Niagara At Large

By Mark Taliano

Mark Taliano attended a conference organized by Raul Burbano of Common Frontiers.

Speakers included :  Pablo Vivanco from the Hugo Chavez peoples’ defense front, Maria Victor Paez from the Circulo Bolivariano – Louis Riel, Beatrice Santiago from the Latin American and Caribbean solidarity network  and Camilo Cahis from HOW campaign

The narrative of the speakers is that Venezuela is currently undergoing a foreign-orchestrated coup. 

What follows is an account of Venezuela’s current problems as seen through the lens of the assembled speakers and the lens history.

A refinery at work in oil-rich Venezuala.

 The United States and Canada have plenty of reasons to be afraid of the (oil rich) Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, so they are doing their utmost to address their perceived problem. 

The US, in particular, fears that Venezuela’s social democracy will set a dangerous precedent, and that, if allowed, other countries will follow suit.  They also fear the status quo, wherein they are denied control over Venezuela’s oil reserves (the world’s largest) Continue reading →

A Submission from Ontario’s Conservative Party 

(But before we post that submission below, here is a Foreword by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper.

This call by Ontario’s Tim Hudak Tories for the resignation of Hydro One CEO Carmine Marcello occurs in the wake of the province’s Ombudsman, Andre Marin, launching an investigation into countless complaints from residents and businesses about soaring rates and misbillings by Ontario’s major electricity supplier.

No doubt at all that Ontario residents have plenty to complain about when it comes to the way this utility has been administrated. Yet in fairness to Marcello, he has at least had the guts to answer media calls with promises to cooperate with the Ombudsman and address the concerns being raised.

As for Hudak’s Tories, they are hardly in the best position to throw stones. When Hudak and so many of his other caucus members were serving in the late 1990s and early 2000s in former Ontario Tory government of Mike Harris, they continued to defend a Hydro One CEO they appointed until they were finally forced, under pressure from the media opposition parties and public, to get rid of her around charges of excessive salaries, expenses, etc. Continue reading →

This Statement submitted to Niagara At Large by the Office of Niagara, Ontario area MP Malcolm Allen 

(A Brief Foreword from NAL – Olivia Chow, wife of Canada’s late NDP leader Jack Layton and a long-time political leader in her own right, has resigned her federal government seat and will be officially announcing her intentions this March 13^th to run for mayor of Toronto in this coming fall’s municipal elections. The current mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, has already announced his intentions to run for a second term as that city’s mayor, despite all of the controversy around his conduct in recent times. Ford has reportedly called Chow’s intention to run for mayor “the best news I’ve heard all day.”)

Olivia Chow, one of Canada’s leading NDP representatives running against Rob Ford in this fall’s Toronto mayoralty race

March 12^th, 2014 -“It is with mixed emotions that I mark the departure of the Member of Parliament for Trinity-Spadina today – my friend and colleague Olivia Chow. But our loss is Toronto’s gain. 

As a Member of Parliament, Olivia’s passion, competence and strength were evident as she defended the interests of Torontonians. As an NDP critic, she worked passionately on important files, including rail safety. A visionary, she has always been able to bring people together to get results – such as expanding Canadians’ powers of citizen’s arrest in the “Lucky Moose Bill”. Continue reading →

News from the Ottawa-based public interest group, The Council of Canadians

(This January 2014 marked  20 years of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its environmental side agreement, the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) 

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 11^th, 2014 – A massive free trade deal went into effect 20 years ago and has had very harmful effects on communities and the environment in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, according to a report released today.

Pigs pressed together like cord wood in factory farms that continue to breed disease as the animals wallow in their own feces and are fattened up for the slaughter with unnatural diets. Meanile under NAFTA, the local family farm has struggled to hang on.

 January 1, 1994 marked the first day of the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and nearly 20 years later, communities are still suffering from its consequences.

Among other conclusions, this report finds that NAFTA: Continue reading →

A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper 

So Ontario Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli, according to some Toronto media reports, is already saying ‘no’ to Ontario applying a full and open environmental assessment review to plans by Alberta-based Enbridge Inc. to pipe tar sands crude through the heart f of our Great Lakes basin.

Ontario Environment Minister and St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley. Hey Jim, How about a full enviornmental review of a tar sands pipe snaking through our Great Lakes?

Let’s hope that citizens across the Great Lakes region – all of the many millions of us, Canadians and Americans,  who dependant on this world’s blessed natural resources  as a source of fresh, drinkable water – don’t take Chiarelli’s no as the final answer.

Nor should we roll over and play dead just because Canada’s a supposedly “independent” National Energy Board, with a board membership made up predominantly of individuals with backgrounds in steering through pipeline and other projects through to completion for petroleum and other energy interests, announced its approval this March 7^th of the Enbridge plan to reverse the flow of a decades-old ‘Line 9’ pipeline through our region to move diluted bitumen (or bitchumen, as I prefer to call that black, witch’s brew of a tar-like liquid)  from Alberta’s tar sands to refineries and Ontario and Quebec.

 What the citizens of this Great Lakes region should do, including our American neighbours,  who have just as much at stake if these vital waterbodies are polluted as millions of residents in Ontario do, is appeal to Ontario Environment Minister Jim Bradley NOW for a full environmental assessment review of this proposal. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

It’s as if ‘Tea Party Tim’ and his Tory gang still can’t believe, let alone respect the possibility that the NDP’s Wayne Gates beat his buddy Bart Maves in a by-election in Niagara Falls this past February.

Tea Party Tim Hudak sends this twit Rod Jackson , or whatever his name is, from a Greater Toronto Area mess called Barrie, to slam one of Niagara’s MPPs at a time when we should be working together for a better future here.

In the classic 1970s movie ‘Network’, the character Howard Beale – characterized as “the mad man of the airwaves” – began one f his broadcasts by saying he is “tired of all of the bullshit.” 

On that score, here is a little bullshit here that I am getting sick and tires of.

I am talking about the leader of the so-called Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (I would definitely leave out the word ‘progressive’, simply from a dictionary definition pint of view) … yes I am talking about Ontario Tory leader Tim Hudak, or ‘Tea Party Tim’, as some in the Toronto media have taken to calling him, coming to Niagara, or sending his caucus minions to come here and try to smear mud on MPPs who don’t happen to be members of his  party. Continue reading →

A Submission from the Niagara Parks Commission 

Niagara Falls, Ontario, March 2014 – The Niagara Parks Commission (NPC) has put together a great lineup of activities for visitors and families this March Break holiday. Come out and enjoy all that Niagara Parks has to offer, including: 

Swamp Creatures Exhibit at the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory – 2405 Niagara Parkway, Niagara Falls, Ontario

This new family-friendly educational exhibit features animals from the world’s wetlands. Zoo educators will be on site daily until May 11 (except Wednesdays) to lead captivating educational programs and interactive sessions for visitors.

A Malysian Blood Python, one of the most beautiful and smallest pythons in the world, is among the many swampt creatures on exhibit at at the Niagara Parks Butterly Conservatory, which already invites you to a tropical paradise of butterflies from around the world. Photo courtesy of Niagara Parks.

 The Swamp Creatures exhibit will include species such as: Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman, Dumeril’s Monitor, Alligator Snapping Turtle, Stinkpot Turtle (indigenous), Pink Salmon Bird-eating Tarantula, Bullfrog, Budgett’s Frog, Norwegian Rats, Green Anaconda, Yellow Anaconda and the Malaysian Blood Python. 

For detailed information on the Conservatory, its hours of operation, admission and parking rates, as well as how to save on your admission with the purchase of a Niagara Falls Wonder Pass, please visit www.niagaraparks.com. Continue reading →

–         Where Was Our Ontario Government To Speak Up For Our Environment On This One?          

A Submission from Fiona McMurran, Council Of Canadians

(A Brief foreword note from Niagara At Large – Think of what a sad note this sends out to our American neighbours fighting the XL Keystone pipe, to see that Ontario and other provinces in this province have roled over and done nothing to fight this tar sands pipe moving through a Great Lakes basin that holds the largest reserve of fresh water in the world?) 

Welland, Ontaro. The Council of Canadians South Niagara Chapter condemns the National Energy Board (NEB) today for approving Enbridge’s Line 9 proposal to ship diluted bitumen in their forty-year-old pipeline between Sarnia and Montreal and it urges Premier Kathleen Wynne to prevent the controversial project from going forward.

Ontario is allowing this Line 9 Pipe to run tar sands toxics through the heart of our freshwater Great Lakes region.

 “Pipeline safety expert Richard Kuprewicz testified to the NEB that Line 9 has a high risk of rupture if the project goes ahead” says Chapter spokesperson, Fiona McMurran. “Line 9 passes though hundreds of communities and rivers that flow right into the Great Lakes and Enbridge still hasn’t finished cleaning up after their last massive diluted bitumen spill in the Kalamazoo River four years ago.”   

“How can the NEB allow an accident prone company to pump some of the dirtiest oil on the planet through an ancient pipeline across the drinking water supply of millions of people?” ” says McMurran. “The NEB is clearly just a rubber stamp for big oil. It has ignored the concerns of participants in the hearings, as well as documented evidence of Enbridge’s inadequate oversight of its pipeline”.  Continue reading →

A Commentary from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper 

What I am about to report on is just one more reason why I fear the  Ontario’s NDP has lost its voice of moral conscience and is moving so close to the positions and posturing of the province’s governing Liberal and opposition Conservative parties.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has a $100 hydro rebate for you.

It is one more reason why there is less and less of a reason to vote for the NDP in hope that it may be a refreshing, progressive alternative to so much of the crap we are already putting up with and paying far too much for under two decades of Conservative and Liberal governance in this province.

If you  wonder what I mean, look no further than the latest promise Ontario’s NDP leader, Andrea Horwath, has made to relieve those of us paying soaring hydro bills in this province of some of that pain. Continue reading →

A Submission from Ontario’s NDP

Queen’s Park – This past Wednesday, March 5^th, Wayne Gates made his inaugural speech to the Ontario Legislature as MPP for the riding of Niagara Falls where he thanked the people of the riding who elected him to take Niagara’s voice to Toronto.

Wayne Gates, the Niagara, Ontario Riding’s recently elected NDP member, delivers his inaugural speech at Queen’s Park. Photo courtesy of Ontario NDP

Gates outlined his commitment to the people of the Niagara Falls riding and each community.

“As MPP, I will work hard to make sure this government builds the new Niagara Falls hospital, keeps the Fort Erie Race Track open permanently by bringing back the slots, keeps Parliament Oak Public School open and brings regular Go Train service to Niagara Falls.”

Gates, the NDP’s new advocate  for Jobs, Small Business and Training, outlined the NDP’s plan for jobs in the Niagara region.  He said the government should make sure the construction of the new Niagara Falls hospital includes provisions to hire local workers and to buy local products. Continue reading →

From the Office of Niagara, Ontario area MP Malcolm Allen

Important information regarding internet scam.  Please see email below. 

(This office)  received this email at (our) work address.

It is a fraudulent attempt at “phishing” and where the sender has asked for personal information, including  Social Insurance Number. 

The website is a replica of the Revenue Canada site but is NOT the official sight.

Revenue Canada does not issue refunds via the internet and, normally, sends a letter to inform people of over/under payments.  Continue reading →

An Open Letter from Karl Dockstader

To: Honourable Member of Parliament and Minister of Justice Mr. Peter MacKay 

Dear Sir,

I am writing in support of the call for an inquiry into Missing or Murdered Indigenous Woman and Girls, and want to know what you and your colleagues plan to do about it as the Minister of Justice and the Canadian government respectively.

When you look at the history of these lands, if you go back far enough there was a period where First Nations were the sole human inhabitants. At the heart of these nations’ governments were the women in the communities. They were and are given leadership status that recognizes their unique ability to give life and nurture healthy communities.

Now this land is called Canada and is controlled by men. The Prime Minister, yourself, the leader of the opposition, most MP’s, CEO’s, most decision-makers in the modern culture of Canada are men. Modern Western society is rooted in this tradition and while no doubt strides have been made to improve the social and economic status of women in Canadian society there are still glaring discrepancies. Continue reading →

By Mark Taliano

Corporate media can’t be all things to all people, but its ability to set the agenda for self-serving interests shouldn’t be under-estimated, since it inflicts great harm on the world. Its selective coverage deliberately veils windows to the world that need to be exposed.

Canada’s Prime Minister Harper in Afghanistan. He is leader of perhaps the most military-minded government in Canada since the Second World War, even though he and hardly a one in his government ever volutarily served in Canada’s military forces.

For example, when Canada announces that it is ramping up its arms dealing to Colombia and Saudi Arabia, the media coverage is accurate in the details, but conspicuously absent in comprehensiveness . 

The corporate agenda, as reflected in media messaging, prefers to suppress the far-reaching consequences of Canada’s growing military-industrial complex.

Industrial warfare is fuelled by arms-dealing.  It’s a symbiotic relationship: war equals corporate profits.  If authoritarian countries such as Saudi Arabia need more weapons, it’s good for business.  This, however, creates a conflict of interest.  Since war is good for the armaments industry, the military-industrial complex is tacitly if not overtly supportive of war. Continue reading →

This Post submitted by Brck University’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre

Brock University’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre will host two community Science Cafés this month on biodiversity and sustainability issues in Niagara.
 
Both of these interactive events are free and open to the public, and will take place at Mahtay Café, 241 St. Paul St. in downtown St. Catharines.
 
“Sustainability in our Region: Why is Biodiversity Important?”
Wednesday, March 5 at 6:30 p.m., Mahtay Café, St. Catharines
This café is a coached discussion between local radio host Larry Fedoruk, AM 610 CKTB, and Brock graduate student Shawn Geniole; Deanna Linbalnd, natural heritage systems co-ordinator for the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority; and Pete Birrell, environmental officer with General Motors. They will be discussing the importance of biodiversity in Niagara and the opportunities and challenges that exist to protect or restore it. Continue reading →

A Brief Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper 

It still doesn’t seem all that long ago that a school crossing guard in my neighbourhood told me about an episode where he and a small group of children he was helping across the street were almost mowed over by a car coming at them.

In fact, they would have been hit, he said, if he had not pushed the children off the road and ran to the side himself as a car, with a driver on a cellphone and apparently not paying attention, continued to speed by. 

At that time, Ontario still had no laws against people using cellphones while driving, even though other provinces and states across the border had them. And even when the province finally came in with a ban on using hand-held cellphones while driving some five years ago, it was already far behind other provinces and many states across the border in combating this dangerous activity.

Even now, as Ontario’s government announced higher fines late this February for using a cellphone or texting behind the wheel, the penalties fall pitifully short of those in other jurisdictions, and that is outrageous given the fact that statistics show this behaviour is killing and maiming more people on our roads than people driving while drunk behind the wheel. Continue reading →

NAL Higgins peace bridge

A Submission from the Office of Buffalo, New York area Congressman Brian Higgins

(A Brief Foreword by NAL publisher Doug Draper – Plans for the Peace Bridge move forward in the wake of concerns continuously expressed by a Buffalo west-side neighbourhood group about the quality of air people in the neighbourhood breath with all the idling cars and trucks stopped for inspection at the border, and the destruction of heritage buildings in the neighbourhood to make way for a larger plaza for Duty Free venues, etc.)

Buffalo area Congressman Brian Higgins addresses Peace Bridge challenges. File photo

This February 28^th, the Peace Bridge Authority (PBA) approved a contract to begin Phase II of a project to widen the approach to the Peace Bridge plaza in Buffalo, NY. 

“The Peace Bridge traffic bottleneck leads to frustration and unpredictability that keeps people away from the border and closes off economic opportunity,” said Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26), a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security and Congressional Northern Border Caucus.  “The widening effort is another component in an overall strategy to reduce congestion and improve the bridge to better support a robust cross border relationship.” Continue reading →

A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

If the United States won’t take the raw crap mined from Canada’s tar sands, China will.

Chinese wade through our out-sourced industrial air pollution. Let them have the tar sands too.

This has been the line from the Tar Sands Government of Stephen Harper for more than a year now as U.S. President Barack Obama stalls a decision on constructing a Keystone pipeline that would ooze some of the world’s filthiest crude through America’s heartland, from Alberta’s tar sands abomination to refineries in Texas.

And let’s just hope, for the sake of North America’s environment, and for a U.S. president who claimed so eloquently in a speech last year to be concerned about climate change, that Obama shows the courage and vision for our collective future to say ‘no’ to the Keystone pipe. If Harper and the climate change deniers in his government then turns around and sells this dirty goo to China, let them – since China has a record of not giving a damn about environmental protection anyway. Continue reading →

Submitted to NAL by Niagara, Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority 

(A very brief foreward note from Niagara At Large– This is a great opportunity to enjoy some of our most majestic wild birds at a beautiful green place atop of the Niagara Escarpment, with a spectacular view of Lake Ontario and the lands below.)

Hawkwatch Activities at Beamer Memorial Conservation Area

A Red-Tailed Hawk soars over the Niagara Escarpment and Niagara, Ontario’s Beamers Conservation Area. Come join the majest of the great birds migrating over this scenic site this March. Photo courtesy of NPCA

It’s been a long cold winter, and now it’s time to grab your binoculars and head to Beamer Memorial Conservation Area in Grimsby to witness the spectacular spring migration phenomenon of migratory birds of prey as they make their spring flights from South and Central America, the Caribbean and the United States to their nesting territories in Canada. The winter weather this year saw more raptors migrating further south. 

For the period of March 1^st  to May 15th, 2014 during good weather/viewing conditions, members of the Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch group will be on site at Beamer from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM recording the sightings as part of a global environmental watch. This year marks the 25th year that the Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch group has partnered with the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority on this endeavour. Continue reading →

A Submission from Avaaz, a global web movement calling on people around the world to speak out on issues that affect us all 

Right now, the US government is about to make the defining climate decision of Obama’s presidency — whether to approve a monstrous pipeline that will transport up to 830,000 barrels a day of the world’s dirtiest oil from Canada across the US.

One of many Tar Sands protests that continue to take place in Washington, D.C. A major one is planned for this March 1st and 2nd. You can find out mre by clicking on http://xldissent.org/  .

If approved, the Keystone XL pipeline will help pump billions of dollars into the pockets of a few companies… but also millions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere. It’s been called “a fuse to the biggest carbon bomb on the planet”. Bold public action has delayed it once, and a court ruling last week has dealt a serious blow to the project. Now, if we act fast and in massive numbers, we can help kill it for good. Continue reading →

Niagara, Ontario’s Welland Riding MPP Malcolm Allen

An Editorial Comment from Niagara, Ontario area MP Malcolm Allen 

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have a bad record when it comes to respecting our election laws. Now they want to skew the next election in their favour with voter suppression tactics straight out of the U.S. Republican playbook.

The so-called “Fair Elections act” will block tens of thousands of Canadians from proving their right to vote by eliminating the long-standing practice of vouching and the use of voter ID cards. Continue reading →

A Public Advisory from Niagara’s regional government

NIAGARA REGION, Feb. 27^th , 2014 – With temperatures expected to drop below -15C, an Extreme Cold Weather Alert has been called by Niagara Region Public Health.

 The Extreme Cold Weather Alert is intended to mobilize outreach workers and community agencies, recommend precautions for the general public during extreme cold weather, and offer information on the location of shelters and additional resources.

During extreme cold, those most at risk include: infants under one year of age, individuals 65 years of age or older, the homeless, outdoor workers, sport enthusiasts (skiers, ice skaters), people living in homes that are poorly insulated or without heat, and people living in homes without power (usually due to other weather-related events such as a winter storm). Continue reading →

A Submission from one of Canada’s foremost animal activist groups, Zoocheck Canada

Legendary TV star and animal protection advocate, Bob Barker and his colleagues at Zoocheck are appealing to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and members of provincial parliament to stop the proposed spring bear hunt. The hunt will result in new cubs starving to death when their mothers are killed.

American TV icon Bab Barker strikes out against Ontario spring bear hunt

The Ontario spring bear hunt was cancelled in 1999.  The Ontario government at that time indicated that the unethical orphaning of young cubs in spring, when they would slowly starve to death, was the reason for the cancellation. 

After emerging from the winter den, cubs are very small and unable to travel quickly.  Nursing females often cache their cubs in sanctuary trees while they go off in search of food.  As a result, nursing females often approach hunter’s bait sites alone and are killed.  History has shown that simply prohibiting the harvest of cubs or females accompanied by cubs isn’t enough to ensure that cubs are not orphaned and left to starve to death.  The only way to stop the orphaning is to not allow spring hunting.

“I’m shocked that Ontario would return to the barbaric, unethical practice of hunting bears in the spring, a move that will almost certainly result in tiny cubs starving to death,” Bob Barker said in a statement today. “These so-called sportsmen set out bait when the bears are coming out of hibernation and are hungry.  The bears don’t stand a chance. It’s not sport, it’s legislated cruelty.” Continue reading →

A Commentary by Niagara Conservationist John Bacher

At a February 19^th, 2014 meeting of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority’s board of directors, there was a significant victory for conservationists.

One oof many wooded, wetland areas in the Niagara watershed that could be open season for developers if the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority loses its decades-old resolve too defend them as an important piece of a health environment for all of us. Photo courtesy of John Bacher

Despite its persistence in a revised draft, by a unanimous vote, the NPCA’s board voted to remove references to the possible “disposal” of its properties in the final Strategic Plan. The board pledged never to sell any of its 36 conservation areas in a Niagara watershed that takes in all of the Niagara Region in Ontario and eastern portions of Hamilton and Haldimand County. 

However, the board’s discussion was not without debate. Continue reading →

A Submission from Ontario New Democratic Party and Niagara Falls Riding MPP Wayne Gates

(A Brief NAL Note – Ontario Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynnes has set an increase in a minimum wage, frozen for the past four years, from $10.25 t0 $11.00, effective this spring. The province’s NDP is now calling for an increase of $12.00, combined with a tax reduction for small businesses to offset higher wage costs to them.)

Queen’s Park, February 25^th, 2014 – Today Wayne Gates, MPP for the riding of Niagara Falls, challenged the Premier to support the NDP’s proposal to provide a small business tax reduction to offset the cost of raising the minimum wage.

Wayne Gates, Niagara Falls Riding’s new MPP. File photo, Doug Draper

 “An increase in the minimum wage to $12 will ensure that families get a raise while tax relief for small businesses, that are the backbone of our economy, ensures they can grow and create jobs,” Gates said.  “Does the Premier agree families need an increase in the minimum wage to $12 by 2016, and that small businesses deserve a break?”

The NDP’s newly appointed Critic for Jobs, Small Business and Training said the NDP’s plan is a balanced approach for small businesses that will help them sustain the proposed increase to the minimum wage with a reduction in the Small Business Corporate Tax.  The NDP’s plan would cut the small business tax rate from 4.5 per cent to 4 per cent this June, followed by a cut to 3.5 per cent in 2015 and 3 per cent in 2016.  Gates said that cutting the small business tax rate by 0.5 per cent each year will provide small business owners with an estimated $90 million in tax relief annually to offset the increase to the minimum wage. Continue reading →

A Brief from Niagara At Large Publisher and an Out-Of-The-Closet Stooges Fan Doug Draper

Hey all you knuckleheads out there. Yes, I might very well be talking to you. 

The most famous knuckleheads of all time – The Three Stooges – are back for a ‘Winter Stoogefest’ this coming Saturday, March 1^st at the historic Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda, New York.

This latest edition of the Riviera’s always-popular Three Stooges Film Festival – featuring seven to eight of the legendary trio’s short films from the first half of the 20^th century, an array of Stooge merchandise in the theatre’s back lobby, and master of ceremonies and Western New York’s numero uno Stooge fan Lenny Potwora, replete in a tux to distinguish himself from the hoi polloi , introducing each flic – begins at 7 p.m. with a brief warm-up concert on the 67 Webster Street theatre’s Mighty Wurlitzer organ.

I know that at least some of you Niagara At Large readers may be wondering why a news and commentary site that mostly delves into issues seriously impacting on our lives today would turn around and promote at Stoogefest. I’ve already had some friends and family members say; ‘You like the Stooges? Why? They are so stupid? Continue reading →

Submitted from the Office of the Ontario New Demotratic Party 

Queen’s Park, Ontario, February 24^th, 2014 – Wayne Gates was sworn in today at Queen’s Park as the MPP for the riding of Niagara Falls and was given his new portfolio as the NDP’s Critic for Jobs, Small Business and Training.  The newly elected MPP started work today during Question Period by demanding the Premier prioritize local job creation in Niagara.

Wayne Gates joins his family and Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath, at far upper right, join him a few weeks after a hotly contested contest involving Ontario Tory Tim Hudak’s old pary buddy Bart Maves.

“I’m standing up for jobs in Niagara,” Gates said.  “Is the Premier ready to admit the status quo isn’t working and it’s time for a plan that rewards job creators and gets people in Niagara and across Ontario working?”

Gates referred to the record high unemployment rate Niagara families are facing and called on the government to make sure the construction of the promised new Niagara Falls hospital creates as many local jobs and opportunities as possible. Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

We Canadians have been shoveling our way through one of the most brutal winters on record – We have the likes of the Rob Ford clown show sullying the international image of our country’s economic driver of a city, and we have former Senate hacks like Mike Duffy, and the costly outfall of the Dalton McGuinty administration here in Ontario. 

Closer to home, we have a mostly dysfunctional, mean-spirited Niagara regional council.

It’s enough to drape the winter blues over the proudest of Canadians.

Then there was that glorious team of young Canadians that competed at these 2014 Winter Olympics Games, capping all the extraordinary medal winning performances with Canada’s men’s hockey team winning the Gold this past Sunday, February 23, just a few hours before the Olympic flame over Sochi was extinguished. Later that Sunday, I went out to pick up a few groceries and I could not help but notice how almost everyone around me walked with a prouder step, as did I. 

There were questions in the weeks leading up to these Olympics whether Canada should participate in them at all, given Russia strongman Putin’s horrific record on human rights and advancing the quality of life, including the aspirations for freer speech and more democracy,  of his own people. As little as it may have mattered, I was on the verge of writing a commentary saying let’s boycott these Olympics. Continue reading →

A Flood Warning from the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority

To:   All School Boards. All Municipalities, Police Services, MNR, Area, District and Provincial Response Centre, Hamilton Region, Grand River, & Long Point Conservation Authorities .

Thursday, February 20^th – This notice is intended to advise the public and local municipalities of the status of the watercourse conditions within the Niagara Peninsula and the eastern portions of the City of Hamilton and Haldimand County.

Rain is expected to begin early this afternoon and continue into Friday night. Rainfall totals exceeding 50mm are predicted to fall by Friday evening. This, combined with temperatures reaching up to 7 degrees Celsius will help melt the existing snowpack. Continue reading →

Submitted by the Office of Niagara, Ontario’s Welland Riding MP Malcolm Allen

OTTAWA, February 18th – A new study by Statistics Canada revealed that the Conservatives and Liberals are letting family farms die a slow death.

“Canada’s agricultural sector has undergone profound change in the last 20 years. The number of family farms has fallen sharply because they do not have enough money to survive. It is easy to understand why. The Conservatives’ and Liberals’ lack of commitment toward our rural farming communities will lead to the disappearance of our family farms,” said NDP Agriculture critic Malcom Allen and MPP for Niagara, Ontario’s Welland Riding.

Family farms have decreased by more than 20% according to the latest statistics. In addition, less than a tenth of farms are operated by an owner under the age of 40. The next generation of farmers is threatened as well as the security of the country’s food supply. Continue reading →

A Brief Comment By Doug Draper 

I’ll admit that as much as I am not much of a sports fan, I have always enjoyed the Winter Olympics.

This North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-on, has been condemned as a Hitler-style psycho for the 21st centunry by the United Nations. Not that the Haper government, that has no regard for the UN, cares. Yet why are we supporting hm by purchasing ‘Made In China’ goods. China remains on this murdering leader’s side.

I am okay on skates – meaning that I can stand up and do a few circles around the arena on them – and I almost collapsed many years ago trying to follow some friends on a cross-country ski thing covering less than half a dozen kilometers in Niagara. 

But I’m right in there, cheering on our best skaters, skiers, hockey players, etc., going back to Winter Olympics hosted in Lake Placid, New York and onward to the current Sochi, Russia games, as much as I have problems with them being held there around the Putin Russian governments oppression of gay people and its support for Syria and some of the other worst regimes around the world  Continue reading →

Submitted by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority

Jordan, Onatario – Ball’s Falls Conservation Area is the place to be this Family Day Activities – this Monday, February 17^th – are planned for the whole day 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. *Regular Admission Fee will apply. 

The NPCA’s Conversation Centre at Ball’s Falls

The day will be jam-packed with activities for guests of all ages including complimentary popcorn, marshmallow roasting and a hot dog barbecue from 11:00 to 1:00 pm.(or while supplies last). Play bird themed games, go on a bird watching walk, see the amazing birds of Bird Kingdom, participate in crafts and visit our newest exhibit “Canary in the Coalmine: Birds of Ontario”. Visitors can even try out our snowshoes on the hiking trails! 

So bring your family and friends and come out to celebrate with us. All this and the beauty of Ball’s Falls on the Niagara Escarpment awaits you.

For more information call: Ball’s Falls-905-562-5235 or visit the website at: www. ballsfalls.ca .  

(Niagara At Large invites 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.)

Submitted by the Buffalo History Museum 

Congressman Brian Higgins and The Buffalo History Museum Executive Director, Melissa Brown, announced plans to relocate the “Inside Tim Russert’s Office: If It’s Sunday, It’s ‘Meet the Press'” exhibit currently at the Newseum in Washington, DC to The Buffalo History Museum in Western New York.

The late U.S. national news reporter and Buffalo favourite son celebrated at Buffalo History Museum

“I am honored to be a part of the effort to bring a very personal piece of Tim Russert’s life and work home to Buffalo,” said Congressman Brian Higgins.  “We are thankful to the Russert family and commend the great cooperation between The Buffalo History Museum and Newseum to make this all happen.  Tim and the Buffalo community always shared a unique love and respect for one another, and with this move that bond lives on.” Continue reading →

Submitted by the Office of Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

ONTARIO PCs CALL ON WORKING FAMILIES COALITION TO COME CLEAN

QUEEN’S PARK, Feburary 14^th, 2014 – “What we have here is a coalition of Ontario’s biggest unions masquerading as a grassroots movement,” said Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak today (this February 14^th, 2014) in Toronto.

Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak, looking like he is not enjoying his best moment in the provincial legislature. NAL predicts there will be fewer joyous moments for him from here on.

“These folks are misleading the people of Ontario. They’re not telling them what they’re actually after.” (Audio Clip #1)

Hudak made his remarks following last night’s byelections in Thornhill and Niagara Falls. Ontario PC Candidate Gila Martow won the contest in Thornhill, while Candidate Bart Maves finished a close second at the end of a tight race in Niagara Falls.

Throughout the campaign, paid union activists worked hard to ensure the election of either a Liberal or NDP candidate who would divert tax dollars to union members

Today, Hudak announced the launch of WorkingFamiliesExposed.ca, a website to provide information about the Working Families Coalition’s true motives and membership. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

As the polls closed for two Ontario by-elections this February 13^th and ballroom in a Niagara Falls hotel was filling up with NDP supporters, a few party insiders told me they heard that the province’s Conservative leader, Tim Hudak, had already positioned himself in the Toronto are riding of Thornhill this night.

Tim Hudak’s old Tory boss from the ‘Common Sense ‘ Days, Mike Harris, leads him on in this file photo.

 That just about said it all for any chance that Hudak’s old Mike Harris ‘Common Sense’ manifesto comrade Bart Maves had of winning a Niagara Falls Riding – a riding that includes Hudak’s native town of Fort Erie. 

Why would Hudak want to be seen in the media, licking his wounds over a loss in his own backyard, when he could strategically locate himself in a riding his Conservatives were expected to win, given demographics, etc. that favour his party there. 

The winner in the Niagara Falls Riding, you might very well know by now, is the NDP candidate Wayne Gates, who was a target of some pretty ugly attacks by the Hudak/Maves camp. Continue reading →

Submitted by the Campaign for Wayne Gates

(A Brief Note from Niagara At Large – NAL is posting this, followed by a statement from Conservative Opposition Leader Tim Hudak on the results of this February 13^th by-election in Riding of Niagara Falls, as well as the Thornhill Riding in the Toronto area where the Conservatives were expected to win.

NAL will post its own commentary on the fallout from these by-elections later this February 14^th.)

Niagara Falls, Ontario, February 14^th, 2014 – New Democrat Leader

Wayne Gates made good on his promise. The Niagara Falls NDP candidate stopped Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak from winning a seat in the riding – defeating Hudak’s candidate Bart Maves, a former MPP colleague from the Mike Harris era.

Andrea Horwath congratulated Wayne Gates, the newly elected NDP MPP for the riding of Niagara Falls.

“The people of Niagara Falls riding have chosen a strong leader in Wayne Gates to put their priorities at the top of the agenda at Queen’s Park.   Wayne is the strong voice we need to join our NDP team to deliver results for the Niagara region,” Horwath said.

Wayne Gates said he is grateful to the people of the riding of Niagara Falls for electing him and looks forward to joining Andrea Horwath’s NDP team to deliver results.

“Thank you to the people of Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake and the surrounding communities for putting your trust in me. It’s time to take Niagara’s voice to Toronto.  I look forward to joining Andrea Horwath and the NDP who have delivered results for the people of Ontario, and I am proud to join a team committed to the priorities of the people who live in the riding of Niagara Falls.” Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Well here we finally are. It is Thursday, February 13^th and it is finally up to voters across the provincial Riding of Niagara Falls to decide who is going to be their next MPP.

Niagara Falls Tory candidate Bart Maves with the party’s leader, Tim Hudak, at one of many media events over the past several months.

The riding, which includes Niagara Falls and the neighbouring towns of Fort Erie and Niagara-on-the-Lake has been hotly contested by all three major parties – the Liberals, which held it for 10 years until Kim Craitor suddenly decided to get out of provincial politics last year, the Conservatives and NDP – and no one has worked longer and harder to win the riding than Tory candidate Bart Maves and the party’s leader Tim Hudak. 

While all three candidates – Liberal Joyce Morocco, NDP Wayne Gates, both Niagara Falls city councillors, and Maves, a regional councillor for Niagara Falls who was the riding’s MPP for two terms during Tory Premier Mike Harris’s years – were officially nominated by their Falls riding associations only a few weeks ago, Maves has been the presumed candidate for the Tories for the better part of a year now. What’s more, Hudak, whose old hometown is Fort Erie, has hardly let a week go by over the past three or four months where he hasn’t been out there, working the riding with Maves. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper 

The latest federal budget – tabled by Canada’s Conservative government this February 11^th – is a good one for a Niagara Region that suffers one of the highest employment rates in the country, says Niagara Falls Conservative MP Rob Nicholson.

Niagara Falls MP and Canadian Defense Minister Rob Nicholson

In an interview with Niagara At Large less than an hour after Canada’s Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tabled the government’s 2014 budget – Nicholson, who is also the country’s Defense Minister, told NAL that the budget sets us “on the right track” for a more prosperous future. 

Asked by NAL about the high level of youth unemployment in Niagara – hovering around 17 per cent – Nicholson said young people will see their job prospects improve “when the economics is being properly managed.” 

There will be more federal money for improving and building infrastructure in the budget, but Nicholson said he does not no yet where that infrastructure money might be spent in Niagara. Continue reading →

 – Deb Matthews: “Joyce’s Health Care Record Speaks for Itself”

Niagara Falls, Ontario – This Monday, February 10^th, during a visit at the Niagara Falls Community Health Centre, Ontario Liberal MPP Deb Matthews praised Joyce Morocco’s commitment to local health care, stating that her skills and experience were best suited to represent her community’s best interests, and ensure the new hospital is built in Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls Riding Liberal candidate Joyce Morocco

“I’m going to fight to ensure we get a new, state-of-the-art hospital here in Niagara Falls. As a mother, grandmother, and local city councillor, I know this is what our community needs,” said Morocco.  “As Welland politicians are stepping up their efforts to move our hospital, I’m the only candidate who can be counted on to actually get the hospital build right here in Niagara Falls.” Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Doug Draper

Was it really 50 years ago, or to put it an even scarier way for we aging baby boomers facing the last chapters of our lives, half century!

The Beatles on Ed Sullivan Show, February, 1964

When you start talking like this, of course, it reminds one of the early days when we’d roll our eyes while are grandparents retold stories about the first time they heard an Al Jolson record or what it was like living through the Great Depression.

Yet here this aging baby boomer goes anyway with memories of that Sunday night, 50 years ago this February, when I joined my family and more than 73 million others across North America to watch performances from this young group of mop tops from Liverpool, England on the Ed Sullivan Show. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” announced old stone-face Ed above an eruption of screams from those who were lucky enough to get a ticket to be part of his studio audience that night, “The Beatles.”

The next thing my brother Dave and I heard as we fixed our eyes on the black and white screen in our family’s home in Welland was the one, two, three count-in by Paul McCartney and the first chords of a song that has so often since become a trivial pursuit question – What was the first song The Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan show that night.? Just for a little fun, I will leave it to our readers to take a stab at that one, if they would like to,  in the comment area  below. 

As my brother and I watched The Beatles perform that night, we also heard our parents in the background say things that so many parents across the country were saying, like; “Oh God, look at their hair” and my all-time favourite; “A year from now, no one will even remember who they were? Continue reading →

“And in the end, the love you take
Is equal to the love you make.”

Among the final lyrics from one of The Beatles’ final albums as the 1960s, a decade they dominated as a musical and cultural force drew to a close.

A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

While making one of my frequent trips to Record Theatre in Buffalo, New York a few months ago, they were selling a bumper striker there that read, in so many words; “The Beatles didn’t need a website.”

The first Canada edition of a Beatle album released in this country in 1964 – very rare now if you have one

 They sure didn’t. They didn’t need marketing from the likes of Disney or any other too-big-to-fail corporation either – corporations that continue to poop out musically challenged inflatables like Britney Spears and on up to Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber and the like.  Soulless, lip-syncing robots that are so impoverished around putting out good music that they need  wardrobe malfunctions, grinding their butt into other on-stage robots’ groins or alternation, along with smiling mug shots with the cops to help them and their corporate handlers shovel  out whatever shit they offer up on CD or iPod or whatever. 

It was, believe it or not, 50 years ago, this February 9th, that The Bealtes made their debut in North America, and let me say this. ….

Continue reading →

 –         Hukak’s Tory Canadidates Refused To Reply

Submitted by the Ontario Clean Air Alliance

Electricity prices have been a big issue in the two current provincial by-elections.  So we asked the candidates from the four major parties whether they were prepared to oppose Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG’s) request for a 30% price increase for nuclear power and whether they would strike a deal for lower-cost water power imports from Quebec instead.

Candidates from two parties – the NDP and Greens – said yes.  The Liberal Party candidates said they would leave it to the Ontario Energy Board to decide whether to grant OPG a price increase and that “the Ontario government has laid out a plan to consider opportunities for clean imports from other jurisdictions, but only when the scenario is right for Ontario ratepayers.”

The Progressive Conservative candidates refused to reply, despite campaigning on the need to bring down electricity costs and blaming green power sources for price increases, while ignoring the fact that it is nuclear energy that is far and away the largest contributor to recent price rises. Continue reading →

A Brief Foreword by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper 

This February 7^th, it was announced that the more than century old Fort Erie Horse Racing Track has been thrown anther lifeline for the 2014 season.

And of course, in a hotly contested Niagara Falls, Ontario riding by-election that includes the Town of Fort Erie and has all three major parties wanting to take credit for putting the track on life support, Niagara At Large has received media releases from the Liberal, Conservative and NDP candidates wanting to take some of the credit, or at least reminding of us why they support the track’s future.

NAL is publishing these media releases below and we will then invite you to weigh in on this news and on which party, if any, deserves credit. We will now run these releases in order of the Liberal government candidate Joyce Morocco first, opposition Tory party candidate Bart Maves second,  and third party NDP candidate Wayne  Gates. 

Morocco Welcomes FortErieRacetrack Announcement

 Fort Erie,  Ontario,  Liberal candidate Joyce Morocco made the following statement about the 2014 racing season at the Fort Erie race track: 

“I am absolutely delighted with today’s news that the Fort Erie Racetrack will have a 2014 racing season and that good local jobs have been protected.   As I’ve said this all along, Premier Kathleen Wynne was crystal clear that there was a sustainable future for the track and the hundreds of local jobs. Continue reading →

Two thumbs up from Niagara At Large 

Stand up to oppression, stand up to intolerance, stand up to discrimination – stand up to homophobia.

Google is featuring the following rainbow of colours with its brand name during the Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

(Niagara At Large invites 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.)

By Mark Taliano

Canada is in denial of her true self.  We have been co-opted by a globalized corporatocracy. 

This chosen self-negation is exacting a heavy toll.  We have arguably lost our democracy, and much of our sovereignty, in addition to cultural pluralism, biodiversity, and economic self-determination. 

The facilitator of this “corporate coup” is a toxic mental landscape.

Transnational corporations and their political lobbyists wilfully co-opt the language of human rights as a subterfuge for retrograde supranational agreements that deny democracy, as well as economic and cultural self-determination.   We are daily bombarded with false terms such as “free trade” and “private sector” to the point where we internalize (subliminally?) incorrect meanings. Continue reading →

Submitted by Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

February 5^th, 2014 – The news coming out of the World Health Organization (WHO) this week is bleak: cancer around the globe is growing “at an alarming pace.”

Brock Universtiy microbiologist Dr. Ana Sanchez

The bulk of this – 60 per cent – is occurring in low-income countries.

We all know the common contributors: smoking; unhealthy diet; a sedentary lifestyle; stress.

But… parasites?

“It’s been estimated that up to 20 per cent of all cancers are caused by infectious agents, including some parasites,” says Brock University medical microbiologist Dr. Ana Sanchez. Continue reading →

Submitted by Ontario’s Niagara Parks Commission 

(A Brief Note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper – With so much pressure for more lower-density, urban sprawl along the Niagara River corridor, including weakening wetland protection designations in the watershed f the upper Niagara River, it is good to learn that an international group as prestigious the Audubon Society has recognized a golf course the Niagara Parks Commission owns and operates along the upper river as a healthy enough environment to also serve as a wildlife sanctuary.

Congratulations to the NPC, with a mandate going back more than a century to protect and preserve green space along the Ontario side of the Niagara River , for earning this international designation.)

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario, February 5^th, 2014 – The Niagara Parks Commission’s (NPC) Legends on the Niagara Golf Complex has achieved

Ontario’s Niagara Parks Commission receives inernational recognition for environmental and wildlife habitat stewardship at its Legends On The Niagara golf complex. Photo courtesy of NPC

designation as a “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary,” through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses. Golf Course Superintendent, Tom Newton led the effort to obtain this prestigious designation on the property and is also being recognized for Environmental Stewardship by Audubon International. Continue reading →

– Think tank calls on feds to alleviate income inequality, not make it worse

Submitted by the Ottawa-based Canadian Centre for Policy Altneratives

OTTAWA, February 5^th, 2014 — The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) warns a so-called “do-nothing” federal budget is anything but, and is likely to worsen Canada’s slowing economy.

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ senior economist David Macdonald

The CCPA’s 2014 Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) shows what the federal government could do if it decided to seriously address Canadians’ largest social, economic, and environmental concerns. It delivers a plan that would lift 855,000 Canadians out of poverty, reduce income inequality, boost the economy, lower unemployment to 5.4%—and still balance the budget one year later than the federal government plan.

“The labour market is much weaker than the federal government would like us to believe. In fact, only one in five of those who came off unemployment rolls since September 2009 found a job, and four of five gave up looking,” says David Macdonald, CCPA Senior Economist. “It is time for the federal government to act to drive down income inequality and create the new jobs Canadians need.” Continue reading →

Morocco Welcomes Airbus Expansion Announcement

(A Brief Foreword from NAL publisher Doug Draper – This announcement, which is good if it means any number of new, decent-paying jobs in a Niagara that has experience the loss of countless of thousands of well-paying manufacturing jobs over the past few decades, was made by Ontario’s Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne in the middle of a hotly contested by-election in the Niagara, Ontario riding involving Liberal candidate Joyce Morocco, NDP candidate Wayne Gates and Tory candidate Bart Maves)

Submitted by the Niagara Falls Riding campaign for Liberal candidate Joyce Morrocco

Airbus expands operations in Niagara

Fort Erie, Ontario –  Liberal candidate Joyce Morocco welcomed news that a local Fort Erie company, Airbus Helicopters Canada, will be expanding and creating 40 new, well paying jobs, which is a strong vote of confidence for the 235 people already employed at the company.

 “Airbus Helicopter is the world’s largest helicopter manufacturer, and I am thrilled they have chosen our Fort Erie location for an expansion. This will create jobs and substantial economic opportunities in our community,” said Joyce Morocco. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

When I picked up The Globe and Mail this past February 3^rd and saw the headline at the top of the front page reading; ‘Obama won’t speed Keystone decision’, the first word that crossed my mind was ‘good’.

Canada’s Tar Sands atrocity. Let’s hope Obama has the fortitude to say No to it

“Barack Obama is refusing to give Ottawa the quick answer it wants on the Keystone XL pipeline,” the Globe story goes on to say. And that’s Obama’s continued stance on it despite a report, released by the U.S. State Department this January31st, that appears to conclude that piping diluted bitumen from Canada’s tar sands to refineries in Texas would have little or no net impact on the environment.

The report is fanning the hopes of Keystone supporters with its ranking of the pipeline as a less risky way of transporting tar sands goo from Alberta to Texas than trucks or trains. That’s assuming that Obama says yes to his country having anything more to do with the outfall from these filthy tar sands operations in the first place. Continue reading →

– Horwath says Niagara Falls by-election a chance to send a jobs champion to Queen’s Park

A Submission from the Office of Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario, February 3^rd, 2014 – Andrea Horwath, Leader of Ontario’s New Democrats, was joined by New Democrat MPPs from across Ontario to meet with job creators in Niagara region, and to emphasize the clear choice facing voters in the coming by-election for a new MPP for Niagara Falls Riding. Horwath and members of her caucus visited Spencer ARL Niagara, while other caucus members toured the Wine Visitor and Education Centre.“In this election voters have a clear choice: they can elect a Hudak Conservative who will stand on the sidelines with plans to drive down wages and deregulate hydro rates, or they can send a jobs champion who will work with local businesses to create jobs in Niagara Falls, Fort Erie and Niagara-on-the-Lake,” said Horwath. “My team and I are here to back Wayne Gates and to listen to local job creators about how we can grow Niagara’s economy and help put people to work.” Continue reading →

A Submission from Wayne Gates, the NDP candidate in the Niagara Falls riding

(This is the response of Wayne Gates, a Niasgara Falls city councillor and the NDP candidate in the by-election in Niagara Falls, to a recent call from Niagara regional chair Gary Burroughs and his council for daily Go Train service to Niagara. Niagara At Large has recently posted the response to the Region’s call for daily Go Train service from Joyce Morocco, the Liberal candidate in the Niagara Falls riding. We have yet to receive a response from PC candidate Bart Maves.)

Dear Mr. Burroughs,

Wyane Gates, Niagara Falls councillor and NDP candidate in the Niagara Falls Riding.

Thank you for your letter of January 30, 2014. I fully support the Niagara Region’s call for daily GO Train service to Niagara Falls. You will recall that as a Niagara Falls City Councillor I welcomed GO Trains to Niagara Falls back in the summer of 2011 with you, Mayor Jim Diodati of Niagara Falls, and other local leaders.

My support for daily GO Train service to Niagara Falls has never wavered.  I have always said that I believe this vital transit link will benefit the people of our region and the riding of Niagara Falls.  Daily GO Train service to Niagara Falls will promote year-round tourism, alleviate traffic congestion and make commuting easier for Niagara families.  Daily GO Trains to Niagara Falls will make a positive contribution to our local economy. Continue reading →

Niagara, Ontario’s Brian Narhi wins one of Ontario’s mst prestigious awards

Submitted by Marty Mako and Gail Benjafield on behalf of The St. Catharines Heritage Committee

Feburary 3^rd, 2014 – St. Catharines, Ontario is proud to have one of our own receive this,  the prestigious Ontario Lieutenant Governor’s Award,  to be presented later this month in Toronto.

The Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Awards are presented for outstanding contributions to the identification, preservation, protection and promotion of Ontario’s heritage.

The St. Catharines Heritage Committee, spearheaded by member Marty Mako, enthusiastically supported the nomination of co-chair Brian Narhi, followed by city council’s endorsement of the nomination. Other members gathered together recommendations from various community groups for which Brian has volunteered to support the committee’s nomination, said member Gail Benjafield. Continue reading →

(A Foreword by Niagara At large publisher Doug Draper –  Niagara, Ontario’s regional chair, Garry Burroughs of Niagara’s 12 local municipalities appealed to all three candidates running in the Niagara Falls Riding by-election – NDP candidate Wayne Gates, Liberal candidate Joyce Morocco and PC candidate Bart Maves – to support their call for full GO train transit services in Niagara. 

The first out of the gate to respond to this call was Liberal candidate Joyce Morocco. NAL will post the call to candidates from regional leaders followed by Morocco’s response below. If the other candidates respond at some later hour or date, we will post those as well.) 

GO Trains on the By-election Track – Niagara’s heads of council appeal to candidates for support of important initiative

Niagara Region – January 31, 2014 — Niagara’s 13 heads of council want to know where the Niagara Falls by-election candidates stand on expanding GO Train service to Niagara.

Niagara Falls Riding Liberal candidate Joyce Morocco is first out of gate t embrace Niagara Region’s call for full Go Train service in region

A letter signed by the mayors of Niagara’s 12 municipalities and Regional Chair was sent to Niagara Falls by-election candidates Bart Maves (Progressive Conservative), Joyce Morocco (Liberal), Wayne Gates (New Democratic Party) and Clarke Bitter (Green) today, appealing to them for their public support to expand daily commuter GO Train service to Niagara.

“This is an important issue for the region, and voters deserve to know where each of the parties stand on an important economic development and lifestyle issue for Niagara,” said Regional Chair Gary Burroughs. “We need to ensure we have the political will at all levels in Niagara to support the unanimous resolution from Regional Council to bring daily commuter GO Trains to Niagara Falls, with stops in Grimsby and St. Catharines.” Continue reading →

By Doug Draper, Publisher, Niagara At Large

Well, at least it is a wee bit more something for workers at the lowest end of the wage scale across Ontario.

Following a four-year freeze, the provincial government is finally moving to raise it from $10.25 to $11.00 an hour effective this coming June 1^st.

Anti-poverty critics are already quite rightfully saying that this 75-cents-per-hour increase hardly comes close to lift people, including growing numbers of our fellow citizens who find themselves stuck raising a family on minimum-wage jobs, out of poverty. You’d have to raise the minimum hourly rate to about $14 just to raise a person’s nose above a poverty line in Ontario of about $19,000 a year.

Then again, Ontario’s Liberal premier, Kathleen Wynne, is in a very tough position at this moment. Leading a minority government that could be defeated at any time, she finds herself setting what will most likely be the highest minimum wage of any province in Canada (unless Manitoba or Nova Scotia, or some other higher minimum-wage provinces moves ahead of $11.00 per hour by this June), inviting businesses and Ontario’s opposition Tory party of accusing her of giving a sucker punch to the province’s job and economy. Continue reading →

Submitted to NAL by the office of Niagara Regional Chair Gary Burroughs

Niagara Region , January 28, 2014 – Niagara’s 12 mayors and Regional Chair are united in their call for the provincial government to expand daily commuter GO train service to the Niagara Peninsula.

Recent Statistics Canada figures show the Niagara area’s 8.8% unemployment rate is the highest in the country and it will require bold, transformational decisions to ensure a solid foundation is in place for the growth and renewal of Niagara’s evolving economy. Niagara Regional Council unanimously passed a motion in June 2011 supporting the expansion of a daily GO commuter rail line to Niagara Falls, with stops in Grimsby and St. Catharines. Continue reading →

Submitted by the Campaign for Niagara Falls PC Canadidate Bart Maves 

To Joyce Morocco, Liberal Candidate, and Wayne Gates, NDP Candidate, January 29^th, 2014

Dear Ms. Morocco and Mr. Gates,

It has been two weeks since the beginning of the by-election and Niagara Falls residents have yet to hear directly in an open and public forum from your Leaders about their failed record and unrealistic plans that will only lead to more debt and higher taxes.

Ontario PC candidate for Niagara Falls, Bart Maves

Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak has always stood up for the Niagara Region. He has shown leadership by talking to residents directly about his plan to create jobs and to make the necessary investments to improve health care for Niagara Falls. In fact, over the past three months, he has held 6 town hall meetings to listen to the concerns of Niagara residents.

 While attending those town halls, I heard directly from families who are struggling because of deliberate decisions by the Liberals and NDP that have threatened the livelihoods of everyone relying on the Fort Erie Race Track. I have heard far too many troubling stories about our families being hurt because we have the highest hydro rates in Canada. Residents also spoke quite passionately about the need to improve health care. Continue reading →

Submitted by the Niagara Falls Riding campaign of NDP candidate Wayne Gates

Niagara Falls, Ontario, January 28^th, 2014 – Andrea Horwath, Leader of Ontario’s New Democrats was in Niagara Falls, joined by NDP Candidates Wayne Gates, to highlight the need to create jobs.

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath and her party’s NDP candidate in the Niagara Falls riding, Wayne Gates

Horwath called today for a strong focus on creating local jobs in the construction of the new Niagara Falls hospital. “Niagara residents are tired of the endless talk and just want to see shovels in the ground,” Horwath said. “A leader like Wayne Gates can be trusted to ensure that the new hospital gets built and creates as many local jobs as possible. You simply can’t trust the other parties to stand up for jobs.”

 Horwath cited the need for strong provincial rules to ensure local skilled workers in the construction trades get jobs from the multi-year project and that, as much as possible, local engineers, architects, and other design professionals are employed in all aspects of the project’s development. Continue reading →

“Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing.Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago.”

 A Brief Note of Remembrance by NAL publisher Doug Draper

Those of us who have continued to love and admire him as a folk music icon and a humanitarian, knew that train, craped in black, would not be much longer in coming for him.

Folk singer/activist Pete Seeger dies at 94

After all, by the time he stood and sang with Bruce Springsteen on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial five years ago during the inauguration of America’s first black president, he was turning 90, and that tall, thin frame of his was looking frail. So was the sound his voice, which always encouraged his audience to sing along, and now had them singing almost all of the lines to such self-penned anthems as ‘If I Had A Hammer’, ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ and ‘Where Have All The Flowers Gone’. 

Yet waves of sadness and ‘Oh noes’ still washed over me and, I am sure, over many countless millions of others around the world when we learned that late this Monday, January 27^th, Pete Seeger had passed away at age 94. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper Unless you are a Canadian who completely avoids following the news, you probably know by now that one of Canada’s more famous human exports – rock legend Neil Young  was interviewed this past second week of January, making remarks considered blasphemous by many in a country that, by this point, might just as well be written off as Harper Land.

Canadian rock legend Neil Young slams the tar sands.

Those remarks focused on the Canadian/petroleum industry/Harper government’s tar sands enterprise or so-called ‘oil sands’, as the beaten-down mainstream media has been instructed by their corporate advertisers to call this strip-mined , God-forbidden wasteland that was once a rich diversity of life in lush boreal forests. 

Since that interview with Neil Young, the Harper government’s  cronies and its friends in the global petroleum syndicate and a mainstream media that has been beaten back from using the word “tar” to describe these so-called oil sands, slammed Young for comparing these forever gutted lands to Hiroshima after the atomic bomb dropped on that Japanese city, and for saying that the cancer rates among Native peoples living downwind are significantly higher than any national average in what we like to think is a Canada that is part of a developed world where environmental protection for all of our citizens is held in at least a bit of regard.

What Young has done is show some moral fortitude and courage to do an interview with CBC’s Jian Ghomeshi (which NAL will provide a video/audio link to here) and do a cross-country tour to raise funds for Native people fighting against the expansion of this tar sands abomination. He has also helped stimulate a  desperately needed debate on where Canada is going as a developed nation of this world with our energy and environmental programs. Continue reading →

From Allan Adam, A Chief of the First Nations fighting expansion of Canada’s Tar Sands 

Dear friends across Canada,

 My name is Allan Adam and I’m the Chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

Canadian First Nations Chief Allan Adams at a recent media conference with rock artist Neil Young on the bad road Canada is going down with the tar sands.

The government and Big Oil CEOs are slamming Neil Young for speaking out on the Tar Sands and the poison they are sending to my people. But if you join Neil and me, together we can create a wave of protection for my home.

The government just approved a giant Shell company project on our land in Alberta, even though it admits it will likely wreak havoc on the land and water my people depend on — and infringe on our treaty rights. But with Neil getting people talking, the government and Big Oil are worried Canadians will start to question the unchecked expansion of the Tar Sands that line their pockets.

The Prime Minister won’t budge unless he thinks he could lose support from voters. Let’s show him Canadians of all political leanings want respect for our rights and the land. Click below and Avaaz will deliver all our voices directly to the government. Sign now:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/neil_young_vs_big_oil_d/?bRUUpdb&v=34676 Continue reading →

By Mark Taliano

The current trajectories of Canada’s predominant political economies are increasingly dysfunctional, due in no small part to the fact that we have become, in many respects, a petro state, rather than the much vaunted “Energy Superpower” that we were promised.

A petro-state, as defined by Bruce Campbell, executive director of the CanadianCenter for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) is “dependent on petroleum for 50 per cent or more of export revenues, 25 per cent or more of GDP, and 25 per cent or more on government revenues.”

While Alberta is not a sovereign nation, it does qualify for “petro-state” status under these criterion. So does Norway. But the differences between the two polities ends there. While Norway manages its resource wealth extraordinarily well, Alberta — and Canada, by extension — does not.

One significant difference is savings. Norway has a savings fund, known as a “Sovereign Wealth Fund” which is worth about $656 billion for a population of under 5-million people. Continue reading →

(A Brief Note from Niagara At Large – Now it is official with the nomination of  Niagara Falls city councillor and CAW Local 199 president Wayne Gates to run as the NDP candidate in a Niagara Falls Riding by-election that could say a lot about the outcome of a general election in the province, expected as soon as this coming spring.

Wayne Gates speaks at rally for saving hospital services in South Niagara. File photo

Gates will be running against fellow Niagara Falls city councillor and Liberal candidate Joyce Morocco and Niagara Falls regional councillor and former Conservative MPP Bart Maves, who will once again hold the banner for the Tories in this riding.

The voters of this riding will go to the polls this coming February 13^th. In the meantime, here is some news from the NDP camp on Gates’ nomination.)

Submitted by the NDP campaign for Wayne Gates

Niagara Falls, Ontario – In a hall packed with supporters Niagara Falls city councillor Wayne Gates earned the NDP nomination for Niagara Falls riding in a by-election to be held on February 13th.  Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath spoke to the enthusiastic crowd: Continue reading →