Category Archives: Uncategorized

A News Release from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, a non-partisan citizens group

Posted April 17^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Doug Ford thinks firing the CEO of Hydro One will lead to lower electricity bills.

While we agree that $6 million/yr is way over the top, firing him would only lead to a 3/100ths of 1% decrease in our rates.

This kind of populist thinking has led successive Ontario governments to ignore real solutions to rising electricity costs. Continue reading →

He was Front Man of the Canadian rock band ‘The British Modbeats’

By Doug Draper

Posted April 13th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

In the last half of the 1960s when hippies and flower power were far more cool for many young people at the time than getting high marks in school, there was a rock band in Niagara that had the corner on groovy and cool.

That band was ‘The British Modbeats” (the name was a nod to the Beatles-led ‘British Invasion’ still dominating the music scene at that time) and for a few bright, shining in the late sixties it came closer than any other band in the Niagara region to joining Canadian groups like Steppenwolf and The Guess Who in rising to the top of the pops. Continue reading →

With New Transit Funding of $148 Million From The Province of Feds, It Is At Long Last Time To Bring It On!

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

Posted March 16^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

He has long been one of the region’s champions for a full-fledged affordable public transit system for Niagara, and, once again, he has shown his commitment to that goal.

Vance Badawey, who was Mayor of Port Colborne and a Niagara regional councillor when he jumped on board the campaign for a region-wide transit system, stood beside St. Catharines’ federal and provincial representatives Chris Bittle and Jim Bradley – this time as the federal representative and Liberal government member for the riding of Niagara Centre – to announce, this March 15^th, an unprecedented amount of federal and provincial funding for public transit in the region.

Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey making $148 million transit announcement outside Niagara regional headquarters this March 15th. Photo courtesy of Kara Emberson at V. Badawey’s constituency office

The funding, to be split between municipalities in Niagara that operate transit system, totals $148 million, and could and should be used to turn Niagara’s patchwork of transit services in to one region-wide system that is accessible and affordable to all residents. Continue reading →

Province Creating More Fairness and Opportunity for Workers

“Fairness and decency must be the defining values of our workplaces.” – Ontario Labour Minister Kevin Flynn 

A News Release from Ontario’s  Ministry of Labour

Posted March 15^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

On April 1, 2018, Ontario will become the first jurisdiction in North America to mandate equal pay for equal work between casual, part-time, temporary and seasonal workers, and full-time or permanent workers. 

Under the new rules, casual, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees cannot be paid at a rate of pay less than full-time or permanent employees if: Continue reading →

Million of Americans are Standing Up to the Trump Destruction Machine. They Very Much Deserve and Need Our Support

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted January 21^st, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Signs of Our Times – Carried across the border in New York and other states this January 20-21st weekend by millions resisting the dangerous policies of Trump

I have continued to hear many of my fellow Canadians over the past 12 months since Trump was sworn in as Twitter-in-Chief in the country across the border make sweeping statements about Americans because of Trump.

“How can they be so stupid,” is one of the lines I so often hear Canadians say of Americans.

It is as if to say that most, if not   all Americans are ignorant and are racist.

It is as if to say that they are  filled with as much contempt for press, the judiciary and other democratic institutions, and as much fear and hate for people of colour as Trump and a base of supporters, largely made up of  white supremacists, evangelical Christians who are so far out that they view the Pope of the Catholic Church as the anti-Christ, and billionaire bagmen who would total the planet to drill for the last drop of oil. Continue reading →

When Times Are Bad, It’s  Important To Remember There Are Good People Doing Good Things In Our Communities

News from the Niagara Regional Police Service with a A Brief Foreword from Niagara At Large

Posted January 21^st, 2018 on Niagara At Large

A Foreword from NAL reporter and publisher Doug Draper – At a time when there are a lot of bad things happening in this region, this country and this world that we ignore at our peril – at a time like this past Saturday, January 20^th, when we open up local newspapers to news that those who are supposed to be our municipal leaders in Niagara are once again, through some of their own objectionable conduct and through the complicity of their own standoffishness and silence, are allowing our regional headquarters to be repeatedly used as a venue for bullying, harassment and hate speech – it is just as important to remember that there are good people among us, doing good things in our communities.

One of those good people is Gary Screaton Page, resident in the Niagara, Ontario community of Fort Erie and a long-time Chaplain for the Niagara Regional Police who, through his dedication to community, and his own sense of humanity and generosity, has spent years working with others to welcome newcomers to this region of Canada, and serve the common good in many other ways. Continue reading →

“Our work is far from done. We need to continue to show up. We need to take up our space as women, because we rightfully belong here. We need to elect women. We need to believe women. … Change is happening.” – Andrea Horwath

A Message from Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

Posted January 20^th,. 2018 on Niagara At Large

Statement from Andrea Horwath, Leader of Ontario’s NDP

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

Sudbury, Ontario  — This morning, (Saturday, January 20th) millions of people around the globe marched for women’s rights, and I was proud to do the same, marching alongside Ontario women in Sudbury.

I marched because there are women who still make about 70 cents on the dollar for doing the same job as a man. Because it’s 2018 and there are elected folks who still don’t respect women’s equal place in society. Continue reading →