Niagara At Large

“In Canada

• This year, just 5 Canadians have the same wealth as the bottom 30% of Canadians – more than 11 million people. Canada’s top 5 billionaires own $55 billion, while the bottom 30% owns $54.97 billion. 

• The poorest 10% of Canadians only make about $2.30 more per day than they did 25 years ago.” 

News from Oxfam Canada on the Growing Wealth Gap in Canada and around the World

Posted January 21st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Runaway inequality has created a world where 62 people own as much wealth as the poorest half of the world’s population. This figure has fallen from 388 just five years ago, according to an Oxfam report published today ahead of the annual gathering of the world’s financial and political elites in Davos.

An Economy for the 1%, shows that the wealth of the poorest half of the world’s  population has fallen by a trillion dollars since 2010, a drop of 41 per cent. This has occurred despite the global population increasing by around 400 million people during that period. Meanwhile the wealth of the richest 62 has increased by more than half a trillion dollars to $1.76 trillion. Continue reading →

“The biggest gap in many communities is private sponsorships.” – Jeff Burch,  Director,  Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted January 20^th on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Thousands of Syrians have died fleeing the Middle Eastern country plagued by war and terrorism.

Syrian refugees arriving recently in Canada.

For too many, turning to smugglers and deadly boat crossings on the Mediterranean Sea is the only option for escape.

It’s a grim reality that served as the catalyst for a group of 18 Brock University faculty and staff to come together to sponsor a family of Syrian refugees through Ryerson Lifeline Syria.

“We are providing a legal way for people to flee so they don’t have to risk their lives,” said Ebru Ustundag, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography. “For me, it’s an ethical and political responsibility. This is one of the worst humanitarian crises in decades.” Continue reading →

A Column from Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the Ontario Health Coalition, a province-wide public advocacy group

Posted January 20^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

We have raised it repeatedly for the last half-decade or more in legislative

Ontario Health Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra

hearings on the Ontario Budget and the Local Health Integration Networks. Now, finally, the Ontario government is taking some modest action to roll back the worst of hospital parking fees.

In advance of the protests against hospital cuts that we are holding across the province this week at each pre-budget hearing, the government proclaimed early Monday morning that it will be requiring hospitals to roll back some parking fees.

But the announcement will not actually lower parking fees in many communities. This is the bottom line:

• Hospitals will still be able to charge $10 per day or more to visitors.
• For hospitals that charge $9.99 per day or less, nothing changes.
• But those hospitals that do charge $10 or more per day for visitors will be required to provide access to 5 -, 10 -, and 30 – day passes discounted by 50%. These discount passes must be transferable between patients and caregivers and must include in- and out- privileges.

Continue reading →

A Brief Commentary from Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

Posted January 20th, 2016

I’m one Canadian who has always taken exception whenever I here one of my fellow citizens make the sweeping statement that “Americans are stupid.”

As I’ve mentioned several times in commentaries posted on Niagara At Large, many of my close friends are Americans and they are far from “stupid” when it comes to what is happening in and to their country.

Yet even I must admit that it is hard to remember that America has its share of smart people when you see cable news replays of U.S. Tea Party star Sarah Palin, spewing words (when she was not making a mash of them) like a mentally challenged out-paitent on crack,

Then along comes the following front-page of the New York Daily News, published this January 20th, to restore some of your faith that there may be enough people in America to keep Donald Trump out of White House where he would have his fingers near the missle button while he is inflicting his angry, hate-filled demagoguery on the people of his country, on his neighbours in Canada and on the rest of the world.

By the way, if anyone really wants to get into the down and dirty business of doing a per capita comparison of how many stupid people there are in the U.S. versus Canada, one could begin by remembering that in Canada’s last federal election – held two months ago this mid-January, almost 32 per cent of the 17.5 million Canadians who bothered to go to the polls voted for the Stephen Harper Conservatives. Continue reading →

‘A Brief Comment from Doug Draper

Posted January 19^th, 2016 in Niagara At Large

“I’m afraid of Americans. I’m afraid of the world. I’m afraid I can’t help it.  … I’m afraid of Americans. …… God is an American. God is an American”

When David Bowie wrote those lyrics for an album called ‘Earthling’ in 1997, the inspiration for them apparently came while he was visiting the Indonesian island of Java and witnessed the first McDonald’s fast food restaurant going up there – an invasion of a base feature of Americana on that culture he found “depressing.”

With Bowie’s death this January and those lyrics swirling around in so many of the tributes, I could see them being reborn again as a perfect soundtrack as Donald Trump and Sarah Palin – two of America’s most ghoulish politicians and both such masters at playing to the darkest side of their fellow citizens – came together this January 19^th so that Palin could endorse Trump’s campaign for the presidency of the United States. All while praying for God’s blessing for them and the American nation they are fighting to save.

“I’m afraid of Americans. … God is an American.”

And God help the rest of the world.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

“Create a national pharmacare program to expand universal, comprehensive coverage to all Canadians for needed medications.”

New from the Ontario Health Coalition

Posted January 19^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Toronto/Vancouver – Urgent action must be taken to safeguard equal health care for all as a first priority as Health Ministers from across Canada gather in Vancouver this week, say advocates from the public health care watchdog the Ontario Health Coalition.

“We are seeing an alarming increase in user fees charged to patients in private clinics,” said Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the Ontario Health Coalition. “Cuts and privatization have resulted in patients being charged hundreds or even thousands of dollars for needed tests and surgeries, in violation of the Canada Health Act and provincial laws.

As the Health Ministers gather in British Columbia this week, we are calling on Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins to insist that the fundamental principle of equal health care for all, based on need not wealth, be upheld and enforced as a first priority; and funding be provided to meet population need for care.” Continue reading →

Posted by Doug Draper, publisher, Niagara At Large

January 18^th, 2016

Each Martin Luther King Day – a day each January that Americans and others around the world are asked to remember one of the most stirring and courageous voices for human rights for the past 100 years – I like to share a fitting quotation from this great individual, who would have turned 87 this past January 15^th and who is being honoured in gatherings across North America this Monday, January 18^th.

Martin Luther King Jr.

This quotation is one I found in a blog posted by a young person named Kayle Lunde who lives and works in Washington D.C. It is a particularly relevant statement from the American civil rights leader given so many of the questions and concerns – along with some very ugly words and actions – expressed across North America as we contront a Syrian refugee crisis of historic proportions.

That quotation, followed by some reflections (in which you can just as well substitute the word Canadian for American if you live north of the border)on it by Kayle Lunde, goes like this –

“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” – Martin Luther King

Continue reading →

Posted January 18^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

News from the Hamilton,Ontario-based Citizens At City Hall (CATCH)

In the few weeks since the Paris climate accord (this past December), there have been three pipeline occupations and there are promises of more civil disobedience as citizens, including Hamilton organizations, turn up the heat on the National Energy Board (NEB) and the fossil fuel sector it oversees.

A pipeline protest in Sarnia, Ontario area this past December resulted in arrests

Multiple groups including First Nations, the Council of Canadians, and 350.org are pushing the federal Liberals to implement their promised reform of the Board before the NEB makes further decisions on oil and bitumen pipelines.

The immediate focus is the controversial Kinder Morgan application to twin a pipeline from Alberta to Vancouver, but the promised reform of the NEB could also affect three Enbridge pipelines through Hamilton – Line 9 that was shut down twice by protests last month, Line 7 that was also briefly disrupted, and Line 10 whose expansion application is now before the NEB. Continue reading →

Putting Patients First By Reducing Fees for Frequent Visitors

News from the Government of Ontario

Posted January 18^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario is making hospital parking more affordable for thousands of patients, their loved ones and caregivers. As of October 1, 2016, hospitals that charge more than $10 a day for parking will be required to provide 5-, 10- and 30-day passes that are:

The Niagara Health System’s Welland, Ontario hospital site. photo by Doug Draper

• Discounted by 50 per cent off their daily rate
• Transferable between patients and caregivers
• Equipped with in-and-out privileges throughout a 24-hour period
• Good for one year from the date of purchase.

Continue reading →

A Brief Comment from Doug Draper

Posted January 17th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Canada’s national media keeps reporting on what an economic blow it is for the people in the Province Of Canada with the work price for oil cratering the way it has.

But times can’t be that bad when billboards like the following are popping up in the province.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

With A Brief Foreword Note from Doug Draper, publisher, Niagara At Large

Posted January 14^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

From Doug Draper

With all of the negativity we are fed by politicians, it was great to tune in one of the cable news channels this January 12^th and hear some truly positive and forward-thinking ideas coming from Barack Obama during his last State of the Union Address as President of the United States.

U.S. Barack Obama delivers State of the Union Address for last time in his presidency.

It sounded like a youngish new Canadian Prime Minister named Justin Trudeau who is already being sniped at with lines like ‘he can’t do that’ or ‘he’s trying to move too fast’ or (especially with reference to his ambitious promise to land 50,000 Syrians in Canada by early this year) ‘ah, you see, he’s going to miss his target’ by critics representing the narrow and dated interests – too often drenched in anger, phobia and cynicism – of old stock Canadians.

Let’s hope that for the sake of the future of younger generations of Canadians and Americans, Trudeau and Obama and whoever takes his place in the White House do not let the voices of negativity and entrenched interest discourage them from at least try pursuing a more progressive course.

In that spirit, what follows is one of the more instirational, forward-thinking excerpts – at least, in my view – from Obama’s January 12^th, 2016 State of the Union Address –

“Sixty years ago, when the Russians beat us into space, we didn’t deny Sputnik was up there. We didn’t argue about the science, or shrink our research and development budget. We built a space program almost overnight, and twelve years later, we were walking on the moon.

Continue reading →

“The Niagara Poverty Reduction Network has become a strong and reliable voice on poverty issues within our region.”

News from the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network

Posted January 13^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – The Niagara Poverty Reduction Network (NPRN), which includes over 30 organizations and individuals working to raise awareness of poverty issues and solutions, welcomes new leadership starting in 2016. 

Glen Walker will become the Chair of the Network, while Melenie Neamtz steps in as Network Vice-Chair.  Walker is the Executive Director of Positive Living Niagara with an extensive background in community development and the health and developmental services sectors. 

Neamtz is the Community Connections Coordinator with the Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre working to improve opportunities for youth in Niagara. Continue reading →

News from Brock University

Posted January 12^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Young entrepreneurs in Niagara will reap the rewards of provincial funding for BioLinc, Brock University’s incubation facility run by the Goodman School of Business.

Support provided by the Government of Ontario’s Youth Entrepreneurship Partnerships (YEP) program will allow BioLinc to launch the Niagara Youth Entrepreneurship Network (NYEN), which will bring various organizations in Niagara together to deliver a more focused approach to programming for entrepreneurs between the ages of 12 and 29.

“To ensure a strong, competitive and vibrant economy in the future, Ontario must act now to nurture the entrepreneurs and business leaders of tomorrow,” says Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure. Continue reading →

• Pre-Budget Consultations Taking Place in Communities Across Province

News from Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa

Posted January 12^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Ontario is seeking input from individuals, organizations, and businesses, across the province to help shape Ontario’s upcoming budget.

Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa

Today, Charles Sousa, Minister of Finance, was in Toronto to kick off provincewide pre-budget consultations, which include in-person sessions, telephone town halls and online idea-sharing.

Pre-budget consultations are an important way for Ontarians to have their say on how to grow the economy, create jobs and plan for the province’s future. Ideas gathered through these consultations will be considered as part of the budget development process. Continue reading →

• “The 2015 season closed on December 31^st with the passage of the vessel Mississagi through Welland Canal Lock 1.”

News from the St. Lawrence Seaway Corp.

Posted January 12^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Cornwall, Ontario – With water temperatures well above the 10-year average, the St. Lawrence Seaway closed its 2015 navigation season ice free on December

A big laker navigates its way through Lock 2 on the Welland Canal in Niagara, Ontario

31^st. Thirty-six million tonnes of cargo transited the waterway during the season, with grain, at volumes well above the five-year average, leading the way. The Seaway once again proved to be a key asset for farmers as they shipped their crops to markets at home and overseas.

Grain volumes on the Seaway amounted to 10.8 million tonnes, one of the strongest years in recent memory.  The Port of Thunder Bay, the principal point of entry for grain into the Great Lakes / Seaway System, reported its second-best season in 15 years. Combined with grain being loaded onto ships from other ports such as Hamilton, Duluth / Superior and Toledo, agricultural commodities have become increasingly important to the Great Lakes / Seaway System. Continue reading →

Another Column from Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

Posted January 12^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

The Town of Pelham in Niagara, Ontario – You may recall that during the summer there were no grants available from the Provincial or Federal government for “quality of life investments” like recreational facilities.

Pelham, Ontario Mayor Dave Augustyn

In July, I informed you that “Since there are currently no Federal or Provincial grants available [for a potential new community centre], the Town will continue to lobby for a policy change and for funding.”

In August I asked that you assist the Town’s efforts; I wrote “So, during this National election, please ask your local candidates to ensure that the Canadian Government will also help fund improvements to our quality of life – like new recreational and cultural facilities.”

Since that time, Canadians elected a new Federal Government. During their election campaign, the Liberal Party promised: “Over the next decade, we will invest almost $20 billion more in Canada’s social infrastructure.” Continue reading →

An Invite to All Of Us from the Niagara Prosperity Initiative

Posted January 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Proposals are invited from the community for projects that will provide an effective service to address poverty at a neighbourhood level for residents of the Niagara region.

Information session on addressing poverty to be held at Niagara Regional Headquarters in Thorold.

The Niagara Prosperity Initiative (NPI) uses a neighbourhood-based approach to addressing poverty with the understanding that the nature and degree of poverty varies from neighbourhood to neighbourhood.

NPI seeks to build strong communities to ease the enduring impacts of poverty and the stigma and stress associated with living in poverty. Stronger and healthier communities will provide individuals with social supports and access to the broader factors that affect health.

Applications will be available at www.unitedwayniagara.org  from February 1, 2016 – February 26, 2016

An information session will be held Tuesday, February 2, 2016

3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Niagara Region Headquarters, Council Chambers, 2201 St. David’s Road, Thorold

For more information, please visit www.unitedwayniagara.org or email Natalie.Chaumont@unitedwayniagara.org

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

 “Ratepayers will benefit from the Darlington refurbishment.” – Ontario PC Energy Critic John Yakabuski 

From Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party

Posted January 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Ontario – Today at the Legislative Assembly, Energy Critic for

The Ontario Conservative Party’s Energy Critic John Yakabuski says caucus supports refurbishing nuclear power reactors

the Official Opposition John Yakabuski gave his support for the announced refurbishment of four nuclear reactors at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington generating station.

The 12.8 billion dollar refurbishment is a major investment in Ontario’s nuclear industry and will help to stabilize electricity rates in the future. “The announcement today will ensure that the province retains its position as a centre of excellence for nuclear research and technology” said MPP Yakabuski. “Moreover, ratepayers will benefit from the Darlington refurbishment because it will result in the province continuing to use nuclear as a source of reliable, cost-effective, and emission free source of electricity.” Continue reading →

A Citizen Group’s’ Response To News From Ontario Government On Refurbishing Nuclear Plants

From Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director, Ontario Clean Air Allanice

Posted January 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Despite official hype that electricity from a re-built Darlington Nuclear Station will be a good deal, the truth is that the cost of power from Darlington is just going up and up while the cost of power from renewable and efficiency sources is going down, down, down.

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) claims that electricity from a re-built Darlington Nuclear Station will cost 7.2 to 8.1 cents per kWh (before inevitable cost overruns).  That means power from a re-built Darlington will cost anywhere from 30% to 45% more than OPG’s average sales price for nuclear electricity in 2014 (5.6 cents per kWh).

The Darlington deal also explicitly recognizes that once you open up 30-year-old reactors, costs can – and almost certainly will – skyrocket.  Continue reading →

Statement by NDP Energy Critic Peter Tabuns

Posted January 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Ontario – “The (Ontario) Liberal government shouldn’t keep the people of Ontario in the dark when it comes to the Darlington refurbishment. This government has not provided a proper business case that clearly and transparently examines the costs, benefits and risks of this project. This project needs a transparent and independent review.

Ontarians have good reason to be disappointed in the Liberal government’s handling of the energy file. From the gas plants scandal to the sell-off of Hydro One, time and time again the Liberals have shown they can’t be trusted to stand up for Ontarians. Continue reading →

“Projects will Boost Economic Activity, Create Jobs and Help Fight Climate Change” – Provincial Government

News from the Ontario Ministry of Energy

Posted January 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Ontario – Ontario is moving forward with nuclear refurbishment at Darlington Generating Station, securing 3,500 megawatts of affordable, reliable, and emission free power.

Ontario’s giant Darlington Nuclear Plant off northern shores of Lake Ontario

Nuclear refurbishment at Darlington will contribute $15 billion to Ontario’s gross domestic product (GDP) throughout the project and create up to 11,800 jobs annually. The refurbishment of all four units is expected to involve about 30 million hours of work over 10 years and will support Ontario’s globally recognized CANDU nuclear supply chain, with more than 180 companies employing thousands of highly skilled workers. Continue reading →

A  Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted January 10^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large in Niagara, Ontario

As I post this commentary, residents in the Buffalo, New York area are bracing themselves for another one of those lake effect storms that sometimes leaves the city and surrounding areas buried in enough snow to make headlines across the continent.

Buffalo’s City Hall, both outisee and in its great hallways and chambers, is a towering monument to the era of Art Deco design.

Now people from coast to coast are about to be introduce to a side of Buffalo that at least some of us who’ve taken time to get off the 190 beltway between the Peace Bridge and Walden Galleria and airport in Cheektowaga, and ventured into downtown Buffalo and the neighbourhoods in between and around Delaware Park have seen rising for the past five to 10 years. Continue reading →

News from the Constituency Office of Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

Posted January 9^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls, Ontario – Wayne Gates, NDP MPP for the riding of Niagara Falls, said that the Liberal government has failed Niagara families once again as

Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

Statistics Canada released job numbers today that showed an increase in the unemployment rate in the Niagara region compared to the same time last year.

“In 2015, as families in Niagara faced rising unemployment, the Wynne Liberal government failed to create a jobs plan. Instead they plowed ahead with the sell-off of Hydro One, which will lead to higher hydro bills, making life harder for families and businesses, and hampering job creation,” said Gates.

Statistics Canada numbers released today show that the unemployment rate in the Niagara region rose to 8 per cent in December 2015.  Gates has been consistently calling on the Liberal government for a comprehensive jobs strategy and an end to the sell-off of Hydro One.
Continue reading →

An Urgent Call from Zoocheck Canada to act on behalf of Alberta, Canada’s wild horses

Posted January 8th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

It is expected that Alberta Environment and Parks Minister Shannon Phillips will make a decision about whether to allow the capture of more of Alberta’s wild horses as early as next week.

Photo by Duane Starr posted with this call for urgent action on Zoocheck Canada website

Please take a few minutes to call or email her office and urge her NOT to approve any permits to remove free roaming wild horses from the Alberta landscape in 2016.

Please reference the following points: * there is NO evidence that free roaming wild horses are damaging the environment; * horses evolved in North America and co-evolved with the habitats they now live in; * the reintroduction of horses into Alberta more than 200 years ago should be viewed as a reintroduction of a native species and thus wild horses should be given native wildlife status; * the continued removal of wild horses threaten their survival as numbers are already low. Continue reading →

News from the animal advocacy group ZooCheck Canada

Posted January 8th, 2015 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario – The Ontario government received thousands of letters, including testimony from many world renowned experts, and a 115,000 person petition calling for substantive action to protect marine mammals in captivity in Ontario.

The Government knew about the large, high profile, protests taking place outside of Marineland in Niagara Falls and of the hundreds of media stories, including a lengthy front page series in The Toronto Star (which generated a number of SLAPP suits against former Marineland employees as well as the TO Star) that were featured in print, radio, television and online media everywhere.

The Government had numerous meetings with various stakeholders, Canadian and international experts, and organizations (including Zoocheck), on captive marine mammal issues and expended a great deal of staff time and taxpayer dollars developing new captive marine mammal regulations. During that time Ontario Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Yasir Naqvi repeatedly promised decisive action to protect marine mammals in captivity.

So after all this, what was the result? Continue reading →

Statement from PC Economic Development, Employment & Infrastructure Critic Monte McNaughton on December Job Numbers

Posted December 8^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Progressive Conservative Economic Development, Employment & Infrastructure Critic Monte McNaughton today issued the following statement on December Job Numbers:

“The job numbers released today show that for the month of December, Ontario’s unemployment rate did not exceed the national average.

Ontario Conservative Party’s economic development critic Monte McNaughton

While we are hopeful that these positive job trends continue, the volatility we’ve seen in the global economy, stock and commodity markets in the past weeks has people worried. Our province was devastated by the financial downturn of 2008 and economists see echoes of that in what’s happening today.

That is why it’s vitally important that the Liberal government finally start heeding the calls of the Auditor General, the Financial Accountability Officer, and the Ontario PC Caucus to create a real economic plan for Ontario. Continue reading →

Niagara, Ontario’s Jobless Rate Goes Up AGAIN! – Almost A Full Percentage Point Higher Than The Average For All Of Canada

News from the Government of Ontario with a Foreword by  Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Posted January 8^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Foreword by Doug Draper –

While the job figures released by Statistics Canada this January 8^th, 2016 show a drop in the average unemployment rate this past December 2015 for regions across Ontario compared to the month before, the unemployment rate for Niagara, Ontario has gone up during the same time period.

The latest Stats Can numbers show that unemployment in St. Catharines/Niagara rose from 7.8 per cent in November of last year to 8 per cent in December – almost a full  point higher than the 7.1 per cent unemployment rate averaged out for all of Canada and more than a point higher than the 6.7 per cent rate for Ontario during the same time period. Continue reading →

Some Community News from Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

Posted January 8^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

The Town of Pelham in Niagara, Ontario – Members of the Maple Acre Advisory Committee and I want your feedback on the design of the renewed Pelham Library Branch in Downtown Fenwick.

We invite you to an Open House on Wednesday, January 13 from 4:00 to 8:00 PM at Pelham Fire Station #2 (766 Welland Road) where the architect and builder will display the latest designs.

Maple Acre Library Branch in Pelham community of Fenwick

Council and the Library Board recognized years ago that the aged Maple Acre Library branch required renewal; we struck a joint committee back in 2008 to make recommendations. While that committee looked at many ideas – building a joint Library / Firehall (prior to the new Fires Station #2), constructing a new library either in Centennial Park or at the former Fire Station (Welland Road at Canboro) – it got a bit bogged down. Continue reading →

From the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, A Toronto-based citizens advocacy group

Posted January 7^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

While Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli crows about what a great deal the new contract with Bruce Power is, his government is simultaneously refusing to make public the key clauses in the deal that will determine the real price that we will pay for the next 49 years for power from Bruce’s reactors.

Bruce Nuclear Power Plant along the Ontario shores of Lake Huron

What’s clear is that there are clauses in the contract that compensate Bruce Power for any decision to not proceed with re-building reactors in the face of falling electricity demand, and falling costs for faster-to-deploy and more flexible renewable power sources.

And there are clauses that set out just how high the Bruce Re-Build’s capital costs can soar above $13 billion before the government can trigger an “off ramp” and end all or part of the Re-Build project. Continue reading →

An ‘Expert Advisory’ from Brock University

Posted January 7^th, 2015 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines, Ontario – If you’re still looking for an achievable New Year’s resolution, a Brock University professor has a nutritious suggestion: eat more fruits and vegetables.

Wendy Ward, Professor in Brock’s Department of Kinesiology, says eating a well-balanced diet based on Canada’s Food Guide is an excellent goal for 2016.

“With New Year’s resolutions fresh in our minds ­— likely many for improving health – we can start by increasing our intakes of fruits and vegetables, as well as being more mindful of our food choices,” says Ward, the Canada Research Chair in Bone and Muscle Development. Continue reading →

• Ontario is a major hub for human trafficking in Canada

From Ontario’s  Conservative Party

Posted January 7, 2016 on Niagara At large

WHITBY-OSHAWA, Ontario – In Durham Region today, the Ontario Progressive Conservative Critic for Women’s Issues, Laurie Scott (MPP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock) and Lorne Coe, Progressive Conservative candidate for Whitby-Oshawa, held a press conference calling for the Liberal Government to take immediate action to create a province-wide taskforce to combat human trafficking. Canadian law states that human trafficking –a form of modern day slavery – involves the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/or control of a person for sexual exploitation or forced labour. Continue reading →

You Are Invited To Join Rallies “To Stop Devastating Hospital Cuts”

A Call-Out To We, The People, from the Ontario Health Coalition, A Toronto-based citizens advocacy group

Posted January 5^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

The Ontario Provincial Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs has chosen Hamilton, Windsor, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Ottawa and Toronto to hold pre-budget consultations. 

We are now entering the 9th consecutive year of hospital cuts – the longest stretch of hospital cuts in Ontario’s history. Every service cut is privatized, subject to user fees or moved far from our home towns.

Every year, the Ontario Health Coalition and local coalitions across the province have presented at the hearings. Continue reading →

 “Heritage preservation has been a difficult walk uphill (in Ontario) and has been a neglected part of our culture.” –  Heritage Thorold (LACAC) Committee 

A Submission To Ontario’s Liberal Government from Pamela Minns and Heritage Thorold LACAC

Posted on Niagara At Large, January 5th, 2016

A Submission To Ontario’s Liberal Government from Pamela Minns and Heritage Thorold LACAC

(A Brief Foreword from Doug Draper, Niagara At Large – Pamela Minns and the other volunteers on Heritage Thorold LACAC (LACAC is an acronym for Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee) deserve a good deal of credit for caring enough about protrecting and preserving heritage sites in our communities to put together such a well-thought-out and detailed submission to the Ontario government.

The Port Mansion, once located in Port Dalhousie in St. Catharines and in a provincially designated heritage district, was demolished a few years ago for a high-rise condo that still isn’t there and seems to be in perpetual limbo. File Photo by Doug Draper

The submission is a response to the Liberal Government of Premier Kathleen Wynne call for public input on what shape a strategy for embracing the arts, culture and heritage across Ontario should take for the future. The question is will the government take the input seriously since, as Pamela Minns has stressed for years, heritage issues have hardly ever been given the priority they deserve at the provincial level.

If you have any doubts about the correctness of Minns’ concern over how little respect heritage sites – even ones that have been designated as such by the province – get in Ontario, look no further than the community of Port Dalhousie in the Niagara, Ontario City of St. Catharines.

Continue reading →

“My new vision is to make this the most dynamic, innovative, sustainable and livable city in North America.” St. Catharines Mayor Water Sendzik

News from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Posted January 4^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines, Ontario – Walter Sendzik, Mayor of St. Catharines, will address his community at the 2016 State of the City event, the second of its kind, presented by the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce (GNCC).

St. Catharines, Ontario Mayor Walter Sendzik

At this annual event, the Mayor shares his civic vision for the future of the city, and the means by which it is to be realized. Since his election in October 2014, Mayor Sendzik has been a force for change in St. Catharines and Niagara. With so many new developments on the horizon, 2016 is sure to be a remarkable year.

“These addresses provide unique insight into what our municipal leaders have in store for the future,” said Ian Kowalchuk, Chair of the GNCC’s Board of Directors and Partner at Merit Contractors Niagara. “We’ve already had great discussions and progress on issues like updated infrastructure, and we’re looking forward to seeing what the Mayor plans for 2016.” Continue reading →

“What we’ve learned is that the average pay of the top 100 CEOs in Canada has proven to be extraordinarily resilient, in good times and bad.”

News from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Posted January 4^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com .

Toronto, Ontario – On the first working day of the New Year, Canada’s highest paid 100 CEOs are seriously power lunching: by 12:18 pm today, their average

While everyday Canadians, like their American counterparts, see the income gab between them and the upper one per cent widen ever more, CEOs continue to party at the trough

pay is already $48,636 — what it takes the average full-time, full-year worker all of 2016 to earn.

In the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ (CCPA) annual examination of CEO pay in Canada, the country’s top 100 CEOs pocketed, on average, $8.96 million in 2014 — 184 times more than the average wage in Canada. Continue reading →

A Call-Out from the citizens advocacy group Niagara Action For Animals

January 2016

Dear Friends of Animals -This is an urgent call to action!!

Many controversial government announcements are released when no one is watching, so too was the announcement by Ontario’s Wynne government to begin a wolf cull in Northern Ontario.

Posted on Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights Registry on December 17^th, right when most are busy with the holidays, the Ontario government. is proposing to remove the previous requirements for hunters to purchase a special hunting ‘seal’ to kill wolves and remove the restriction to kill only one wolf per season.

The limit on killing coyotes will be lifted and hunters can kill as many coyotes as they want. Unlike targeted culls where a specific number of wolves are killed, the Ontario cull allows for thousands of wolves to be killed each year. Continue reading →

A Brief Comment from Doug Draper

Posted January 4^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Yee Haw! Bang! Bang! Bang! We sure in hell showed those gun control varmints the way out of this state, didn’t we! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Minus the shooting, that’s pretty much the way it reportedly was across Texas this first day of January, 2016 as large numbers of Texans celebrated a state law that now allows them to openly have guns hanging out of their belts in public.

This right-in-everyone’s-face show of lethal force is in keeping with what many Americans interpret to be their 2^nd Amendment right to own and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution to own and bear arms, and with a position advanced by the National Rifle Association – one of the lobby groups that runs the United States government – that the more people who carry guns on school campuses, in shopping malls and just about everywhere else, the safer they will be. Continue reading →

In The Meantime, Don’t Stop Visiting And Commenting On The Posts On Our NAL Site Now

By Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

January 1^st, 2016

Well, here we are just barely into another new year (as this note is posted) and not that many hours past the final minutes of 2015 and the ritualistic countdown to midnight where many of us find ourselves feeling a renewed sense of hope for better times to come.

2016 sees us entering the second half of the second decade of the 21^st century and we at NAL believe that it will take a lot more than hope to drag our politicians – particularly those at the municipal level in Niagara, Ontario – out of the 1950s and into a present and future that gets away from costly, low-density sprawl and paving over what is left of the countryside, and embraces greener, more sustainable communities.

Moving forward to a healthier, more prosperous future will require more of us getting involved in the affairs of our communities, especially at the regional government level where a relatively small but highly fractious group of councillors have assumed positions of dominance on the council and under Al Caslin, who has served as the council’s chair for the past year, appears comfortable to let civility – even toward leaders of Niagara, Ontario’s business and academic communities – sink to levels unprecedented in the 46 year history of this municipal body.

But we will focus more on that dysfunctional mess in the days and weeks ahead.

For now and for the first few days of this New Year, we are taking a bit of a break, and that includes our canine mascot Pinky who, as you can see in the photo below, needs some down time to recover from a wild New Year’s Eve party that saw her hollowing at the moon after the clock struck twelve.

One again, we at NAL wish you a Happy Harper-less New Year and we encourage you to join us in the discussion as we continue our efforts as an online voice for progressive change in our greater Niagara region.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

 From Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

Final Days of December, 2015

We at Niagara At Large are thrilled to have our mascot Pinky – one tiny but might chiwawa – here for a holiday visit and joining us in wishing you the best in 2016.

Our mascot Pinky may look a little too bundled up given how mild it has been so far this winter. But she’s up for a visit from Florida, and by Sunshine State standards it’s a bit ch-, ch-, chilly in these climes for a pint-size chiwawa.

If you are a regular follower of news and commentary on Niagara At Large, you may remember Pinky’s last visit to NAL headquarters during Canada’s 2015 federal election. It was a bit of a roller coaster ride for her, as it was for many of us.

She was accused by Stephen Harper supporters of showing some of the tell-tale symptoms of what they called “Harper Derangement Syndrome”, with her muffled growls and flashes of tongue and teeth at almost every mention of Harper’s name and when it looked, during the early days of the race, like his Conservatives still had a chance of winning another term of government.

Some Harperites even accused her of being a partisan for the NDP or Liberals, depending on which party they loathed the most and despite the fact that on that score, her belief in a universal pharma care program that would make prescription drugs affordable for all Canadians and in closing down the tar sands had her tilting, on principle, in the direction of the Green Party. Continue reading →

From Ontario’s Opposition Conservative Party

Posted on Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com

December 29^th, 2015

Queen’s Park, Toronto – As a result of poor (Ontario) Liberal government policies, January 1st represents another unaffordable hydro increase for Ontarians.

“Starting on the first day of the new year, residents of Ontario will see their hydro bills on average increase by almost $100 dollars,” said PC Energy Critic John Yakabuski. “This further ingrains Ontario as one of the most expensive and uncompetitive energy jurisdictions in North America.”

On January 1st, the Wynne Liberal Government is terminating the Clean Energy Benefit. This represented a 10 per cent reduction on total electricity charges for residential consumers, small business and farms. Continue reading →

Announcement from the White House

December 28^th, 2015

President Obama and the First Lady will welcome Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and his wife, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, to the White House for an Official Visit with a State Dinner on Thursday, March 10, 2016.

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and their wives have a March date at the White House

 The visit will be an opportunity for the United States and Canada to deepen their bilateral relationship, which is one of the closest and most extensive in the world and is based on a shared history, common values, and a vast and intricate network of cultural, familial, and commercial ties.

The visit also is intended to advance cooperation on important bilateral and multilateral issues, such as energy and climate change, security, and the economy. Continue reading →

A Year-End Win For The Great Lakes

Posted December 28th, 2015 on Niagara At Large

A Message from the U.S.-based Alliance for the Great Lakes to its many American and Canadian supporters.

President Obama just signed legislation (this Monday, December 28th) that will phase out the manufacture and sale of plastic microbeads in personal-care products.

Plastic microbeads wash up along Lake Erie shores. These beads can literally choke the life out of fish populations in lake waters.

This couldn’t have happened without you. When research showed these tiny plastic pieces were flowing down the drain and into the Great Lakes, we asked for your help. And you responded. Thousands of you spoke out, sending action alerts to elected officials and telling them how much the Great Lakes matter.

A Great Lakes state — Illinois — became the first in the nation to ban this unnecessary form of plastic pollution. Indiana and Wisconsin followed, along with 3 Great Lakes counties in New York. The wave of action spread from California to Maine. And now a national ban will protect the Great Lakes and all our nation’s waters. Continue reading →

Come Hear From Some Buffalo, New York Area Citizens Who Were There

An Invite to You from the Sierra Club’s Climate and Clean Energy Writers Group in Western New York

Posted on Niagara At Large, December 28^th, 2015

This is your chance to learn all about the Paris Climate Talks from three Western New Yorkers who were there!

The Sierra Club Climate and Clean Energy Writers Group presents UB Law School students Andrea DiNapoli and Alyssa Erazo, along with local climate activist and interfaith minister Sandy Chelnov, for an interactive talk about this important conference.

When: Monday, January 4th, 2016 from  6:00 to7:30 PM

Where: Unitarian Universalist Church  695 Elmwood at Ferry (Garden Entrance), 2nd Floor Alliance Room Continue reading →

A Note from Doug Draper, Niiagara At Large

December 28th, 2015

A friend from the United States (whose name I will not share here in order to protect the innocent) posted this on Facebook and I am passing it on to you.

The following is an answer someone very may get in Tampa Florida, Charleston, South Carolina or even someplace as close to the border as Toledo, Ohio if they ever take a moment away from Donald Trump or the NFL football playoffs to wonder what a Canadian is.

(NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.)

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

From Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Ottawa, December 2015 –

“Around the world and across Canada, Christians gather on Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. This is a time when families, friends, and colleagues come together to celebrate the spirit of the season.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

“Christmas is an opportunity for giving as well as receiving. Whether it is volunteering time at a local food bank, buying gifts for children in need, or opening doors to someone who may be celebrating alone, the true spirit of Christmas is about connecting with our neighbours and our community.

“This year, Canadians are welcoming thousands of Syrian refugees to our country — people who have been forced to flee their homeland due to war and conflict. I encourage all Canadians to show them a warm holiday welcome in keeping with our values of compassion, kindness, and generosity.

“From our family to yours, Sophie and I wish you all a most joyous holiday season and a merry Christmas.”

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

A Brief One from Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

December 25^th, 2015

I am certainly no monarchist nor do I care to belong to any church that would accept a person like me as member, but I have to bow to a few words Queen Elizabeth II of England shared with the people of her country and other Commonwealth nations, including Canada, this Christmas 2015.

So I am taking a few moments on this Christmas Day to pass them on to you. I think there are some good words here to remember when the voices for greed, hatred and violence seem to over-ride those working to make this world better for all.

“It is true that the world has had to confront moments of darkness this year,” said the Queen in her annual Christmas message, “but the Gospel of John contains a verse of great hope, often read at Christmas carol services: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. …”

“There’s an old saying that “it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. There are millions of people lighting candles of hope in our world today.”

“Christmas is a good time to be thankful for them, and for all that brings light to our lives.”

To View Queen’s Full 2015 Chrismas message click on =https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mzor6Hf1tY .

(NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.)

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

From Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

December 24^th, 2015

From me and my family to you and yours, here’s hoping you have a Holiday Season full of peace and warmth with people you love to be around – even if some of that has to be done through calls to loved ones far away.

That’s all I really want this Holiday Season. I have enough stuff and as for anything else, I got what I wanted this past October 19^th when enough votes came in from across Canada to spell the end of a decade of the worst government this country has had in generations going back to the end of the Second World War.

I look back at this year we are about to say goodbye to with a sense of pride for any small role I may have played as a poster of commentary on Niagara At Large calling for an end to a Harper government that has weakened our economy at home and tarnished our reputation as an environmental leader and as a voice for tolerance and peace around the world. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

 December 23^rd, 2015

 Most Canadians no doubt remember that during this past fall’s federal election, the then Conservative government of Stephen Harper vowed to wage war against what it called “barbaric cultural practices.”

Niagara Falls MP Rob Nicholson – from Harper’s justice minister to Ambrose’s justice critic, still doing the ‘wrath of God’ shtick

One of the weapons the Harper government promised to employ in this war was a “snitch line” we could call to report to police anyone we saw wearing strange or foreign clothing or engaging in any other conduct we deemed to be “barbaric” or falling outside a zone of acceptability or tolerance for old stock Canadians.,

Now I’ve got to say this.

As much as I found this snitch line idea totally repulsive, if Harper and his party for old stock Canadians had won another term of government this past October, and if they had gone on to set up such a line,  I would use it the next time I see something I’ve unfortunately seen too many times in shopping mall and other places – an adult grabbing an arm of a toddler they are presumably a parent of until the child is dancing on tippy toes, then smacking his’ or hers’ backside until the child is reduced to crying and tears.  Continue reading →

Buy His 2016 Tigger Calendar And You’ll Be Making A Donate To Animal Assistance In Niagara

By Doug Draper, Niagara At Large 

December 23^rd, 2015

We featured Tigger on Niagara At Large almost a year ago this past January 2015 when this most handsome celebrity of a cat was celebrating his 7^th birthday at his permanent residence – the Pet Valu store at the Pine Street Plaza in the Niagara, Ontario City of Thorold – with a  fundraiser for the Animal Assistance Society of Niagara.

Tigger the Cat. Photo courtesy of Joe Krawchuk at Pet Valu Thorold in Niagara, Ontario.

 Now Tigger is back with a purr-fect last-minute Holiday Season gift idea – a 2016 Calendar featuring month-to-month photos of him with proceeds from the calendar’s sale going to the year round efforts of the Animal Assistance Society to protect, care for and find good homes for orphan cats and other animals. 

The calendar can be purchased at the Pet Valu store at 9 Pine Street North in Thorold (phone 905 227-9794) for $25 in cash to cover the cost of producing this high-quality calendar and a donation to the Animal Assistance Society of Niagara.  Continue reading →

–  Since Turn Of This Century, Levels Of Toxic Mercury Have Increased In Great Lakes Fish

News from the Canada/U.S. International Joint Commission

December 2015

(A Brief Foreword to this News from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper –

Mercury, as many of you may know, can do terrible damage to the health of people and other livings beings if it is allowed to accumulate in fish and other wildlife on up the foodchain to people in high enough concenrations.

Tests on Perch in Lake Erie and other parts of the Great Lakes have recently shown levels of mercury rising once again in their flesh. Consult fish consumption guidelines available online in Ontario, New York State and other jurisdictions on guidance on how much Great Lakes fish is safe to consume.

That is why Canadian and U.S. federal, provincial and state governments, working with the binantional International Joint Commission, have been monitoring concentrations of mercury in the Great Lakes ecosystem for more than four decades and have put policies in place through that  time that have been aimed at reducing and eliminating the release of mercury from a host of courses, including coal-burning electrical power plants.

These measures by Canadian and U.S. governments have resulted in declines in mercury levels in the Great Lakes during the 1970, 80s and in to the 90s. However, atmospheric monitoring by Environment Canada and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has tracked mercury reaching North America from other regions around the world, including China, where coal and other fossil fuels remain in massive use.

Once here, the Great Lakes serve as a giant sink for mercury and other airborne poisons from countries far away. This is one of the reasons why, even if you still have doubts about pollution from human activities altering the earth’s climate, it is still vitally important to move toward zero use of fossil fuels that emit these hazardous pollutants.

Now please read the following report on this issue from the International Joint Commission.)

From the IJC – Mercury levels in Great Lakes fish declined significantly through the 1970s and ‘80s; atmospheric mercury emissions from the United States declined by about 60 percent between 1990 and 2005, while Canada emissions decreased about 85 percent between 1990 and 2010. This was in part due to closures of coal-fired power plants in Canada and the U.S. Continue reading →

From the Constituency Office of Niagara Falls, Ontario Riding MPP Wayne Gates

December 22^nd, 2015

Niagara Falls, Ontario – Niagara Falls NDP MPP and Transportation Critic Wayne Gates is concerned consumers have yet to see any substantial savings at the pump with the continued slide in oil prices.

“Ontarians have seen the price of oil consistently decline, but drivers have yet to see any savings at the pump,” stated Gates. “When I initially brought this issue forward, the price of a barrel of oil was roughly $46. Today it’s nearly $35, but for some reason drivers in Niagara haven’t witnessed any substantial savings.”

The price of oil has trended downward over the past two months—reaching $36 USD a barrel today. However, the average price of gas in Ontario still sits at 97 cents a litre. BMO economist Benjamin Reitzes noted earlier this month that gasoline prices are not correlating with this drop in crude oil prices. Continue reading →

A Yuletide Message to the rest of Niagara from Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

December 2015

What a joy to join the Pelham Senior Citizen’s group this past Wednesday, December 9th  at Old Pelham Town Hall for a special holiday lunch and carols – including Irving Berlin’s “(I’m Dreaming of a) White Christmas!” Despite the lack of snow, it does feel like Christmas in Pelham!

The holiday spirit began early in Pelham on November 5 when several businesses hosted holiday open houses. Some store-owners even closed their shops for a couple of days and stunningly transformed them into Christmas wonders.

Over the following weeks, the Town began decorating much of Pelham – from Peace Park and the Bandshell in Fonthill, to Town Hall, to hydro poles in Pelham’s urbanized areas, to the flagpole and trees in Fenwick.

And, some very dedicated, community-minded elves took it upon themselves to “spruce-up” our Town. While the rest of us were sleeping or working, these elves decorated almost every utility pole and light standard in sight using evergreen boughs and red bows. So many of us appreciate their efforts!

Then, the Fenwick Firefighters Association took the lead for the turkey raffle tradition, followed closely by the Fonthill Lions (with a chili cook off to boot).

Thanks to “Christmas In Pelham” volunteers and Town staff for organizing the third Christmas Under the Arches / Outdoor Christmas Market in Fonthill on December 4. The hundreds participating and the venders, services clubs, and musicians helped make the event wonderful and vibrant.

Main village of Pelham at Christmas

Then, hundreds and hundreds shared the true spirit of generosity on December 5th for the 25^th Annual Pelham Food Drive for Pelham Cares. Thank you to each of the donors and all the volunteers that went door-to-door to support those less fortunate in our Town. Thanks, as well, for those volunteers unpacking, sorting, and repacking non-perishable food. Finally, thanks to the businesses who donated food and funds so that volunteers were fed and the event was publicized.

This past weekend, the Fabulous Fenwick Lions and others in the community organized the annual Santa Claus Parade. Despite the abundance of candy for kids, all knew it was not another Halloween when “Buddy the Elf” drove Santa through the recently revitalized Downtown Fenwick and to Centennial Park.

Add to all this the Christmas concerts at our schools, the open houses at businesses and private homes, the work parties, and all the celebrations at Pelham’s churches, and we are doing well to prepare for Christmas.

I hope that you and your family experience the joy of the spirit of Christmas this holiday season. I also wish you all the best in 2016!

You may contact Mayor Dave at mayordave@pelham.ca or read past columns at www.pelhammayordave.blogspot.com.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

 A Commentary by Nick Fillmore

December 2015

 “World agrees to historic climate accord”  – The Toronto Star.

“Nearly 200 countries agree to historic pact in Paris to reduce emissions and fight climate change”  –  The Vancouver Sun.

 “Climate deal: World praises France’s diplomacy, showing it’s still a master of the art”  – The Winnipeg Free Press.

With these headlines appearing in newspapers across the country, Canadians must have been relieved that they don’t need to worry about climate change nearly as much now that everything has been worked out in Paris.

Unfortunately, this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. The politicians meeting in Paris, faced with the possibility of total failure, were extremely excited to reach any kind of an agreement. Continue reading →

Brock University Expert Says Consume Less If We’re Serious About Climate Change

From A Brock University Media Release

Niagara, Ontario, December 2015

Lost in the discussion of the recent Paris climate change conference was a big, environment-damaging elephant: a global system that encourages us to buy more and more stuff, says a Brock University expert on consumerism’s impact on the environment.

Brock University Professor of Communications, Popular Culture and Film Jennifer Good

“Indeed, economic growth as the heart of our economic system did not seem to be challenged but instead there was a lot of discussion of what alternatives could facilitate business-as-usual economic growth,” says Jennifer Good, Associate Professor of Communication, Popular Culture and Film at Brock University.

Good says there’s a certain irony about the COP21 climate change conference beginning on the same day as Cyber Monday (Novemberf 30th, 2015) , a day when consumers spent over $2.2 billion. The production of many consumer goods eat up valuable resources and emit pollution, she says. Continue reading →