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News from the Niagara West-Glanbrook Riding Constituency Office of MPP Sam Oosterhoff

Posted November 27^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara West-Glanbrook MPP Sam Oosterhoff

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West-Glanbrook today introduces his first Private Member’s Bill, the Compassionate Care Act. The Act would establish a hospice palliative care framework and begin to address the critical need for increased care in Ontario. 

Hospice palliative care helps people who are living with or dying from a serious, life-limiting illness, as well as their family and caregivers. The goal is to relieve pain and suffering, and to improve a person’s quality of life, regardless of the setting.

“I have been encouraged to see the genuine and meaningful care that is currently offered to those who are in hospice palliative care,” said Oosterhoff. “We need to spread the word about palliative care and to make it more accessible.”  Continue reading →

“Canada and the United States have a long history of maintaining successful bilateral relations, and I look forward to working towards strengthen those ties.”- Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament, Niagara

A News Release from Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey

Posted November 27th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey

Ottawa, Ontario  – Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre, will be returning to Washington D.C., this week to meet with his American counterparts to discuss issues of trade and the current negotiations for changes to NAFTA.

This is Badawey’s second visit to the American capital this year. Badawey travelled as a member of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group in March where he participated in over 35 meetings over the course of three days.  Meetings covered a range of topics, including: the Great Lakes, transportation, economy, and cross-border commerce. Continue reading →

Patrick Brown and the Ontario PCs release the People’s Guarantee

PCs release plan to bring change to Ontario a full six months before the election

Posted November 27th, 2017 at Niagara At Large

Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown releases a pre-2018 election platform, making tax cuts a major priority

Etobicoke, Ontario  – This past November 25^th,  in a speech delivered at the Ontario PC Party’s policy convention, Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown unveiled the Party’s platform, called the People’s Guarantee.

“The People’s Guarantee lays out our vision and our plan to bring change that works for Ontario,” said Brown. “At its core it’s very simple. It’s a recognition of the need for change that works for you:  the people, not the insiders.”

The People’s Guarantee is the product of the most exhaustive and inclusive policy development process in the history of the Ontario PC Party. The process began in March 2016, and culminated in over 130 policy resolutions that were voted on and supported by party membership to form the basis of the plan. Continue reading →

“A democracy can’t exist without freedom of expression.” – from the ruling of Ontario Court Judge James Ramsay

NPCA, says Judge in his ruling, looks like “a body that has had trouble finding its way.”

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted November 24^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara citizen and retired Canadian Armed Forces officer Ed Smith, faced with an NPCA lawsuit, gets some justice in an Ontario court. File photo by Doug Draper

A pair of lawsuits filed against St. Catharines resident and community activist Ed Smith with heavy punitive costs attached to them – one filed by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and former NPCA CAO Carmen D’Angelo (now the CAO for Niagara’s regional government) and the other filed by Niagara, Ontario businessman William Montgomery – have h been dismissed by Ontario Court Judge James Ramsay.

Dismissal of the defamation suits, outlined in a written ruling signed by Judge Ramsay this November 23^rd,  follows arguments for and against the lawsuits, heard in a Welland court this past November 20^th and 21^st by lawyers for both parties.

They also follow a year-long odyssey that began a year ago this fall, after Smith, a 25-year, retired Canadian Armed Forces officer, shared a document he produced with St. Catharines regional councillor Brian Heit prior to a snap meeting called by Niagara Region chair, Al Caslin, for a council vote on hiring D’Angelo to the regional government’s top job as CAO – a position he was awarded by a majority of councillors following the vote. Continue reading →

“He was never comfortable being in the limelight and taking acknowledgement for all that he achieved and what he put forward. He was a very understated individual.” – Debbie Inglis, Director of Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI)

A Message from Brock University in St. Catharines

Posted November 24^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontari winemaker extraordinaire Karl Kaiser. Photo courtesy of Brock University

Niagara, Ontario – The Brock University community is mourning the death of a national figure and longtime associate who helped forge Brock’s leading role in grape and wine research, while also turning Niagara into a world-renowned wine region.

Inniskillin Winery co-founder Karl J. Kaiser, an industry pioneer and a key figure behind Brock’s oenology and viticulture programs, passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 22. He was 76 years old.

Kaiser’s impact on the Niagara and Canadian wine industry is unmatched, and it was through his guidance and drive that Brock created the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) and the Oenology and Viticulture (OEVI) undergraduate program in the 1990s, said CCOVI Director Debbie Inglis. Continue reading →

Please read and Act on this Information, and share this information widely with your friends and associates

A Call to Action from the Ontario Health Coalition, a province-wide citizen advocacy group

Posted November 24^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

The Ontario government is moving forward with legislation that lifts the ban on private hospitals, rolls private hospitals in with private clinics and renames them, offensively, Community Health Facilities, and makes it easier for private hospitals and clinics to expand and more difficult for the Minister to stop them.

This legislation was brought in with no prior public consultation. It is a massive omnibus bill that repeals or enacts 7 entire Acts, and amends more than 30 Acts. We were given 5 minutes to present to the Standing Committee on this massive piece of legislation. Now we have only four days to try to get the worst part of it withdrawn. Without due consideration of the consequences, the government is making a grave mistake that could easily usher in very significant new privatization and threats to our local public hospitals.

Please email or call your MPP and ask them to help withdraw Schedule 9 of Bill 160. They need to act by early next week. Continue reading →

A Brief from Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted November 23^rd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara resident and community activist Ed Smith cleared of lawsuits filed against him by Conservation Authority and others.

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara At Large has learned from sources that two lawsuits launched within the past year against St. Catharines resident and community activist Ed Smith – one filed by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and former NPCA CAO Carmen D’Angelo (now the CAO for Niagara’s regional government) and the other filed by Niagara, Ontario businessman William Montgomery – have both been dismissed by Ontario Court Judge James Ramsay.

Dismissal of the defamation suits against Smith follow two days of arguments heard in a Welland court this past November 20^th and 21^st by lawyers for both parties.

Niagara At Large has also learned that Judge Ramsay’s written ruling will not be publicly released until late morning this Friday, November 24^th, and NAL will be sure to obtain a copy and a post a detailed report on the ruling, SO STAY TUNED!

What one can say at this point, is that this is good news for all citizens who engage in the democratic process across Ontario and Canada, and for the right we all have as citizens to hold our governments accountable.

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

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 binational 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

From Niagara At Larger reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted November 23^nd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

It is the Thursday of the last full week of November and that only means one thing for our friends and neighbours in Buffalo and Western New York and for millions of others across the United States of America.

An exact replica of the Mayflower – a gift some 60 years ago from England to the U.S, – docked in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where, as so many of us were taught as children, the Pilgrims  settled and celebrated the first Thanksgiving feast. File photo by Doug Draper

It is Thanksgiving, and for anyone on the American side of the border who visits our Niagara At Large site and for what few of you may check in to it today – because most Americans put aside any and all work on this day and, yes, even their computers and other digital devices to spend some quality time with their friends and family – I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving.

Along with my wife Mary and daughter Sarah, we share this day with fond memories of Thanksgivings we spent for many years with friends who gathered at Old Sea Pines, a wonderful Inn in the Town of Brewster on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Continue reading →

Wynne has already lent her signature to plans by China-base developers to encroach on a sizable amount of what’s left of Niagara’s provincially significant wetlands. What is she going to sign away next?

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

Posted November 22nd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

It’s  bad enough we’ve got the regional government we have in Niagara and a Conservation Authority that, in many area citizens’ view, isn’t worth a hoot.

In November 2015, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, second from left at table, joins Niagara Falls, Ontario Mayor Jim Diodati, just to the right of her, in Beijing, China for signing of ‘memorandum of understanding’ for China-based development proposal in Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls.

Now we’ve got Ontario’s Premier Kathleen Wynne heading off on another “business mission” to, among other places, China.

All of which begs the question – what more of our natural heritage in Niagara is she going to sign away next? Continue reading →

 “The privatized Hydro One is seeking a 20 per cent increase (in hydro rates).” – Ontario NDP Energy Critic Peter Tabuns

A News Release from Ontario’s New Democratic Party

Posted November 22^nd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto —In question period this November 21^st,, Ontario NDP Energy critic Peter Tabuns called on the Wynne Liberals to stand up for Ontario families and direct the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) to stop the privatized Hydro One’s plan to require pre-payment for power.

Hidden in Hydro One’s distribution rate application for 2018-2022 are plans to replace recently installed smart meters with pre-payment meters, requiring customers to pay for electricity before they use it and creating a loophole to new rules banning winter disconnections. 

“Instead of reducing its rates, as the government promised would happen, the privatized Hydro One is seeking a 20 per cent increase,” said Tabuns. “But there’s more. On page 2,038 of the application, we learn that Hydro One wants to install pre-payment meters, which require the customer to pay first before they get any electricity. Continue reading →

November 22^nd, 1963 – The Day They Shot Kennedy

A Brief Commentary by NAL publisher Doug Draper

Posted November 22nd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

“Murder will out,” says a line that goes back more than years to Shakespeare and more than three hundred years before that to Chancer’s ‘Cantebury Tales’.

Yet for countless millions of us who were around and old enough to remember where we were on November 22^nd, 1963 when he heard the news that U.S. President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, the truth of that line with respect to that crime has never been – and may never be – fully realized.

A frame from a film produced in Dealey Plaza by bystander  Abraham Zapruder, showing U.S. President John F. Kennedy already hit with his wife Jackie holding him, just before another shot blows the top of his head off.

Lyndon B. Johnson, sworn in as president following Kennedy’s assassination, assembled what would come to be known as the Warren Commission to conduct an investigation and report on its findings which would boil down to the murderous deed being committed by a lone shooter named Lee Harvey Oswald. Continue reading →

“Bell calls it restructuring due to challenges in the media industry, yet only workers pay the price, while executive salaries and retention bonuses increase unchallenged.” Welland Riding MPP Cindy Forster

A Statement delivered by Welland Riding MPP Cindy Forster this November 21^st in the Ontario Legislature

Posted November 22^nd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Welland Riding MPP Cindy Forster in Ontario legislature. File photo

Ms. Cindy Forster: ”I was deeply troubled to hear of yet more layoffs by Bell Media across Canada, with jobs being cut at TV and radio stations, including HTZ-FM in St. Catharines.

It is heartbreaking for employees and their families to be put through this so close to Christmas. Bell Media did exactly the same thing a year ago, affecting nearly 400 employees across the country. 

Now, Bell calls it restructuring due to challenges in the media industry, yet only workers pay the price, while executive salaries and retention bonuses increase unchallenged. One that was actually reported: a $900,000 bonus last year in addition to a $1-million salary. Continue reading →

Stay Tune To News On The Ruling And Our Analysis Of What It Means For The Future Of Citizen Participation And Grassroots Democracy In This Region

A Brief Update from Niagara At Larger reporter/publisher Doug Draper

Posted November 21^st, 2017 on Niagara At Large

This sign held up by an area citizen outside a meeting of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority’s board of directors earlier this year.

Niagara, Ontario – It is all over now save for the ruling of an Ontario judge in a court case that could send out some pretty powerful messages on how far citizens can go in questioning what government bodies do with our tax dollars in this region.

That is how significant this case involving back and forth lawsuits involving one of the region’s most controversial public bodies, the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, and its former CAO and now Niagara regional government CAO Carmen D’Angelo, Niagara community activist Ed Smith, who has raised serious questions about the NPCA’s operations, and a Niagara area marketing consultant Bill Montgomery, who has filed his own libel and slander suit against Smith and two St. Catharines regional councillors, Brian Heit and Kelly Edgar. Continue reading →

“When you consider the cost of student housing, penalties for cancelling or moving flights home for the holidays, and the other costs students have paid for out-of-pocket while Wynne let this strike drag on, $500 is an obvious disappointment to struggling students.”

A Statement from Ontario NDP Advanced Education Critic MPP Peggy Sattler

Posted November 21^st, 2017 on Niagara At Large

One of countless makeshift signs college students across Ontario held up during a province-wide teacher strike this fall that kept them out of class for five whole weeks. They paid their tuition at the beginning of the academic year. Will they be paid back for the academic time lost?

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario NDP Advanced Education critic Peggy Sattler issued the following statement regarding the Liberal government’s failure to adequately help students returning to classes after the five-week long college faculty strike:

“Students worried about their ability to successfully cram five-weeks of missed coursework into a condensed two-week extension deserve a full tuition refund. New Democrats are extremely concerned that the government may be forcing students to drop out entirely if they want their tuition refunded. Continue reading →

“Workplace pensions play an important role in Canada’s retirement security system, but the country’s biggest companies are not making up shortfalls as fast as they could be. That increases risk for plan members and retirees, and could mean extra costs to the public.”

A Report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Posted November 21^st, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Ottawa, Ontario —Last year, Canada’s largest publicly-traded companies paid out four times more to shareholders than it would have cost to fully fund their defined benefit (DB) pension plans, according to new research released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

Thirty-nine companies on the S&P/TSX 60 maintain DB pension plans, amounting to one-third of all private sector pension plan assets in Canada. However, only nine plans were fully funded in 2016.

Together, the 39 companies oversaw a $10.8 billion deficit in their pension plans in 2016, while increasing shareholder payouts from $31.9 billion in 2011 to $46.9 billion last year. Continue reading →

A Call–Out to the Niagara community from the St. Catharines and Welland Canals Centre

Posted November 21st, 2017 on Niagara At  Large

Niagara, Ontario – The St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre is calling on the community to join in its woolly stand against the cold.

Help keep everyone in our Niagara community out of the cold this coming winter

From Saturday, Nov. 25 to Sunday, Jan. 7 the museum will collect warm woolly mittens, hats, scarves, socks and other gently used winter clothing for families and children in need through its annual Mitten Tree. All winter clothing donations will go to local families through Community Care of St. Catharines and Thorold and Out of the Cold.

“Our winters can be harsh,” said Kathleen Powell, museum curator. “There’s always a tremendous need for hats, mitts and other winter wear and we want to help keep children and families warm so they can enjoy the season.” Continue reading →

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

Posted November 20^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Day of decision now near for legal suits involving NPCA and Ed Smith, shown in photo above, in Ontario court

Niagara, Ontario – A case involving a $200,000 defamation suit the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and its former CAO and now Niagara Regional government CAO Carmen D’Angelo filed a year ago against St. Catharines resident and community activist Ed Smith finally began getting its day in an Ontario court in Welland this Monday, November 20^th.

And in the same courtroom, presided over by  Judge James Ramsay, arguments are also going back and forth over a counter suit for damages that Smith filed against the NPCA and D’Angelo earlier this year. Continue reading →

Wynne Government’s $500 cap on help for students is too low

News from the Ontario New Democratic Party

Posted November 20^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and NDP Education critic MPP Peggy Sattler say the $500 cap Kathleen Wynne has put on the fund to help students recover from the five-week long college faculty strike is too low.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

The NDP wants students properly compensated for the personal financial costs of the strike caused by the Liberal government, and also wants colleges to be directed to offer further mental health and academic supports for students dealing with increased anxiety and depression.

“Students were forced to put their lives on hold for five weeks because the premier and her Liberal government sat on their hands and watched the faculty strike escalate,” said Horwath. “Students have paid the price for the premier’s inaction – they paid academically, emotionally and financially. $500 will simply not be enough for many students to recover from the chaos the Liberal government has created.” Continue reading →

The Open House All Good People Need To Attend is this Monday, November 20th in the  Memorial Room of the  Gale Centre on 5152, Thorold Stone Road in, Niagara Falls, Ontario  from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

A Call-Out from Niagara community activist Linda Babb

Posted November 20^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Remember January 2016 when Bruce Timms, a St. Catharines Regional Councillor who was then Chair of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority’s board of director and remains a board member) and the boondoggle NPCA attempted to con everyone into thinking biodiversity offsetting could be a pilot project focused on Thundering Waters?? 

Less than 10 per cent of Niagara’s wetlands are left. Some of them are located in Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls – an area now targeted for urban development.

That’s what started our “fight” – immense gratitude to those who stood up and spoke out and all the tireless efforts since then to preserve the land!!! Too many to name! 

Bruce Timms had to retract that nonsense. 

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) stepped in later and increased the protection.  Every one of you has done your part in keeping this issue front and centre – thank you.  Now we face a “modification” to the plan.  Be very aware – the “modification” is merely another CON.  Continue reading →

 Why Does One Feel  So Unwelcome and Alone in these Council Chambers?

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

Posted November 17^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – I walked in to Niagara Region’s council chambers this November 16^th, where the seats in public gallery were packed with people from the Town of Pelham.

That’s the way it usually seems to go at Niagara regional council meetings these days.

The public gallery is either crammed to standing room only with people, there for the airing of a single issue that is rankling them, then leaving en masse after that one and only issue they came for – on an agenda chalk full of other affairs in need of public attention – has been addressed.

Or more often than not, a whole council meeting takes place with a public gallery virtually empty of people, leaving the councillors to say and do whatever, with hardly anyone outside of some regional staff and a few members of the news media physically there to look on. Continue reading →

“These students feel despair as they watch their futures slip away. They worry how they will ever manage the increased debt they will have to take on to complete their programs.”

From Ontario’s New Democratic Party

Posted November 16^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief NAL update – Since the Ontario NDP circulated this news release, college faculty across Ontario voted overwhelmingly earlier this November 16th to reject offers on the table, so the strike drags on, leaving one to wonder, at this point, why the colleges and the Ontario government aren’t announcing plans to refund students for what inow so obviously is a lost semester of school.

If, for example, you pre-paid someone to provide maintenance of landscaping services at your home and they then did not show up and deliver the services, would you not expect a refund? Why should it be any different for students left out in the cold?)

Queen’s Park, Toronto —In question period on Wednesday, NDP Education Critic Peggy Sattler was determined to get answers for college students concerned that the strike at colleges throughout Ontario is costing them financially. She also raised concerns about how the impact of the strike on students’ career, family, financial and life plans is negatively affecting their mental health. Continue reading →

The Lies Our Teachers Once Taught Us About the Now Celebrated Metis Leader

A Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on Louis Riel Day with a Foreword from Niagara At Large

Posted November 16th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Canadian Metis leader Louis Riel, once vilified in our high school history books, now celebrated

A Brief Foreword by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper – There is a book I would invite everyone who has been dragged through the public school system in Canada and the United States to read called ‘Lies My Teacher Told Me’ by James W. Loewen.

This best-selling book, first published in 1995 and updated at least once in 2007, deals mostly with ‘lies’ or ‘myth’s taught in American schools about a host of historical events from Christopher Columbus and the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving to the Vietnam War – but the book came to mind for this Canadian  this November 16th as our country’s current Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, circulated a statement (posted below) on Louis Riel Day. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Re-Posted this November 15^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

(The following story was originally posted on Niagara At Large this November 10th, just before the Remembrance Day weekend when many of us were understandably focused on other solemn matters. Due to the significance of this news, NAL has decided to posted it here again.)

Niagara, Ontario – A former Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority employee – sued by the NPCA this September for allegedly breaking an agreement she signed when she left the body a year ago not to “disparage” it in any way – is fighting back with a lawsuit of her own.

According to a “Statement of  Defence and obtained by Niagara At Large and filed on her  behalf in an Ontario Superior Court of Justice in St. Catharines  this November 7^th, Jocelyn Baker, who was employed at the NPCA for more than 23 years before being terminated in November 2016, is taking the Conservation Authority to court for $200,000 in damages for allegedly defaming her, $200,000 in damages for alleged breach of contract, and additional “punitive, exemplary and aggravated damages to be determined by the court.”

The NPCA board of directors during a session earlier this 2017

The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, which earlier this year launched a defamation suit against Niagara, Ontario community activist and retired Canadian Armed Forces officer Ed Smith, sued Baker this past September$164,000 after Welland Riding MPP Cindy Forster read an email she sent her in the Ontario legislature as part of a call the MPP was making to the provincial government for more transparency and accountability at the NPCA, and a thorough, independent audit of its operations.

One of the many signs citizen protests have commonly been holding up outside of NPCA meetings. File photo by Doug Draper

In the email to Forster, Baker raised concerns about allegations of ongoing cases of workplace harassment at the NPCA. Baker charged in the email that while still working at the NPCA, she “personally experienced and supervised employees who regularly experienced workplace violence, harassment (sexual, gender and family status), unwanted comment, conduct, and behaviour, including bullying. All of this behaviour by members of senior management.” Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Posted November 15^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Wainfleet Mayor April Jeffs, an NPCA board member, votes with her council to wave aside a motion calling on the Ontario government to appoint a supervisor to oversee operations at the Conservation Authority. Jeffs will run as the Ontario Tory candidate in the Welland riding in next year’s provincial election.

A motion by Wainfleet councillor Betty Konc, calling on the Ontario government to appoint a supervisor to oversee operations at the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, was deferred by the municipality’s township council this November 14^th.

A majority on the council, including Wainfleet Mayor April Jeffs, who is a member of the  NPCA’s board of directors, voted to wave aside Konc’s motion until the province’s Auditor General completes and produced the results of an audit on the Conservation Authority – possibly sometime late next year.

More from Niagara At Large on this development and what it may mean for those campaigning for change at the NPCA later. Stay Tuned.

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

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 binational 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

A Call-Out to Public from the Niagara Parks Commission

Posted November 15^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

The two century old Bertie Hall, with historical links to the Underground Railroad.

Fort Erie, Ontario – The Niagara Parks Commission will host a Public Information Centre (PIC) on Wednesday, November 22, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., at its Old Fort Erie Visitor Centre, to seek input on an upcoming heritage evaluation study of Bertie Hall (657 Niagara Boulevard, Fort Erie), which will assist the Commission in its long-term planning and conservation of the site. Continue reading →

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted November 13^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – A month after St. Catharines’ city council got the jitters over passing a motion to clean house at  Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority that has lost the confidence of many citizens and politicians across the region, a Wainfleet councillor is hoping to get a majority of her fellow councillors to support a similar motion at this Tuesday’s, November 14^th, township council meeting.

Wainfleet Township Councillor Betty Konc

Wainfleet Township Councillor Betty Konc is planning to table a motion calling on the Ontario government to appoint a special supervisor  supervisor “to take over the operations of the NPCA.”

“If a supervisor is not appointed within two months,” continues the wording of Konc’s motion, “this council requests a meeting for the purpose of dissolution of the (NPCA’s) board (of directors).”

The motion also calls for the Township of Wainfleet – one of 12 local municipalities in Niagara that is funding the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority’s operations with local tax dollars – to appoint its own member to the NPCA’s board of directors, following next year’s municipal elections. Continue reading →

“Thank you, Paul for always being an inspiration, a teacher, and a guiding hand. You have always given us a reason for hope.”

A Tribute by Jay Burney, a long-time environmental activist and environmental writer in Western New York

Paul MacClennan, who died ths October at 91, was the last environmental reporter for the Buffalo News—and he was a champion of environmental causes for decades.

Once upon a time the Buffalo News had a full time environmental reporter. That person, Paul MacClennan, passed away October 2, at the age of 91.

A few years ago, veteran environment writer Paul MacClennan attended for a ceremony as a special spot in the Times Beach nature preserve near Buffalo’s outer harbor was named in his honour.

He retired in 1991 after a last few years when the paper, and many newspapers, were transitioning from a community-interested benefit to a corporate business. At that time he told me that he would probably be “the last environmental reporter” because of that transition. Continue reading →

News from the City of St. Catharins in Niagara, Ontario

Posted November 13^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

 St. Catharines, Ontario – An 85-year-old promise to honour 137 men who died building one of the greatest engineering marvels in Canada was fulfilled with the unveiling of the Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial in St. Catharines, Ont. this past  Sunday, November 12th.

The Gates of Remembrance, inscribed with the names of all 137 fallen workers at the Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial, unveiled on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017.

Construction of the fourth Welland Canal took place between 1913 and 1935 and the loss of life on the project is believed to be the largest of any federal government infrastructure project in Canadian history. Continue reading →

A Call-Out from the Niagara Health Coalition, a chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition

Posted November 13^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large             

Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins promised to keep the hospital in Welland, Niagara open. Let’s make sure it is! 　

Raise your voice to make sure the Welland Hopsital site stays open

One Voice working together to save our hospitals services and urgent care centre.

Hear reports from our local politicians, Save Welland Hospital, the Niagara and Ontario Health Coalitions.

Give us your input and help plan our next steps to maintain and enhance our health services in South Niagara.

Town Halls –

Wainfleet: Thursday, November 16 , 7 pm, Wainfleet Fire Hall,31907 Park St., Wainfleet Continue reading →

“This is a challenging time for everyone, but particularly for students. … They deserve our support.”

News from Ontario’s Advanced Education Minister Deb Matthews

Posted November 13th

Deb Matthews, Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development has issued the following statement:

Since the strike began, I have been clear that my focus is on students and their learning. I have had the opportunity to meet with a number of student leaders and their provincial associations. I have heard from them about hardships students are experiencing as a result of this strike. Students have been in the middle of this strike for too long and it’s just not fair.

While every student’s situation is unique, all students are struggling with continued uncertainty. They are worried about how to pay for unexpected costs like additional rent or canceling long-standing travel plans to be home with family. They’ve told me they are stressed about when they will be able to complete their studies or if there will be any extra help when classes finally resume.

That is why I am requiring that colleges establish a dedicated fund with all the savings from the strike.

The fund will be used to support students who have experienced financial hardships as a result of the strike. I will work with students and colleges starting immediately to develop the parameters of the fund. We need to work out the details together and we will do it quickly.

I have just spoken with student leadership from the College Student Alliance and have asked them for their advice and for feedback from their membership. I’m looking for the best ideas about how to make sure this reinvestment directly benefits students who have faced hardship.

This is a challenging time for everyone, but particularly for students. So, in the coming days, I look forward to working directly with student leaders and colleges on how we can lessen the impact of the strike on students. They deserve our support.

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

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 binational 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

Who Will Stop The Next War? Who Will Start It?

Posted by Doug Draper on Niagara At Large

November 11^th, 2017, one day after the 100^th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendale that snutted out thousands of young lives on all sides in a  ‘War to End All Wars’ that slaughtered more than nine millon.

“The First World War, boys
It came and it went
The reason for fighting
I never did get
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don’t count the dead
When God’s on your side.

When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And then we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too
Have God on their side.

I’ve learned to hate Russians
All through my whole life
If another war comes
It’s them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side.

But now we got weapons
Of the chemical dust
If fire them we’re forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God’s on your side.

In a many dark hour
I’ve been thinkin’ about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can’t think for you
You’ll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.

So now as I’m leavin’
I’m weary as Hell
The confusion I’m feelin’
Ain’t no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If God’s on our side
He’ll stop the next war.”

Who will stop the next war?”

– Lyrics from Bob  Dylan’s song, ‘With God On Our Side’

Who will start it? Maybe this man, with his “deplorables” cheering him on as he takes them, and the rest of us, to their great reward – with God on their side.

For more on the horrible destruction in lives that wars take, here are some links to click on –

Link for Sunday Edition piece below – http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-october-29-2017-1.4374949/the-world-remembers-honours-the-dead-of-world-war-one-1.4374963

The World  Remembers site click on – http://www.theworldremembers.org/

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

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 binational 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

By Doug Draper

Posted November 10^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – A former Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority employee – sued by the NPCA this September for allegedly breaking an agreement she signed when she left the body a year ago not to “disparage” it in any way – is fighting back with a lawsuit of her own.

According to a “Statement of  Defence and obtained by Niagara At Large and filed on her  behalf in an Ontario Superior Court of Justice in St. Catharines  this November 7^th, Jocelyn Baker, who was employed at the NPCA for more than 23 years before being terminated in November 2016, is taking the Conservation Authority to court for $200,000 in damages for allegedly defaming her, $200,000 in damages for alleged breach of contract, and additional “punitive, exemplary and aggravated damages to be determined by the court.”

The NPCA board of directors during a session earlier this 2017

The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, which earlier this year launched a defamation suit against Niagara, Ontario community activist and retired Canadian Armed Forces officer Ed Smith, sued Baker this past September$164,000 after Welland Riding MPP Cindy Forster read an email she sent her in the Ontario legislature as part of a call the MPP was making to the provincial government for more transparency and accountability at the NPCA, and a thorough, independent audit of its operations.

One of the many signs citizen protests have commonly been holding up outside of NPCA meetings. File photo by Doug Draper

In the email to Forster, Baker raised concerns about allegations of ongoing cases of workplace harassment at the NPCA. Baker charged in the email that while still working at the NPCA, she “personally experienced and supervised employees who regularly experienced workplace violence, harassment (sexual, gender and family status), unwanted comment, conduct, and behaviour, including bullying. All of this behaviour by members of senior management.” Continue reading →

“I am committed to stable hospital funding that, at a minimum, matches the rate of inflation plus population growth, and that meets the unique needs of each community.” – Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

News from the Ontario New Democratic Party

Posted November 10^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath issued the following statement regarding the Patient Ombudsman’s report, released today:

“Ontario’s first Patient Ombudsman report gives us a hint about the systemic issues that are plaguing health care in Ontario and impacting patients.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

During their 14 years in power, the Liberals have amassed a wait list for seniors care that’s more than 32,000-people long. We have sick people in this province being treated in hospital hallways, shower rooms and lounges. The gridlock in our hospitals is causing long waits and confusion over discharges – and that’s evident in the Ombudsman’s report, which reported discharges, alternate level of care and homecare services concerns more than any others.

The last Conservative government cut 6,000 nurses, closed 28 hospitals and slashed 7,000 hospital beds.  The Wynne Liberals let us down with further cuts and years of budget freezes – including short-changing hospitals by $300 million in this year’s budget alone. Continue reading →

How Much More Of This Dangerous Screwball Can The World Take? Is There Still A Future To Believe In?

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted November 9th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

One year ago this January 10^th, people around the world – at least those of us who couldn’t make it until the wee small hours when Hillary Clinton finally made her consession – to the stunning news that America’s 21^st Century answer to a P.T. Barnum pitchman on steroids won the keys to the Oval Office and one of the world’s most powerful offices.

Elmwood Village, near a polling station in Buffalo, New York on January 8th, 2017, in the hours before the stunning news that Trump won. File photo by Doug Draper

The day before – election day – I crossed the border to Buffalo to visit friends and take in the atmosphere as people lined up at the polls, and a few moments from that day may stay with me for years to come.

The first was a visit to Buffalo’s Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo where a group of family members and friends were gathered inside a mausoleum at the final resting place of Shirley Chisholm – a U.S. Congresswoman who, in 1972, became the first Afro-American woman to run for President – to pay tribute to her historic run before going home to witness what they hoped would be the election of the first woman president of the United States.

A group of family and friends gather at the final resting place in Buffalo, New york of U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Chosholm, who was the first Afro Americaan woman to run for U.S. president in 1972. It was election day 2017 and this group went home hoping to celebrate the electon of the first woman to the U.S. presidency. Before sunrise the following morning, the hope had died. File photo by Doug Draper

They were already in a celebratory mood when they asked me to take a picture of them with Shirley Chisholm’s name chiselled in the marble above. Beside Chisholm’s name were the words ‘Unbought and Unbossed’, her campaign slogan which reminded me of one of my favourite Bernie Sander’s slogans from his 2016 insurgency run for the presidency – ‘Billioniaires Can’t Buy Bernie’. Continue reading →

‘The biggest reasons for the population decline are the destruction of bee habitat, the increased use of pesticides and the impacts of climate change.’

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted November 9^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Restore it and they will come. But they won’t stay for long if conditions are not right.

This is what Brock University bee expert Miriam Richards and her research team found in their recently published study of bee populations living in a landfill-turned-nature park in St. Catharines.

Brock University Biology Professor Miriam Richards examines bees collected at the Glenridge Quarry Naturalization site in St. Catharines. Photo court3esy of Brock University

In 2003, when a former landfill located near the University reopened to the public as the Glenridge Quarry Naturalization site, the professor of biology and her team set up 30 bee traps for their study. Continue reading →

Featuring Niagara Community Activist Ed Smith as Keynote Speaker

Posted November 9^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Tickets $25.

Contact:Angie Desmarais 905-835-5021

WHEN

Friday, November 10th, 5:30 p.m. cocktails, 6:30pm dinner thru to  9:30pm

WHERE

Brebeuf Hall
300 Killaly Street East
Port Colborne, Ontario L3K 1N9
Google map and directions

For an earlier news commentary Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper posted on this fundraiser and the reason Niagara At Large is supporting it, click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2017/11/07/you-are-invited-to-a-fundraiser-friday-november-10th-2017-for-cindy-forster-the-niagara-centre-ndp/ .

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

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 binational 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

“Don’t tell me that corporate Americans are the job creators.  The American people are the job creators.  The record will show clearly that when there are high wages, there is high demand.  And when there is high demand in the economy, there is high growth in the economy.” – Congressman Brian Higgins

News from Office of U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins in Buffalo, New York

Posted November 9^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper – Those of us on the Ontario side of the Canada-U.S. border should be pressing our politicians to take the same position Buffalo, New York area Congressman Brian Higgins is taking here when it comes to corporate tax cuts and automatically branding all corporations as “job creators.”)

Buffalo, New York area Democratic Congressman Brian Higgins

Buffalo, New York – U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26), Vice Ranking Member of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, has introduced an amendment to the GOP tax bill to put in writing the $4,000 boost guaranteed to American workers by the backers of the bill.

Higgins’ amendment is based on the promise by Republicans that the $1.5 trillion reduction in the corporate tax rate proposed in the GOP tax bill will lead the average American family to receive a $4,000 raise.  Under the Higgins amendment, if wages do not increase consistent with the promises made, as measured by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, then the lower corporate rate would not be allowed to go into effect.

During his introduction of the amendment, Higgins said, in part, “The White House Council of Economic Advisors issued a report arguing that the $1.5 trillion corporate tax cut will accrue to the benefit of middle Americans – they actually said this, ‘that cutting the corporate rate from 35% to 20% will get an annual increase for every American of between $4,000 and $9,000 a year once fully into effect.’  Continue reading →

“One of the lessons learned from the current opioid crisis is that we need good research to clearly identify the appropriate use of medicinal cannabis and to limit potential harm.”

News from McMaster University

Posted November 9^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Hamilton, Ontario – Medicinal cannabis has been legal in Canada since 2001, but there is still little research proving its effectiveness. A new research centre has been launched by McMaster University and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton to address the issue.

The multidisciplinary Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR) will focus on conducting research, sharing evidence-based information and creating a network of professionals interested in further understanding medicinal cannabis.

The e leaders of this initiative, from left to right, James MacKillop and Jason Busse and medical advisor, Dr. Ramesh Zacharias. Photo courtesy of McMaster University

Leading this initiative are co-directors James MacKillop and Jason Busse and medical advisor, Dr. Ramesh Zacharias.

MacKillop is a professor of psychiatry and neurosciences at McMaster’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, and director of the Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. Busse is an associate professor of anesthesia for McMaster’s medical school and a researcher for the Michael G. DeGroote National Pain Centre. Zacharias is a pain specialist, medical director of the Michael G. DeGroote Pain Clinic at Hamilton Health Sciences and assistant chief coroner for Ontario. Continue reading →

It Might Just Do More To Infuriate People.      Why Not Change the Site Location for the Development Project Instead?

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted November 7^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

It has become a common tactic for trying to keep alive a product or plan that has taken on so much baggage by way of opposition and negative publicity that its fate may be in jeopardy – change its name.

Thus we had the blue-eyed sheiks in Alberta change the name of the tar sands to “the oil sands” and, more recently, to “oil patch” which almost makes it sound as innocuous as skipping though a raspberry or blueberry patch, doesn’t it?

A garbage dump became a “landfill” and then, just to take little more of the sting out of it for people who don’t want a dump near their backyard, names like “secure landfill” or “sanitary landfill” are sometimes used.

Two airplanes colliding in midair is called a “near miss,” a grade school student who used to be called a slow learner is now sometimes referred to as marginally exceptional, and he or she are no longer called a loser if they come in last at something. Better to call them “the last winner.”

So it makes perfect sense to change an urban development plan for portions of the close to 500 acres of woodlands, wetlands and wild grasses that make up the Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls, Ontario – especially when that plan has drawn such a weighty archive of stories about the public opposition to it – from Thundering Waters to the “Riverfront Community Master Plan.”

A number of young people in Niagara camped out for a week this summer in Thundering Waters Forest to draw more attention to plans they oppose to urbanize parts of it.

Word of the name change began circulating across the region through a recent message the City of Niagara Falls’ Planning, Building and Development Department sent to members of the city’s municipal council. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Posted November 7^th, 2017

‘There’s a lover in the story
But the story’s still the same
There’s a lullaby for suffering
And a paradox to blame
But it’s written in the scriptures
And it’s not some idle claim
You want it darker
We kill the flame’

–         From one of Leonard Cohen’s last recorded songs from 2016, ‘You Want It Darker

A whole year has passed since Leonard Cohen left this world for some other mysterious place that may not be as bathed in sunshine and luminous blue skies as some would have us believe. It may, as Leonard imagined in one of his last songs, be darker.

Leonard Cohen died on November 7^th, 2016 and as a tribute to him, an amazing cast of artists, from Elvis Costello and K.D. Lang to Lana Del Ray, Ron Sexsmith and Sting, gathered in Montreal this November 6^th for a concert celebrating his life and brilliant library of poetry and songs. Continue reading →

“A renowned international scholar, an award winning teacher, an engaged citizen of the community and the world, and a warm and generous spirit.”

Some Sad News from Brock University

Posted November 7th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Brock Professor Zopito Marini

Niagara, Ontario – Brock University is in mourning after the passing of Professor Zopito Marini, a beloved teacher and academic colleague who died suddenly while travelling overseas on Oct. 23 in his hometown of Montebello di Bertona, Italy.

A prolific researcher who was so popular with students that The Student’s Guide to Canadian Universities listed him as one of Brock’s favourite professors, Marini won numerous awards for teaching excellence during his career. He was also a recognized international expert in sociocognitive development, writing and lecturing on such issues as family and school conflicts, bullying and victimization. Continue reading →

News from the Niagara Falls constituency off of Wayne Gates

 Posted November 7^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

Niagara, Ontario – This November 7^th, Wayne Gates, MPP for Niagara Falls, partnered with Insurance Bureau of Canada to donate carbon monoxide alarms for the homes of Niagara Falls residents and to raise awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates“I’m happy to partner with the Niagara Falls Fire Department and the Insurance Bureau of Canada to distribute these CO alarms and raise awareness about the issue of carbon monoxide in homes,” said Gates. “Now people in the community can call our friends at the Niagara Falls Fire Department and receive a CO alarm free of charge.” Continue reading →

Fundraiser Will Feature Key Note Speaker &          Niagara Citizen Activist extraordinaire Ed Smith

A Few Brief Words on this Event from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Posted November 7^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

When Niagara At Large was emailed the information for this Cindy Forster fundraiser a few weeks, back the person who sent it followed up with a phone call and said to me; “We know you are a journalist and you can’t get tied into partisan politics, so we’ll understand if you don’t want to post this.”

Welland Riding MPP Cindy Forster

So let me start this by making one thing crystal clear to those out there who will inevitably say something like this about my running this post – ‘Some journalist he is. You see he’s got partisan ties – probably hides a membership card for the New Democratic Party in his back pocket.”

Writing someone off as an “ideologue “or a “special interest” or a “partisan taking political shots” has become one of the more common tactic that the scoundrels among us use these days in an effort to divert attention away from their deeds and discredit their critics – and it doesn’t work with me!

I am not now and never have been a member of any political party and to paraphrase one of my favourite philosophers, the one and only Groucho Marx, I would never want to join any political party that would have a person like me as a member. Continue reading →

What Will Any New Trade Deals Do To What’s Left Of Decent Jobs in Canada and the U.S. This Time?

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper, followed by a short video presentation with a message that should give us all cause for concern

Posted November 6th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

They’re off to lands of cheap labour and weak environmental and labour rules, trolling for new trade deals. What will that mean for the rest of us this time?

As Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the United States of America’s President Donald Trump separately, but simultaneously spend the days ahead, trolling around the Far East for new trade deals, there is something everyday people on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border should keep in mind.

With the possible exception of Japan, both men are dealing with countries that pay their workers peanuts and allow industries to operate in zones of weak environmental and labour protection regulations, so if past trade pacts our leaders have signed with counties that host sweat shops are any example, we have every reason to be concerned about any deal that might sell us down the river this  time. Continue reading →

“The democratic freedoms that so many of us might take for granted – the freedom to express ourselves, to participate in cultural, religious, and political activities, to come and go as we please, to associate with whom we please, and to pursue a safe and happy life – are all due to the sacrifices of Veterans and those who serve today. …Let us be thankful. Let us never forget.”

A Column from Dave Augustyn, Mayor of Pelham in Niagara, Ontario

Posted November 6^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Remembrance Day services at Old Pelham Town Hall in Ridgeville

Niagara, Ontario – The weather this past Sunday, November 5^th  was mostly dreadful. The leaves on the ground and the chill in the air reminded us that Autumn was upon us.

But the rain – at times nearly torrential – reminded us of what soldiers endured in the trenches in far-away lands.

And yet, Pelham residents took time to gather with members of the Royal Canadian Legion and the Ladies Auxiliary, the 613 Army Cadets, the Pelham Fire Service, and others at the Cenotaphs at Centennial Park, Old Town Hall, and Peace Park and during a special church service at Fonthill United to commemorate and remember the sacrifices of Pelham’s Veterans.

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

Ontario Health Coalition Calls on Provincial Government to Provide More Details on its Future Plans for Home Care Services

News from the Ontario Health Coalition, a non-profit, non-partisan citizens advocacy group for quality public health care

Posted November 6^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario – A leaked presentation from the Ministry of Health revealed by CBC this November 6^th indicates that the government is planning some sort of public home care agency for personal support work in the home.

The Ontario Health Coalition has been advocating for public home care since the 1990s and reacted with cautious optimism to the news.

“The devil is in the details,” said Ross Sutherland, R.N., M.A., chairperson of the Ontario Health Coalition. “If the government is planning public home care, this is great news. If they are planning to somehow have a public agency compete with the private corporations in home care, it will not help.” Continue reading →

“The creation of a strong, accountable, and multi-party committee of dedicated parliamentarians will help us ensure that our national security agencies continue to keep Canadians safe in a way that also safeguards our values, rights, and freedoms.” Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

News from the Office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Posted November 6th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Ottawa, Ontario – Canadians have been clear that they want – and need – our national security and intelligence communities to continue to be responsible and fully respect the rights and freedoms guaranteed to all citizens.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin TrudeauThat is why the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced the establishment of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, a multi-party committee that includes representatives from both the House of Commons and the Senate. Continue reading →

It’s Looking Like Nothing Will Be Done About the Massive Arsenal of  Weapons that Plays Such a Big Hand these  Tragedies, So Look Forward to the Next One.

A  News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted November 6^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

“Happiness is a warm gun, bang, bang, shoot, shoot.” – lyrics by former Beatle John Lennon, who was murdered outside his New York City home by a deranged man with a gun in December of 1980.

So here we are again.

Rick Perry, then Governor of Texas, doing a Wild West shootin’ thing as he bills himself as a “second amendment candidate’ while running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2011-12. He is now serving as Trump’s Secretary of Energy

It was just a little over a month  ago (this past October 1^st) in Las Vegas, that a home-grown citizen of the United States bullet drilled 58 people to death and wounded more than five hundred others in what is on record, for the moment, as the worst mass shooting in America – and now this past Sunday, November 6^th, we have what CNN headlined in the hours after it happened and witnesses said they could still smell the scent on spilled blood in the air, as America’s “worst mass shooting in a place of worship.”

The total death count as of this posting of 26 men, women and children – the youngest victim was one and a half years old – in a Baptist Church in small-town Texas, all at the hands of a 26-year-old, American-born, ex-U.S. Air Force service man who, despite what authorities have already revealed, had a shopping list of behaviour problems that, among other things, got him dishonourably discharged from a Navy desperate for recruits, still managed to get his hands on assault-style weapons and enough ammunition mow down an army. Continue reading →

Province Focused on Supporting Job Creation and Helping People Get Ahead

“Ontario is supporting a positive environment where employers are creating good jobs and the province’s talented workforce is supplying them.” – Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development and Growth

Ontario’s Unemployment Rate for October 2017 was 5.9 Per Cent – .4 Per Cent Below The National Average. The Unemployement Rate for St. Catharines-Niagara During The Same Period Was 8.1. Per Cent – Almost 3 Per Cent Above The National Average

A News Release from Ontario’s Liberal Government

Posted November 3^rd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Employment in Ontario increased by 5,200 jobs in October, the fourth straight month of job gains.

Employment in Ontario is up by 149,200 jobs, year over year. The province’s unemployment rate has been below the national average for 31 consecutive months.

According to the 2017-18 First Quarter Finances, Ontario is on track to balance the budget this year while making investments in the programs and services people and their families rely on most. Continue reading →

A News Commentary posted November 3^rd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

“It is irrefutable that overcrowded emergency departments lead to higher rates of patient mortality,” reads an excerpt from a news release circulated this November 1st by the citizens-based health care advocacy group called the Ontario Health Coalition and posted this November 2nd on Niagara At Large. “Yet the majority of Ontario’s hospitals are routinely running at more than 85 percent capacity almost all the time and many are running at 100 – 120 percent or even higher.”

This is a news release that was responded to with  commentary sent Niagara At Large’s way from Linda McKellar – a Niagara, Ontario resident and retired nurse who  has also been a vocal advocate for quality, public health care services in Niagara – and as much as it is already featured below the Ontario Health Coalition post on our site, Niagara At Large believes it has things to say that are important enough to post it again here.

Lines of hospital patients crowding the halls

The over-riding point in McKellar’s commentary is that the overcrowding problem in  hospitals here in Niagara and across Ontario is hardly new.

It is a problem that has been there and has been building to crisis proportions – all the while waiting for some government in the province to exercise the will and effort to fix – for far too long now.

Here now is the Commentary by Linda McKellar –

This is not a new situation. I have been retired for almost eight years and it went on for at least a decade prior to that.

There is no privacy… so cool trying to move your bowels on a bedpan in a hallway. Not really too pleasant for your neighbours either, especially when they are already sick. Continue reading →

Congressman Brian Higgins Lays Out Impact on Western New York

Posted November 3^rd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Buffalo, New York – (Democratic Party) Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26), Vice Ranking Member on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee tasked with tax policy oversight, responded to the release of the Republican Tax Reform Plan with remarks on the House Floor:

“The Tax Policy Center, the Wharton School and virtually every rational economist have reviewed the House Republican tax cut plan and the results are clear: no new good economic growth, big debt and deficit, and big tax cuts for corporations and very rich Americans. 

“Three million wealthy Americans will get a tax cut next year of $220,000.  Two-hundred and fifty million not rich Americans will get a tax cut of $221. 

“If you make $730,000 your income next year, your income will increase by 8 ½%.  If you make $150,000, it will increase by 1%. Continue reading →

Province’s Minister of Children and Youth Services Rolls Out a New Digital Platform for Young People to Participate in Government Decision-Making

“YouthVoiceON delivers on our commitment to listen to youth voices and mobilize their energy and interest in influencing policy decisions that affect them. I encourage youth to start using the tool today and participate in a vital conversation that will help shape public policy and improve their futures.” – Michael Coteau,  Ontario Minister of Children and Youth Services

A Call-Out to Ontario’s Young People from the Province’s Ministry of Children and Youth Services

Ontario Minister Michael Coteau recently meeting with young people at the launch of the new digital platform for youth to engage in public decision-making. Photo courtesy of Ontario Government

Posted November 3^rd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Ontario is giving young people across the province more opportunity to voice the issues that matter the most to them.

Michael Coteau, Minister of Children and Youth Services, and Deb Matthews, Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Digital Government, were at the WE Global Learning Centre in Toronto today to launch YouthVoiceON, a new online platform that will make it easier for youth in Ontario, ages 14 to 29, to talk directly with government about policy development. Continue reading →

Featuring a Screening of the Documentary film ‘Positive Women; Exposing Injustice’ and Guest Speaker Cecile Kazatchkine, Canadian HIV/Aids Legal Network

An Invite to All from the Niagara District Council of Women and Positive Living Niagara

Posted November 3^rd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

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

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 binational 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

“It is irrefutable that overcrowded emergency departments lead to higher rates of patient mortality. Yet the majority of Ontario’s hospitals are routinely running at more than 85 percent capacity almost all the time and many are running at 100 – 120 percent or even higher.”

News about Ontario’s hospitals from Natalie Mehra and the Ontario Health Coalition

Posted November 2^nd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario – A memo obtained by the NDP, released in the media late this October, reveals that more than 4,300 patients stayed on stretchers in hospital corridors and the like for significant lengths of time, often waiting 40 – 70 hours for a bed, as the Brampton Civic hospital grappled with “Code Gridlock” for 65 days this year. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Ontario hospitals in every medium-to-large sized town in Ontario report that they are full, often running at dangerous levels of overcrowding amounting to 100 percent capacity (every single bed full at all times) or even higher.

Lines of hospital patients crowding the halls

There is an almost-total consensus among governments and health policy leaders internationally that levels of crowding exceeding 85 percent capacity lead to bottlenecks and blocked emergency departments, take ambulances off the road in offload delays, increase incidence of hospital-acquired infections, increase violence, and lead to inadequate care. Continue reading →

Requirements were approved after fatal 2009 jet crash outside of Buffalo, New York

A News Release from the Buffalo, New York office of U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins

Posted November 2^nd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper – If you wonder if this news about the U.S. Trump administration’s efforts to weaken requirements for commercial air pilot training – requirements that were approved after a commercial jet crashed in the Erie County, New York Town of Clarence , killing 50 people, just a few minutes before it was scheduled to land at the Buffalo Airport in the winter of 2009, just ask yourself how many of you or your loved ones on both sides of the U.S./Canada board use American airlines?

The broken and mangled remains of Flight 3407 in Clarence, New York, a few minutes flight away from the Buffalo Airport where it would have landed, in the winter of 2009

Now ask yourselves if you believe that for the safety of all who fly, the proper training of pilots should take priority over higher profit margins for commercial airline corporation owners and their shareholders?

The Trump administration is actually now moving to weaken pilot training requirements that are so obviously necessary in light of the gross flight crew errors that resulted in that terrible Clarence, New York jet crash going on nine years ago.

Now wonder Trump and his billionaire cronies prefer to fly on their own privately owned jets..

A memorial near the place where the commercial jet crashed, killing all 50 people aboard

Now here is Buffalo area Congressman Brian Higgins’ news release on this issue.)

Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) took to the Floor of the House of Representatives to object to ongoing efforts to undermine flight safety provisions achieved through the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010.  The fate of the rules are being debated within the context of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization, set to expire in March 2018. Continue reading →

“The larger issues not discussed concern the tax masquerade system that aids the already wealthy created by the Liberals and Conservatives over many years.”

A Commentary by veteran Canadian journalist Nick Fillmore

Posted November 2nd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

The so-called “Morneau Scandal” has been a farce in many ways, with mainstream media failing to recognize the real scandal plaguing the government’s financial control system.

First, the tempest in a teapot. While he wasn’t legally required to do so, Finance Minister Bill Morneau made the mistake of not putting his financial holdings, which may run to $40-million, into a blind trust.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau speaks to members of the media as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks on at a press conference on tax reforms in Stouffville, Ont., on Monday, October 16, 2017.

The office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner  didn’t object to the fact that Morneau didn’t put his fortune in a blind trust.

Nevertheless, the jackals saw an opportunity to embarrass and possibly bring down the Trudeau government’s Number 2 man. Continue reading →

Hopefully, this is good news for Ontario’s college students and those teachers, precariously employed and poorly paid through contract that can be cancelled any time and without notice – Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

A Brief Statement from the Ontario Labour Ministry, issued over the noon hour on Wednesday, November 1^st

Posted November 1^st, 2017 on Niagara At Large

The Ministry of Labour mediator has called the parties in the ongoing college teacher’s labour dispute back to the bargaining table. The parties will be returning to the table November 2, 2017.

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

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

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

The Cyberbully In The White House Takes To Twitter And Offers Something Else

A Statement from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on terrorist attack in New York City, followed by a Footnote on Trump’s deplorable response to this from NAL reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted November 1st, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Canada’s  Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, issued the following statement  this Tuesday, October 31st, regarding the terrorist attack earlier that day in New York City:

Mangled bicycles on a trail in New York City where an attacker in a truck mowed people down, killing at least eight.

“I am deeply grieved to hear of today’s terrorist attack in New York City. Canadians join me in offering our sincere condolences to those mourning the loss of family members and friends. We also send our wishes for a full recovery to those who were injured.

“New York is known for its resilience and strength, and we know that New Yorkers will stand together as they always have in the face of difficult situations.

“Tonight, we offer our prayers and thoughts to our neighbours in the United States. We are with you, as always, as friends and allies.”

A Footnote from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper –

As someone with a number of dear friends in the New York City area, I echo Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s words, and regardless of what you think of the current Canadian Prime Minister, contrast his response to this tragedy with Trump’s.

Here is Trump wh, for days on end this past September, following the largest mass shooting in U.S. history, committed by a life=long American citizen in Las Vegas, said it was no time to talk about politics and policy around the easy access to hardware that can make a semi-automatic, assault style rifle operate like a rapid-firing, machine gun killing machine.

And why was that no time to talk politics and policy? Because Trump has his small hands stuck firmly up the sphincter of one of the most dangerous domestic terrorist groups in his country – a National Rifle Association (NRA) whose main mission it is to traffic in weapons of mass destruction. That’s why

Yet, within 18 hours of this latest tragedy in New York, Trump sent out no fewer than three tweets to the basket of deplorables that make up his base, blaming Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate from New York, for allegedly approving a visa program some years back that Trump claims makes it easier for individuals like the one arrested for the New York attack in to the country.

Trump holds up an assault style weapon to gin up the deplorables in his base

In Las Vegas this past September, 58 were murdered and more than five hundred were wounded by military calibre weapons operated by an American-born killer, and to this day, Trump has said nothing about policies that make it easy for people to purchase killing machines like this, and he hasn’t even gone so far as to say no to a bill, tabled by Republican congressional reps and sponsored by the NRA, to legalize the sale of silencers for these weapons.

In New York City, this October 31st, eight were killed and 12 others were injured, reportedly by a 29-year-old man born in the Middle East and radicalized over the internet, and Trump could hardly wait to tweet out messages blaming one of his Democratic critics and immigration policies he claims are conveyer belt for letting Islamic terrorists in to the country.

During a news conference convened hours after the New York attack, the state’s Governor Andrew Cuomo said, in so many words, that at a time like this people across the country and at all levels of government have to come together and support each other, not become divided, because if that happens, the terrorists win.

So what does the orange hair idiot dot but send out poisonous tweets that advance the cause of the terrorists. And the basket of deplorables he claims would support him if he shot someone on Fifth Avenue, just keep cheering him on.

Hopefully, a majority of Americans will unite in getting rid of this guy.

• Doug Draper

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

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 binational 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

If the (Ontario Liberal government’s) legislation isn’t changed now before the law is passed, a loophole will exist that employers could exploit to continue to pay part-time, casual and temporary workers less—a move that disproportionately will impact women in this province.” – Welland Riding MPP Cindy Forster

A News Release from Ontario’s New Democratic Party and Welland Riding MPP and NDP Labour Critic Cindy Forster

Posted November 1^st, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto —In question period on Tuesday, NDP Labour critic Cindy Forster called on the Wynne government to fix a Liberal loophole written into the Wynne Liberal Labour bill that allows employers to continue to pay part-time and temporary workers less than others doing the same work. The loophole was introduced as a Liberal amendment to Bill 148 after the first round of committee hearings on the legislation over the summer.

“Mary Gellatly, with the Parkdale Community Legal Services and the $15 and Fairness campaign, made clear yesterday in committee that the Wynne Liberals have diluted legislation intended to protect workers, stating that the Liberal amendment ‘directly undermines the intent of the equal pay provisions,’ ” said Forster. Continue reading →

 “Ontario’s fixation with obsolete nuclear energy is to say the least puzzling, but what is clear is that this fixation is going to cost us dearly.” … Sign the petition below.

A News Commentary by the Ontario Clean Air Alliance

Posted November 1^st, 2017 on Niagara At Large

In its just released Long Term Energy Plan, the Wynne government has doubled down on its plan to rebuild 10 aging nuclear reactors. The price tag for this dubious plan is a whopper — a 55% increase in residential electricity rates by 2032 (pg. 28).

This high-cost, high-risk plan flies in the face of worldwide trends, where many countries are moving away from nuclear energy and embracing ever lower-cost renewable sources instead.

The giant Pickering nuclear reactors along the northern shores of Lake Ontario

In fact, in 2016 worldwide wind power output grew by 16% and solar by 30%, while nuclear grew by just 1.4% (largely due to China). Continue reading →

“Some students are considering class action lawsuits to get their tuition back, and 120,000 students have signed a petition calling for a tuition refund for each day missed because of the strike.”

A News Release from the New Democratic Party of Ontario

Posted November 1st, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – NDP Education Critic Peggy Sattler says the Wynne Liberals are failing Ontario students affected by a province-wide labour dispute.

On Tuesday, Sattler demanded that the Wynne Liberals explain how students will be compensated for losses related to the strike. Settler also demanded to know why Wynne has been threatening back-to-work legislation, undermining the potential for a fair deal to be reached. Continue reading →

A Public Advisory from the City of St. Catharines in Niagara, Ontario

Posted November 1st, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Decew Falls, along the Niagara Escarpment, with old saw mill and Morningstar Mill above.

Niagara, Ontario  – Visitors to Decew Falls are advised to follow the instructions on newly posted signs and stay on the marked trails.

Decew Falls and the nearby Morningstar Mill heritage site are popular destinations for hiking. Newly posted signs in the area warn that the gorge embankment is dangerous. Hikers should not climb or hike down to Decew Falls and are advised by Acting Fire Chief Jeff McCormick to stay on the marked trails. 

“Decew Falls is one of the best places to enjoy the outdoors in St. Catharines,” said the acting fire chief. “We want visitors to enjoy Decew Falls safely by using the marked trails and respecting the rules on posted signs.” Continue reading →

The Spooks Have Become Far Too Real And Dangerous

A Comment on the State of Halloween 2017 by NAL publisher Doug Draper

Posted October 31, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Someone with a sick sense of Halloween humour carved this for the kids knocking at their door

Once upon a Halloween Time, back in the days when parents dressed their kids up as goblins and had little to fear about sending them out trick or treating at neighbourhood doors, there were spooks out there that turned out to be figments of our imagination or just one of our friends dressed up as Dracula or the Wicked Witch of the West.

They would say ‘Boo’, we would act scared and startled, and then we would end it altogether in laughter.

Not that there weren’t always some real spooks out there. Continue reading →