Niagara At Large

From the Office of Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

Queen’s Park, Ontario, November 2015 – In Question Period this November 25^th  Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath called on the government to bring forward a meaningful plan to tackle climate change.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

“Climate change is one of the most important issues in our generation, and it needs more than just rhetoric. It actually needs a plan. Does this Premier have a plan that she’s actually bringing to the Paris summit?” said Horwath.

The NDP Leader expressed concern after the Liberal government cobbled together a climate change announcement yesterday that lacked substance. Instead of details, the Premier (Liberal Kathleen Wynne) offered a re-announcement that there will, at some point, be an announcement. Continue reading →

News from Ontario’s Conservative Party Opposition Leader Patrick Brown

Queen’s Park, Ontario, November 2015 – This November 25^th , Leader of the Official Opposition and PC Education Critic Patrick Brown urged the Premier (Kathleen Wynne) to support the Ontario PC Caucus’ Opposition Day Motion.

Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown

The motion, being debated this afternoon, calls upon the Ontario Liberal Party to repay the Ministry of Education $3.7 million to reimburse Ontario’s students for the funds taken out of the classroom to pay for bargaining costs.

“If that money had been invested into Ontario’s education system it would have gone a long way,” stated Leader Patrick Brown in the Legislature.  “The Premier could have funded 75 educational assistants with that money.  She could have put that money towards special education programs.” Continue reading →

From Niagara Action For Animals, a Niagara, Ontario-based animal advocacy group

November 25^th, 2015 – From now until December 7th you will be able to order your very own “Cat-lendar” featuring some of the adorable adoptable cats and kittens from Niagara Action for Animals.

Calendars also feature animal-specific holidays! Order the calendar for yourself or as a gift for someone else, but order soon before it’s too late! NAfA Cat-lendars are $16 each and all profits from this campaign go to support NAfA’s spay and neuter programs in the community.

Get yours today by emailing Jami at: JamiCoughler@gmail.com or by completing this order form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1WwK8hcwAAmMQSMcBzbU3ciro7fjMibywwq5tatzUK8I/viewform?usp=send_form

Learn more about Niagara Action For Animals by clicking on – http://www.niagaraactionforanimals.org/ .

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.)

Another Call-Out to Canadians from Avaaz, a global online citizens organization

November 25^th, 2015 – The French government has just announced that with security still a major concern in Paris, we’ll have to cancel our massive climate march there on November 29th.

This is heart-breaking for our Paris members, who have had enough heartbreak already, but hundreds of thousands will be marching all over the globe. And in Paris, people are donating their shoes to be lined up on the march route as a symbolic representation of their marching feet.

If we all join them by sending thousands of photos of us with our shoes, Avaaz will display our images in Paris to show Parisians they are not alone, and tell the world we all stand as one. Click here to join the global virtual march now, or here to see if there is a march near you. Continue reading →

• Province Charts Course to a Prosperous, Low-Carbon Future

“Climate change is the most pressing issue of our time (and) it’s imperative we take action on all fronts to effectively reduce greenhouse gas pollution while building a stronger economy.” –  Glen Murray, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change

News from the Government of Ontario

Queen’s Park, November 24^th, 2015 – Ontario took the next step in the fight against climate change today by releasing the province’s Climate Change Strategy. The strategy lays out the government’s vision for securing a healthy, clean and prosperous low-carbon future by transforming the way we live, move, work and adapt to our environment.

The strategy also supports Ontario’s proposed cap and trade program, which will help Ontario meet its emissions reduction targets, reward innovative companies and ensure that households and businesses thrive as the province transitions to a low-carbon economy. Continue reading →

• “We have a responsibility to significantly expand our refugee targets and give more victims of war a safe haven in Canada. The resettling of vulnerable refugees is a clear demonstration of this.” – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

  

  Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

News from the Government of Canada

Ottawa, Ontario, November 24^th, 2015 –The Government of Canada is taking immediate action to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada as quickly as possible, through a five-phase national plan. Canada can and will do more to help Syrian refugees who are desperately seeking safety, by offering them a new home.

The five phases are identifying Syrian refugees to come to Canada, selecting and processing Syrian refugees overseas, transportation to Canada, arrival and welcoming in Canada, and settlement and community integration. Protecting the safety, security, and health of Canadians and refugees is a key factor in guiding the Government of Canada’s actions throughout this initiative. Continue reading →

• “Why would this toxic liquid brew even be transported through our precious fruit lands, the highly populated Greater Toronto Area, and other rural or urban centres?” – Susan Pruyn, St. Catharines & District Council of Women

A News Analysis from Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

Niagara’s Regional government has sent a clear message to officials in Canada and the United States that it is opposed to a plan currently on the books to truck highly dangerous radioactive waste through the region to Niagara River border bridges.

Canada’s Chalk River nuclear facilities in Ontario’s upper Ottawa Valley

The call for a halt to the controversial plan was made at the request of the St. Catharines & District Council of Women – an almost century old public interest group in Niagara, Ontario with a mandate to raise public awareness on issues of interest and concern to the wider community. Continue reading →

• Canadian author & economist Jim Stafford.  CBC reporter & labour activist Bill Gillespie among Speakers at Friday, Nov. 27th event in St. Catharines, Ontario. See poster below for further details.

Click on the image to blow it up on your screen so it is friendlier to read.

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.)

• “Despite The Rhetoric, … Regional Council Failed To Focus On Water And Waste Water Affordability For Niagara’s Cities And Towns And Ultimately Failed Niagara’s Residents And Businesses.” – Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

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

Pelham, Ontario Mayor Dave Augustyn

November 23^rd, 2015 -Some (Niagara) Regional Councillors congratulated themselves for approving a “combined 0.03 per cent reduction in the Region’s Water and Wastewater budget, resulting in a net operating budget of $108 million.”

A recent news release quoted the Regional Chair (Al Caslin)  that, “These reduced budgets show that our Council is focused on affordability for Niagara residents.”

This upsets me.

First, this misleads by telling only part of the story.

 Second, the facts show that the Region’s “zero budget guidance” did not focus water and wastewater affordability. Continue reading →

A Brief Foreword from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper –

It was heartening to listen to the C BC Radio program Cross Country Check-up this past Sunday, November 23^rd and hear most of the people who phoned in say they support making Canada a home to refugees from war-torn Syria.

U.S. Senator for Massachusetts, Warren Elizabeth

Such is apparently not the case in our neighbouring United States where polls show a majority of Americans side with Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie and other Republicans running for that party’s presidential nomination who are calling for shutting the door on Syrian refugees unless they are Christians, for fear terrorists may slip in with them.

One of what appears to be a minority of U.S. politicians willing to stand with U.S. President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in favour welcoming up to 10,000 of the refugees over the next year is a fellow Democrat from Massachusetts, Senator Elizabeth Warren who many progressives across the country hoped would run for president.

Her heartfelt words on the refugee issue, circulated in an email, are posted here.

Mass. Senator Elizabeth Warren, November 2015 –

“Over the past four years, millions of people have fled their homes in Syria, running for their lives. In recent months, the steady stream of refugees has been a flood that has swept across Europe.

Continue reading →

• Province Passes Landmark Law In Advance of Global Climate Change Summit

News from the Government of Ontario

Queen’s Park, Ontario November 2015 – In the lead up to the United Nations’ Conference of the Parties in Paris, Ontario passed legislation this November 23^rd to permanently ban coal-fired electricity generation in the province – a first in North America and a significant step in the fight against climate change.

Air emissions from the now off-line coal-fired electricity generating plant along Lake Erie in Nanticoke, Ontario were once the target of legal complaints filed by New York State

The Ending Coal for Cleaner Air Act prevents new and existing facilities from burning coal for the sole purpose of generating electricity. It sets maximum fines for anyone who violates the ban and enshrines the health and environmental benefits of making coal-fired electricity illegal in law.

This landmark legislation builds on Ontario’s leadership on climate change. Last year, Ontario closed its last coal-fired power plant. Closing coal-fired power plants represents one of the largest greenhouse gas reduction initiatives in North America. The closure has eliminated more than 30 megatonnes of annual GHG emissions, equivalent to taking seven-million vehicles off our roads. Continue reading →

• Sunday, November 29^th At Hamilton City Hall

A Foreword Note from Fiona McMurran, Council of Canadians, Niagara South

November 2015 – On the eve of the Paris Summit on Climate Change, rallies are planned for November 29^th  in communities all around the globe.

Niagara, Ontario residents are encouraged to join the march and rally in Hamilton.

Here are messages, posted below from two citizens groups, Hamilton 350 and Environment Hamilton, providing details on the coming ‘Hamilton2Paris’ march and rally in that city.

From Environment Hamilton –

On November 29th, 2015, people around the world are coming together to unify in advocacy of climate change. November 30th sparks the beginning of the #COP21 talks in Paris and many Hamilton groups will be part of that effort to promote citizen engagement, environmental awareness and ultimately show our leaders that we are watching. Continue reading →

An Appeal from the Alliance for the Great Lakes, a U.S.-based citizens advocacy group for the protections of the lakes

(A Brief Niagara At Large foreword note – There is virtually unanimous agreement among environmental scientists on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border that if this invasive species of carp – indigenous to waters in Asia and imported our continent without government consent several years ago – enters the Great Lakes, they could , among other things, ravage a domestic fishery worth billions of dollars to both countries.)

Invasive Asian Carp leaping in waters of upper Mississippi River system near Lake Michigan.

Chicago, Illinois, November 2015 – Young Asian carp are now 66 miles closer to Lake Michigan than they were at the start of the year. Time is running short in efforts to keep these devastating fish out of the Great Lakes. Unfortunately, federal officials are not moving quickly.

The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers has the proven know-how and ability to take action and do it fast. But, the corps recently told Congress it will take at least three more years to study and recommend a plan for risk-reduction measures at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Illinois River. Continue reading →

•  Public Information Sessions ‘Were A Great Missed Opportunity’ To Address These Key Issues

By John Bacher

During the third week of this November 2015, the Regional Municipality of Niagara held three public information sessions in the Niagara, Ontario municipalities of Grimsby, St. Catharines and Port Colborne.

A view inside one of Niagara, Ontario’s forested wetland areas – areas that conservationist John Bacher believes are getting the short end in Niagara Region’s current planning process.

The meetings focused on three separate but connected issues. Those issues are the planning of transportation, water and sewer services and the new five year review of the Niagara Regional Official Plan, required by the Planning Act.

It is a good thing that these issues are combined so that for instance, water and sewer lines are not extended beyond urban growth limits.

The roughly 150 people blessed to take part in these information sessions were able to meet Niagara staff and consultants developing the policies under review. What was helpful for the process is that there were copies of background reports. These included two worthy reports on “Whole Streets”, the region’s current transportation policy, and the bible for land use planning in the Niagara Region, the Dillon report. What was helpful about the process is that citizens engaged in it learn valuable background information, for instance, where sewer and water lines are actually located. Continue reading →

A Call Out from the Rise Up For Climate Justice Campaign in Western New York

Buffalo, New York, November 2015 – In preparation for the crucial United Nations Climate Conference in Paris, the Rise Up For Climate Justice Campaign of WNY sponsored a public rally in Niagara Square in September calling on our elected officials to act in earnest to curb Climate Change.

Now, as the start of the Conference nears, the Rise Up For Climate Justice Campaign will sponsor a Community Gathering to collect our voices and make them heard by U.S. negotiators in Paris.

Supporters have signed a Climate Justice Pledge. At the Community Gathering, a scroll bearing the names of the pledge signers will be ceremoniously passed on to UB law students who will travel to Paris and present it to an official at the U.N. Climate Conference.

Please Join Us!

Food, Music and Ceremony will be provided.

Families and children are welcome.

WHEN: Saturday, November 28 at 5:30pm to 8:30pm

WHERE: Temple Beth Zion (auditorium), 805 Delaware Ave., Buffalo [Map]

The Community Gathering is Free and Open to the Public.

RSVP HERE

Come show your support for our student representatives as they prepare to send our voices to Paris calling for bold action on climate change to ensure a just and livable future.

WHO ARE WE: The Rise Up For Climate Justice campaign comprises diverse groups of Western New Yorkers including people of different faiths, students, people of color, teachers, indigenous people, labor unions, community activists, environmentalists, artists, performers and local politicians. The campaign is open to all people

For more on information this and related events, visit the Re-Energize Buffalo website.

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 Call-Out to Canadians from Avaaz, a global online citizens organization

November 2015 – In days, world leaders will be in Paris deciding on a climate deal that could save the planet, and we’re helping to organize a massive march on November 29th in Ottawa to show our new PM that the time for action is now — but we need everyone’s help to make it huge.

A march in New York City during a climate change meeting at United Nations this past September 2015

Together we made thousands of calls to voters to help win a new government for Canada, and now we can get PM Trudeau to support a planet-saving climate deal in Paris if we hit the phone lines again!

We know citizen-to-citizen calling works — progressive parties won every riding we called into in the election last month! So we’re asking Avaaz members across the country to personally call other Avaazers in Ottawa and ask them to march for a 100% clean future. Continue reading →

News from the Ontario New Demoractic Party

Queen’s Park, November 2015 — Citing a report that showed the number of Ontario families using food banks is on the rise, Ontario NDP Community and Social Services critic Sarah Campbell asked the Premier why her government isn’t doing more to help Ontarians in need.

“Yesterday, the annual HungerCount report on food bank usage was released, and the results are shocking. Since 2008, food bank usage in Ontario has risen more than 14%, while 48.6% of food banks in Ontario are reporting an increase in use,” said Campbell, MPP for Kenora—Rainy River. “More appalling still, nearly 34 per cent of food bank users are children.” Continue reading →

• 222 Acres Secured For People And Nature, To Be Managed By Erie County Department Of Parks, Recreation And Forestry

News from Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper and The Nature Conservancy

(One Brief Foreword Note here from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper – For those of you on the Ontario side of the Niagara River and Lake Erie, you may wonder why the good news announced in this post matters to you.

A view of Eighteenmile Creek in a forested area now secured for the public in Erie County, New York. The creek is part of the watershed feeding the Niagara River. Photo courtesy of The Nature Conservancy.

As a long-time environment reporter on Great Lakes issues, I can say without doubt that anytime a significant piece of natural space is preserved in the Niagara River watershed on either side of the border, it is important for everyone who shares these freshwater resources because it means natural areas that help keep our waters clean and sustain fish populations and other wildlife.

So a resounding  Thank You to these two dedicated environmental groups in Erie County, New York for accomplishing this for all of us.)

Orchard Park, New York, November 20^th, 2015 – This past Friday, November 20^th, The Nature Conservancy and Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper announced the successful protection of a 222-acre forest at the headwaters of Eighteenmile Creek, one of Lake Erie’s major tributaries. Representatives from Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper and The Nature Conservancy were joined by Deputy Commissioner of Parks and Recreation Greg Olma, Deputy Erie County Executive Maria Whyte, Legislator John Mills and Concord Town Supervisor Eppolito at a celebration in Chestnut Ridge Park. Continue reading →

• Additional Protections Extended to Precarious and Foreign Workers

News from the Government of Ontario

Queen’s Park, November 20^th , 2015 – New changes to Ontario’s employment laws come into effect today to better protect precarious and foreign workers.

Ontario Labour Minister Kevin Flynn

Starting today, the Employment Standards Act, 2000 will be amended to allow individuals who are hired through a temporary help agency to recover unpaid wages from both the agency and the agency’s client-business, where the agency has not paid the wages.

To help strengthen protections for foreign workers, coverage under the Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act, 2009 is also being extended to foreign nationals who are employed or seeking employment in Ontario through an immigration or foreign temporary employee program. Under this new change: Continue reading →

“It would be a cruel irony indeed if ISIS can force families from their homes, then also prevent them from ever finding new ones.” – former U.S. secretary of state and presidential contender Hillary Clinton.

A Brief One from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

While we Canadians discuss and debate plans to welcome thousands of Syrian refugees to our country, a similar debate is brewing across the border in the United States.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton

And as much media attention as the likes of Donald Trump, a front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, is getting on cable channels for proposing to build border walls to keep Mexicans and now Syrians out, and to make all Muslims in the U.S. register their names in a national data bank for surveillance purposes, it is important to know that there are prominent political leaders in the U.S. who agree with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s position that countries as blessed as ours have a responsibility to reach out to others in times of crisis. Continue reading →

“Ontario’s New Democrats are proud to stand with Ontarians and welcome Syrian refugees into the province.” – Teresa Armstrong, Citizenship and Immigration Critic, Ontario NDP

Queen’s Park, Ontario, November 20^th, 2015

Dear Premier Wynne,

As the Ontario NDP Critic for Citizenship and Immigration, I am writing to you today to ask that you provide the public with your government’s resettlement strategy for the Syrian refugees arriving in Ontario later this year.

Fleeing war and looking for a new homeland

Ontario’s New Democrats are proud to stand with Ontarians and welcome Syrian refugees into the province. And, we believe Ontario should be an example for the world to follow.

As a member of the global community we have a responsibility to reach out and welcome those who are fleeing a country ravaged by war. But, the government also has a responsibility to ensure that it has a robust plan in place, which is prepared to offer these people the services that they need. For example, this means making sure that these refugees have a warm place to live, money for food and winter clothing, and access to the required health services.

This week, I attended Journeys of Migration, an event hosted by the Western Centre for Research on Migration and Ethnic Relations Program at Western University. I heard success stories from refugees like Bassam, a lawyer from Iraq; Phuong, a business owner from Vietnam; and the touching story of the Ameen family, who recently arrived in Canada as government-assisted refugees. These individuals are part of the strong social fabric of Canada, and we have a responsibility to them to make sure that they feel a part of our community. This includes making sure that we have the proper resettlement services for those that need it.

We’re less than a month and half away from the Prime Minister’s deadline. A promise is simply not enough. The government needs a concrete plan to ensure that it has adequate support systems in place to accommodate and welcome these Syrian refugees. What is your affordable housing strategy? Your mental health counseling strategy? Your language support strategy? Your employment support strategy?

I welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues further and to be kept updated on the progress being made.

Yours, Teresa Armstrong, MPP London-Fanshawe

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large welcomes 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.

We also invite you to scan other news and commentary on this site and to encourage your friends and associates to visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com . Your visits to NAL help keep alive and make grow an independent, alternative voice for issues of interest and concern to the communities we live in.

– How Anti-Hunt Protesters Try To Suffocate Treaty Rights

An Analysis of recent events at Short Hills Provincial Park from the Christian Peacemaker Team and other Supporters of the Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt

(This is the latest in a series of commentaries Niagara At Large is posting for and against the latest fall deer hunt in Short Hills Provincial Park located near the centre of Niagara, Ontario.)

November 19^th, 2015 – The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the Niagara Regional Police (NRP) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) continue to comply with the anti-hunt protesters’ barricade which prevents hunters from entering and exiting the park.

People opposed to deer hunt protest near one of the entrances to Short Hills Provincial Park during a previous year’s hunt.

Negotiations ensure that the protesters’ stall-time is maintained at 5 minutes per vehicle. Hunters and supporters indicate that although this delay is incrementally less than previous years, tolerance and patience for this process is wearing thin. The barricade must be removed.

Haudenosaunee hunters must be supported in accessing their inherent and treaty rights without interference from anti-hunt protesters. Continue reading →

From the Green Party of Canada’s climate change critic Claire Martin

Green Party climate change critic Claire Martin

We are facing a climate crisis, and for the last decade, politicians in Ottawa have failed Canadians. We are less than two weeks away from the Paris Climate Conference — this is the time to act.

We finally have a government that is open to the idea of tackling climate change, but they won’t take the necessary steps unless we are there to push them.

We are the only party that has consistently made climate action a priority, and the only party that will push Prime Minister Trudeau to go fast enough and far enough on the environment. Continue reading →

Province Coordinating Efforts to Support the Federal Government’s Plan to Settle Syrian Refugees

• “We are proud of our inclusive and open society in Ontario.” – The Province’s Premier, Kathleen Wynne

News from the Government of Ontario

Queen’s Park, November 19^th, 2015 – The Ontario Government has established a Ministers’ Ad Hoc Committee on Refugees in order to support its commitment to help settle thousands of refugees before the end of the year. Ontario stands ready to support the federal government’s strategy, and will work to increase the capacity of settlement and integration services to meet the needs of the refugees who will be settled in Ontario.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne stands by pledge to welcome 10,000 Syrian refugees to the province.

The ad hoc committee, co-chaired by Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade Michael Chan and Minister of Health and Long-term Care Eric Hoskins, held its first meeting on November 17. The committee is tasked with overseeing ongoing efforts and coordinating a cross-government response to prepare for incoming refugees and help them settle and integrate once they arrive. It will also work closely with the federal government to determine how Ontario can best support a national plan for refugee settlement. Continue reading →

No Muslims Please!

A Brief Comment from Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

A new Bloomberg poll, taken in the United States since the November 13^th Paris terrorist attacks , shows more than half the Americans surveyed stand against President Barack Obama’s plan to welcome 10,000 Syrian refugees to the U.S. in the months ahead and in favour of a call Republican presidential candidates like Donald Trump and Ted Cruz to keep them out.

Sadly, this person in somewhere U.S.A. may be outnumbered by those who would rather give the thumbs up to Donald Trump and thumbs down to Syrian refugees

Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, has gone so far as to say that to keep Syrian refugees out, he would further fortify that “big beautiful wall” he would build to keep all those so-called undocumented Mexicans out after they are finished cleaning toilets for nickels and dimes for the circle of fat wallets he hangs with when he’s not pandering to peons at campaign rallies.

The Bloomberg poll shows that 53 per cent of Anericans now want the doors to their country shut to Syrian refugees while 11 per cent would accept only those who are Christians. Only 28 per cent want the doors left open to refugees from Syrian, just so long as there is a careful screening process in place.

Continue reading →

News from the Office of Welland, Ontario Riding MPP Cindy Forster

Queen’s Park, Ontario – This November 18^th, Cindy Forster, Ontario NDP MPP for Welland, demanded Premier Wynne and the Liberal government take action to support workers who lost their jobs at PowerBlades manufacturing facility and to stop further manufacturing job losses.

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

“It was only two days ago that the NDP stood up in this legislature and asked this government to stop leaving Ontario’s manufacturing sector behind.  On that very same day, we learned that PowerBlades—a manufacturing plant in my community of Welland—closed its doors, leaving 136 hard-working Ontarians without a job—effective immediately,” Forster said.

“This government talks a good game about attracting investment and creating jobs in the province, but the proof is in the pudding: 300,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs lost under the Liberals. Continue reading →

• Pension Funds ‘Living In A Form Of Climate Denial’

News from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Ottawa, Ontario, November  2015 — Canadian pension funds are exposed to a wide range of risks from their holdings of fossil fuels, says a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

Pension Funds would do better to invest in green energy, study concludes

The study makes the economic case for divestment from fossil fuels, due to risk factors such as aggressive new climate policies. A review Canadian public pension fund annual reports found that action on climate change was not mentioned as a material risk to pension sustainability.

“It is our impression that Canadian pension funds are living in a form of climate denial,” says CCPA-BC Senior Economist Marc Lee. “Integrating and understanding climate policy risk is a logical next step for the conversation on sustainability within public sector pensions, including the potential for new regulations, carbon pricing, emission caps, and unburnable carbon reserves.” Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

“Except for our Aboriginal people, we all came from somewhere else.” – Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, during a media conference this November 17^th after re-affirming her government’s commitment to welcome up to 10,000 Syrian refugees to the province.

Remember this Syrian boy, washed up dead this past summer on a Turkish beach?. He nd his family were hoping to make a new home in Canada.

As some of Canada’s political leaders and others question whether, in the wake of the recent Paris terrorist attacks,  our new Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, should follow through on his pledge to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees to our country by this coming January, Trudeau is so far standing by that pledge.

Across the border in the United States, President Barack Obama is facing similar pressure from governors of several U.S. states to back away from his plan to welcome 10,000 refugees fleeing a Syria that is being ravaged by terrorist groups and their country’s own leader. And just as Ontario’s premier did, he too reminded his fellow citizens that most of their families came to America to escape political, religious or some of form of persecution or violence.

Given the debate now raging over whether or not to welcome refugees from Syria, there is a cartoon circulating through Facebook that I am sharing with you here.

If I might add one thing to this cartoon, I would have the new arrival respond; “But you can’t turn me back. I will be taking my place as an old stock Canadian.”

Continue reading →

From the Office of Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

• To The Residents of Pelham

Town of Pelham in Niagara, Ontario, November 2015 – Do you have any suggestions on how the Town should spend your money?

Pelham, Ontario Mayor Dave Augustyn

Council will begin our 2016 budget process with a special public meeting where we listen to you and other members of the community about what you would like to see in next year’s and future budgets. That meeting will occur on Monday, November 30 at 6:30 PM in the Council Chamber at Pelham Town Hall.

While Pelham Council first started this type of a “pre-budget consultation” for the 2007 Budgets, we continue each year to welcome residents, representatives of sports teams and service clubs, businesses and property tax payers to provide input. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Less than two weeks after millions of Canadians celebrated the swearing in of Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister and all of his promises to bring us closer together as a people and restore Canada’s place in the world as more of a peacemaker than a warrior, we have one of the worst terrorist attacks ISIS has pulled off yet in Paris, France.

Canadian Prime Minister and then federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau speaks at a National Islamic Convention.

In the wake of those murderous attacks, it appears that at least some would have us tumble back to where we were before Trudeau’s Liberals took the mantle from a Stephen Harper government that made a practice of playing on fear and driving wedges of intolerance between people.

Within hours of the November 13^th Paris attacks, there was Rona Ambrose, who proved through her roles, first as Harper’s Minister of Environment and later as Minister of Health, to be one of the most ill-informed and incompetent persons to sit in a federal cabinet in decades, and who now serves as the Conservative’s interim leader, urging Trudeau to deep-six his promise to end Canada’s participation in bombing raids over Iraq and Syria. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is pleased to post the following statement from the Islamic community in St. Catharines, Ontario, offering its “sincere condolences to the families of the victims” of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut and Baghdad.)

The Al-Noor Mosque in St. Catharines, Ontario

Niagara, Ontario, November 2015 – “The Islamic Society of St. Catharines (ISSC), a registered Canadian charity located in St. Catharines Ontario,  condemns the horrific and despicable terrorist attacks on the innocent lives in Paris taking place on November 13th.” 

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims of terrorism and political violence across the world – but especially this week with the victims in Paris, Beirut and Baghdad. The ISSC, condemns these horrific crimes in the strongest terms possible. Our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of those killed and injured and with all of France. There is no justification of any kind for such criminal acts.” Continue reading →

News from Brock University

Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario –  This coming Thursday, November 19^th, 2015, come hear about the 2015 federal election campaign from the man whose company predicted the election results very closely.

Leading Canadian pollster Nik Nanos speaking at Brock talk on this fall’s federal election

Nik Nanos is Canada’s leading pollster: learn about the issues, personalities and trends, as well as the post-election agenda.

Also featuring Munroe Eagles, Distinguished Professor of Canadian Studies at the University at Buffalo.

When: November 19, 2015 – 7:30pm – 9:00pm

Location : Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Room 216 Academic South

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Department of Political Science

For further information contact: Hevina Dashwood, hdashwood@brocku.ca .

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.)

• Ministry of Natural Resources Claim That Deer Must Be Hunted Due To Over Population Has No Merit

A Special to Niagara At Large by Barry Kent MacKay, a senior program associate in Canada for the animal advocacy group Born Free U.S.A.

November 2015 – In 1986 I was told that deer were poised to starve at the Peterborough Crown Game Preserve, because of “overpopulation”, if hunters were not allowed in to kill them.

Robin Zavitz, whose family home borders Short Hills Provincial Park in Niagara, Ontario, kneels by a deer that fell dead on her property after being shot by a hunter’s arrow in the park during an Ontario government sanctioned deer hunt in the park two years ago. The hunt is on again this November 2015. File photo courtesy of Zavitz family.

Local residents had asked me to help them, and we were successful in stopping the hunt, but I worried – what if the hunters were right?   We are still waiting, many deer generations later, for that predicted starvation to happen.

My own research showed, then as now, that an increased number of deer will starve when winter conditions are particularly severe over an extended period of time, but will do so whether the population has been hunted or not.

Whatever the reasons the hunters at Short Hills Provincial Park have for killing deer, including fawns and lactating females with dependent young, they should not claim to be doing so in to prevent “overpopulation”.  When deer are abundant one sees distinct “browse lines”, created by the deer eating most of the vegetation up to the level they can eat.  I toured the entire park some weeks ago, and saw no such browse lines.  Nor is there any indication that the deer are underweight, another indication of the number of deer being greater than the food available can sustain. Continue reading →

(The following was meant to be posted November 6th and somehow missed being published then. NAL is posting it now due to the obvious continued interest in the U.S. rejection of the Keystone pipeline project and the implications for  Canada’s tar sands.)

“If we want to prevent the worst effects of climate change before it’s too late, the time to act is now. Not later, not someday. Right here, right now.” – Obama

(Niagara At Large is pleased to post the full text of President Barack Obama’s White House announcement on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, followed by a posting of a brief statement by Canada’s new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in response to the announcement.)

U.S. [PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, NOVEMBER 6^th, 2015: Good morning, everybody.

Several years ago, the State Department began a review process for the proposed pipeline that would carry Canadian crude oil through our heartland to ports in the Gulf of Mexico and out into the world market.

U.S. President Barack Obama rejects the Trans Canada corporation’s XL Keystone pipeline project – and says no to ‘dirty oil’ from Alberta’s tar sands.

This morning, Senator Kerry informed me that after extensive public outreach and consultation with other cabinet agencies, the State Department has decided that a Keystone XL Pipeline would not serve the national interest of the United States. I agree with that decision.

This morning, I also had the opportunity to speak with Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada. And while he expressed his disappointment, given Canada’s position on this issue, we both agreed that are close friendship on a whole range of issues, including energy and climate change, should provide the basis for even closer coordination between our countries going forward. Continue reading →

 – Weekend Rally Says No To Trans-Pacific Parternship (TPP) Trade Deal

A Post from Sheri Lakeman for Canadians Against Unfair Trade Agreements

Niagara, Ontario, November 2015 – On this (past) cold and windy (Saturday) November14^th, in solidarity with concerned citizens, farmers, rank and file union members and anti-poverty advocates, we had our “grand finale rally”.

Niagara, Ontario residents hold rally against TPP trade deal at Welland Canal bridge crossing in St. Catharines. Photo by Joanne McDonald

To these battle worn activists, history will remember you as the true leaders of a movement away from apathy, complicit ignorance and entitlement; and into a new era of grassroots activism where WE can breakdown the political silos and division amongst us. WE will educate and inspire the masses to get off the couch and become more active participants in our diminishing democracy. Continue reading →

“Imagine all the people, living life in peace.”   –  from the song Imagine by  John Lennon

A Comment from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

One of my darkest fears is that we can imagine all we want, but the answer to when will the carnage end is never – especially when we’ re talking about our species.

The knife-brandishing Jihadi John may be gone but others of his psychotic ilk murder on

There seems to be something twisted in the way we humans are hard-wired that causes one subgroup after another of us to go on slaughtering each other, and not just for the ‘big’ reasons like; ‘We better wipe those people out before they swipe all of the oil that we swiped first’. It could be something as nonsensical and small as not liking the way someone else dresses or the colour of their skin or their religious beliefs (or lack there-of) that sends some of us off to the killing fields.

This past November 13^th, I was with a group of people who were celebrating reports that ‘Jihad John’ – the nickname the world gave to naturalized British citizen Mohammed Emwazi who made himself infamous wielding a knife and wearing a black ski mask somewhere in the deserts of Syria and Iraq as he was shown in videos sponsored by the terrorist group ISIS cutting off the heads of Western hostages – was killed in an American drone strike.

Then someone in the group – namely this someone – put a a bit of a damper on the celebration with a reminder that this world is full of psychos already lined up to take that screwball’s place.

And sure enough, that very evening – Friday, November 13^th, 2015 and another one of all-too-many dates that will now live in infamy – the cable channels broke to news of the horrific slaughter of more than 120 people in Paris, France, of bomb blasts that killed more than 40 people in the southern Beirut area of Lebanon, and to later reports of the ISIS wackos claiming responsibility.

Every one of us around the world who imagine a more peaceful world should share our thoughts with the people of Paris and France, Beirut and Lebanon, and with the families and friends of the victims in the wake of this inexcusable brutality. Continue reading →

• Traditional Haudenosaunee Territory/Short Hills Provincial Park – “Reconcilation: Honouring the Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt”

A Message from the Christian Peacemaker Team and other Supporters of the Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt

Niagara, Ontario, November 2015 – A group of supporters of the Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt will be gathering to counter anti-hunt protesters at Short Hills Provincial Park in Thorold, Ontario with a Peace Food Table as an experiment in transforming relationships between Indigenous and Canadian peoples.

The Haudenosaunee flag – Indigenous hunters call for peace and respect

In past years, Haudenosaunee hunters have been subjected to anti-hunt protesters surrounding hunter’s vehicles with flashlights aimed in hunter’s faces and have been subject to being called various derogatory statements.

Supporters of the Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt will gather during the traditional hunt to support during hours in which they will arrive and leave Short Hills. Continue reading →

A News Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Here we go again with a so-called “culling” of deer in a provincial park in Niagara, Ontario that was established decades ago as a sanctuary for wildlife.

File photo courtesy of one great Niagara photographer Dan Wilson.

Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources argues that the annual hunt, taking place over six days and heading into its fourth year starting this Saturday, November 14^th, is necessary to control the population of deer in the park which overlays boundaries of three Niagara municipalities – St. Catharines, Pelham and Thorold.

An over-population of deer, insists the ministry, means not enough for the animals to eat in the park and at least some of them wandering onto neighbouring farmlands and feeding on crops. So the ministry moved to allow members of the aboriginal community to enter the park on a few designated days each year to hunt the deer, using archery only. Continue reading →

• 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 →