Category Archives: Uncategorized

Thursday, October 18^th, 7 to 9 p.m. at the Grimsby Royal Canadian Legion

A Call-Out from the Niagara Health Coalition

Posted October 17^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

A rendiition of what a new West Lincoln Memorial Hospital might look like

Who: The Niagara Health Coalition (NHC) is organizing a town hall meeting regarding the West Lincoln Memorial Hospital.

When: Thursday, October 18, 7-9 pm

Where: Grimsby Royal Canadian Legion, 233 Elizabeth St.  Grimsby

Why:  The West Lincoln Memorial Hospital needs not only to be rebuilt and but also to get more than $ 12 million dollars to keep its two surgeries open.  West Niagara has been waiting since 2013 for the go ahead to build a new hospital.  Continue reading →

Caslin and Company at Niagara Region Win Canadian Journalists’ “Code of Silence Award for           Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy’

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted October 15th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Caslin circus wins national award!

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara’s regional government received a national award this Monday, October 15 and not one of those still in power at the Region – not the Region’s Chair Al Caslin or CAO Carmen D’Angelo or any of their stand-ins – showed up for the presentation.

That’s no surprise though, since this particular award, presented each year by the Canadian Association of Journalists, News Media Canada, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression and Ryerson University-based Centre for Free Expression (CFE), is not the kind any self-respecting municipal leaders would want in a news release – just days away from municipal elections that could very well see quite a few on this regional council swept out of office.

James Turk, director of Ryerson University’s Centre for Free Expression’. with ‘Code of Silence’ Award given to Niagara’s regional council by Canadian journalists associations.

The award, given by the four, Canada-wide press-advocacy groups, is called the “Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy” in the category of municipal government.

James Turk, director of the Centre for Freedom and 15th, a distinguished visiting professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, made the award announcement at a press conference in downtown St. Catharines this October 15th, said the award’s purpose “is to call public attention to government departments and agencies that put extra effort into denying public access to government information to which the public has a right under access to information explanation.”

In that spirit, a citation, inscribed on the award Turk said the Canadian groups will attempt to send to the regional government reads as follows – Continue reading →

Judging by recent events in the United States and the ongoing horror of missing and murdered indigenous girls in Canada, we have not gone very far from the days when girls and women were not much more than men’s ‘many toys’ 

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted  October 11th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Lesley Gore, who died in February of 2016 at age 68, made this empowering song a bit hit when she was 16 years old. On her new album, Ann Wilson reminds that the song has not lost its relevance.

This past August at Artpark in Lewiston, New York, was saw the still mighty Ann Wilson, lead singer of the classic rock and soul band Heart, sing a few songs from her latest album ‘Immortal’, featuring a set of songs from recently departed pop music icons.

One of the songs Ann Wilson sang from the album is called “You Don’t Own Me,” a song that became a big hit in the early 1960s for the late American pop singer Lesley Gore, who was better known at the time for teeny bopper songs like “It’s My Party” and “Sunshine, Lollypops.”

Wilson called the song was very gutsy for a teen artists to perform at the time, with lyrics that began – “You don’t own me, I’m not just one of your many toys. You don’t own me; don’t say I can’t go with other boys. And don’t tell me what to do,  Don’t tell me what to say,  And please, when I go out with you, Don’t put me on display… “

Gutsy for 1963? Before the advent of the women’s movements of the last half of the 20th century and more than 50 years before the #Me Too Movement of today, it was a gutsy song for a young American girl to belt out – and she did belt it out – indeed. Continue reading →

“It’s high time we shine a light on the role that throwaway plastic producers are playing in the plastic pollution crisis,” – Sarah King, Greenpeace Canada’s Head of Oceans and Plastics

News from Greenpeace Canada

Posted October 11^th, 2017 on Niagara At Large

by Loujain Kurdi

The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and Nestlé also found to  respectively  be the worst plastic polluters worldwide  

A Greenpeace diver holds a banner reading “Coca-Cola is this yours?” and a
Coca-Cola bottle found adrift in the garbage patch.
The crew of the Greenpeace ship MY Arctic Sunrise voyage into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch document plastics and other marine debris. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a soupy mix of plastics and microplastics, now twice the size of Texas, in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean.

Montreal  – The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and Nestlé were the corporations most frequently identified in the international report through the 239 cleanup – audits held on World Clean Up Day in  42 countries by the Break Free From Plastic movement. 

The Canadian Plastic Polluters Brand Audits found the top 5 polluting corporations to be Nestlé, Tim Hortons, PepsiCo., The Coca-Cola Company and McDonald’s.

The Coca-Cola Company, the 4th worst polluter in the Canadian audit, was the top global polluter in the international audit, with Coke-branded plastic pollution found in 40 of the 42 participating countries.  Continue reading →

Eagles, Hawks And Falcons Abound During The Fall Raptor Migration

“Sadly though, many Canadian bird populations have experienced significant declines over the last 40 years. In Ontario, habitat loss threatens bald eagles and ospreys, and climate change is disrupting the availability of lemmings and other prey that owls hunt.”

Osprey – photo credit,_Missy_Mandel_courtesy_of_Ontario_Nature

News from Ontario Nature, a conservation organization that protects wild species and spaces through conservation, education and public engagement.

Posted October 10^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario — The beginning of fall is an exciting time for bird enthusiasts as summer fledglings become air-borne adults and join others of their kind on route to warmer climes. This mass exodus is happening all around us. Continue reading →

Don’t Miss This – Tonight, Wednesday October 10th, 2018, 8-9:30 p.m. at the St. Catharines Central Library in Downtown St. Catharines

Protecting the Great Lakes with John Jackson 

Canadian environmentalist and former Great Lakes United leader John Jackson

An Invite to All from the Niagara District Council of Women

Posted October 2^nd, 2018 on Niagara At Large

The Niagara District Council of Women will be hosting a public forum, Protecting the Great Lakes, on Wednesday, October 10 from 8:00 to 9:30 pm at the St. Catharines Central Library, on  54 Church St. in the city’s downtown.

Our guest speaker for this public forum is John Jackson, Great Lakes Expert and former President of Great Lakes United. “Together, we need to work to protect the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem.”

John Jackson is a passionate leader who has been tirelessly advancing public engagement throughout the Great Lakes, combining an extraordinary depth of knowledge about the Great Lakes with passion and a strategic vision for binational collaboration. He has a remarkable ability to influence Great Lakes policies and issues.

Some issues that John will discuss are:

• Massive levels of recycling are being touted as the solution to plastics contamination in the Great Lakes. But does this simply spread toxics ever further? How do we get out of this recycling enigma?
• Nuclear power plants are being closed or will eventually be closed all around the Great Lakes (except Lake Superior). What is the radioactive legacy that these toxic hulks leave around the Great Lakes? The new era of nuclear power in the Great Lakes basin? Small size units scattered across the basin? And/or nuclear power units floating on the Great Lakes near major power users?
• Continued concerns regarding invasive species in the Great Lakes
• Urban and agricultural runoff as the most significant source of pollution in the Great Lakes
• Working bi-nationally on the Great Lakes in the era of Trump

John dedicates his time to Great Lakes issues, with a focus on the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and engaging stakeholders and the public in caring for our shared waters.

The Niagara District Council of Women (NDCW) has 26 federated group members plus individual members from across the Region. This year we celebrate our 100th year of service to the community.  In June, we hosted women from across the country at the 125th AGM of the National Council of Women of Canada at Niagara College.  

You can learn more about our council, our history and 100th Year Anniversary at www.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

“We hope adding an EV charging station downtown will continue to make these environmentally-friendly vehicles a viable alternative to traditional vehicles for our residents.” – David Oakes, St. Catharines’ Deputy Chief Administrative Officer.

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

Posted October 3^rd, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Max Cananzi, president for Alectra Utilities Corporation, and Mayor Walter Sendzik unveil the new electric vehicle charging station at City Hall.

St. Caharines, Ontario – A dual-head electric vehicle charging station is now available at City Hall in the area of the James Street parking lot entrance. Two electric vehicles can plug into the EV charging station at a time.

To kick off the pilot project, the City of St. Catharines is offering free EV charging from now until October 2019; regular parking rates will still apply. Continue reading →