statement from Ontario PC MPP Lisa Thompson on the Joint Climate Change Declaration

Posted September 1^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Ontario PC Environment and Cap-and-Trade Critic Lisa Thompson issued the following statement on the Joint Climate Change Declaration that was signed in Guadalajara:

“The Wynne Liberals are doubling down on their cap-and-trade scheme after signing an agreement with Mexico that could see Ontario businesses buying Mexican carbon credits in the future.

This comes after Quebec and California fell well short in meeting their revenue expectations from their cap-and-trade schemes in last week’s auction. Now it appears that the Liberals are scrambling to add new partners. Continue reading →

Doug Draper

Posted August 31^th on Niagara At Large

In a region where people are getting increasingly upset at the very mention of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority’s name, we got some uplifting news late this August.

The historic Morningstar Mill site off Decew Road in the Niagara municipality of St. Catharines, Ontario. Photo by Doug Draper

Thanks to St. Catharines city councillors Bruce Williamson, Carlos Garcia, Mat Siscoe, Joe Kushner, Sal Sorrento, Mike Britton, Jennifer Stevens, Mark Elliott, David Haywood, and Bill Phillips voting at an August 22nd council meeting to retain scenic lands off Decew Road that host the historic Morningstar Mill and a replica of a vintage saw mill, a bid by the NPCA to take hold of it has been squashed – at least for now.

“The NPCA hasn’t exactly had a great track record,” Bruce Williamson, one of the councillors leading the charge against transferring this beloved heritage site to the Conservation Authority, was quoted saying in Niagara This Week.

“The NPCA hasn’t exactly had a great track recorded,” added Williamson. “We face the risk of putting it in the hands of people who will not be good stewards. I strongly feel it would be a mistake to give it to the NPCA.”

Good call Bruce! Continue reading →

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted August 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

It seems some ousted politicians won’t do the honourable thing and just go away.

No matter how hard the voters try flushing them down the electoral equivalent of the loo, damn it, they just keep on backing up.

Defeated St.Catharines federal MP Rick Dykstra runs for elected office again, this time for a provincial seat in west Niagara.

So get out the plunger folks because just 10 short months after awe thought it was safe to mop and polish the floor, Rick Dykstra has reportedly announced his intentions to seek elected office again – this time in the Niagara West-Glanbrook Riding where his Tory soulmate Tim Hudak is vacating his provincial seat there on September 18^th.

Dykstra last held elected office in the federal riding of St. Catharines where for 10 years up to his defeat in the October 2016 federal election, he dutifully served then Tory prime minister Stephen Harper. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Posted August 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

In the middle of a bit of criticism I’ve been getting over how only someone who is “commie” or …. Could post some of the things we’ve been saying about defeated Prime Minister Stephen Harper as he finally takes his leave, one NAL reader sent me a link a very stinging column on Harper that has just recently been published in Maclean’s, one of Canada’s oldest surviving and most circulated national news magazines.

Stephen Harper, during a federal election debate Maclean’s magazine helped sponsor last year.

The column, headlined; “Goodbye, Harper. Good Riddance. – How do you sum up the career of a PM who betrayed every ideal he claimed to cherish?” was written by one of the magazine’ political columnists Michael Harris, and includes a few of the following lines –

“Sucking toes for votes with a crack-smoking mayor while touting family values. Trying to drive a wedge between majority and minority Canadians by exploiting the politics of bigotry. Stephen Harper was Donald Trump before Trump was Trump. … right down to the bigotry, fear-mongering, divisiveness, scapegoating, and profound anti-democratic impulses that had Canada’s entire parliamentary structure tottering.” Continue reading →

“Upon being elected, a PC Government would scrap the controversial changes to sex-ed introduced by (Liberal) Premier (Kathleen) Wynne.” – Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown

Posted August 29th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper –

Although Patrick Brown began his leadership of Ontario’s PC Party last year with promises to put the “progressive” back into the party’s name by making it more “modern” and “inclusive,” there are growing signs that he is drifting back to positions that appeal to core groups on the far right of social conservatism – groups that comprised a solid base of support for his predecessors in the Tory leadership, Tim Hudak and Mike Harris.

Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown would nix new sex-ed curriculum in province

The following letter, circulated by Brown and his party this past August 24th to voters in the provincial riding of Scarborough-Rouge River where a byelection is scheduled for this coming Thursday, September 1^st, is the latest example of that drift back to the fringe right which may ensure that the party won’t win the next Ontario election either.

In the letter, Brown promises to scrap changes the current Liberal government has made to a  sex-ed curriculum for grade school students that had not been updated since 1998. The changes have received a strong negative reaction from members of the religious right and others, including immigrants from countries that keep a very tight lid on sex-related discussions and conduct. Continue reading →

“The message here is that humans have irreversibly changed our planet in a profound way. Whether we survive as a species or not, we will have left an indelible mark.” – says Martin Head, professor in Brock’s Department of Earth Sciences

News from Brock University

Posted August 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – A Brock University geologist is among a group of researchers who believe humans have impacted the Earth in such a significant way that a new time period needs to be added to the planet’s official geologic timeline.

Brock University researcher and Eaqrth Sciencies professor r Martin Head

“The message here is that humans have irreversibly changed our planet in a profound way,” says Martin Head, professor in Brock’s Department of Earth Sciences. “Whether we survive as a species or not, we will have left an indelible mark in the geological record.”

Head is part of the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG), which presented its findings at a conference in Cape Town, South Africa Monday that the use of atomic bombs, oil, coal, fertilizers and other products have changed the Earth so much that the very working of the planet has altered.

The AWG told the International Geologic Congress that recent sedimentary deposit findings worldwide contain new minerals and rock types formed from human-made materials. This makes them part of an epoch, or period of time, distinct from the current Holocene period.

Head and the AWG says the new epoch, known as the Anthropocene, begins around 1950. The scientists are suggesting a mid-20^th century timing for the proposed “golden spike,” an internationally agreed-upon reference point in a section of sediment layers that signals the beginning of a new episode on the geologic time scale. In past epochs, spikes have come about following natural disasters such as asteroid collisions or a series of volcanic eruptions.

“The rise of plutonium 239 in the early 1950s seems to give the best global signal,” says Head, Chair of the AWG’s parent body, the International Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy. “It arises from increasing aboveground nuclear weapons testing at this time. It declined in the early 1960s with the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963.”

In addition to plutonium from atomic bombs detonated during the 1940s and 1950s, contaminants from fossil fuel combustion shot up in all areas of the globe around 1950. Likewise polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other pollutants from fertilizer production.

A statement released Monday lists a range of recent changes to the Earth, including “marked acceleration to rates of erosion and sedimentation, large-scale chemical perturbations to the cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and other elements, the inception of significant change to global climate and sea level, and biotic changes such as unprecedented levels of species invasions across the Earth. 

In its statement, released through the University of Leicester, the group says things like plastic, aluminium and concrete particles, artificial radionuclides and changes to carbon and nitrogen isotope pattern will leave a permanent record in the Earth’s strata.

Head says it may take up to three years before the Anthropocene Working Group finalizes its proposal, which it will then present to the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) for a vote on whether or not to include the Anthropocene on the world’s official geologic time scale.

According to the current timescale,.

Read more about the AWG proposal in The Brock News.

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

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

Recipients To Pick Up Payments At Local Offices

News From Niagara’s Regional Government

Posted August 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Region Community Services will not be mailing social assistance payments to individuals and families to avoid the possibility of payments being delayed by a possible postal strike.

Instead, recipients will be able to pick up their Ontario Works payments at their local Community Services offices starting August 30 between 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.  Niagara Falls clients will be able to pick up their cheques at the Niagara Falls Employment Help Centre.

Although negotiations at Canada Post are continuing, the Region cannot take the risk of having social assistance payments delayed by a labour disruption.

For recipients who receive their Ontario Works payments through direct deposit, payments will continue to be deposited into their bank accounts as usual.  However, statements will not be mailed and can be picked up at local offices. Continue reading →

News from Brock University

Posted August 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Samantha Nichols turned 12 during her first week at Brock University’s Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Summer Movement Camp. That was in 1996. This past Tuesday she celebrated her 32^nd birthday with the people who have become familiar to her in the last two decades.

“It’s always been Sam’s birthday during camp and we always do something special for it. On her 30^th birthday the students and campers made her a banner and signed it,” says Department of Kinesiology professor and Camp Founder Maureen Connolly.

A group of campers from the Autism Spectrum Disorder Summer Movement Camp at Brock University pose with officials from Brock, the Region of Niagara and Niagara Recycling, which has funded the camp for the past 20 years.

“This year, the mentors all wore Happy Birthday tiaras in honour of this annual celebration.” Continue reading →

Closing Down Parliament &  Protraying Environmentalists As ‘Enemies of the State’ Just Came With The Job

A Commentary by Linda McKellar

First, Stephen Harper, or Mr. Charm as I call him, was as citizen friendly and down to earth as a cobra.

Although not a prerequisite for holding office, Harper had zero charisma and no way to connect with the public – something very important for communicating with Canadian citizens and foreign leaders. That is one reason, just or otherwise, that so many were happy to see him go.

Several times he even refused to meet with the Provincial Premiers. He was secretive and autocratic, yet claimed he knew nothing of things like his aide’s pay off to one of his Senate appointments, Mike Duffy. Of course corruption is nothing new to any party. but he was an expert.

His policies were absolutely pro Bay Street. His election propaganda was right out of the U.S. Republican Party playbook with (just as one example of  very many) his backers demeaning his opponents (did Mulcair or Trudeau ever call him “Stevie”?) despite the fact that Harper was almost the same age as Justin Trudeau when he was first elected? Continue reading →

 “Water is life. It is necessary. Oil is neither. …What do we value as people?”

A Call-Out from Karl Dockstader, an Oneida First Nations community member in Niagara

Posted August 27^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

This Sunday, August 28^th at 4pm in Toronto at Allan Gardens on 19 Horticultural Ave, join supporters standing in “Solidarity with Standing Rock”.

More details can be found on Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/182590575494464/

A black snake is trying to coil around the Missouri River to choke out the water supply upon which the people of the Standing Rock Reservation are dependent.

Dakota Access LLC and Enbridge are continuing their persistent effort to drain every last drop of black gold and turn it into carbon dioxide by carving up the territory of the Black Rock Native Americans with their newest iteration of the Keystone Pipeline-like black snake of destruction.

A rally by young members of the Standing Rock Reservation earlier this August against pipeline

Led by youth from their reservation, these people – original to the lands – are being supported by people across the globe who agree with their principles:

Water is life. It is necessary. Oil is neither. Continue reading →

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted August 26^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

As you may already have heard, Calgary, Alberta area MP and defeated neo-con prime minister Stephen Harper has taken his final bow this August 26^th – exiting his seat in Canada’s parliament completely to move on to his next abomination in the private sector.

Harper’s long-awaited departure from Canadians’ collective lives may grant us some brief pause for celebration during these last lazy, hazy days before the Labour Day weekend and getting back to work.

And what a monumental amount of work current federal, provincial and municipal governments, not to mention we, the Canadian people, have ahead of us cleaning up the malodorous mountain of dung, domestically and globally, that constitutes Harper’s legacy as one of the worst leaders this country has ever had.

In a book of essays by prominent Canadians, published a year ago this summer and  titled ‘Canada After Harper’, the book’s editor and veteran journalist Ed Finn concludes that following a decade of Harper’s dictatorship; “the need for sweeping progressive reform is more urgent now than ever before.”

“Uncurbed global warming, pollution, and resource depletion threaten Canada (and) to continue, lemming-like, following the profit-obsessed path set by our business and political leaders will take us to the abyss. We are not just in a struggle for social, economic and environmental betterment, but for the very survival of future generations.”

“Canada’s fate is in the balance,” concludes Finn, “teetering between a future of worsening decline and a future of restored advancement, security, equity and climatic health. …. To succeed in reaching a future of renewed well-being, we need to get back on the path of progress from which we have been ruthlessly and recklessly misdirected. And as soon as possible.”

To no surprise, news of Harper’s departure was accompanied by a glowing statement about her former boss from interim federal Tory leader Rona Ambrose who, as one of his former environment ministers, demonstrated uncompromising zeal in gutting the federal environment department and what were leading edge environmental protection laws and programs.

Today (August 26^th, 2016), the Conservative Party of Canada joins all Canadians in expressing our utmost respect and warm wishes to Prime Minister Stephen Harper as he steps back from his role as the Member of Parliament for Calgary Heritage, and the Canadian political stage,” began Ambrose in her statement which I do not have the stomach lining to post any more of.

If you have it in you to read any more of this, you can click on Ambrose’s site at — http://ronaambrose.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/13653095_10153945453178525_9200714836389543942_o.jpg .

As for my parting words, I’ll do my best here to keep them clean and short – – Good riddance Prime Minister Tar Sands. It is good to finally see the back of you.

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

‘This endeavour will create 220 new value-added jobs for skilled workers in Niagara Centre.’

News from the Constituency Office of Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey

Posted August 26^th on Niagara At Large

Welland, Ontario – GE Canada reaffirmed its commitment to the City of Welland at the site of their newest “Brilliant Factory” in (the Niagara municipality of) Welland.

Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey

Slated to open in early 2018, this endeavour will create 220 new value-added jobs for skilled workers in Niagara Centre.

“GE Canada’s Welland facility is the cornerstone to the Niagara Economic Gateway-Foreign Trade Zone,” stated Niagara Centre, Member of Parliament, Vance Badawey. “This is a prime example of all levels of government working together and leveraging the many resources and incentives in place to attract cutting-edge private-sector partners, like GE Canada.” Continue reading →

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted August 24^rd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – For those of you who have not yet heard, the much-anticipated August 23^rd Public Meeting over a controversial plan to urbanize a tract of natural heritage known as the Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls, Ontario was over before it began.

Celeste Smith, a young voice for the Indigenous community in the Niagara area, speaks to a gathering of residents outside Niagara Falls City Hall this August 23rd. She calls the coming together of native and non-native people to save the Thundering Waters Forest “beautiful.” Photo by Doug Draper

After all of the weeks of foreplay over this most important opportunity for members of the public to comment on the strength and weaknesses of a provincially required Environmental Impact Statement for this development plan, there was no Public Meeting at all.

In the minutes before the Public Meeting was set to begin on this past Tuesday night in August, enough Niagara Falls city councillors had the good sense to pass a motion tabled by Councillor Kim Craitor to hold the Public Meeting in a larger venue at a later date – this while residents packed the council chambers until there wasn’t a square foot left for anyone to stand, and others were forced to remain outside, chanting ‘Let us in’ while watching the sorry proceedings on a video screen. Continue reading →

‘With this report from the Ministry, it is hoped that the developers will digest it and give up on their plans.’

By John Bacher

Posted August 24^th, 2016 on Niagara At large

In an August 19^th, 2016 report prepared by Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry resource operations supervisor Ian Thornton, some alarms properly went off for 500 acres of the Thundering Waters Forest-Savannah now under threat of urban development.

A giant white oak tree in Thundering Waters Forest, in the Niagara River watershed in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Hopefully, the report will put an end to the junk science that is being employed by paid contractors for the developers to destroy this precious natural refuge for a myriad of wildlife species in the southwestern end of Niagara Falls, Ontario.

The report should help speed the process where it can be purchased by the federal and provincial governments for a nature sanctuary administered by guardians in the greater Niagara area’s indigenous community.

Thornton’s report begins by condemning the developer’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for not undertaking adequate studies on bats. He deplores that “no acoustic monitoring was undertaken to confirm presence/absence of species at risk bats.” Continue reading →

News from the Ontario Government

Posted August 24^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Driver licence fee increases come into effect this September to help maintain Ontario’s transportation infrastructure. Additional fees for reinstatements, replacements and commercial permits will follow effective January 1, 2017.

As of September 1, 2016:

• The Driver’s Licence Original and Renewal Fee, including the driver licensing fee as part of the Enhanced Driver Licence, will change from $81.50 to $90
• Vehicle Licence Validation in Northern Ontario will change from $54 to $60
• Vehicle Licence Validation in Southern Ontario will change from $108 to $120.

Continue reading →

“Our Waters, Our Future: Saving Scajaquada Creek” Expected To Have Over 200 Guests, With All Proceeds Supporting Creek Restoration Efforts

News from Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper

Posted August 23^rd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Buffalo, New York – Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper announced this week that its 2nd annual waterfront event will raise funds to clean up the impaired Scajaquada Creek.

On September 1st from 6 to 9 p.m., Riverkeeper will gather supporters and partners at a special waterfront celebration at Marcy Casino, in Delaware Park. Scajaquada Creek runs underneath the building, making it an ideal location to acknowledge this challenged waterway’s history and to look forward to a brighter future.

Hoyt Lake off Scajaquada Creek with Marcy Casino (the historic old boathouse and restaurant) in Buffalo, New York’s Delaware Park. Photo by Doug Draper

“It has never been more important to stand up for our local waterways, and we need our community’s support to restore Scajaquada Creek to its full potential,” stated Jill Jedlicka, executive director of Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper.

“The creek has endured more than 100 years of abuse, yet still clings to life and is ready for restoration, and this September we will celebrate our vision for the creek’s bright future.” Continue reading →

View The Video – ‘Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts’

Posted by Doug Draper

August 23^rd, 2016, Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario  documentary filmmakers Jon Lepp and Stacey Koudys are working on a documentary they are at least tentatively calling ‘The Paradise Project’ about the growing citizens battle to save hundreds of acres of forest, savannah and wetlands known as the Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls.

Here is a quick note of introduction from Jon, followed by the latest installment of the project. Click on it and watch.

Hello folks,

Stacey Koudys and I are proud to launch our second webisode for our documentary The Paradise Project.

We hope you enjoy our webisode, “Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts”. Today is a really important day for Thundering Waters Forest.

Please come out to Niagara Falls City Hall at 6 pm this Tuesday, August 23^rd to show the Niagara Falls City Councilors that we do not want this forest to be developed into a private school or condos or parking lots!

Learn more about Jon and Stacey’s Paradise Project by clicking on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2016/08/06/introducing-a-brand-new-save-thundering-waters-forest-website/ .

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

Let Them Know You Care By Being There!

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

Posted August 23rd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Many of you may already know about roughly 500 acres of forest, savannah and wetlands located in the Niagara River watershed in Niagara Falls, Ontario growing numbers of residents across the region have come to know as the Thundering Waters Forest, and what certain others in politics and in the business of .paving over paradise have in store for it.

There was some encouraging news in recent days that at least some people in the City of Niagara Falls Planning Department has some questions and concerns about a massive urban development plan for this area. But it is ultimately up to the politicians on the city’s council to decide whether or not to approve the development, and municipal councils have had a record of voting for a development project, against the concerns of their own planners plenty of times in the past.

That is why it is so important for members of the public to remain engaged in the Thundering Waters Forest issues and to make certain you let members of the Niagara Falls city council know how you feel.

One important time to do that is this Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m. at Niagara Falls City Hall (you can find a map for the location for the city hall by doing a simple search on your computer).

Be there while it counts!

Poster courtesy of Niagara journalist and artist Julia Blushak

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

Niagara Regional Councillor Paul Grenier Is Elected To The  2016 – 2018 AMO Board Of Directors

News from Niagara’ Regional Government

Posted August 22^nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper – Beware the dog days of August. In the first version of this post I sent out earlier this August 22nd I had a typo in the headline, showing my old hometown of Welland – yes, the place where I was born and spent the first two decades of my life – as Weeland. I think Welland is going through enough problems in recent years without me doing a butcher job on the name ….. Sorry Welland! Now when are these dog days going to end.)

Niagara Region, Ontario– At the Annual Conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), Paul Grenier, Councillor, Region of Niagara, was elected to the AMO Board of Directors, Regional & Single Tier Caucus.  As a member of the Board Paul will help set policy for the Association and serve as a key municipal leader in the Province.

Niagara regional councilor for Welland, Paul Grenier

“AMO benefits from membership from across the Province, and a Board that reflects the diversity of Ontario’s municipal governments.  To that end, I am pleased to have Paul on the 2016 – 2018 Board team,” said AMO President, Lynn Dollin.

“I look forward to advocating for municipal priorities on behalf of other Regional governments and the Niagara region over the course of the next two years,” said Councillor Grenier.

Niagara Regional Chair Alan Caslin added, “As a Regional Councillor, Paul’s local knowledge and action on waste management, social housing, and long term care will benefit both the Niagara region and other Regional and single tier governments across Ontario.” Continue reading →

The Last True NDP Leader In Canada

By Doug Draper

Posted August 22^nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton died five years ago this August 22^nd, 2016.

On August 20^th, 2016, two days before losing his brave battle with cancer, Canada’s then NDP leader left a an open letter to his fellow Canadians containing words that remain just as wise and inspiring today.

The letter – written in the context of a Harper government still clinging to power by dividing Canadians and by stoking feelings of greed, fear, anger and hate, ended this way – ended with the following words –

“Consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.   My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”

Continue reading →

“Poor dental health can have a huge impact on health and economic wellbeing… We know (the costs) are significant and largely preventive.”                                                                                     – Lori Kleinsmith,  Chair of Niagara Dental Health Coalition.

A Call-Out from the Niagara Dental Health Coalition

Posted August 22^nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Members of the Niagara Dental Health Coalition are calling on Niagara MPPs to support the expansion of public dental programs to adults and seniors who cannot afford to pay for private dental health care.

OHIP does not provide health coverage to prevent and treat diseases of our teeth and gums. As a result, between two and three million people in Ontario do not visit a dentist, primarily due to financial barriers.

“We know that a patient presents at a hospital emergency room with an acute dental issue every nine minutes across Ontario,” says Lori Kleinsmith, new Chair of the Niagara Dental Health Coalition. Data from Niagara Region Public Health indicates that in 2015 there were over 2,300 visits to Niagara Health System emergency rooms, primarily presenting with tooth pain and infection, up three per cent since 2012. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper, publisher, NAL

Posted August 22nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(A NOTE from Doug Draper – An earlier version of this story stated that an “encouraging message” about new developments in the review/approval process for the controversial Thundering Waters Forest development proposal came from Niagara resident Ed Smith.

As it turns out, Ed Smith did circulate this message to numerous other residents across the region, including this journalist, but it was originally composed and sent out to  people by John Bacher, a Niagara resident and conversationist who has been engaged in protecting natural heritage lands in this same area of Niagara Falls for at least two decades now. My apologies to John and to our readers at large for screwing up the original source of the message.)

One of the very few political heroes I’ve ever had – the late U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy – had some inspiring words that are relevant to the way growing number of residents in Niagara, Ontario – now numbering in the many thousands – are standing up against plans for sprawling urban development onto hundreds of acres of green lands known as the Thundering Waters Forest in the southwest corner as Niagara Falls.

Twof of more than 100 Niagara residents who joined a delegation of residents this past spring, speaking out against the destruction of wetlands and other wildlife in the Thundering Waters Forest at a Niagara regional council meeting. File photo by Doug Draper

Robert Kennedy once said, and I paraphrase, that ‘every time a person stands up against something that is wrong or not in the best interests of present and future generations, they send forward a “tiny ripple of hope.” And if enough people stand up, those ripples can form a wave that can wash away the mightiest walls of destructive resistance.’

That is most surely a paraphrase of Kennedy’s more eloquently spoken words but it captures the essence of what he said during a trip to South Africa in the 1960s when future Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela had been jailed for life for opposing a racist system called apartheid that was still plaguing that country.

And I believe that it also most surely speaks to the spirit of what is happening here where we have an impressive coalition of people unlike almost any I have seen in my three and a half decades of reporting on issues here – a coalition of youth, seniors and everyone in between, and of representatives of environmental groups, landowners groups, of the Aboriginal community and many others – standing up and saying “no” to any more destruction of what is left of Niagara’s woodlands, wetlands and savannah lands that have routinely been wiped out for development in past years. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Posted August 21^st on Niagara At Large

It has been a long time since I have felt as proud to be a Canadian and as close to my fellow Canadians as I did on this past evening of Saturday, August 20th.

The Tragically Hip, with Gord Downie front and centre, perform the final show of their tour this August 20th in Kingston, Ontario.

That feeling of closeness and pride washed warmly over me as I took my place with thousands of others in the Meridian Centre in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario to watch what may very well be the last concert ever by Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip on a set of big screens.

The Canadian pavilion at Expo 67 represented one of the proudest years in post Second World War times for Canadians.

I can barely remember the first time I felt that kind of pride because I was still two or three years shy of being old enough to vote at the time. It was 50 years ago this coming year when my Canada – finally flying a flag of its own – was celebrating its 100^th birthday and we put on a spectacular party for the world called Expo 67. Continue reading →

By John Bacher

During the Second World War, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was famous for his great speeches.

One of them, which Churchill made following the route of Nazi Germany from Africa, gives one encouragement today. It included the now iconic words; “This is not the end, this is not even the beginning of the end. It is perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

It may be that the “end of the beginning” is now here for those residents in the Niagara, Ontario area who have been working to rescue five hundred acres of Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls.

At high noon this past Friday, August 19^th, Niagara Falls’ Planning Department tabled information confirming that no vote by Niagara Falls City council would take place following a mandatory meeting taking place this August 23^rd and required by the province’s Planning Act if that vote has anything to do with permitting the destruction of natural lands in the Thundering Waters Forest.

A Public Meeting under the Planning Act, which is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. at Niagara Falls City Hall, gives citizens a unique opportunity to influence land use planning.

Poster courtesy of Niagara journalist and artist Julia Blushak

Continue reading →

By Lawrence Pinsky

Posted August 19^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper – “What greater gift than the love of a cat,” wrote Charles Dickens a hundred and fifty some-odd years ago, and almost everyone who has ever had or continues to have a close relationship with a cat knows that to be true.

I know that stories like the one I am posting here from Lawrence Pinsky, who has been a friend going back to our days going on 40 years ago in journalism school, are sad to read or think about. I know that because I have lived through stories like this with feline friends of my own.

But I think they are important stories to tell and talk about because as sad as they are, they can also bring out good and humane things in us as we and other living beings strive to make the best of the short time we all have together on this green and blue ball circling around the sun.

From time to time, I’ve had people say ask me how a person can grieve so much over the death of a cat or a dog. After all they are not a person. To which I say that as much as I feel sorry for the person grieving over the loss of their furry friend, I feel sorry for the person who doesn’t understand or who has never experienced that grief, because they are missing out on something in life that is very nice and special.

Now here is Lawrence’s story about his journey with a close and loving friend of the feline kind.)

By  Lawrence Pinsky

In the early summer of 1998 my parents were feeling at a loss. Their last of two kitties, Bootsie, had died a little while before and, as my mom used to say, “Who wants to come into an empty house?!”

My dad was reluctant to have a new “pet,” perhaps because he didn’t want to suffer yet another loss.

Still, my mom was strongly inclined, and one sunny morning she made a visit to the local SPCA with a former girlfriend of mine. Continue reading →

By Nick Fillmore

Posted August 19^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper – It is always an honour to post something from veteran Canadian journalist Nick Fillmore. He was one of my mentors when I was starting out in the field and was good enough to publish a couple of my articles on environmental issues in ‘This Magazine’ when he was the magazine’s editor. Thanks for everything Nick and thanks for trucking on when so many others in journalism have either sold out or fallen by the wayside.)

Dozens of athletes from Canada and thousands from developing countries have had a difficult time raising the money needed to train and take part in the Olympics Games in Brazil.

In Canada, more than two dozen world-class athletes were so hard up for support that they resorted to launching crowdfunding campaigns to supplement the money they receive from government and perhaps corporate sponsors.

On the tiny Pacific Island country of Nauru, judo participant Judoka Uera  had to hold barbecues and knock on doors to get the funds he needed. Getting to Rio fulfilled Uera’s lifelong dream.

However, hundreds of other athletes who had the same dream and could have qualified for Rio were unable to attend because of a lack of support. Continue reading →

By Karl Dockstader, a Niagara resident and member of the local Indigenous community

(The following post orginally appeared on Karl Dockstader’s Facebook site. A link to the site is included below.)

Posted August 19^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – The Treaty of Niagara 1764 is the ratification of the general principles of the Royal Proclamation of 1763.

The principles of these agreements acknowledge that agreements between Indigenous governments and Canadian or Crown officials have some terms which fall outside of Canadian law.

Members of Indigenous community gather at July 2016 rally in Niagara Falls, Ontario to save Thundering Waters Forest. File photo by Doug Draper

This is why the symbolic use of wampum and oral custom is important. In order to honour the principles of these agreements governments have to uphold the honour of the crown and act in accordance with the principles of the covenant chain. Continue reading →

A Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on the 74th anniversary of the Battle of Dieppe

Posted August 19^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement to mark the 74^th anniversary of the Battle of Dieppe:

“On this day – 74 years ago (on August 19^th, 1942) – thousands of Canadian soldiers, alongside Allied forces, launched a raid on the German-occupied port of Dieppe.

Death and destruction left on shores of Dieppe in August 2016

“Canadian and Allied infantry faced heavy resistance as soon as they landed. They fought through barbed wire, mortar barrages, and machine gun fire. Many never made it beyond the beach where they landed.

“In the air, Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force fighters and bombers waged one of the most intense air battles in the whole war. Continue reading →

News from the Government of Ontario

Posted August 19th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario is providing more than $16 million to help patients receive quicker access to care in hospital emergency rooms across the province.

The province will provide funding to 20 municipalities across Ontario for 300,000 dedicated emergency room nursing hours at 49 hospitals this year.

Dedicated nurses will work exclusively on receiving low-acuity patients from ambulances, which will allow paramedics to respond to other 9-1-1 calls in the community rather than waiting in the emergency room.  Patients arriving at hospitals by ambulance with life-threatening conditions continue to be given priority by hospital staff. Continue reading →

Posted August 18^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large by NAL publisher Doug Draper

Dozens of truckloads of high-level, liquid nuclear waste may soon be crossing the Peace Bridge from the Chalk River nuclear facility in northern Ontario and through Niagara, on route to a processing plant in South Carolina.

The Peace Bridge crossing between Buffalo/Western New York and Niagara, Ontario. File photo by Doug Draper

According to a front-page story in this August 18^th edition of The Buffalo News, the shipments may begin as soon as this September if a lawsuit quickly filed against the U.S. Department of Energy by a coalition of Canadian and U.S. environmental groups doesn’t stop them.

 “It is terrifying for us to hear that the government is willing to endanger the lives of so many by the shipments of this highly dangerous liquid radiioactive waste through our community and those of others,” Lynday Schneekloth of the Sierra Club’s Niagara, Western New York was quoted saying in The Buffalo News story. Continue reading →

“Health care workers are a keystone in our society. They deserve to be treated well or we will lose them.”

By Linda McKellar

Posted August 17^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(Linda McKellar, a retired nurse who emerged as an outspoken opponent of health care cuts at a time in the last decade when the Niagara Health System was moving to close hospitals in the Niagara municipalities of Fort Erie and Port Colborne, shared the following commentary with Niagara At Large in the wake of Ontario physicians rejecting a new agreement with the provincial government this August 15^th on fees.)

How many workers in industry or other services would go two or three years without a contract?

Doctors and patients rally for health care in from of Queen’s Park legislative building in Toronto this spring

Would industrial workers go on strike? Postal workers? Teachers? Cab drivers?

Now, have doctors ever completely withdrawn their services? How about nurses? There are several reasons for this.

1 – Health care workers are ESSENTIAL! Continue reading →

KILL Ontario BILL 205, NOT CORMORANTS

A Plea against the shooting of Ontario’s Cormorants from ZooCheck Canada, a Toronto-based public advocacy group all creatures big and small

Posted August 17^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper – Here we go again, dear readers. It’s age-old North American solution we humans too often apply to any wild animals we feel is getting in our way – Shoot them!

In my many years as an environment reporter, I’ve covered this business of people who fish wanting to kill of cormorants a number of times because the anglers believe the birds are eating to much fish. It was often almost impossible to convince these advocates for shooting the birds that development along creek, river and lake shores that destroy spawning grounds and other wildlife that the birds feed on, combined with discharges of pollution to waterbodies, have more to do with declining fish populations than the birds they want to kill.

Please read the following information from ZooCheck and contact your member of provincial government and the government representatives identified below to stop this outrageous bill to blow away cormorants.)

A cormorant in flight

On May 18, 2016, Ontario MPP for the Sarnia-Lambton riding, Robert Bailey (PC), introduced Private Member’s Bill 205, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Amendment Act (Double-crested Cormorants) 2016 that, if passed, would allow the uncontrolled hunting Double-crested cormorants across the province by anyone at any time. Continue reading →

“The only correct actions are those that demand no explanation and no apology.” – The late Boston Celtics president and basketball coach Red Auerbach

“By the time most people say ‘I’m sorry’ it is already too late.” – American book author and financial advisor Ken Poirot

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted August 17^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

I turned on CBC this August 16^th to the news that our Canadian government has apologized for something again.

A monument at a cemetery in Churchill, Manitoba with the names on it of the many indigenous people who died after a forced move from their homes by the Canadian government in 1956.

This time it was for an injustice committed 60 years ago when the federal government of the day – a Liberal government under the helm of Louis St. Laurent – decided to swoop in on more than 250 First Nation Sayisi Dene people, drag them from their homes and take them on what one of the survivors called “a plane ride to hell” to some barren place way up in northern Manitoba where many of them froze or starved to death – all for apparently culling too many caribou in a place where these people they had been living and hunting for their survival long before the first white settlers showed up.

Hmm. Didn’t I just hear another news report just a day before this one about a culling of wolves in the Banff, Alberta area because the animals were said to be getting in the way of affluent white people wanting to hike in the woods. Maybe we should give some people a plane ride out of there.

But I digress. Continue reading →

News from Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

Posted August 16^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls, Ontario – Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath have announced their plan to lower hydro costs for Ontarians.

Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

“Due to policy decisions by the Wynne government, we now live in an Ontario where people are being forced to choose between buying groceries, purchasing prescriptions or paying their hydro bill,” stated Gates.

“Since (Ontario Liberal Premier) Kathleen Wynne took power four years ago, hydro bills have increased over 50% which is ten times faster than inflation—we have to step up and offer an alternative.”

In an announcement at this week’s AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) conference in Windsor, Horwath outlined the policies an NDP government would implement to help reduce hydro costs for Ontarian families and businesses. Continue reading →

“I want to assure the people and patients of Ontario that their access to physicians and the health care system will not be affected.” – Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins

A Statement from Ontario’s Minister of Health

Posted August 15^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

This August 15th, Dr. Eric Hoskins, Ontario’s Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, issued the following statement:

“It is disappointing that the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) membership

Ontario Minister of Health Dr. Eric Hoskins

did not ratify a historic four-year tentative Physician Services Agreement that would have offered the province’s physicians, for the first time, an opportunity to have a seat at the table where decisions are made about spending and the future of our health-care system.

The tentative agreement also strengthened the quality, access and sustainability of health care in Ontario, while providing predictable annual increases to the physician services budget. Continue reading →

“We will meet with Kathryn McGarry, (Ontario) Minister of Natural Resources (MNR), about increasing the protection of the Fonthill Kame.” – Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

News from Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

Posted August 15^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – This week, Town of Pelham Councillors Gary Accursi and John Durley, Town CAO Darren Ottaway, and I will attend the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference in Windsor.

Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

The annual three-day conference offers a range of learning sessions and networking opportunities and organizers expect more than 1,300 delegates.

While at AMO, your Pelham representatives will also directly advance your interests with the Provincial Government through meetings with various Ministries.

First, we will meet with Kathryn McGarry, Minister of Natural Resources (MNR), about increasing the protection of the Fonthill Kame.

For the last eight years, we effectively used AMO and “Niagara Week” meetings to urge the Province to enhance the Area of Natural & Scientific Interest (ANSI) protections of the Kame. Continue reading →

“How can one be compelled to accept slavery? I simply refuse to do the master’s bidding. He may torture me, break my bones to atoms and even kill me. He will then have my dead body, not my obedience. Ultimately, therefore, it is I who am the victor and not he, for he has failed in getting me to do what he wanted done.” – Mahatma Gandhi, on India’s struggle to break its colonial ties with Great Britain

A Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada On India’s Independence Day

Posted August 15^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement in recognition of India’s Independence Day:

“Today, we join the people of India and members of the Indo-Canadian community in celebrating India’s 70^th Independence Day.

“Canada and India unite in our shared traditions of democracy and diversity. Together, our nations stand as a testament to the fact that countries can prosper not in spite of their diversity, but precisely because of it.

“It has been a pleasure to meet with Prime Minister Modi, and I look forward to working together to further strengthen the relationship between our two countries, and to collaborating on global issues, including peace and security, climate change, and gender equality.

“On behalf of the Government of Canada, Sophie and I invite all Canadians to reflect on the significant contributions that Indo-Canadians have made to our national fabric, and wish all those celebrating today a happy Independence Day.”

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

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

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

By Doug Draper

Posted August 14^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

For a while there, Patrick Brown actually had me wondering if he just might be more open than his Tory predecessors were to charting a political course that takes the protection our environment into consideration.

But not anymore. Now he has lost me.

Ontario PC Party leader Patrick Brown expressed renewed interest in constructing a mid-peninsula highway through Niagara.

After 15 months of trying to convince the rest of us that the word truly “progressive” belongs back in the “Progressive Conservative Party” name after Mike Harris and Tim Hudak took a cudgel to it, he has dialed right back to the Harris/Hudak era with his declaration to a business group that he is open to resurrecting the idea of constructing a multi-lane highway through the middle of the Niagara Peninsula between the Hamilton-Halton area and the Fort Erie-Buffalo border crossing.

It was just last March – barely nine months after he was chosen leader of Ontario’s PC Party after Hudak resigned the post following the party’s failure to win the 2014 provincial election – that Brown delivered a keynote address to a general meeting of party delegates that gave reason to believe he wanted to strike a significantly different tone than Harris and Hudak, and former federal Tory leader Stephen Harper when it comes to environmental issues.
Continue reading →

We Still Have Time To Tell Government We Want What’s Left Of Our Wetlands Saved!

By John Bacher

Niagara, Ontario – A new “White Paper” from the Ontario government – titled “Wetland Conservation Strategy for Ontario” -marks another sorry stage in a provincial consultation process whose key goal appears to be to weaken one of the strongest cornerstones for effective land use planning across the province.

This is the establishment of what are termed Provincially Significant Wetlands”, (PSWs). Once these areas are identified, largely through a point scoring weighted towards maintaining the habitats of rare species, they are protected from what the policy terms, “site alteration.”

The basic wetlands policy of no site alteration – meaning no shopping centers, residences, parking lots on wetlands – has been in effect since 1992. It is far stronger than the protection of other natural habitats. These habitats include dry forests, non-PSW wetlands, thickets, alvars, prairies and savannas. Usually, these habitats essentially on a big scale are termed legally Provincially Significant Forests. In Niagara, like most upper tier or single tier, municipalities in Ontario, they are termed Environmental Conservation Areas (ECAs). Continue reading →

“A college-level course that provides an introduction to the Niagara River watershed through weekly classes.”

News from Buffalo Niagara Riverkeepers, a non-profit citizens group

Posted August 14^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Experiential learning opportunity will educate college students and adults about local environmental issues in Erie and Niagara counties

Buffalo, New York – Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper announces that registration is now open for River Academy, a college-level course that provides an introduction to the Niagara River watershed through weekly classes in stream science, environmental stewardship, and habitat restoration.

River Academy is an exciting opportunity for professionals and citizens to learn through hands-on field experience, lab exercises, field trips, and guest lecturers, and provides an opportunity for students to obtain college credits.

River Academy explores current environmental issues impacting the Niagara River watershed. Local experts and guest lecturers include representatives from governmental agencies, community organizations and the private sector. Continue reading →