Niagara At Large

• Province Fuelling Transit Growth in Local Communities

• A Total Of $6 Million Of That $332.9 Million In Transit Funding Is Going To Niagara’s Regional Government And Seven Local Municipalities In Niagara, Including Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Port Colborne, St. Catharines, Thorold And Welland (See breakdown of how much each municipality got on list at bottom of this post)

News from the Government of Ontario

Queen’s Park, November 12th, 2015 – Ontario is providing $332.9 million in gas tax funding to 95 municipalities this year to help expand and improve public transit—an increase of $11.4 million from last year.

Since 2004, Ontario has allocated more than $3.4 billion in gas tax funding to communities across the province. Municipalities use the funding to enhance accessibility, purchase additional transit vehicles, add more routes and extend hours of service, making it easier for people to use public transit. The program also helps ease traffic congestion and reduce air pollution. Continue reading →

News from Ontario’s Niagara Parks Commission and the Canada/U.S. Niagara Falls Illumination Board

Niagara Falls, Ontario, November 2015 – In commemoration of the sacrifice and contributions made by veterans and current service personnel in both Canada and the United States, the Niagara Falls Illumination Board will

The Horseshoe and American Falls in Niagara Falls will be illuminated in red this November 11th in honour of Canadian and U.S. veterans

light Niagara Falls in red on the evening of November 11^th , at the top of each hour for fifteen minutes, as a symbol of remembrance and honour to all who have served, and to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

“The Board felt there could be no better way to honour the contributions made by our soldiers, veterans and those who have fallen, than to illuminate the beauty of our shared natural wonder, Niagara, in red,” stated Niagara Falls Illumination Board Chair Mark Thomas. “It was through the sacrifice made by residents on both sides of the Niagara River that we have been able to enjoy the benefits of peace, democracy and friendship that we celebrate today and for that, we thank them all.” Continue reading →

News from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Ottawa, Ontario, November 2015  —Young homeowners would be hardest hit by a correction in Canada’s housing market, says a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

The study, by CCPA Senior Economist David Macdonald, assesses the impact of a housing market correction on the net worth of Canadian families and finds a 20% decline in real estate prices would leave 169,000 families under 40 underwater, with more debts than assets.

“Declines in real estate prices would have a strongly disproportional impact on young homeowners,” says Macdonald. “If, or more likely when, real estate prices fall, families in their 20s and 30s can expect to lose a substantial portion of their net worth and could find themselves owing more than their house and other assets are worth.” Continue reading →

• Deal Could Grant ‘Unfettered Rights’ To Corporate Polluters

An Expression of ‘Deep Concern’ from the Sierra Club, a 122-year-old American-based environmental organization with chapters across Canada

(The United States recently struck an expansive free trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), with Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. Eventually, every Pacific Rim nation may be included.)

November 2015 – The Sierra Club is deeply concerned about the lack of transparency around the TPP and the deal’s environmental implications. Here’s why:

• Extreme Secrecy. The TPP negotiations took place in extreme secrecy. Still no drafts of TPP texts have been released. And public input has been drowned out by dominant corporate input; more than 600 corporate advisors have actively worked to shape the agreement while the public is being kept in the dark.

Continue reading →

“We welcome the hope that exists now of civility returning to the relationship between government and the people.”                           – Maude Barlow, November 2015

From the Council Of Canadians, a nation-wide citizens organization

Dear Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau,

Congratulations on your win and the historic outcome of the October 19^th  federal election.

Maude Barlow, National Chairperson, Council of Canadians

I was extremely pleased to see voter turnout increase so dramatically and for Canadians to choose so clearly a more hopeful and caring future while rejecting the Harper agenda.

During the election, the Council of Canadians put forward issues dear to the hearts of our over 100,000 supporters – such as challenging trade deals that put profits before people, exposing the drinking water crisis in First Nations communities, condemning the assault on civil society and charities, fighting climate change and pipelines, and highlighting the need to protect and strengthen our public health care system. Continue reading →

News from the Niagara Sustainability Initiative

This coming Tuesday, November 17^th, 2015 the Niagara Sustainability Initiative will host an open house style event titled “Get to Know NSI: Pop-Up Pub”.

The event will be FREE and open to the public with wine and food for purchase. This 2nd annual “Get to Know” event will not only showcase the Niagara Sustainability Initiative’s services but the great food, beer and wine of local and sustainably conscious caterers in a night market. For those interested in attending, it is free to attend and ONLY CASH will be accepted for purchases on site. Continue reading →

 By Doug Draper

On a recent visit to Buffalo, New York, I was driving along a stretch of Delaware Avenue where some of the grandest old estates still stand in a city that was once home to more millions per capita than any other town or city in North America.

Along this stretch of what some still call Buffalo’s ‘Millionaires’ Row’, a lone man wearing a kaki uniform stood stone faced and at attention, holding a cardboard sign that read; “Help me. I’m a veteran.”

In what can only be called a national disgrace, statistics show that an average of 17 U.S. veterans who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq commit suicide each day – far more than the daily death toll in combat. The rates of joblessness, homelessness and brain trauma among American veterans are equally alarming.

In Canada, the lot of our military veterans is hardly any better.

According to a recent series of investigative reports by The Globe and Mail newspaper, at least 54 Canadian soldiers have committed suicide since serving in combat in Afghanistan and large numbers of veterans are not getting the health care and other services they need to assist their return to civilian life. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Years of shunning science and soaking up the now-gone Harper government’s pro-tar sands propoganda has apparently left more than a few Canadians not knowing the difference between lush expanses of boreal forest and open craters full of filthy black dust and goo.

Here’s a nice view waiting for all of the tar sands fans and climate change deniers out there

That loss of ability to distinguish between green landscape and something that looks like a gateway to Dante’s Inferno – Hmm. Could it be another form of ‘Harper Derangement Syndrome’, only this time infecting mostly card-carrying Conservatives? – reached Code Red this past November 6^th when senior members of U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration called the raw ‘bitumen’ that would be transported from Alberta, Canada’s tar sands to refineries near the U.S. Gulf coast through a proposed Keystone XL pipeline Obama had just rejected the “dirtiest oil on the planet.”

It was a jaw dropping development for longtime Harper Conservatives like Rona Ambrose, a former Environment Minister in  Harper’s cabinet and now the party’s interim leader. It even left Alberta’s recently elected NDP Premier Rachel Notley showing a symptom or two of the syndrome as she called the ‘dirty oil’ reference “disappointing.”

The perfect retreat for members of the old Harper gang with a vista that beckons.

Then again, Notley, unlike Ambrose and other Harper diehards who can’t get enough of the dirt and have called on Canada’s new Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to keep the push for the Keystone pipeline alive despite the rejection, made a quick recovery with the following statement; “It was not necessary to be quite so critical in the way they described our energy product,” she added of the dirty oil remark. “But it also underlines the fact that we need to do a better job in terms of the work we do here in Alberta on climate change.”

As for Harper’s old stock of climate change deniers and tar sands fans, I’ll say this. Even if you can’t bring yourself to read any of the science, just do a search for some of the many aireal shots of tar sands in operation and try telling the rest of us again that what comes out of there isn’t the dirtiest oil on the planet.

And if you still think that the gases and grime rising up from these monstrous pits where old growth forest used to stand is so great and of no harm to us, here’s an idea I’ll leave you with.

Give up on any idea you may have had to live out what’s left of your years in one of those high-rise condos along the water, forget about that.

Leave access to what’s left of the shorelines to the rest of us and see if you can talk some of those petroleum tycoons you seem to like to support so much into building condos with a nice view overlooking the craters.

Move in and invite the kids and any kids they may have over. And no breathing masks. That would be cheating.

For more information on the Obama administration’s decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline and Canada’s ‘dirty oil visit – http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/11/249249.htm .

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

•  Send The World Some Real Signals That Stephen Harper – Canada’s    Top   Climate Change Denier – Has Been Gonged

News from the Canadian wing of the international online citizens coalition Avaaz

November 2015 – To stop climate change from threatening our survival and everything we love, we need to get global emissions to zero.

That’s why we’ve spent the last year asking our leaders to rapidly move us to 100% clean energy — and this month’s Paris summit is the final key. But “blocker” countries could sink the deal we need. And for years under Stephen Harper, that’s exactly what Canada’s been — and that let’s others like Japan, India, and Russia hold out as well, taking cover behind our positive international reputation.

If Canada turns on to 100% clean, it could be the game-changer we need for Paris, the domino that turns blocker after blocker around. Continue reading →

– A Lecture by Dr. Graeme Macqueen of Democracy Probe International On Wednesday November 18^th

News from the Hamilton, Ontario-based Coalition To Stop the War

The Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War is circulating the following event notice  for your information.

Graeme MacQueen is the founder of the McMaster’s Centre of Peace Studies in Canada and its War and Health programme. He has been involved in developmental work and peace initiatives in war-affected places such as Sri Lanka, Croatia, Gaza and Afghanistan. He has a rich knowledge of Asian religions and literature and is deeply concerned with issues around peace, all of which are reflected in his writings.

Graeme Macqueen’s thesis is that alleged terrorist incidents that have happened in North America (including the one on Parliament Hill a year ago this fall) are pretexts for fomenting Islamophobia and starting foreign wars..

An examination of four events in the period September 11^th , 2001 through October 22^nd, 2014 shows that agents of the state, in both the U.S. and Canada, are credible suspects in the physical intimidation of elected bodies of law-makers.

The ‘War on Terror’ is a direct threat to representative democracy. Speaker: Graeme MacQueen, Democracy Probe International Co-sponsored by Hamilton Chapter, Council of Canadians room 1A4, Health Sciences Centre, McMaster University, Wednesday. November 18th, 7:30 to 9:30 PM, www.hamiltoncoalitiontostopthewar.ca unsubscribe: hcsw@cogeco.ca Continue reading →

By John Bacher

During the Second World War, one of the great intellectuals of our time, George Orwell, penned an essay about what the course of action for a Labour Party government he hoped for would be following a victorious peace. He contemplated what such a government would do if it were serious and “meant business.”

As it turned out, Orwell was quite prophetic in anticipating what a Labour Party government would do. It did truly “mean business.”

Major greenbelts were established around growing cities such as London. They have become so effective that the rate of loss of rural land after Labour’s landslide victory in 1945 became minuscule compared to the impacts of urban sprawl after the First World War.

Ontario may be ready to spare more green places like the one on the left from what became of it on the right.

Here in Ontario, with the exception of protecting Niagara’s unique fruit lands, the designation in 2005 of a Greenbelt in Niagara and other parts of the Golden Horseshoe, was not a sign that the province “meant business” about stopping  urban sprawl. This was because virtually everywhere else in the province, there was a gap in between the actual urban zoning boundary and the borders of the Greenbelt. Continue reading →

• Urban Sprawl Threatens 1.5 Million Acres of Critical Water Resources

News from Ontario Nature, the Oak Ridges Moraine Partnership, the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance and Environmental Defense

Toronto, Ontario, November 2015 — Over 100 community groups, including the Oak Ridges Moraine Partnership and Ontario Greenbelt Alliance, are requesting that the provincial government grow the Greenbelt to protect 1.5 million acres of land containing vital water resources.

The green in this map of a southwest Ontario that includes Niagara shows green where the protective Greenbelt is located now. Citizen groups want the protective area expanded.

The ongoing Greenbelt Plan review represents a unique opportunity to permanently protect important headwaters, moraines, groundwater recharge areas and wetlands. These vital water systems supply clean drinking water directly to one million people and help provide a clean source of drinking water to millions more in the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

A recent report completed by the Conservation Authorities Moraine Coalition titled 2015 Report on the Environmental Health of the Oak Ridges Moraine and Adjacent Greenbelt Lands, concluded the Greenbelt Plan is effective in protecting watershed health. Continue reading →

News from the Office of Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

Niagara Falls, Ontario, November 6^th , 2015 –Wayne Gates, NDP MPP for the riding of Niagara Falls, said that the Liberal government is leaving Niagara families behind as Statistics Canada released job numbers today that show a jump in unemployment in the Niagara region.

Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

“Under the Liberal government, Niagara has lost 12,000 manufacturing jobs, and the unemployment rate sits above the national average,” Gates said.  “The Wynne Liberal government has no relief in sight for Niagara families. They have no job creation strategy, and they are in the process of making life harder by selling off Hydro One, which will lead to higher hydro bills for families and businesses.” Continue reading →

News from Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and her Liberal Government

Queen’s Park, November 5^th , 2015 – Ontario is generating significant returns from broadening the ownership of Hydro One Limited, in order to help support the single largest investment in transit and transportation infrastructure in the province’s history – investing $130 billion over ten years and making 110,000 jobs possible each year.

The Initial Public Offering (IPO) has now closed for Hydro One common shares. This initial stake in the company will begin trading today on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”) under the symbol “H”. By proceeding in a careful, staged, and prudent manner over time, the government expects to realize $9 billion in proceeds, $4 billion of which will be invested in infrastructure and $5 billion to reduce debt. Continue reading →

• Why The City of Niagara Falls, Ontario Should Stand By Its Ban On Backyard Fires

A Commentary by Karl Dockstader

The City of Niagara Falls, Ontario  currently has a ban on open air burning/backyard campfires. Were it not for the persistence of some residents deeply concerned with the health and welfare of themselves and their fellow residents that law might have been repealed with no real forum, no substantiate research, and no proper consideration.

The simple pleasure of allowing backyard fires has traditionally been overruled by concern for safety and welfare. Conventional thinking has been that one death caused by a backyard fire is one death too many. One hospital visit for a vulnerable person is one hospital visit too many.

The only argument in favour of repealing the bylaw is: “I like fires.” Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

November 4^th, 2015 – In 1993, when the late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau’ memoirs were published, I bought a copy in a Niagara-on-the-Lake bookstore where the clerk also handed me a button that read; “Trudeau is Back.”

That button, which I still have and managed to find a few days back at the bottom of a desk drawer, has taken on a new relevance this November 4^th with the swearing in of Justin Trudeau as Canada’s 23^rd Prime Minister.

I know, I know. There are still many people out there who will say, as they have since he was chosen leader of the federal Liberal Party two years ago, and certainly again this summer when the election was called, that the son doesn’t have the intellectual gravity the father had, and that he’s not much more than a “nice hairdo” who “is not ready” to take on the country’s top job. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Like others out there, I’ve had my share of good and bad bosses over my years.

One of a number of demonstrations by public servants in recent years over the Harper government clamping down on their ranks.

And of all the bad bosses I’ve had the displeasure of sharing in the workforce, the ones that bothered me the most were those who treated us like human garbage on the shop floor. Then, on their final day with the company before (as my old friend George Carlin would put it) moving on to their next abomination, they’d have the gall to gather us together and express, for all to hear, how honoured they were to work with us. All to leave us saying ‘what a load of baloney ‘as they walked out the door.

That is more or less the way it reportedly was this past November 3^rd, in the final hours of Stephen Harper’s time as Canada’s prime minister, when he circulated a farewell message to the country’s public servants who he spent years belittling, muzzling and stripping of the resources they need to do a proper job, when he wasn’t closing down services they delivered. Continue reading →

News from the Welland Hospital Auxiliary and OneFoundation for the Niagara Health System

Welland, Ontario, November 3^rd, 2015 –  OneFoundation for Niagara Health System is pleased to announce a $500,000 commitment from the Welland Hospital Auxiliary in support of the Endoscopy Service at Niagara Health System’s Welland Site.

Members of the Welland Hospital Auxiliary present a $500,000 donation to Niagara Health System and OneFoundation for NHS representatives. Photo courtesy of OneFoundation

The announcement was made today in front of the Auxiliary’s Gift Shop at the hospital, which is the main source of fundraising for the volunteer group.

This pledge comes shortly after the successful wrap up of the Auxiliary’s $1 million campaign to raise funds for the Kidney Care Unit at the Welland Site, named the Welland Hospital Auxiliary Dialysis Centre.  With this fundraising project fulfilled, the volunteers were ready for the next challenge to help keep the Welland hospital equipped for local residents. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

“It’s crazy,” said U.S. President Barack Obama this November 2^nd of those who – even in the face of overwhelming consensus among scientists – continue to deny that human activities have anything to do with climate change.

Those were the days in Canada – not so long ago – when Harper brushed aside calls for action on climate change with a smug smile.

Obama used the “crazy” word at a Democratic fundraiser in New York State this November 2^nd in reference to climate change deniers – most of them on the Republican Party side – in his own country.

But as the President and many in his party know, and just as embarrassingly, as many others around the world know, there are plenty of crazies on the Canadian side of the border. Most prominent among them is Canada’ going-going-gone prime minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party minions, many who’ve given us every reason to believe that when it comes to the climate file, they’ll be just as out to lunch in opposition as they were when their party governed almost all that was once recognized as world-class environmental leadership out of the country. Continue reading →

News from the Office of the Ontario Environmental Commissioner

Queen’s Park, November 3, 2015 – Ontario’s acting Environmental Commissioner, Ellen Schwartzel, says the provincial government is recovering only a tiny fraction of its management costs for the water supplied to many industries.

Ontario’s acting Environmental Commissioner Ellen Schwartzel

In her Annual Report, “Small Things Matter,” released today, Schwartzel noted there’s been no progress by the government on recovering the full cost of its water programs from users. “I am frustrated the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change has yet to act on recommendations of both the Environmental Commissioner and the Drummond Commission,” says Schwartzel.

Currently, the government recovers only 1.2% of the $16.2 million it spends on water quantity management programs. Continue reading →

A Brief Note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Despite daily hammering from Ontario’s New Democrat and Conservative parties and a recent report from the province’s non-partisan Financial Accountability Office warning that a sell-off of shares of Hydro One may get Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government some fast money but will end up costing provincial taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year in the long run, Wynne appears determined to move ahead with this hair brain scheme.

It’s like Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is going rogue on us.

Wynne insists she needs up-front cash from the sale of this utility which, so long as it remains in public hands, generates more than $700 million annually in revenue (no wonder private investors are chomping at the bit to get a piece of the action), to pay down the province’s debt and cover the cost of some infrastructure projects. Continue reading →

 – Too Many Of Our Veterans Not Getting The Health Care They Need

A Commentary from Cindy Forster, Welland Riding MPP

November 3^rd, 2015 – In the lead up to Remembrance Day every year, Canadians of all ages and backgrounds come together and collectively vow to never forget our brave men and women who lost their lives in military service in peace time or in war. We adorn our lapels with poppies, donate to local legions, lay wreaths in memory, and promise to never forget.

Cindy Forster, the MPP for the Niagara, Ontario Riding of Welland

However, many of these men and women whose service we are so thankful for are often left on the margins of our health care system. Currently, Ontario’s Health and Long Term Care Act limits the definition of what it means to be a “veteran” when assessing who gets priority access to long term care.

In short, our health care system has created a class system for veterans.  Priority access to long term care beds is only available for those who served during and prior to the Korean War; the brave men and women who served in any peacekeeping or wartime mission after that (aka “modern-day veterans) often have to fend for themselves. Continue reading →

A Tribute to Community Involvement from  Niagara, Ontario’s Town of Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

November 2015 – Sometimes in our fast-paced society, we neglect to honour and thank those that do something special. And, yet, those who volunteer in our community make a conscious choice to give of their time and talents to improve our community.

Pelham, Ontario Mayor Dave Augustyn

When you volunteer, you make a conscience choice and, I believe, carry out a sacred act of giving of yourself.

This goes for the many coaches and conveners of the various sports in Pelham and for members of the Town’s outstanding Service Clubs. It’s the same with the specially appointed members of Town Committees like those that volunteer on the Library Board, the Active Transportation Committee, the Beautification Committee, and the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council.

It’s a similar commitment from those involved in community based endeavours like the Farmer’s Market Committee, the Bandshell Committee, the Pelham Art Festival committee, the Pelham Horticultural Society, the Suppermarket Committee, and the hundreds of other volunteers in our community. Continue reading →

• Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath To Join Cindy Forster And Local Leaders In Celebration

News from the Office of Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

Welland, Ontario – The Welland NDP Provincial Riding Association believes that forty continuous years of strong and progressive representation at Queen’s Park is well worth celebrating.

This memorial poster was produced in the wake of Peter Kormos’ sudden passing in 2013. The former Welland MPP was a Niagara regional councilor at the time of his death.

Starting with the election of political icon Mel Swart in 1975 and continuing with Peter Kormos in 1988 and current MPP Cindy Forster in 2011, it’s a remarkable achievement.

To mark this special occasion, the Welland NDP Provincial Riding Association, along with Cindy Forster and special guest, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, will be hosting an anniversary dinner on November 28th.

It will be an evening of celebration to commemorate this important milestone in the riding’s history. It will be an opportunity to look back at the accomplishments of these MPPs and celebrate the hard work and support of so many over the years. Continue reading →

News from the Niagara Health System and Niagara College

“Gratitude + genius = happiness.”

November 2^nd , 2015, Niagara, Ontario – President of the Niagara Health System Dr. Suzanne Johnston shared this simple but significant equation with Niagara College’s Class of 2015 as they gathered for fall convocation this past October 30^th .

Convocation speaker Dr. Suzanne Johnston, president of the Niagara Health System, addresses the crowd at Niagara College’s fall convocation ceremony, held at the Welland Campus on October 30th .

As the convocation speaker and recipient of an honorary diploma in Health Sciences during the ceremony, Johnston shared how she believes everyone can become “masters of happiness” in their lives. In addition to gratitude – which she noted as an essential ingredient of true happiness – she quoted Outliers author Malcolm Gladwell by saying that those considered successful ‘geniuses’ are people who have had spent 10,000 hours or more refining their skills. Continue reading →

From Ontario’s New Democratic Party

Queen’s Park, November 2^nd, 2015 – Ontario NDP Women’s Issues critic Peggy Sattler called on the Acting Premier in the legislature this November 2nd  to address the issue of the gender wage gap in Ontario and the government’s lack of enforcement of existing pay equity laws.

“At last week’s launch of the gender wage gap consultation, many of those in attendance raised concerns about the Liberal government’s lack of enforcement of existing pay equity laws.  In particular, the government has failed to live up to its own pay equity obligations for public sector workers in developmental services, in child care, and in home care.” Continue reading →

News from the Council of Canadians – a national citizens organization

Ottawa, Ontario, November, 2015 -What will Justin Trudeau do about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) once he becomes prime minister on November 4th?

It’s clear that the deal does not have strong public support in Canada. An EKOS poll released today found that the deal is opposed by 38 per cent of Canadians and supported by 41 per cent. The poll also found that 31 per cent of Canadians think the TPP will be harmful, while 33 per cent believe it will be good for the economy.

Just two weeks before the election, Trudeau promised “a full and open public debate” on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and highlighted the imperative to “defend Canadian interests during the TPP’s ratification process – which includes defending supply management, our auto sector, and Canadian manufacturers across the country.” Continue reading →

News from the Ontario’ Opposition Conservative Party

Queen’s Park, November 1^st, 2015 – November 1st represents another unaffordable hydro increase for Ontarians as a result of the Liberal Government’s failed electricity policies.

Beginning today, on-peak hydro rates have increased 8.7 per cent, meaning that the average customer will pay approximately 53 dollars more each year. This is on top of the 68 dollar increase ratepayers already endured on May 1, 2015.

“The Liberals can’t get anything right when it comes to energy policy,” said Leader of the Official Opposition Patrick Brown.  “This increase is on top of Ontarians being faced with among the highest electricity rates in North America.  Meanwhile, the government continues to offer no assurance that the fire sale of Hydro One will not result in even more increases for ratepayers, despite Ontario’s financial watchdog confirming the fire sale is a bad deal for Ontarians.” Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

On the Eve of this Halloween I was beginning to wonder if I was getting to old for the whole ghosts and goblins thing because it just doesn’t seem as spooky anymore.

Then I turned on the radio to news of the upcoming swearing in of Justin Trudeau as Canada’s 23^rd Prime Minister and I remembered why so much of the shiver is gone.

In just a few more days – this coming Wednesday, November 4^th, to be exact – Harper will no long be in the Prime Minister’s Office, cooking up all those tales about Liberals and New Democrats groveling for power so they can o tax us to back to the Stone Age and bankrupt the country, or about Trudeau wanting to unleash reefer madness on us by seting up pot shops in every neighbourhood, or about how there will be terrorists hiding under our beds if we don’t go on bombing countries populated with brown people. Continue reading →

Province’s Plan for High-Speed Rail Will Transform Travel in Southwestern Ontario

News from Ontario’s Liberal Government and Ministry of Transportation

(A Brief Foreword Note from NAL – This may be great news for southern Ontario but you will notice that there is no mention in this news release of Niagara for this service.)

Queen’s Park, October 30^th, 2015 – Ontario has appointed the Honourable David Collenette as a special advisor to assist the province in bringing high-speed rail to the Windsor, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Toronto corridor.

‘Bullet’ or high speed trains like this are common place in Europe and some East Asian regions.

Mr. Collenette, a former federal Minister of Transport, will work with public and private sector stakeholders, as well as First Nations and Métis partners, to identify economic development opportunities associated with high-speed trains, assess international experience with high-speed rail and provide advice on a preliminary business case and potential financing models. Continue reading →

By Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the Ontario Health Coalition 

(Natalie Mehra and the non-profit activist group she directs may be familiar to people in Niagara, Ontario who have lobbied to save hospital services across this region. She and members of the OHA have made numerous visits to Niagara in recent years to support residents in their struggle to keep community hospitals operating.)

Toronto, Ontario, October 30^th, 2015 – After twenty years on the front lines of the movement to protect our public health care in Ontario, perhaps I should be more jaded.

Ontario Health Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra

But when I read the headlines today announcing the mulish determination of Kathleen Wynne and her government to sell off Hydro One despite all reason, despite overwhelming public opposition and the antimony of both the Conservatives and the NDP, despite expert assessments warning of higher costs, and regardless of the fact that it is privatization of the management of our electricity grid for goodness sake — I almost can’t believe it.

We should all be up in arms.

If Wynne is willing to give away public hydro what will she not privatize? Continue reading →

A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Okay, I’ll admit it. It’s looking like I was wrong about Kathleen Wynne.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, a few years back with her outgoing boss, the former premier Dalton McGuinty

When so many others warned as far back as the winter of 2013 when she was first sworn in as Ontario’s 25^th Premier, and again in the spring of 2014 when she lead the province’s Liberals to a third consecutive term in government, that she was no better than her predecessor Dalton McGuinty – when the opposition Conservatives and NDP kept linking the names McGuinty and Wynne together with a hyphen every time they made a reference to her government – I was giving her the benefit of the doubt. Continue reading →

From Ontario’s Conservative Opposition Party

QUEEN’S PARK – This October 29^th, the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario released a report on its assessment of the financial impact of the sale of Hydro One.  The report confirms what the Ontario PC Caucus, the public, and the business community have continued to stress to the government: the Hydro One fire sale is a bad deal for Ontarians.

Hydro One crews repairing damage following a severe winter storm

The FAO projects that as a result of the fire sale, the province’s fiscal situation would be worse than if they didn’t sell Hydro One, in large part due to the revenue Hydro One currently brings in to provincial coffers.  The fire sale represents a short-term gain in exchange for long-term pain.

Members of the Ontario PC Caucus stood in Question Period today demanding that the Wynne Liberals put an immediate stop to the fire sale of Hydro One.  Continue reading →

From Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath  

Queen’s Park – This October 29^th, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath demanded that the government stop the sell-off of Hydro One after the Financial Accountability Officer’s (FAO) Report demonstrated what New Democrats have been saying for months: The sell-off of Hydro One is a bad deal for the families and businesses of this province.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

“The first independent analysis of this sell-off has been done and it clearly shows that this is a bad deal for Ontario families and businesses,” said Horwath. “The Premier (Kathleen Wynne) should follow the advice of the FAO and commit today to stopping the sell-off of Hydro One before this turns into another billion dollar Liberal boondoggle for the people of Ontario.”   The FAO report demonstrates that the Premier’s promises that the sell-off would return $4 billion for transit and infrastructure are false and that the total could be billions of dollars less. Continue reading →

–        Province Works to End Strategic Lawsuits That Stifle Free Speech

News from the Ontario Ministry of Attorney General

Queen’s Park – This October 28^th, 2015, Ontario passed an act that protects freedom of speech on matters of public interest.

The Protection of Public Participation Act, 2015 will allow the public to participate more freely in public discussions without fear of retribution by giving them a better way to defend themselves against strategic lawsuits, commonly known as SLAPPs (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation).

The threat of a strategic lawsuit, which can be lengthy and expensive, is often used as a means to intimidate or punish opponents and discourage others from speaking out. Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

The New York Times posted a story this October 28^th that could be both good news and bad news for the most moneyed one per cent in Canada and the U.S. who say climate change is a joke.

These maps show the extent of the ice sheet (in white) on Greenland melting back over the last few decades

According to the story, the ice sheet covering Greenland now continues to melt at a rapid rate, adding weight to one of the long-time predictions of many scientists around the world that is this – as we continue to use the earth’s atmosphere as a garbage dump for emissions from the burning of oil and other carbon fuels, average temperatures around the world continue to climb causing, among many other things, ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise.

This should obviously be a matter of concern to (if not trigger some alarm in) all of us. But if you are anything like me and want to try searching through the darkest of news for a silver lining, here are a at least a couple of benefits that may come from all of those shrinking caps of ice. Continue reading →

 News from Ontario’s Conservative Leader Patrick Brown

Queen’s Park, Ontario, October 27^th, 2015 – Today during Question Period, Leader of the Official Opposition Patrick Brown asked Acting Premier Deb Matthews about the government’s payments to teachers’ unions.

Ontario Conservative Patrick Brown demanding answers on provincial government’s millions of dollars of payouts to teachers unions and  unions’ spending on Liberal election campaigns.

Over the past three provincial election campaigns, teachers’ unions spent more than $6.5 million to run negative ad campaigns and donated nearly $800,000 to the Liberals over the past decade.

The Globe and Mail has alleged that the government didn’t need receipts for its payments to teachers’ unions because the payments weren’t covering negotiating costs. This represents yet another growing scandal of Ontario’s Liberal Government for which Ontario’s taxpayers have had to foot the bill. Continue reading →

• Harper’s Battered Bunch, On The Other Hand, Could Use A Reality Check

By Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

Some of you may (or more likely may not) recall a last minute get-out-and-vote appeal I posted on NAL the day before the federal election where I made a brief reference to Pinky, a friend’s pet chiwawa my wife and I are dog sitting for a couple weeks.

I added a few words about Pinky because for reasons only a dog behaviorist may understand, she had this habit of making a sour face and sticking her tongue out at the mere mention of Stephen Harper’s name.

Before the election. Poor Pinky. She looked like she had come down with a bad case of Harper Derangement Syndrome.

It was a habit that carried right through to the morning of election day when a canvasser for the Harper Conservatives came to our door and Pinky flashed a disapproving tongue so many times the canvasser said she must be suffering from a canine version of something he called ‘Harper Derangement Syndrome’ – a condition diehard Harper say makes normally rational and intelligent people express a hatred for Harper that borderlines on pathological.

Naturally, the canvasser’s diagnosis, as partisan as it may have been, had my wife and I concerned enough to call our local animal hospital, only to find out that both vets were home that day due to a severe case of the same syndrome.

Then something amazing happened. Continue reading →

News from the Ohio Environmental Council

(A Brief Foreword to this post from NAL publisher Doug Draper – This news may be coming from environmentalists based in the State of Ohio but what they are trying to do is vitally important to the quality of life of people living in the Greater Niagara Region, including Niagara, Ontario and the Buffalo, New York area.

A look of the growing bloom of harmful algae in Lake Erie from space

It is vitally important because for a number of years, Lake Erie waters have hosted a dangerous form of algae that last year poisoned waters in western reaches of the lake to a point where the drinking water supply of Toledo, Ohio had to be shut down. Scientists are concerned that this algae – largely a product of contaminated runoff from farmlands – could grow and pose a similar threat to water supplies further downstream.

And of course, the waters of Lake Erie are an upstream source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents in the Niagara/Buffalo area. Yet, on the Ontario side of the lake, there is little evidence that the federal and provincial governments are taking this issue seriously and regional bodies like the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority have seen their environmental protection forces castrated by the boards and administrators that run them.)

So on this one, we ought to thank our American neighbours for talking a Great Lakes pollution problem that could have a profound impact on all of us more seriously than bodies on the Ontario side of the lakes do.)

Columbus, Ohio, October 22, 2015 – More than one year after a harmful algal bloom in western Lake Erie poisoned the drinking water for more than 400,000 Toledo-area residents, advocates for the lake are asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to put in place a pollution diet for western Lake Erie to prevent future outbreaks. Continue reading →

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

October 24^th, 2015 – Their buildings aren’t moving an inch, but two of Niagara’s major institutions will have new street addresses when the sun comes up on Monday, Oct. 26.

Niagara Region Chair Alan Caslin, Brock University President Jack Lightstone, Maj.-Gen. Sir Isaac Brock (played by actor Guy Bannerman) and aide de camp John Glegg (played by Brock student Mike Fusilo) introduce the street sign that people will be seeing on the new Sir Isaac Brock Way.

Brock University and the Niagara Region’s headquarters, located across the road from each other, made the joint announcement Saturday Oct. 24, during the University’s annual gala banquet held to honour its namesake, Maj.-Gen. Sir Isaac Brock.

The University’s address becomes 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way in St. Catharines. It ceases to be 500 Glenridge Avenue.

Across the street (which is also a city boundary), the Niagara Region’s address becomes 1815 Sir Isaac Brock Way in Thorold. It had previously been 2201 St. David’s Road. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau hasn’t even been sworn in as Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister yet, and you have parades of political pundits, citizen activists and others chattering about some of the first things he should do when he is.

Now retired Environment Canada scientist Tony Turner singing ‘Harperman’ about a prime minister who didn’t care for the tune.

So why shouldn’t I join in with just one very simple thing he could do that would make good on his mantra for hope and change.

I’ll stay away from one that has already been repeated thousands of times since this past October 19^th when Trudeau and his Liberals swept to victory – that he should put together a carbon emissions reduction plan that convinces the world at the coming Paris Climate Change Summit that after more than nine years of being stuck in the tar sands, Canada is seriously back in business of protecting the environment.

I wholeheartedly agree that climate change should be among Trudeau’s top priorities but tackling that one won’t be as simple as the one I’m about to suggest, which he could accomplish within a matter of hours of taking office. Continue reading →

News from the national citizens group Council of Canadians

Ottawa, Ontario, October 23^rd, 2015 – In 998 the Council of Canadians won a moratorium against the use of Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) in Canada.

This morning, the CBC reports, “As dairy imports from the United States appear set to increase under the terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, Canadian consumers concerned about drinking milk from cows receiving hormones will need to read their labels more carefully. …”

“At the initial briefing offered to journalists, TPP negotiators said Canadian health and safety regulations would apply. …But further clarification recently revealed that doesn’t mean dairy producers outside Canada have to follow the same rules Canadian farms do. Most notably, it’s illegal in Canada to administer bovine growth hormone (rBST) to boost milk production in dairy cattle. But there’s no such restriction in the U.S.” Continue reading →

An Invite from the Sierra Club of Western New York

The Sierra Club Climate and Clean Energy Writers Group will hold its November session on Monday, November 2nd from 6 to 7:30 PM in the Alliance Room – 2nd floor of the Unitarian Universalist Church – 695 Elmwood at Ferry (Use the Garden Entrance).

This November’s topic will be Truth to Power and the speakers will be:

Rob Galbraith from the Public Accountability Initiative speaking on “Researching Power Relations”

Geoff Kelly, editor of the Public on Alternative Media in WNY

This event is free and open to the public.

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

A Comment from the Public Interest Organization Avaaz on the Outcome of Canada’s Federal Election

Dear Friends,

Let’s just take a minute to let it sink in — we finally got rid of Stephen Harper!!!

It took over nine years, but we can finally say goodbye to the Conservative government and everything that came with them — climate denial, corruption, silencing opposition, tax cuts for the rich, pipelines and pollution, and Islamopobia. The nightmare is over!

Many progressive groups did a ton of work to get this done. And the Avaaz community stepped up in a big way, campaigning in some of the closest races — and a progressive candidate won in every riding we worked in.

Together we picked up the phones and connected personally to thousands of Canadians in call-ins to swing ridings in Ontario and BC, urging them to vote for change. Our hard-hitting campaigns ran in ridings across the country, with radio and newspapers ads, lawn signs, and targeted social media. Continue reading →

A Message from Ontario’s NDP

(A Brief Preface from NAL – This message is a response to a threat issued by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne to dock the pay of elementary school teachers and support workers in elementary schools across the province if a contract settlement is not reached with the government by November 1^st.)

Ontario NDP education critic Lisa Gretzky

Queen’s Park, October 23rd – Ontario NDP Education Critic Lisa Gretzky issued the following statement.

“Like all parents and students across the province, New Democrats are relieved that the government has finally agreed to return to the negotiating table with teachers and education workers. Continue reading →

Canada’s NDP Leader Tom Mulcair

A Message from Canada’s NDP Leader Tom Mulcair

(A Brief Foreword by NAL’s Doug Draper- The outcome of the recent federal election was a bad one for the New Democratic Party of Canada. When the outgoing Conservative government of Stephen Harper called the election at the end of July, national polls showed the NDP neck and neck with the Conservatives and Liberals and even slightly ahead in some surveys.

By the end, the NDP had fallen to third, losing its Official Opposition status and many of its key members, especially in Atlantic Canada and the Greater Toronto Area where it lost virtually every seat.

Under those circumstances, Mulcair has been keeping a low profile since the vote and was not present at the Ottawa memorial service marking the first anniversary of the killing of two members of Canada’s armed forces, but sent another member of the party in his place.

This is the first post-election message Mulcair has sent to his party members and supporters, and NAL is posting it here for interest.)

• From Tom Mulcair to his party’s supporters

Monday’s election results weren’t exactly what we had hoped for, but I want you to hear this directly from me: Continue reading →

News from the Dunnville, Ontario area

With a continuing decline in student numbers, it has become an all-to-common happening in Niagara and other parts of Southern Ontario – this time it is Grandview School in nearby Dunnville.

The poster posted below urges residents in the Dunvville to attend an  upcoming meeting with an aim to save the  school. If you have trouble reading the fine print in the poster try clicking on the image to enlarge it.Niagara At Large invites you to share your comments below and to visit Niagara At Large at http://www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our binational greater Niagara region.

 –        U.S. Vice President and Former Senator Joe Biden Says He Won’t Run

A Brief Introduction to Joe Biden’s Remarks from Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

I’ve always had trouble with fellow Canadians who say, and some of them say it in a smug or braggadocious way: ‘I don’t follow U.S. politics. Who care what happens there. I’m interested in Canada.’

U.S. Vice-President and former Senator Joe Biden

The fact is –whether we Canadians like it or not – being interested in Canada very much means caring about what happens in the United States.

Why? Because we share one of the world’s largest borders with the United States, not to mention the world’s largest supplies of fresh water in the name of the Great Lakes, with the United States, and we continue to have close economic and cultural ties with that country. The United States remains our single largest trading partner in the world and what happens in and to that country – and what its leaders do – often have an impact, sometimes a very large one, on our health and welfare here.

Continue reading →

News from the Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War

Hamilton, Ontario, October 21st, 2015 – On Tuesday, October 20^th, at a media conference in Ottawa, Prime Mnister-elect Justin Trudeau announced that he had talked with US President Barack Obama and informed him that Canada would be withdrawing its six CF-18 fighter bombers from the US-led coalition in Syria and Iraq.

Canadian jet bombers in skies over Iraq and Syria

Trudeau made no comment about the 70 Canadian trainers on the ground in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

The Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War is claiming a partial victory in that our year-long petition at Change.org to Canadian MP’s, to withdraw from the US-led coalition to wage war in Syria and Iraq, has been essentially realized. Continue reading →

An Invitation   To You from Liz Palmieri, Executive Director of the St. Catharines, Ontario-based Niagara Community Foundation

October 21, 2015

• Less than two weeks to go for you to get tickets to this year’s breakfast.  Great speaker.  Current topic.  Ticket ordering info is below.

For the past 13 years we have brought to Niagara ideas, inspiration and insights from speakers on a variety of topics.  This year is no exception.

Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker, President and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo

We have read much over the past few years about what Buffalo is doing as a community to turn the tide on the many challenges they have faced.  The Buffalo Billion Investment Plan was created to chart the Buffalo Niagara region’s unique path to a thriving economy.

Our speaker, Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker, President and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, was there from the beginning of the journey to chart this path. Continue reading →

A Brief from NAL publisher Doug Draper

Poor Rob Ford.

It was only a few days before this October 19^th’s federal election that he and his brother-in-arms Doug rallied their Ford Nation troops together for one last rocous rally in the Greater Toronto for Stephen Harper before the Conservative leader flew home to Alberta to see his all of his power and party’s seats drown in a Liberal sweep.

Those were the days – just a few days ago – weren’t they?

Imagine what kind of a ride Rob’s been on since Justin Trudeau and his Liberals painted ever last riding in the GTA, including ones in the epicentre of Ford Nation, blood red., All less than 48 hours after he was standing – with no need to worry – a few metres away from a Prime Minister who, among other things, played to his base with an ol’ Mississippi-style get-tough-on-crime on druggies and other offenders (especially if they are poor and brown) shtick.

And now look where we are. No more ‘Four More Years’ chants, the streamers are on the floor and all of the air has gone out of the blue and white balloons.

Have you seen any pics of poor Rob lately. It looks like he’s suffering from a bad case of ‘Trudeau Derangement Syndrome- a right-wing strain of ‘Harper Degrangement Syndrome’ Conservative supporters say was inflicting any leftie who expressed what they believed was an “irrational hatred” for Stephen Harper during the election campaign.

But hey Rob. Things may not turn out as horribly as you think. If those election ads Harper and his gang were spreading around neighhourhoods populated by more socially conservative peoples were true, Trudeau will make sure every neighbhourhood across the country has pot shops and brothels where anyone so inclined canl find more than enough to eat.

And here’s the most exciting part – especially for those of us who hope the Conservatives are left wandering in the wilderness until every last zenophobe, homophobe and person who enjoys being a slave to coporate masters passes on.

If we’re lucky, maybe your brother Doug will run for the leadership of the Conservative Party and win! If I could only find a way on to the convention floor, I’d vote for that.

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

The party is over for Stephen Harper

A Brief One from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

I don’t know about you, but when it appears that someone you’ve been wanting to see leave for a long, long time is finally going to do you and the country a favour and do it, I want to see a promise of that in writing – just to make sure! Continue reading →

A Column from Niagara, Ontario’s Town of Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

October 20^th, 2015 – How do you make the best use of a decommissioned fire truck?

Pelham, Ontario Mayor Dave Augustyn

Despite being maintained in excellent condition and with just over 2,000 hours of operation time and 24,000 kilometres (on the odometer), provincial insurance regulations require that the Town has to decommission and replace the 1991 pumper from Pelham Fire Station #2 this year.

The Town could sell the vehicle for non-fire use. Or we could sell or donate the fire truck to communities or areas where less stringent insurance rules apply – in another country or areas covered by Canadian Federal regulations.

That’s where the Welland Rotary Club came in. After hearing the Town approve the purchase of a new pumper, the Club wondered whether there was a community in Central or South America that might need such a vehicle. Continue reading →

News from Niagara Falls’ provincial member of parliament Wayne Gates

Queen’s Park in Toronto, Ontario – This Tuesday, October 2oth, NDP MPP and Transportation Critic Wayne Gates called on Premier Kathleen Wynne to re-commit to reducing auto-insurance rates by 15 per cent. It has been over two years since the (province’s) Liberal government promised to reduce auto-insurance rates and they are nowhere near that goal.

Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

“This Government said they would reduce auto insurance rates by fifteen per cent within two years” said Gates. “But over that same two years, Ontarians were overbilled for their auto insurance to the tune of 1.5 billion dollars.”

Currently, Ontarians pay more for their auto-insurance than anywhere else in the country. Gates says the Liberal government is prioritizing reducing costs for the insurance industry over the needs of drivers in Ontario. Continue reading →

A Brief Message from NAL publisher Doug Draper

Thank God it is over.

Now let’s stay engaged as Canadian citizens in undoing the damage of the Harper era and rebuilding a country that is a beacon for peace, tolerance and prosperity and for all that is good in the world.

More on what we have to do together to collectively address the issues important to our lives and country later.

Julia Blushak is a communications and community developer living in Niagara, Ontario. Niagara At Large thanks her for the image above and for others she has shared with NAL for use here throughout the election.

For more information on Julia Blushak’s work and for contacting her visit |  www.paperfang.com    |    facebook – Julia Blushak

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

From the Office of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

October 19^th, 2015 – Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne issued this statement following the 2015 federal election results:

“I want to congratulate Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada on tonight’s federal election victory. They have received a clear mandate to govern from the people of Canada. I look forward to working in co-operation with our new federal partner on behalf of the people of Ontario.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

I also want to congratulate everyone elected tonight, and thank every candidate who put his or her name on a ballot. It takes courage to put your name forward for elected office, and you have made a valuable contribution to our healthy democracy.

To Canadians from coast to coast to coast who cast a ballot, thank you. Your participation keeps our country strong.”

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