Category Archives: Learn How To Join Niagara At Large On Twitter And Facebook By Clicking Here

News from the Niagara Centre Constituency Office of Federal Liberal MP Vance Badawey

Posted March 3rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Centre Liberal government MP Vance Badawey

Ottawa, Ontario – MP Vance Badawey was selected as Vice-Chair of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group. This Group is tasked with providing federal legislators in Canada and the United States the opportunity to discuss issues of importance to both countries.

“Canada and United States have a longstanding and productive bi-national relationship that benefits both nations greatly. We continue to work collaboratively on such issues as NAFTA (CUSMA), the Great Lakes, resource management, binational transportation and integrating distribution and logistics, including strategic bi-national infrastructure investments that promotes fluidity.

By working with our U.S Colleagues at the State and Federal levels, we have seen consistent and positive developments emerge on a range of files relating to our shared social, economic, and environmental stewardship,” stated Badawey. Continue reading →

This Is Our First Chance in 12 Years to Press Our Regional Government to set Stronger Tree Protection Laws in Niagara

News from Niagara’s Regional Government

Posted March 2nd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

First, here is a Foreword on the importance of all this by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper –

In all of my years as a journalist covering environmental issues in this region, few have drawn an angrier response from members of the public than the cutting down of mature, healthy trees.

Over and over again, and right up to as recently as the past few months, I’ve continued to receive messages from Niagara citizens who are upset up to a point, in some cases of being, white hot angry over incidents of buzz saws and bulldozers knocking down trees.

Tree cutting on the property of the Randwood Estate in Niagara-on-the-Lake more than a year ago triggered a public uproar in the community. File Photo courtesy of members of the citizens group SORE (Save Our Randwood Estate)

And in some cases, where citizens called the appropriate public authorities to report the felling of trees, they were told that there were few if any punitive measures that could be pursued because of the way the Region’s current Tree and Forest Conservation By-law is written.

That is why the process that Niagara’s regional government is embarking on this month – to receive public input to update this by-law for the first time in 12 years – is so important for those of us who care about protecting and preserving trees, and for the over-all health of Niagara’s environment. Continue reading →

ACTION ALERT – Ontario’s Conservation Authorities Act – Rules that Help Protect Our Wetlands, Woodlands and Natural Heritage as a whole from Urban Planning that is Destructive and Environmentally Unsustainable – Is At Risk

Ontario’s Conservation Authorities Act Is Under Review (Again) – Please Participate in Support of Maintaining Strong Watershed Protection

An Alert to All of Us from the Canadian Environmental Law Association, one of our country’s oldest and most repsected non-profit organization for protecting our natural hertiage

Posted March 1st, 2020 on Niagara At Large

February 27, 2020 – Urgent action is needed in Ontario to reverse biodiversity loss and ensure our communities are climate resilient. Now is the time for increased public investment in the province’s conservation authorities.

The Ontario government has recently released an online survey <https://www.ontario.ca/page/consultation-ontario-conservation-authorities> seeking input on the role of Conservation Authorities with a response deadline of March 13, 2020. Now is the time to make your voice heard.

Ontario’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) is seeking limited input on further changes to the Conservation Authorities Act, despite multiple recent modernization actions.  Continue reading →

“Conservation Authorities (like the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority {NPCA} here in the Niagara/Hamilton/Haldimand area) play a key role in protecting Ontarians from the impacts of climate change. We must resist the trend towards environmental deregulation in Ontario.” – Ontario Nature

An Urgent Call-Out from Ontario Nature, a time-honoured, not –for-profit  advocacy group for the protection and preservation of our natural heritage in Ontario

Posted February 28^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

The province’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks is consulting on the mandate of conservation authorities and has posted a survey.

This follows public sessions where developers and others have been urging the government to remove conservation authorities from the planning process, and to limit their mandate and scope.

We must resist this trend towards environmental deregulation in Ontario. Continue reading →

Doug Ford’s American contractor for Employment Ontario has a Disastrous Track Record

“People complain that they are required to engage in activities that are unrealistic given their circumstances, or the health conditions of their children. If they fail to comply they are “sanctioned” meaning that they lose their cash assistance and opportunities for education and training services.”                           – Christine Hastedt, Senior Public Policy Advisor, Maine Equal Justice, in the State of Maine where this firm Ford wants to enlist in Ontario has been operating.

News from the Constituency Offices of Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch and Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

Posted February 28^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch

QUEEN’S PARK — NDP MPPs Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre) and Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) took Doug Ford to task Thursday at the Ontario legislature for his reckless decision to sell off employment services in Hamilton and Niagara to a US-based multinational corporation which, the NDP revealed, has a disastrous track record.

The Ford government signed a deal with American firm FedCap Inc. to take away Employment Ontario’s work — helping Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Works program recipients find jobs. A recent review by the Maine Department of Health revealed that FedCap Inc. has comprehensively failed to deliver results for people in the State of Maine, and according to their report “lacks the capacity to fulfill its contractual obligations.”

“In Maine only 10 per cent of participants were ever placed in any real skills training program and nearly half of all participants referred to FedCap lost their assistance without securing a job. Based on this disastrous evidence from Maine will the Premier cancel the pilot program and admit this was a mistake?” asked Burch during question period on Thursday, after his office uncovered the disastrous record of FedCap Inc. in Maine.

Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

Forty-eight per cent of people that were referred to FedCap Inc. lost their assistance without securing a job. A review conducted by the Maine Department of Health found that people were deeply unhappy with the employment programs offered by FedCap Inc. that were not individualized or responsive to people’s needs, had poor levels of customer service and professionalism, and failed to safeguard confidential data.

“FedCap has a track record and it’s not good. If the State of Maine’s experience is any indicator, then people in our community have a high risk of losing their jobs, and if we include all of the service providers and front-line workers we may be looking at a lot of good paying jobs lost,” said Gates.

“We must stand up for these workers and their employment and say no to selling their livelihoods to an American company with no roots in Niagara,” added NDP MPP Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines).

All 65 of the good-paying jobs administering employment services in the State of Maine were lost once FedCap Inc. took over and the community agency contracts to administer the programs were terminated by the company.

Background

  *   Fedcap Inc. is a U.S. based multinational non-profit social service provider, with operations in the U.K., Australia, and the United States. In February 2020 it was announced that FedCap was chosen by the Ford government to run Employment Ontario services for the combined service area of Hamilton, Haldimand and Niagara region in one of three pilot areas.

  *   FedCap Inc. received the contract to administer job placement services for welfare recipients for the State of Maine in October 2016. In 2019, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services wrote to the company with a long list of serious concerns, including:

•   *   a lack of capacity to fulfill its contractual obligations
•  *   poor performance
• *   poor record keeping of client’s personal information
• *   a lack of responsiveness to the needs of program participants
• *   48 per cent of people that were referred to them lost their assistance without securing a job (FedCap Monthly Report, Nov. 2019, pg 7)
•  *   65 unionized state employees lost their jobs after FedCap assumed the contract.

Watch Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch raise this issue in the Ontario legislature by clicking on the screen below – 

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

A Reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For More News And Commentary From Niagara At Large – An independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara Region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at www.niagaraatlarge.com .

“A Politician Thinks Of The Next Election. A Leader Thinks Of The Next Generation.” – Bernie Sanders

You Are Invited to a Community Sustainability Science Café hosted by the Brock University United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

A Free Public Gathering – Monday, March 2^nd, 6:30 p.m. at the Welland Public Library in downtown Welland, Ontario

Posted February 27th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

For more details, view the poster below –

A Footnote by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper –

The Niagara River is a major connecting channel in our Great Lakes and one of the most iconic, scenic and ecologically significant watersheds in the world.

Over the past 100 years it has faced its share of environmental threats from toxic chemical pollution to loss of wildlife habitat, including wetlands and woodlands, to poorly planned urban development. And often government bodies in Canada have been the first to step up to the plate with measures for protecting this precious watershed we share with our American neighbours.

But on this matter – that of getting what is known as a RAMSAR designation for wetlands in the Niagara River watershed – it is parties on the American side of the river, including local municipalities, citizen groups and private landowners, who got the job of ddesignattng this watershed as a globally significant wetland area done first.

Our American neighbours hosted a celebration last year as a wetland designation for their side of the Niagara River became official while Canadians were left watching. Continue reading →

Help the Nature Conservancy of Canada Improve Habitat for Brook Trout in Niagara’s Lathrop Nature Preserve in the Headwaters of Twelve Mile Creek

A painted turtle, one of a host of wildlife that make wetlands, watersheds and other natural areas in Niagara, Ontario their home. A photo by Cameron Curran for the Nature Conservancy of Canada

News from the Nature Conservancy of Canada

Posted February 27^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

The Lathrop Nature Preserve-ON-NCC_thumb

Niagara, Ontario – When you think of the Niagara region, you probably think about the Falls, wine or maybe the War of 1812.

But did you know that this popular tourist spot is actually one of the most biologically rich areas in Canada?

Surrounded by Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment, the region’s unique climate and ecosystems support a vast variety of species — many at the very northern edge of their ranges. Continue reading →

The Husband of Ontario’s Fifth Case Now Confirmed Positive

A News Release from the Ontario Ministry of Health

Posted February 27^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

TORONTO — Today (this February 27^th), Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health, confirmed that the husband of Ontario’s fifth case of COVID-19 has tested positive for the virus. The man, in his 60s, is currently in self-isolation.

“We are working alongside Toronto Public Health, who is now and will continue to be in regular contact with this individual during their self-isolation period,” said Dr. Williams. Continue reading →

News from the Ontario Health Coalition, a province-wide advocacy group for public health care

Posted February 26^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Ontario Health Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra address huge rally in Niagara Falls, Ontario on February 22nd

On Saturday February 22 at the Ontario PC Policy Conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario Premier Doug Ford delivered a tone-deaf speech, calling for a standing ovation for Minister of Education Stephen Lecce, saying they are doing a great job on health care, and crowing about expanding privatized liquor and beer.

Most of this was a rehash of his election stump speech. Weirdly, he conflated the thousands outside protesting his cuts and privatization of vital public services with the Liberals of Kathleen Wynne, blaming the protesters outside for “running the province into the ground”. Continue reading →

New initiative aimed at improving student safety and well-being

News from Ontario’s Ford Government

Posted February 26^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword to this from Doug Draper, reporter/publisher Niagara At Large –

Some of Niagara’s public school teachers picketing next to the Pen Centre Shopping Mall in St. Catharines, Ontario this February 21st, all part of a cross-Ontario mass strike action by more than 2,000 teachers. Photo by Doug Draper

If and when you read the following news release from the office of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s fully on side Education Minister Stephen Lecce, think of all of the elementary and secondary school teachers who are on the front line every day of the school year with students who are being bullied and with students who are bullies, and who are sometimes the targets of bullies themselves.

Doug Ford, who had a reputation for playing the bully when he was a Toronto city councillor and his late brother Rob was the city’s mayor, showing his stuff in 2013, when someone shouted criticism from the council’s public gallery

Those teachers have been out on picket lines, on rotating, one-day strikes, in recent months, fighting planned cuts to Ontario’s public education system by one of the biggest bullies of them all – Doug Ford.

If and when you read the following news release from Ford’s government, consider how much of what his government is recommending below will add to the amount of training and the amount of work these teachers will have to do – even as Ford is moving to significant reduce the number of teachers in the province, increase class sizes and cut hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for support staff, including guidance councelors, and other academic and classroom-related resources. Continue reading →

MPP Jennie Stevens says Doug Ford must put a stop to the renovictions crisis now hitting Niagara

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

Posted February 25th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens

QUEEN’S PARK – NDP NPP Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines) has demanded the Ford government put a stop to ‘renovictions’ and intimidation tactics by developers in this province, that’s leaving vulnerable people without a home and nowhere to go.

Stevens said that the scourge of renovictions, where long-time tenants are forced out by landlords using the excuse of renovations who then jack up rents, is now spreading to every corner of Ontario including St. Catharines in the Niagara region.

“This government has scrapped rent control on new units. They have sat by and allowed rents to skyrocket, and they have created an environment that encourages landlords to pursue aggressive and illegal renovictions,” said Stevens on Thursday during Question Period at the legislature. Continue reading →

‘Housing prices are skyrocketing in cities around the world. Incomes are not.

PUSH sheds light on a new kind of faceless landlord, our increasingly unliveable cities and an escalating crisis that has an effect on us all.’

An Invite to a Screening of PUSH, from the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network and The Film House in Niagara, Ontario

Posted on February 25th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – The Niagara Poverty Reduction Network (NPRN) has teamed up with United Way and The Film House (on 250 St. Paul Street in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario) to join us for this special learning event and screening of PUSH – a film documentary investigating housing across the globe.

PUSH – The Film is from award-winning director Fredrik Gertten featuringLeilani Farha, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing. Leilani investigates the factors that make housing one of today’s most pressing world issues.

A panel featuring the voices of local experiences and experts (Niagara resident Christina Thomas, Jeffrey Sinclair of the Niagara Region, and Elisabeth Zimmermann of the YWCA) will be moderated by Frances Hallworth, executive director of United Way Niagara following the film.

*Mark your calendar for Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 7pm to be at The Film House.*

This is a free, ticketed event. Make sure to reserve your ticket!

*GET YOUR TICKET HERE <https://firstontariopac.ca/Online/seatSelect.asp>!*

As always, should you have any questions, please feel free to connect back!

With kindness, Rachel Gillmore*

*Niagara Poverty Reduction Convener*

To learn more about the film and watch some of it, click on – <http://www.pushthefilm.com/>,

To learn more about the good community work of the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network, click on – https://www.wipeoutpoverty.ca/ .

To learn more about The Film House and what it is featuring, click on – https://firstontariopac.ca/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=FilmHouse&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=

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

A Reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For More News And Commentary From Niagara At Large – An independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara Region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at www.niagaraatlarge.com .

“A Politician Thinks Of The Next Election. A Leader Thinks Of The Next Generation.” – Bernie Sanders

This February 22nd, in Niagara Falls, the People Were Outside – Thousands of Them – and They’ve Got a lot of Beefs With You!

(This post reflects on the massive‘People Vs. Conservative Cuts’ Rally that took place outside the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls, Ontario this past Saturday, February 22^nd, while members of Ontario’s Ford government were inside, holding a two-day “policy convention.)

By Linda Babb, Niagara Falls resident, community activist and host of the popular online site, The Peoples’ Platform

Posted February 24th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

THIS is COMMUNITY COMING TOGETHER!

THIS is “holding space”, “holding and building the “vision” for what we can ALL create together.

Yes – there are “aspects” we dislike.

Yes – we are human and we complain about “stuff” that goes on.

But THIS is what happens when, as Kyle Hoskin says, we break free of the silos and what we think separates us. Collectively “people” do change things. Let’s keep that in mind as we progress towards a strong, liveable, vibrant community for everyone.

Now here is a great take on the massive February 22nd protest rally in Niagara Falls by Niagara resident and member of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1287 Kyle Hoskin –

These last three weeks have been a blur. So much organizing, so much planning. But it’s been worth it. Never mind the rally. The work leading up to it was the best part. Organizing and mobilizing this community these last two weeks has been the proudest moment one of my life. Continue reading →

Governments Ordering Police On To Traditional First Nations Lands Clash With and Arrest Indigenous People

We’ve Come a Long Way from “Sunny Ways”, Reconciliation and the Promise of a Real Climate Plan, Mr. Prime Minister. You’ve Blown It!

A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher           Doug Draper

Posted February 24^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Indenous people rally in Niagara Falls, Ontario earlier this February in support of support land rights and pipeline blockades. photo by Doug Draper

When you have political leaders like the one Canada currently has in the Prime Minister’s office who has no clear vision or plan, let alone the strength or  courage to  follow through on it, it is should not come as a surprising to anyone that you end up with people on all sides of an issue who end up feeling confused, frustrated, angry and betrayed, and who sometimes even resort to civil disobedience and violence.

Before I comment further, click on the screen below and watch the video, posted by APTN News (a national media outlet from and for Canada’s First Nation People) on the clash that took place between Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and Indigenous people on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in Ontario this Monday, February 24^th.

And while you are watching, consider the possibility that it did not have to come to this if we had real political leadership in this country–

In my view, we cannot ultimately blame either side – the police or the Indigenous people – for what we just saw here. Continue reading →

One of the many inhabitants of Waverly Woods near the shores of Lake Erie in Fort Erie, Ontario

Like Thundering Waters in Niagara Falls, this natural heritage gem in Fort Erie, Ontario is one more of our ever fewer green places in Niagara being targeted for Urban Development

A Message from Marcie Jacklin, for the Niagara, Ontario based citizens group Community Voices of Fort Erie

Posted February 24^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Hello everyone.

I’m thrilled to let you know that we gained over 120 signatures last week mostly from people in St. Catharines and Buffalo who have been to Waverly Woods but didn’t know what was happening.

We now have 5,367 signatures!

Inside Waverly Woods in Fort Erie, Ontario. How many more places like this in our region are we willing to lose in an era of growing wildlife losses and climate crisis?

So what is happening. The Hearing date is set for May 25, 2020. Our experts are busy preparing for the best outcome.  Continue reading →

Regional Councillor Peter Nicholson’s Bewildering Bid to have Region Reconsider Suing Caslin and Company is Swiftly Shot Down

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

Posted February 21st, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Region has slapped former regional chair Al Caslin with a $500,000 lawsuit

Despite a last-minute bid by a Niagara Falls Regional Councillor Peter Nicholson to throw a wrench into the works, Niagara Region’s council voted 24 to 1 to pursue lawsuits against former Niagara Regional chair Al Caslin, the Region’s former CAO Carmen D’Angelo and two other key players in what has come to be known as the ‘CAO hiring scandal.

The almost unanimous vote – recorded during the end of this past Thursday, February 20^th’ regional council meeting – brought a quick end to Nicholson’s out-of-the-blue motion to reconsider filing lawsuits against the four, which also include former regional policy director Robert D’Amboise and former communications director Jason Tamming.

This is good news for countless residents across Niagara who have been following the unfolding details of this sordid affair, going back to the events leading up to  Caslin and he regional council of the day hiring Carmen D’Angelo to the $250,000-plus job of chief administrative officer (CAO) of what is a more than a billion-dollars-a-year public corporation.

What is also good news is that this past Wednesday, February 19^th, possibly unbeknownst to most, if not all on the Region’s council, lawyers for the Region had already filed a statement of claim in the Ontario courts against Caslin, D’Amboise and Tamming, suing the trio for a total of $850,000.

The claim breaks down to $500,000 against Caslin, $250,000 against D’Amboise and $100,000 against Tamming.

Continue reading →

“Mayor Diodati is Trumpian in his vendetta against a Councillor who he appears to dislike and who consistently votes and speaks her mind.”

A Call of Support for the Councillor from A Better Niagara, a Niagara-wide citizen watchdog group

Posted February 20^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

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

The outspoken Niagara Falls City Councillor Carolynn Ioannoni, loved by many citizen activiists across Niagara, but often at outs with Niagara Falls’ Mayor Jim Diodati and others on the council.

When I first read the news earlier this February that Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodiati and a majority on his council had moved hyper harshly to punish one of their own, City Councillor Carolynn Ioannoni, by suspending her council pay for 90 days and removing her from all committees and boards for the rest of the council term, my head was left spinning.

My thoughts immediately went back to a few weeks earlier to a January 30^th public meeting in Niagara Falls, Ontario, where more than 200 residents came out, many of them to voice their opposition to a controversial proposal – supported by Diodati and a majority on his council – to urbanize property within metres of provincially significant wetlands inside a place known as Thundering Water Forest.

Among the very first to speak, Ioannoni received applause from the gathering when she leaned into a microphone and told  representatives of the corporation responsible for the proposal; “I don’t think you would have a room full of people here because they believe that the wetlands are going to be preserved.” Continue reading →

We, the People, deserve to see justice done in this matter

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

Posted February 19^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

What gives with first-term Niagara Falls Regional Councillor Peter Nicholson? Why is he reportedly having second throughts about the Region filing a lawsuit against former CAO Carmen D’Angleo, former regional chair Al Caslin and two others?

What gives with the freshman regional councillor from Niagara Falls, Peter Nicholson?

If a story on the front page of February 19^th edition of the St. Catharines Standard is correct, this  regional councillor wants fellow members of Niagara Region’s council to reconsider a motion they reportedly passed in closed session this past January to file lawsuits against four of the main players in what has become commonly known as the ‘tainted CAO hiring scandal’ – what Ontario’s Ombudsman dubbed an “inside job” in a report he released he released last November – that rocked and ravaged our Niagara regional government as a credible, functioning public body over the past four or five years.

The four individuals our Regional Council reportedly voted this January to file lawsuits against are the former CAO at the heart of the hiring, Carmen D’Angelo, former Niagara regional chair Al Caslin, a former regional policy director Robert D’Amboise and former communications director Jason Tamming. Continue reading →

The Provincially Significant Wetlands in Thundering Waters Forest – in the long-troubled waters of our Bi-National Niagara River Watershed – Should Not Be Paved Around At All!

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

Posted February 14th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Let me segue into yet another call for saving Thundering Waters Forest and the rich abundance of wetlands inside this jewel of a place in our bi-national Niagara River watershed this way.

A look inside the wetlands-rich Thundering Waters Forest in the Niagara River watershed.

At a meeting this past February 12th of Niagara Region’s planning and economic development committee, Wayne Redekop, a member of the committee and Mayor of the Town of Fort Erie, said  the following before the committee was about to defer any decision on a request by Ontario’s wine industry to relax rules over what then can do on Niagara Escarpment lands – some of which are designated, through the United Nations, as a globally significant “biosphere reserve.”

Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop believes that in this age of climate change, our region has to do everything possible to save what is left of our natural heritage

“Our interest is obviously in ensuring that we have a vibrant economy,” Redekop told fellow members of the committee. “But we also have an interest in ensuring that we protect natural heritage features.”

“And for as long as I have been here,” he added, “we have heard people talk about what a great area Niagara is to live, to do business and to raise a family. And I am trying to get my head around how do we do that if we don’t have some regard for what people really do think is significant about Niagara. And that is our natural heritage.”

“With all of the stuff that is happening with respect to climate change, the Fort Erie mayor concluded, “with the significance of biodiversity, I am really not supportive of …eroding the natural heritage area that we’ve got in Niagara, whether it is NEC, whether it is the greenbelt, whether it is the wetlands in Fort Erie.  I think we’ve got to keep our eye on the ball.” Continue reading →

“Niagara Health has a bright future ahead of it and it’s because of our people…. I’m very impressed by the professionalism, care, and compassion of everyone here.” – Lynn Guerriero

News from Niagara Health, Niagara, Ontario’s amalgamated system of hospitals

Posted February 18th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Health’s new president, Lynn Guerriero

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Health is welcoming our new president, Lynn Guerriero, to her role today. Ms. Guerriero will play a critical role in helping us achieve our purpose of extraordinary caring to every person, every time.

“I’m excited to join Niagara Health, which has such dedicated staff, physicians, learners, volunteers, and board members,” said Ms. Guerriero. “Niagara Health has a bright future ahead of it and it’s because of our people. As I learn more about the organization, I’m very impressed by the professionalism, care, and compassion of everyone here.”

“Lynn is strongly committed to providing patients and families with extraordinary caring in every aspect of their experience. With her passion and deep understanding of healthcare, she was the unanimous choice of the selection committee and is an outstanding executive leader who will be a positive presence at Niagara Health,” said Mr. John Bragagnolo, Chair of the Board of Directors at Niagara Health. Continue reading →

This School Board Owes Trustee Kate Baggott and All of Her Constituents an Apology

“To think is sacred; let every person think freely!

“To express what you think is sacred; let every person express his thought freely! If you do this, you prove that you are a conscientious and a moral human being!

“If you don’t do this, you just declare yourself being fascist!”

―Mehmet Murat ildan, Turkish playwright and writer, world-renown for his work, including his play on the legendary activist and advocate for non-violent protest against oppressors, Mahatma Gandhi

A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted February 16^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

This Niagara school board trustee, Kate Baggott, gets publicly pilloried by the board for having the nerve to communicate with a parent who has concerns

Let’s revisit for a second or so more the point that Mehmet Murat ildan makes about living and operating in a world where we can express our thoughts freely.

Is there anyone out there, aside from the kind of person who would support a politician like Donald Trump, who doesn’t believe there something sacred about that?

If you truly believe that the right to express ourselves freely should be a guiding principle for living in a healthy, functioning democracy, then the answer to any question about how sacred or sacrosanct that is should be a no-brainer.

It should be, but apparently it isn’t such an easy question to answer these days  at the District School Board of Niagara (DSBN). Continue reading →

“He’s now president for life. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot           someday.” – U.S. President Trump, seemingly “joking” to an adoring audience of supporters  at a May 2018 Florida fundraiser about a power grab that had just been made by China’s president, Xi Jinping, to rule his country for life

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

Posted on this Presidents Day in Trumpland, February 17^th, 2020

“Donald Trump is functionally a monarch at this point. … If the king does it, it’s okay.”                                                              – American historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Jon Meacham, shortly after Moscow Mitch delivered Trump an acquittal shortly after the sham of an “impeachment trial” held in what is left of the U.S. Senate this January

“Every public official that I know believes that his election (in 2020) is in the public interest,” said Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard University law professor, acquaintance of convicted sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein  and member of Trump’s legal team from hell, during what so many mainstream American media lemmings dutifully called an “impeachment trial.” Continue reading →

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh

“Today in Canada, one-in-five Canadians – close to 7.5 million people – either has no drug coverage at all or effectively has no coverage due to high deductibles and co-payments. As a result, nearly three million Canadians do not take their medication as prescribed because they cannot afford it – leading to hundreds of preventable deaths every year.”                                                             – Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh

News from Canada’s New Democratic Party

Posted February 14th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

 Ottawa, Ontario – This week, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh sent a letter to Premier Doug Ford to update the government of Ontario on the NDP’s plan to bring in pharmacare for all and to seek his government’s support to make sure every person in Ontario is covered.

“New Democrats know that sky-high prices put enormous pressure on the provinces. In fact, prescription drugs are now the second largest spending category in Canadian healthcare, costing more than physicians’ services,” said Singh. Continue reading →

An International Celebration of Winter Birds in our Bi-National Niagara River Corrirdor – Identified as a “Globally Significant Important Bird Area”

A Great Snowy Owl on the Niagara River. Photo courtesy of Jay Burney

An Invite to All from the Niagara Falls Nature Club and Bert Miller Nature Club in Niagara, Ontario and the Buffalo Audubon Society in Western New York

Posted February 14th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara’s three naturalist clubs have partnered with Niagara Parks and several organizations on the US side of the river to welcome birders; from beginners to experts to get outside and experience the stunning natural beauty of the Niagara River corridor.

Photo courtesy of Jay Burney

Hundreds of thousands of birds representing over 40 species of waterfowl, including colourful ducks, and sociable swans, snowy owls, gulls and other birds visit here from the north and can be found on the Niagara River during the winter. Continue reading →

The laugh is on we, the people! Did you vote for up to an 11 per cent hike on your auto insurance premiums?

Doug Ford dings Ontario drivers with another insurance rate hike

Auto Insurance Rates Expected to Soar as High as          11 Per Cent in Ontario 

News from Ontario’s Official Opposition New Democratic Party

Posted February 11th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

QUEEN’S PARK – Tom Rakocevic, Ontario NDP Auto Insurance critic, released the following statement in response to news that some Ontario drivers will be paying up to 11 per cent more for auto insurance this year as rates continue to climb in the province:

Get your stacks of cash ready, if you have any. More of it needs to go to some of the businesses that fund the Ford Tories’ election campaigns

“It’s wrong for the Ford government to let auto insurers pile on with another rate hike as Ontario drivers struggle to keep up with skyrocketing auto insurance rates.

Adding insult to injury, Doug Ford campaigned on lowering auto insurance rates and he’s turned around and done the exact opposite, driving premiums up and up.

This confirms that there is no relief in sight for Ontarians as Doug Ford’s Conservatives pick up where the Liberals left off. Continue reading →

“Ontario is required to consider climate change before exempting forestry from environmental assessment. … This didn’t happen for Temagami,”                                                                                            – Joshua Ginsberg, a lawyer with Ecojustice’s law clinic at the University of Ottawa.

These old=growth trees have been standing in Ontario’s Temagami Forest for hundreds of years. Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his Tories across the province would have them cut down in a matter of days without a proper review of the consequences.

“These 400-year-old trees are not something that is a sustainable harvest. You’re not talking about regrowing them. … They started growing before Champlain discovered this part of the world, “We’re not talking about a cycle of regrowth and return.We’re talking about ancient creatures that have acquired and protected this carbon for centuries.”                                             – Gord Miller, a former Environmental Commissioner for Ontario and now Chair of  Earthroots, an Ontario-based grassroots conservation organization

A News Release from Ecojustice, Canada’s largest environmental law charity, and the Ontario-based environmental groups Earthroots and Friends of Temagami

Posted February 10th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Don’t simply let more of this happen in Ontario’s Temagami Forest

Ecojustice lawyers, on behalf of Earthroots and Friends of Temagami, have filed a lawsuit against the Ford government for refusing to take into account climate-related considerations in its forestry management plan for Temagami.

“Ontario is required to consider climate change before exempting forestry from environmental assessment. When this condition is not met, the environment ministry is legally required to kick-start the individual environmental assessment process. This didn’t happen for Temagami,” said Joshua Ginsberg, lawyer with Ecojustice’s law clinic at the University of Ottawa.

“This is a systemic problem across the province where climate-related impacts are left out of the picture for Ontario’s forests despite the legal requirement for it to be included.”

In Ontario, forestry management plans benefit from a class-based exemption from environmental assessment, provided the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) addresses a list of mandatory conditions, including efforts toward climate change mitigation and carbon management. Continue reading →

‘Ontario’s industrial carbon pricing plan is weaker than the federal system, and was tabled after the deadline set by  Ottawa needs to stand firm and keep the existing federal system in place.’

“Ontario has been openly hostile to the environment and has taken this country backward in the fight against climate change,” – Keith Brooks, Programs Director at Environmental Defence Canada

An Urgent Call-Out from Environmental Defence Canada, Burlington Green, the David Suzuki Foundation and 27 other environmental organizations across Ontario and Canada

Posted February 10, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario – Over 30 Canadian environmental organizations sent a letter to 85 Ontario MPs calling on them to urge the federal government to keep Canada’s industrial carbon pricing policy in place in Ontario, and not approve the province’s weaker proposed system.

Ontario’s proposed system would give polluters a big break by putting a price on far fewer emissions than the current federal system. There is no justification for giving Ontario’s inferior proposal a pass, the groups said. Continue reading →

The Antarctic’s “immense ice sheet is up to 4.8 kilometres thick and contains 90 per cent of the world’s fresh water, enough to raise sea level by around 60 metres, were it all to melt.”                  – Experts in the United Nations’ global weather agency

Aerial view of melting glaciers on King George Island, Antarctica. UN Photo

News from the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization Posted February 10th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A Foreword from Doug Draper, a veteran environment writer, and a reporter and publisher of Niagara At Large –

Anyone who still thinks that the melting of our planet’s polar ice caps – happening much faster than experts predicted even 10 or 20 years ago – is not going to have a drastic impact on climate conditions for all of us – conditions that lead to even more costly and devastating floods, droughts, wildfires, violent windstorms and the collapse of plant and animal species – has not been paying attention to the science and the growing number of expert reports on what is going on.

Save Thundering Waters – 

The more I read reports like this latest one from experts at the United Nations, the less patience I find myself having for the provincial and municipal politicians and bureaucrats in our Niagara region who refuse to think globally and act locally to do whatever needs to be done to join the world in addressing what countless thousands of experts now agree is a full-blown climate emergency.

A look inside the wetlands-rich Thundering Waters Forest in the Niagara River watershed.

When I read this report, one of the first things I thought of was that young Niagara mother at a recent public meeting in Niagara Falls, asking for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer out of Helen Chang, the president of a China-based company pressing to do urban development in the wetlands-rich Thundering Waters, to the question; “Do you believe we face a climate emergency?” Continue reading →

The Antarctic’s “immense ice sheet is up to 4.8 kilometres thick and contains 90 per cent of the world’s fresh water, enough to raise sea level by around 60 metres, were it all to melt.”                  – Experts in the United Nations’ global weather agency

Aerial view of melting glaciers on King George Island, Antarctica. UN Photo

News from the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization

Posted February 9th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A Foreword from Doug Draper, a veteran environment writer, and a reporter and publisher of Niagara At Large –

Anyone who still thinks that the melting of our planet’s polar ice caps – happening much faster than experts predicted even 10 or 20 years ago – is not going to have a drastic impact on climate conditions for all of us – conditions that lead to even more costly and devastating floods, droughts, wildfires, violent windstorms and the collapse of plant and animal species – has not been paying attention to the science and the growing number of expert reports on what is going on.

Save Thundering Waters – 

The more I read reports like this latest one from experts at the United Nations, the less patience I find myself having for the provincial and municipal politicians and bureaucrats in our Niagara region who refuse to think globally and act locally to do whatever needs to be done to join the world in addressing what countless thousands of experts now agree is a full-blown climate emergency.

A look inside the wetlands-rich Thundering Waters Forest in the Niagara River watershed.

When I read this report, one of the first things I thought of was that young Niagara mother at a recent public meeting in Niagara Falls, asking for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer out of Helen Chang, the president of a China-based company pressing to do urban development in the wetlands-rich Thundering Waters, to the question; “Do you believe we face a climate emergency?” Continue reading →

Governor Andrew Cuomo Calls Trump’s Move “Politically Motivated,” and a Form of “Extortion”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ready to take Trump administration to court over move to mess up matters for New Yorkers wanting to cross Canada/U.S. border

“Time and time again President Trump and his Washington enablers have gone out of their way to hurt New York and other blue states whenever they can as punishment for refusing to fall in line with their dangerous and divisive agenda.”                           – New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

News from the Office of New York State Government Andrew Cuomo

Posted February 9^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

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

If you are wondering why an online news and commentary site in Niagara, Ontario is posting yet another news release on Trump’s move to make it harder for law-abiding New Yorkers to gain access to services that make it easier to cross the Peace Bridge and other U.S./Canada border crossings, it is out of concern for what collateral damage this move could do to people and to economies on both sides of the border.

Trump has already shown hostility toward Canada. What else might he do to hurt relations between the two countries?

Who knows what further steps this erratic and vengeful president may take next?

Could he take steps that makes crossing a Canada/U.S. border that feeds countless billions of dollars in back-and-forth business each year to both countries even more difficult, if not impracticable or impossible? Continue reading →

50 Million Tree Program Reduces Tree Planting Costs for Landowners in the Niagara Watershed

Forests Ontario has planted almost 600,000 trees in the Niagara region

A Call-Out to Tree Lovers in Niagara from Forests Ontario, a not-for-profit charity organization in the province, dedicated to planting trees

Posted February 7^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

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

Early this past year, Ontario’s Ford Government confirmed once again that when it comes to protecting and preserving our natural environment, it could care less.

In April 2019, much to the chagrin of many tree lovers across Ontario, and Conservation Authorities, including the Niagara Pensinula Conservation Authority, that work with landowners and community volunteers to plant trees for the future, the Ford government decided to completely cut more than $4 million in annual funding to the charity group, Forests Ontario, 50 Million Tree Program, effectively killing it.

Fortunately, Canada’s Trudeau Government decided in June 2019, to step in and cover the cost of the program – a move that will hopefully keep it going, in an era of climate crisis when we need trees more than ever before, for many years to come.

Now here is a February 7^th, 2020 news release from Forests, Ontario, encouraging landowners and others in the Niagara Watershed to step forward and help with the continuation of planting trees for present and future generations. –

A News Release from Forests Ontario, February 7th, 2020 – 

Planting trees in our province, Photo courtesy of Forests Ontario

Property owners in the Niagara watershed plan to plant more than 45,000 trees in 2020 under Forests Ontario 50 Million Tree Program (50 MTP), according to new data.

Forests Ontario recently modified the program’s criteria. In the past, landowners needed to commit to planting on 2.5 acres of land to participate in the 50 MTP, but now anyone with room to plant a minimum of 500 trees may apply. Though planting sites vary, 500 trees can usually be planted on less than one acre.

“The 50 MTP is better and more accessible than ever,” said Rob Keen, Registered Professional Forester and CEO of Forests Ontario. “The new, expanded criteria opens the program to more land and property owners, meaning more trees in the ground. It’s a win-win for landowners, who save on tree planting costs, and for the environment.” Continue reading →

Cars and trucks lined up to clear homeland security on the U.S. side of the Peace Bridge

“Over 16.8 million truck and passenger vehicle crossings occurred on New York bridges in 2018, including more than 11.79 million right here on Western New York’s four northern border bridges. This (Trump) … threatens the future viability of Western New York’s commerce, auto manufacturing, health care and cultural economies that are highly dependent of predictable and efficient access to and from Southern Ontario. … Make no mistake, the White House actions will directly and indirectly hurt all of us.”                                                                                                       – Buffalo, New York area Congressman Brian Higgins

A Statement from U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins, Buffalo, New York

Posted February 7^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

On Trump Administration Policy Excluding All New Yorkers from New Enrollment in Trusted Traveler Program

Trump is now moving to make it harder for Americans, including commercial vehicles, to cross Canada/U.S. borders like the Peace Bridge

“White House actions against New York and Western New York trusted travelers are punitive and unacceptable. We are already receiving calls from Western New York residents in the final stages of trusted traveler enrollment who are being turned away today, and others confused as a result of this hasty, heavy handed and ill-conceived decision.

“Over 16.8 million truck and passenger vehicle crossings occurred on New York bridges in 2018, including more than 11.79 million right here on Western New York’s four northern border bridges. Continue reading →

The WNY (Western New York) for Bernie Team is holding a Fundraiser in Buffalo, New York on Sunday, February 9^th, 2020 at 6 p.m.

If You You Are Still ‘Feeling The Bern’, Read Below for Details

Bernie Sanders at a huge rally in the Buffalo area during the 2026 primaries

A Call-Out from the WNY for Bernie Team

Posted February 7^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Welcome to the WNY for Bernie mailing list!

It’s an indisputable fact that Bernie won the popular vote in Iowa! Energy is high and the Bernie campaign just pulled in 25 million dollars in January. Lets keep the momentum going!

How you say?

Continue reading →

Honour it by reading books or by watching some good documentaries about black history, and or by attending some of the events planned for Black History Month in our greater Niagara region

A Brief One from Doug Draper, NAL

Posted February 5^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Wilma Morrison has possibly done more than anyone else in Niagara to archive black history in the region. She has received the Order of Ontario and numerous other awards for her many years of volunteer work.

As many bad actors committing bad acts we have weathered in Niagara over the past number of years, it is important to remind ourselves that, among our ranks, we have good people doing, or at least trying to do  good things in this region too.

If you follow Niagara At Large on a fairly regular basis, and I hope you do, I hope that you also know that, along with watchdogging bad actors, I also like to use this site as a platform for paying tribute to some of those good people too.

And when we turn the pages of the calendar to February and to Black History Month, one of the very first of the good people who come to my mind each year is Wilma Morrison, a Niagara Falls, Ontario. Continue reading →

“Let’s make sure we can promise Ontarians, going forward, that we’re doing everything we can to protect their families.”                – Andrea Horwath, leader of Ontario’s Official Opposition       New Democratic Party.

News from Ontario’s NDP/Official Opposition Party

Posted February 5^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Ontario NDP and Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath

Queen’s Park, Ontario – Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is calling on Doug Ford to return public health to 2019 funding levels, and commit to undertaking a review of the novel coronavirus outbreak response to determine future provincial funding levels.

“I am so grateful to public health unit staff, and frontline health care and emergency services workers that have been protecting us all from this latest coronavirus outbreak, and caring for those affected in Ontario,” said Horwath. “The response of our public health staff in the face of the novel coronavirus has been outstanding, and we need to keep it that way. Continue reading →

An Invite to All from the Niagara District Council of Women

Posted February 5th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

INVITES  YOU TO  A WEDNESDAY  FEBRUARY   12^TH  PUBLIC MEETING

IMPROVING  NIAGARA’S HEALTH SERVICES – Everyone has a Role to Play

8 p.m.St. Catharines Central Library 54 Church Street, St. Catharines, Ontario 

SPEAKER: MADELYN LAW

Associate Vice Provost Teaching and Learning and Assistant Professor Health Science, Brock University

For more information on the Niagara District Council of Women, click on – http://ndcw.ca/

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

A Reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For More News And Commentary From Niagara At Large – An independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara Region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at www.niagaraatlarge.com .

“A Politician Thinks Of The Next Election. A Leader Thinks Of The Next Generation.” – Bernie Sanders

‘Destroying our environment, damaging our homes, risking our lives and those of our children and grandchildren because of wilful neglect to address climate change cannot be allowed.’

A Commentary by Brigitte Bonner, a long-time environmental advocate living in Fort Erie, Ontario

Posted February 4^th, 2020 in Niagara At Large

I am totally appalled by the lack of action by politicians on climate change.

A kangaroo attempting to flee from the fires engulfing Australia

Even more sickening is the active ways that many of them are promoting policies that directly cause climate destruction. This needs to stop now!

The raging fires that are causing up to a billion animal deaths in Australia are one example.

 Cruelty to animals is against the law.  So why is this massacre not being punished?

These fires are potentially wiping out thousands of species and entire ecosystems. Not to mention the devastation to humans because of politicians’ neglect to protect the environment and purposely promoting destructive environmental policies.

Koala bears, suffering from burns they received in the wildfires of Australia. There are estimates that more than a billion animals have perished in these fires, fueled by climate change

Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, is only one example.

President Bolsonaro in Brazil is actively promoting deforestation of the Amazon Rain Forest, leading to devastating and unprecedented fires. Continue reading →

On Thursday, February 6^th at 6 p.m. on the Second floor of the Crane Library on 633 Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo, New York

An Invite to a Community Solar Forum from the Sierra Club’s Niagara Group in Buffalo

Posted February 4^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

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

The Sierra Cub group has had a long history of hosting public forums and meetings on topics that matter to the health and welfare of communities we should all want to live in.

So it is always a pleasure to post information about the public meetings they are hosting, like this one –

For more information on the Sierra Club Niagara Group, click on – https://niagarasierraclub.com/

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

A Reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For More News And Commentary From Niagara At Large – An independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara Region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at http://www.niagaraatlarge.com .

“A Politician Thinks Of The Next Election. A Leader Thinks Of The Next Generation.” – Bernie Sanders

One of the Niagara region’s largest employers set to fill over 500 student and seasonal positions

Job Fair Dates – Saturday, February 8^th and Saturday, March 7^th (read details below)

News from Ontario’s Niagara Parks Commission

Posted February 4th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls, Ontario – The Niagara Parks Commission, one of the region’s largest employers with over 1,700 full-time and seasonal employees, will host two Job Fairs on Saturday, February 8 and Saturday, March 7 at Niagara Parks’ Legends on the Niagara Golf Complex.

Annual Job Fairs allow Niagara Parks to showcase the seasonal job opportunities that exist within the Commission each year, while providing individuals with an opportunity to connect directly with various departmental hiring managers. Representatives from Niagara Parks’ Human Resources Department will also be on-hand to help answer any questions. Continue reading →

“We’ve put up with this mess for too long,” says (St. Catharines) resident Susan Rosebrugh, who has been demonstrating Wednesday mornings on Ontario Street (where the GM property is located). “I won’t be done until I see some real progress.”

The abandoned General Motors site off Ontario Street in St. Catharines, Niagara – a rotting eyesore near residential neighbourhoods and the city’s downtown

A News Release from the Niagara citizens group, Coalition for a Better St. Catharines

Posted February 2^nd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A look inside the abandoned industrial mess near downtown St. Catharines

Niagara, Ontario – Over 2,000 residents of St. Catharines have asked the City to make the GM Lands safe and secure by signing a petition organized by the citizens group Coalition for A Better St. Catharines. At least 90% of the signatures were collected in person with additional signatures coming from an online portal found on the group’s Facebook page.

The petition drive has been ongoing for about 30 days and continues via volunteers in the neighbourhoods adjoining the half demolished former manufacturing site.

“It is no problem getting signatures,” says Coalition for A Better St. Catharines organizer Peter Russell. “In fact, wherever I go people ask to sign the petition. They thank me for helping to get the community organized behind this action.” Continue reading →

Chamber Calls on Ford Government to Offer Businesses Incentives “to hire and retain full-time workers, especially younger workers.”

News from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Posted February 3rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario –The Government of Ontario has issued a call for submissions in its pre-budget consultations, and the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce (GNCC) will offer suggestions for the 2020 budget.

The vision of the GNCC is to see the Niagara region at its social and economic best, and the Chamber will be presenting policy options that would support not only business growth, but general prosperity. Continue reading →

“Vaughan Working Families” – the name of the group posted on the ad – “looks like a shell group, and Ontarians deserve to know where the piles of money to attack teachers is coming from.” – Ontario NDP MPP Ethics and Accountability Critic Taras Natyshak

News from Ontario’s New Democratic Party

Posted February 3^rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

So far, no one can contact anyone from the group that put this out, raising suspicions that some “shell group” may be involved.

(A Brief Foreword Note from Doug Draper, Niagara At Large –

This call for an investigation will be interesting to watch given concerns raised in other regions, including Niagara, in recent years that there may be entities out there, including online sites posturing as news media outlets, that are shells for one special interest group or another, or for certain political groups.

There were also suspicions last year that Ontario’s Ford government was using those stickers it was ordering gas stations to put on their pumps, opposing the federal government’s so-called “carbon tax,” as a way of using provincial tax money to help the Scheer Conservatives in a federal election. It is somewhat surprising that the federal Liberal government has not filed a complaint with Elections Canada about that.)

Queen’s Park, Ontario — The NDP has called on Elections Ontario to investigate advertising by a group calling itself “Vaughan Working Families.” The anonymous group placed full-page political advertisements that attack teachers in weekend newspapers — ads which appear to violate Ontario’s political advertising laws. Continue reading →

What is Left of Niagara’s Biodiversity is WORTH FAR MORE  than this Billion-Dollar Development Monstrosity proposed for Niagara Falls

A Call-Out to All of Us from the region-wide citizens watchdog group, A Better Niagara

Posted February 2^nd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper –

I urge you to read the following and use the links in this post, for contact information for the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) and Niagara Region representatives, to press our decision-makers to do everything they can to save our sprawling Thundering Waters, with its many acres of wetlands, woodlands and savannah grasses, before it is to late.

Now Here is the Call-Out from A Better Niagara – 

Time for Thundering Waters is running out and the need to make your voice heard is urgent. The NPCA and the Region will decide what they will allow on the site in the next few days.

Those who oppose the development of Thundering Waters must write the NPCA and the Region, copying the Niagara Falls Council now (email addresses listed below). Continue reading →

Paving Paradise – Gutting Planning Rules Sacrifices Natural Heritage to Urban Sprawl

“They paved paradise, put up a parking lot. …”– Joni Mitchell, from Big Yellow Taxi, 1969 

A Brief Introduction by Doug Draper, February 2nd, 2020  – 

Here we now are in the second decade of the 21^st Century, with a potentially catastrophic climate emergency facing us down, and we still have individuals in decision-making positions and developers, stuck in the last century and ready to pave over even more of what’s left of Niagara’s natural heritage.

Among the more precious places that these dinosaurs in the development industry and public office are looking to wreak havoc on now are Waverly Woods in Fort Erie and Thundering Waters in Niagara Falls.

I wrote and posted the following Foreword piece in July of 2019 to a commentary I wrote while I was still working as an environment reporter at The St. Catharines Standard in the 1980s and 90s.

That commentary, on the costly , destructive impact of run-away, urban sprawl on our communities and on our environment is unfortunately still relevant, thanks to those dinosaurs in the development industry and who we still, tragically, still have in public office who opt for unsustainable growth over a healthy, sustainable future for present and future generations.

How sad and disturbing it is that commentary I wrote more than two decades ago is still relevant today.

Here it all is –

A Foreword by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted February 2nd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

To repeat one of those mangled phrases made famous by the late New York Yankees baseball legend Yogi Berra; “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford pitches for “business” at almost any cost to the environment.

It is a phrase that seems fitting in Ontario these days as the province’s current premier, Doug Ford, and his Tory government take us back a couple of decades to the dark years of Ford’s old friend and mentor, former Tory premier Mike Harris, when cutting and gutting policies and programs for protecting what is left of our natural heritage to unleashing low -density urban sprawl was the rule of the day. 

Doug Ford, then still leader of the opposition Ontario PC Party, in Niagara Falls, already pledging  to make Ontario “open for business” in the weeks leading up to the June, 2018 provincial election. Continue reading →

“I don’t think you have a room full of people (from across Niagara) here because they believe that the wetlands are going to be preserved.” – Carolynn Ioannoni, one of the all too few Niagara Falls city councillors opposed to the controversial Thundering Waters development project, speaking to representatives for the developers at a public meeting this January 30th

It was standing room only at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls, Ontario for a public meeting on conroversial plans to urbanize the Thundering Waters Forest

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

Posted January 31st, 2020 on Niagara At Large

It was a heated public meeting, to say the least.

Niagara citizens making their statement at a public meeting over plans to contaminate a Thundering Waters Forest rich with wetlands with urban sprawl.

The big room in Niagara Falls’ Gale Centre was full – there were more than 200 people and there was standing room only – and you could cut the anger and the lack of any further patience for the proposal at hand with a knife.

And the overriding message that this large gathering of Niagara citizens – young people and old, and parents and their grandparents concerned for their children’s future – had for a China-based developer called GR (CAN) Investments, and for Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati and those on his city council who have shamelessly rode shotgun for this foreign development group could not have been more clear.

That message, to the China-based developer and to Diodati and the majority on his council, was this – ‘How much of we don’t want you setting a foot inside Thundering Waters Forest with our buzz saws and bulldozers do you not understand?”

Diodati, not so surprisingly, was not in that room this January 30^th to hear it. Continue reading →

Creating a ‘Geopark’ designation in Niagara for Recognizing and Protecting our Geological Heritage

A Free Public Discussion – On Monday, February 3^rd, 2020 at 6:30 P.M at the Main (downtown) Branch of the Welland Public Library

An Invite from Jocelyn Baker and the Brock University United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Posted January 31st, 2020 on Niagara At Large

You are invited by the Brock University United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair, Community Sustainability: From Local to Global to a Community Sustainability Science.

Café Series

The winter 2020 series aims to present the different United Nations designations that are already existing or are coming to the Niagara region. These cafes are a great opportunity to learn about the various designations and the benefits that they can bring to our community. Continue reading →

‘All of this plastic pollution is ending up in the food that we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe.’

Plastic waste washed up along the shores of the Great Lakes

A Statement from Vito Buonsante, Plastics Program Manager at Environmental Defence, on the federal government’s Draft Science Assessment of Plastic Pollution

Posted January 31, 2020 on Niagara A Large

A poster circulated in 2019 by the Alliance for the Great Lakes. a lakes-wide citizens group that has been fighting plastic and other forms of pollution in the Great Lakes now for years.

Toronto, Onario – The federal government’s Draft Science Assessment of Plastic Pollution confirms what we already know: plastic pollution is everywhere and that urgent action is needed to stop it.

Plastics are harming wildlife and possibly human health. According to the assessment’s findings, 29,000 tonnes of plastics escape into the environment in Canada annually.

All of this plastic pollution is ending up in the food that we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. Meanwhile, wildlife are getting entangled in it or are ingesting it, causing injury or even death. Continue reading →

St. Catharines MPP demands action to fix  shortage of PSWs (personal support workers) in long-term care homes

A Statement from St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens

Posted January 30^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens

St. Catharines, Ontario  — NDP MPP Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines) has released a statement in response to a new report from the Ontario Health Coalition revealing that over the last decade, the number of support hours provided to residents in long-term care has gone down despite an increase in demand due to a shortage of trained personal support workers (PSWs).

“Residents in long-term care are not getting the level of care they deserve, while thousands more are left to languish on wait lists, often stuck on gurneys in overcrowded hospital hallways and emergency rooms. Continue reading →

Breaking News from the World Health Organization

Posted January 30th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Note from Niagara At Large – This brief media advisory was posted on the afternoon of Thursday, January 30^th, 2020.)

Following the advice of the Emergency Committee today, WHO Director-General has declared the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

In China, more than 7700 cases have been confirmed, and 170 people have died.

There are 82 additional cases confirmed in 18 countries (including three, to date, in Canada).

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

A Reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For More News And Commentary From Niagara At Large – An independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara Region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at http://www.niagaraatlarge.com .

“A Politician Thinks Of The Next Election. A Leader Thinks Of The Next Generation.” – Bernie Sanders

Four Years On, It’s Time for the China Developers and their Enablers to Take a Walk

Attend the Open House on this Controversial Development Proprosal, this Thursday, January 30^th at 5 p.m., at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls, Ontario

ACommentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher            Doug Draper

Posted January 29th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Four year!

Some four years have passed since residents across Niagara began fighting a foreign corporation and its  local enablers to save a gem of an ecosystem in our Niagara River watershed  from urban sprawl. 

Indeed, it was almost four years ago to this day, on January 27^th, 2016, that more than 200 residents  –  many of them young people feeling passionate about protecting what is left life-sustaining resources of this region for their future, packed the big meeting room at the Balls Falls Conservation Centre in Niagara.

A peak at the rich biodiversity inside the Thundering Waters Forest.

They came to protest plans by China investors to intrude on areas in and around wetlands, woodlands and wild grasses in Niagara Falls’ 484-acre Thundering Waters Forest, located  in the southwest end of Niagara Falls, Ontario.

The China-based investors were, and still are  proposing to build what they called a ‘PARADISE’ community  (now rebranded  ‘RIVERFRONT’) with the support of Niagara area decision makers, including Niagara Falls’ Mayor, Jim Diodati. Continue reading →

Province Appoints Hodgson to Serve as Chair of Niagara’s Source Protection Committee for Water

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

Posted January 29th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Then Lincoln regional councillor Bill Hodgson aslo voted ‘NO’

Members of the old  cabal tried to crush him but he’s back.

Bill Hodgson, a former Niagara regional councillor who disappeared from the board of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority three years ago and in the wake of his efforts to have an independent audit done on NPCA operations, is back.

The Ontario’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation Parks has just appointed him to serve for a two-year term as Chair of the Niagara Source Protection Committee – a committee that works hand-in-hand with the NPCA to monitor and protect local sources of water in the Niagara watershed.

News of Bill Hodgson’s appointment came this January 28^th in an NPCA media release that Niagara At Large is including below. Continue reading →

What is Left of our Natural Heritage is this Region of Ours is Worth Far More than $1.5 Billion to This and to Future Generations

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

Posted January 27^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

It would mean an investment of $1.5 billion into the Niagara region, claim the representatives of the China-based GR (CAN) Investment firm that have been pressing for more than four years now to build a residential and commercial complex within the perimeters of 484 acres of lands many of us in Niagara, Ontario have come to know as the Thundering Waters Forest.

It would, they go on to claim, create hundreds of jobs (perhaps as many as a thousand) in its construction, and thousands more once it is built.

An important  question that all of us, including our decision makers in Niagara, should consider is this.

How much is a place like Thundering Waters – a green area rich with trees and other vegetation, and with some of the small percentage of provincially significant wetlands we have left in our region – worth?

The Thundering Waters lands in Niagara Falls, Ontario, inside the orange lines to the left in this aerial photo, with the Niagara River, spilling over the Falls, in the upper right.

I am betting that a majority of people living in this region believe that it is worth far more the way it is – as a priceless piece of our natural heritage – than $1.5 billion and however many of those jobs they are dangling out there will be offered to Canadians. Continue reading →

Wife of First Case, Now Confirmed Positive, has been in Self-Isolation

News from the Ontario Government

Posted January 27th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Ontario’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. David Williams

TORONTO, Ontario  — Today (this January 27th), Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health, confirmed  that the wife of the province’s first case of Wuhan novel coronavirus has tested positive for the virus at Ontario’s public health laboratory. Since arriving in Toronto with her husband, this individual has been in self-isolation.

“We are working alongside Toronto Public Health, who has been in regular contact with the individual during their self-isolation period,” said Dr. Williams.

“Given the fact that she has been in self-isolation, the risk to Ontarians remains low.”

Map of cases of the virus across Canada and the United States as of January 26th, 2020. As of this January 27th, add one more case to he map of Ontario

A Footnote from Doug Draper, Niagara At Large – NAL will continue posting news on any f significant developments releated to this extremely serious health issue. Continue reading →

‘Niagara Region’s waste audit results show approximately 50 per cent of what residents put in their garbage is organic waste and 14 per cent is recyclables which could have otherwise been diverted using the Blue Box, Grey Box or Green Bin.’

News from Niagara’s Regional Government

Posted January 27^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Region is changing the price of garbage tags from $2.00 per tag to $2.50 effective Feb. 1, 2020. This is to move towards full cost recovery of garbage collection and part of our continued effort to increase the diversion of  recyclable and organic materials, which are currently being placed in the garbage stream.

Each year Niagara Region staff  look at the costs of garbage collection, including the costs associated with collecting and disposing of an additional garbage bag or container. The price charged for the garbage tag is meant to cover the cost of the collection of that additional garbage bag (or container). Continue reading →

“Sadly, Jewish communities in Canada and around the world continue to face threats of violence, xenophobia, and rising anti-Semitism. As a country, through our words and actions, we need to address the resurgence of anti-Semitism at home and abroad.” – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

A Statement by Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Posted January 27^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today (this January 27^th) issued the following statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day:

“The Holocaust was one of the darkest chapters in human history. Today, we remember and pay tribute to the more than six million Jews who were senselessly murdered during the Holocaust, and the countless other victims of Nazi atrocities.

“We also honour the survivors and share their stories of courage, hope, and perseverance against unspeakable evil, and recognize the heroes who risked their lives to save others.

Child survivors a the Auschwitz death camp when it was liberated in January 2020.

“Governor General, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette, is in Poland today to attend  the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Burkina and highlight Canada’s continued commitment to preserve the memories of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. Today’s  visit follows her trip to Jerusalem to attend the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, “Remembering the Holocaust: Fighting Antisemitism.” Continue reading →

NPCA Enforcement Actions Come Days Before City of Niagara Falls Hosts Open House Meeting on Controversial Thundering Waters Development Project

A banner place across one of the entrances to Thundering Waters by concerned citizens in 2017. File photo

A Foreword by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper, followed by posts from the citizens group A Better Niagara and Niagara environmentalist Owen Bjorgan

Posted January 26th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

From Doug Draper –

Let me say right up front that over the past week or so,  Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) field staff appear to have taken actions that were both necessary and highly commendable to protect significant features of our natural heritage within the Niagara watershed.

One of the many frogs making their home in wetlands, designated as provincially significant, in Thundering Waters in Niagara Falls, Ontario. File Photo courtesy of Owen Bjorgan

And for that, staff at the NPCA, responsible for enforcing government legislated conservation and environmental protection rules, and for investigating possible violations of them, deserve credit from all of us who want to see what is left of our natural heritage protected and preserved for generations to come.

The actions taken by NPCA staff over the last number of days include the issuance of a stop work order, followed by the issuance of a notice of violation to the China-based development firm GR (CAN) Investment Co. Ltd for allegedly disturbing or damaging provincially significant wetlands (PSWs) and/or protected buffer zones around them. Continue reading →

Extensive Protocols in Place to Detect and Contain Cases

January 25, 2020 5:55 P.M.

From the Ontario Ministry of Health

Posted January 25th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

TORONTO — Today, Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, announced Ontario’s first presumptive confirmed case of Wuhan novel coronavirus in Toronto.

On Thursday, January 23, 2020, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre admitted a patient brought in by paramedics who presented with fever and respiratory symptoms. The patient was screened, recent travel history to Wuhan, China, was confirmed and the patient was immediately put under isolation. The hospital and paramedic service took all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of staff and other patients. Continue reading →

Niagara Centre Liberal MP Vance Badawey

“We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to protect and preserve (our) waterways, ensuring that we continue to be responsible stewards of the environmental, economic, and social impacts the Great Lakes have on our daily lives.”                             – Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey

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

Posted January 24^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

A view of Lakes Erie and Ontario from space. We are down there, somewhere between them, and it is our job to protest, restore and preserve what is left of the natural features vital to the health of these fresh waters and our lives.

Welland, Ontario – Across the country, Canadians are leading grassroots action to protect the environment, tackle plastic pollution, conserve nature, and protect our waterways. These initiatives are creating good local jobs and improving the environment for the next generation.

This January 24th, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, launched the annual call for proposals for eight environmental funding programs. These programs will contribute to community-based projects that will have positive and measurable impacts on the environment and Canadians. Continue reading →

“It’s a respiratory infection with a virus apparently new to humans, which has shown capacity for person-to-person transmission through direct contact with respiratory secretions.” – Eduardo Fernandez, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences, Brock University

News from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario

Posted January 24^th, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – As reported cases of the Novel coronavirus in China and other east-Asian nations fuel global fears, a Brock University expert says specific factors could influence further transmission. Continue reading →

“There are very few really stark black and white stories.”

The Veteran PBS Journalist Died This January 23^rd at age 85 – R.I.P.

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

January 24^th, 2020 at Niagara At Large

Jim Lehrer, the consummate journalist, the way he looked during the Watergate years in the 1970s. He was often quoted saying that he never wanted the story to be about him – something you don’t hear from many ‘celebrity news show hosts’ today.

Long before the  relentless parade of circus barkers we have posing as journalists and polluting the cable networks and airwaves today, there were towering figures in broadcast news like American anchors Walter Cronkite and John Chancellor, and Canada’s own Barbara Frum and Peter Gzowski.

And there was one of the very first pioneers of news on public television, Jim Lehrer.

Jim Lehrer, who died this January 22^nd at age 85, also grew to prominence in his field when there was still a generally agreed to set of facts, and long before politicians and others frightened by the truth and opposed to serious scrutiny began branding  journalists as “enemies of the people” and purveyors of “fake news.” Continue reading →

The Ford Government’s Cuts  Are Just Making It Worse

A  Commentary by Linda McKellar, a retired hospital nurse living in Niagara, Ontario

Posted January 23rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

(The following commentary by Linda McKellar is a response to a January 22nd, 2020 news release from Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates.

In the  news release, posted on Niagara At Large earlier this January 23^rd, Gates  raises concerns and admonishes Ontario’s Ford government over what he characterizes as “shocking overcrowding” conditions in Ontario hospitals, including those at the Greater Niagara General Hospital (GNGH) site in his home riding. Gates was reacting to overcrowding statistics cited in a recent CBC news report.

Now here is Linda McKellar’s response from the perspective of someone who spent many years working in Niagara hospitals.)

Why was Wayne Gates shocked?

I’ve been retired (from hospital nursing) for ten years and it had already gone on for a decade even then! Do people have their heads in a box?

Members of the Niagara citizens group the Yellow Shirt Brigade, from left, Merilyn Athoe, Joy Russell and Linda McKellar, the author of this commentary, in front of a sign protesting plans in progress a decade ago to gut the hospital in the Niagara, Ontario municipality of Fort Erie. File photo by Doug Draper

I presented this case to Andrea Horwath in a speech at a public hearing ten years ago. To her credit, she was the only provincial politician there and I know she did bring it up at Queen’s Park.

Hallway medicine was always bad but with Ford’s cuts (to health care and related progams and services)  it can only get worse.

If you don’t have enough of something already, why would you reduce it even more? Continue reading →

The History Lab, a partnership between academic historians and community organizations, will be holding its third annual Honouring International Holocaust Remembrance Day event on Monday, Jan. 27 at the Niagara Artists Centre in St. Catharines from 6 to 8 p.m.

Memorial ceremonies marking the end of the Holocaust and the end of the Second World War will be held around the world.

A News Release from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario

Posted January 23^rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines resident Jack Veffer will be talking about his experiences as a child survivor of the Holocaust at a special event to mark the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday, Jan. 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Niagara Artists Centre in St. Catharines. The event is organized by Brock Associate Professor of History Elizabeth Vlossak, The History Lab, and community partners.

Born in Amsterdam in 1940, Jack Veffer and his brother Maurice survived the Holocaust by fleeing to Switzerland with a neighbour.

His parents and much of his extended family died in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

“The road to recovery has been long and painful,” says Veffer. “We survivors all have a sacred mission to bear witness as long as we can. It might help rid humanity of racism and provide the healing the world so badly needs.

“Knowledge is the bulwark against racism and antisemitism.”

With only around 5,000 Holocaust survivors still alive in Canada, the opportunity for younger generations to learn from eye-witnesses is dwindling. Continue reading →

‘For 181 days between January to June of 2019, the Greater Niagara General Hospital Site was over 100% capacity for 176 days.’

(And that is just one hospital site. What about the other hospitals  in Niagara and neighbouring regions?)

News from the Constituency Office of Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

Posted January 23^rd, 2020 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

QUEEN’S PARK, Ontario – Wayne Gates, NDP MPP for Niagara Falls, responded to a report from CBC news that over the course of 181 days in 2019, the GNGH Niagara Falls Site was over 100% capacity for 176 days.

“I’m shocked but not surprised to see that number – residents have been letting this government know for years that this hospital is chronically overcrowded and underserviced,” said Gates. “These stats should be a slap in the face to the government, Ford’s government has the ability to provide that care – so what are they waiting for? What other stats do they need to see before they act?” Continue reading →