We All Have A Responsibility To Make Sure These Great Animals Are Properly Cared For
A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper
Posted October 8th, 2025 on Niagara At Large
Captive beluga whales, on public exhibition at the Marineland amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario now face the threat of euthanasia.
The final chapter in the long story about why marine mammals should never be kept in captivity for our entertainment is now playing out at what is left of the once-popular Marineland amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
The chapter opens in the wake of one killer whale (the last one held in captivity in all of Canada) and 19 beluga whales dying at the now shuttered park since 2019, and 30 surviving belugas now facing the possibility of euthanasia after Canada’s Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson recently said “no” to a plan by Mare inland’s owners to sell them to an aquarium in China. Continue reading
TORONTO – Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles met with young Ontarians, experts, and community leaders for a roundtable discussion this past October 6th, aimed at addressing the province’s worsening youth unemployment crisis:
“Two years ago today (October 7th), families were preparing to observe a joyful Jewish holiday, and hundreds of young music lovers were gathering at a peaceful music festival, when the terrorist organization Hamas launched a heinous attack against Israeli civilians.
Toronto , Ontario – As part of 90-day national 
This Monday, October 6th as the sun sets, take a little time to look up in the skies above for the first full moon of the fall season – a super-sized ‘Harvest Moon’.
A Statement fromPhil Pothen, Counsel and Ontario Environment Program Manager, and Rebecca Kolarich, Water Program Manager At Environmental Defence Canada
With all of the chaos, carnage and lack of principled action on the part of too many of our political leaders and other bad actors on this planet, how lucky we are – and now I am sorry to have say; how luck we were – to have Jane Goodall among us.
TORONTO, Ontario – The Auditor General’s report on Greenhouse Gas emissions makes it clear that the Ford government will fail to meet the province’s 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction target. Ontario NDP Shadow Minister for Environment, Conservation, and Parks Peter Tabuns has issued the following statement:
“Reconciliation is a generational task, lived and practised every day. On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day, we honour Survivors and the children who never returned home – and we reflect on the devastating legacy and the ongoing impacts of the residential school system.
In a deeply disturbing move, Marineland Canada (in Niagara Falls, Ontario) has applied for permits to export its remaining 30 beluga whales to a theme park in China.
Niagara Region, ON – A Statement from the Chair of the Niagara Transit Commission, Mat Siscoe, on the passing of Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley – 
A Brief Foreword Note from Doug Draper at Niagara At Large – According to the Ontario Living Wage Network, a province-wide group of employers, employees, non-profits, researchers, and proponents of decent work standards for all Ontario workers, a “living wage” in Niagara that would at least give someone a a chance to pay rent and put food on their table is now $20.90 an hour, more than three dollars more than Ford’s new minimum wage.
St. CATHARINES/Niagara – Shadow Solicitor General Jennie Stevens (NDP MPP for St. Catharines) is calling out Premier Doug Ford for taking speed cameras, a road safety measure that saves lives, out of communities without any plans to keep vulnerable road users safe:
When hundreds — and eventually thousands — of evacuees from Northern Ontario and Manitoba arrived in Niagara this spring and summer, they brought with them stories of upheaval, resilience and hope.
An Invite from The Friends of Beaverdams Church
From an online site of Canada’s Historic Places, here is a description of Beaverdams Church – Ontario’s oldest still standing Methodist church, the Beaverdams Methodist Church and Burying Ground, is located on Marlatts Road on a picturesque site facing the pond extensions of Gibson Lake. Built in 1832, the two-storey New England Meeting House style church features a white clapboard exterior, and two entrances at the front (north) side of the building. Included in the designation is a burying ground to the south and west of the church, and the property is designated for its heritage value by the City of Thorold under By-law 1811(94).
Niagara Falls, Ontario – Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles has vowed to make the changes necessary to win after a leadership review vote expressed (last weekend’s Niagara Falls, Ontario) convention delegates’ disappointment with the party’s recent campaign.
For at least some people living in the United States, including close friends of mine, and for many of us living here in Canada, having a front-row seat to a horror show where Trump and his followers have been destroying what is left of freedom and democracy in America has been a horrifying thing to watch, indeed.
Chandra Pasma, the Ontario NDP Shadow Minister for Education, is calling on the Ford government to reverse course on their political games and invest in our classrooms after reports show that a majority of Ontarians are not buying (Ford Government Education Minister) Paul Calandra’s political games and want to see more investments in our classrooms:
NIAGARA FALLS, ON – Birchway Niagara is proud to announce a transformational gift of $750,000 from long-time Niagara philanthropists Jana and Michael Katz in support of the agency’s Creating Safe Spaces capital campaign.
With the once-every-tear sight of that harvest moon up there in the sky just two weeks away, farmers markets, road-side stands and what few independent, locally owned grocery store outlets we have left across Niagara and other neighbouring regions of our province are brimming with vegetables and other produce grown by our local farmers.
St. Catharines, Ontario –– Three-in-four (74%) Canadians ages 18–34 say they lack a sense of community, according to new YMCA research. Yet the same amount believe that “third places” like the YMCA are the key to feeling more connected.
“The current Israeli government is working methodically to prevent the prospect of a Palestinian state from ever being established. It has pursued an unrelenting policy of settlement expansion in the West Bank, which is illegal under international law. Its sustained assault in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of civilians, displaced well over one million people, and caused a devastating and preventable famine in violation of international law. It is now the avowed policy of the current Israeli government that ‘there will be no Palestinian state’. … It is in this context that Canada recognises the State of Palestine” – Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
Toronto, ON / Cleveland OH – The Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR) through its Canadian nonprofit corporation (CGLR Canada) is pleased to announce the appointment of Vance Badawey as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective September 15th, 2025.
(A Brief Foreword by Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper – What fantastic news this is, not just from the standpoint of domestic availability of a key, life-saving vaccine in our country, but also because it is one more giant step in moving our country away from our dependence on a country – Trump’s United States – that we can no longer count on as a fair supply line for much-needed vaccines and other products Canadians need.
Today (this September 19th, 2025), the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, and the Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health, along with Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, announced that Moderna has achieved a major milestone, producing the first made-in-Canada doses of its COVID-19 vaccine at its new state-of-the-art mRNA vaccine biomanufacturing facility in Laval, Quebec.
“As respiratory viruses circulate this fall, vaccination is our strongest defense. We encourage all Ontarians, especially seniors and others at higher risk of complications from infection, to get their seasonal vaccines as soon as they’re available. If you’re unsure about timing or eligibility, your family physician can help you make a plan and find convenient options close to home. Getting protected now lowers the risk of severe illness and helps keep people healthier in their communities and out of hospitals.” – Dr. Jobin Varughese, President, Ontario College of Family Physicians
“As we head into respiratory illness season, our government is using every tool in our toolbox to protect our communities, families and our most vulnerable,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Working with our health-care partners, we are making sure flu, COVID-19 and RSV immunizations are available close to home, where and when they are needed.”
NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario – Ontario’s New Democrats are going back to their roots for their first in-person convention since 2019, kicking off in Niagara Falls this afternoon. Over 63 years ago, the party was founded in Niagara Falls by farmers, unions, and families fighting for a better future.
There were 7,000 fewer job openings in Ontario at the end of June than March and there were more than 200,000 fewer openings than June 30, 2022, according to a Statistics Canada report released Tuesday morning.
“Like most people of my generation (born and growing up during the Great Depression of the 1930s and Second Word War eras), I was brought up to believe in progress. I still do. But we are now at a point where we have to ask ourselves if we are beneficiaries of our progress – or the victims. Manifest Destiny doesn’t work anymore. Progress from now on has to mean something different. We’re creating a world a world that is tipping dangerously out of balance. We are running out of places, we’re running out of resources, and we’re running out of time. … It is a pretty lousy legacy we have left our children. …
Canadians are in a housing crisis. Despite recent improvements in several cities, far too many Canadians – particularly young Canadians – are struggling to find homes they can afford. Canada’s new government is stepping up with a bold new approach and unprecedented investments to increase the housing supply in Canada.
Lincoln, ON –– Town of Lincoln Committee of the Whole has approved a $25,000 Physician Recruitment Incentive Agreement with Dr. Danielle Robinson, who will establish her first full-time practice in Niagara at the Lincoln Medical Clinic. The report is scheduled for Council ratification on September 22, 2025. 
For hundreds of small and medium-sized communities across the Great Lakes region, preparing for the water-related impacts of changing weather patterns can be challenging. The International Joint Commission’s (IJC) Great Lakes Water Quality Board) has developed a new Great Lakes Climate Adaptation Resource Guide .
Niagara, Ontario – More Brock University students will soon learn the vital skills needed to provide critical care for residents in Niagara and across Ontario.
The federal government is developing a new agency to accelerate construction across the country. 
When they privatized cataract surgeries, Ford appeared all over TV promising that people would never pay with their credit card, only their OHIP card. That was a lie. All over Ontario, seniors are now routinely charged thousands of dollars in the private for-profit eye surgery clinics. 
Niagara At Large 