Niagara At Large

By Dan Wilson

“Part of our history is also whaling, for example, and the day came when the whaling industry stopped. Now, is that day coming with the seal hunt? It just may be.” – Ryan Cleary, MP, St. John’s South-Mount Pearl in a statement to the CBC last week.

This was all it took for some animal rights groups to declare a “victory” for the animals.

Seal slaughter on the bloodied ice flows off eastern Canada

By Frank Valeriote –  MP for Guelph,  Ontario. Liberal Critic for Agriculture and Agri-Food 

Special to Niagara At Large

Recently, in light of drastic cuts facing the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, I and many other Members of Parliament have received a flood of letters to

Guelph Liberal MP Frank Valeriote

 Michael McCain, President of Maple Leaf Foods concerning the safety of our food. I share the frustration these letter writers are expressing regarding this shocking step backward by the Conservative government on food safety.

The Liberal Party has condemned plans by the Conservative government to cut hundreds of employees from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and reduce the agency’s funding by millions.

Canadians have every reason to be upset and worried. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the following media release on a call by Ontario’s New Democratic Party and its Welland Riding member Cindy Forster calling for a stop to expanding the power of controversial Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) until a promised review of them is completed.)

Queen’s Park– Ontario NDP MPP Cindy Forster called for moratorium on expanding LHIN powers before a delayed review of the legislation is completed.

Niagara's NDP MPP Cindy Forster, File photo by Doug Draper

“The Liberals promised a comprehensive review of the LHINs, but have delayed instead of delivered,” said Forster. “Giving the LHINs more power before conducting the promised review is reckless and irresponsible.”

The 2006 law creating the local health integration networks (LHINs) stipulated that a “comprehensive review” be completed by the Legislature by 2010. But in 2010, the Liberals changed the law to delay the review, which has yet to happen. Continue reading →

NAL transit struggling

 A Commentary by Doug Draper

I know I’m not the only one who has seen Niagara Region transit buses running up and down the roads and highways between Welland, Niagara Falls and St. Catharines with hardly any passengers in them.

Niagara regional chairman Gary Burroughs speals at official launcing of Niagara Region Transit last September. Photo by Doug Draper

I’ve heard people making snide remarks about the near-empty buses with “Niagara Region Transit” stamped on the side of them for more than three months now. And as much as I have been a long-time advocate for a regional transit system, I don’t think I’ve ever seen more than a half a dozen passengers on one of these busses, even going in an out of a place as busy as the Pen Centre shopping mall during the height of the Christmas shopping season.

 Usually the number of passengers I see on these buses is no more like two or three, and that is sad because it is already starting to make some of the people who never favoured this regional service in the first play say pull the plug on it.

 The number of those wanting Niagara’s regional regional government to park the eight  buses it paid $3.7 million for and leave transit services to the local municipalities probably won’t grow any smaller when word gets around about the ridership figures for the first four months since Niagara Region Transit was officially launched at the beginning of last September. Continue reading →

A Foreword by Doug Draper

 This fall Niagara-on-the-Lake’s town council passed a resolution asking senior levels of government in Canada and the United States to agree to a moratorium on any discharge to the Great Lakes of wastewater associated with the hydraulic drilling for natural gas until the potential impact on water bodies like the Niagara River and Lake Ontario are reviewed.

Niagara-on-the-Lake town councillor Jamie King

 The town council’s resolution followed in the wake of reports that petro-chemical companies in the U.S. are exploring the possibility of shipping chemically-contaminated water from the drilling or “fracking” process to the Niagara Falls, New York wastewater treatment plant for treatment and discharge to the Niagara River.

 Since last October, four other local municipalities in Niagara, Ontario –  St. Catharines, Wainfleet, Thorold and Fort Erie – have supported the resolution tabled by Niagara-on-the-Lake town councillor Jamie King. But much to King’s disappointed, Niagara’s regional council has so far only considered accepting the resolution as an item of information. Continue reading →

By Pamela Minns

 In 1974 Heritage Canada Foundation first established the third Monday in February each year as Heritage Day.

A gateway to Queenston Height and Brock's Monument. Photo by Doug Draper

In fact, the entire third week in February has traditionally been set aside as “Heritage Week”in celebration of what has been defined as“the sum total of our inheritance – built, cultural and natural”.

A Commentary by Doug Draper

 Let’s say you live in a rural community in Ontario like West Lincoln or Wainfleet and you find out some out-of-town company wants to build a wind farm for generating electricity near your backyard.

A wind farm in the country

 You’ve heard all of the concerns raised by wind farm opponents about these towering turbines keeping people awake all night, and causing headaches and other health problems. You’ve heard charges that wind energy is driving electricity costs up and that the looming turbines used to generate that energy is dragging surrounding property values down.

 That’s enough to have you paying a visit to the local municipal hall to find out what your mayor and council can do about this wind power plan. The answer you get you’re your municipal leaders can be summed up in one word – “Nothing.” Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the entire report Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey delivered to the city’s council this January 30 for our readers’ interest.)

 Moving forward with vision…. A Report to Council by Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey

Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey

“In response to (Niagara Health System supervisor) Dr. Kevin Smith’s comments made public recently, in my opinion, he validates the direction the City of Port Colborne has taken throughout the past few years….a new vision and who better to create this vision than those leaders from across the Region – community and medical leaders, along with members of our community.

Through a process of consultation with community health care service providers, enablers and members of our community, we have developed and presented to Dr. Smith and the province a clinical services plan for South Niagara as a response to the changes proposed to be introduced to our health care system.  Continue reading →

 A Foreword by Doug Draper

 Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews used a talk before the Toronto Board of Trade this January 30 to announce the launch of a new “action plan” for transforming the province’s health care system for the future.

Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews

The action plan, according to a brief Niagara At Large received from a spokesperson for the health minister, is aimed at dealing with such challenges as the demands the province’s aging population will place on the system and the province’s deficit, while at the same time “ensuring families get the best health care where and when they need it.”

“Health care remains a priority for Ontarians and that is why the government has invested 61 per cent more in health care since 2003,” states a media release the provincial government circulated following Matthews’ January 30 talk. “The government is committed to maintaining its investment in health care to provide the right care, at the right time, in the right place.” Continue reading →

 By Pat Scholfield

Eeenie, meenie,  miney,  mo,  where should the new south Niagara hospital go?

Niagara health care advocate Pat Scholfield

While local politicians salivate at the mouth, and before we get out the dart board; we should focus on how to fix our broken system now.    

We must figure a way to attain adequate access to essential hospital services for south Niagarians and to retain these services until such time as a “new” hospital is built. That is the challenge for all of us and Dr. Smith to ponder.

 I have a few suggestions: Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

They are on the verge of invading the Great Lakes waters and if they do, it could spell disaster for native fish and other forms of life in and around the waterbodies.

An Asian Carp caught in waters near the Great Lakes. A U.S. National Parks Service photo

They are Asian carp, a voracious eater capable of growing more than three feet long and weighing more than 100 pounds, that were imported to the southern United States from the Far East in the 1970s and have since found their way into the Mississippi River watershed to within striking distance of Lake Michigan.

An electric barrier, now being installed and maintained by U.S. agencies in a water system connected to Lake Michigan, is about the only thing preventing an all-out invasion of the Great Lakes where these fish could empty the lakes of nutrients necessary for the survival of native wildlife. A worst-case scenario could be the loss of a commercial and recreational fishery worth billions of dollars to Canada and the United States. Continue reading →

 By Sue Salzer

 Kevin Smith and the Niagara Health System he was appointed by the provincial government to supervise have polarized residents and politicians in Niagara, Ontario’s southern tier this past week with headlines proclaiming the possibility of a new hospital to serve south Niagara.

Sue Salzer speaking at health care rally last year. File Photo by Doug Draper

 The idea of a new hospital for the southern tier holds some promise. But in reality it is futuristic and will join the lengthy list of requests for new hospital facilities from all across the province, some of which have been gathering dust at the Ministry of Health for years while they await approval and funding.

 What is really needed immediately here in Niagara are common sense adjustments immediately to a system in distress. The Niagara Health System’s so-called “Hospital Improvement Plan” has, for the more than three years it has been the NHS’s roadmap for restructuring our hospital services has created chaos and systemic problems that have yet to be addressed. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

While Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservatives prepare to loot an Old Age Security program for millions of Canadians approaching retirement, they go right on pigging out from the public trough.

Ottawa at work

The gold-plated trough they have their snouts buried in guarantees a federal member of parliament who has served in office for as few as six years an annual pension of $40,000, that can begin collecting as early as age 55. And guess who’s paying for these generous offerings to our MPs?

You’ve guessed it my fellow 99 per centers. They are being paid through taxes by the very Canadians Harper and company are now thinking about forcing to work until they are 67, unless they want to retire earlier without as much as a penny of Old Age Security.  Continue reading →

By Preston Haskell

Isn’t government just wonderful? Just wonderful!

Preston Haskell

Is there even one government agency that is not over budget? Is there even one government agency, including municipal, provincial and federal, that is not scrounging to satiate their appetite for more financial resources?

Our federal government alone has chalked up a $600 billion debt! To put it into perspective, that’s $17,ooo  for every Canadian citizen from cradle to grave or about $300,ooo per taxpayer. Continue reading →

 A Commentary by Doug Draper

No wonder so many people I hear from every day tell me that they have had it with politicians.

Take Canada’s prime minister Stephen Harper for example.

Prime Mnister Stephen Harper outlines his 'grand plan' for Canadians at World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

This past January 26, Harper used an opportunity thousands of miles away from us, at the World Economic Forum  in Switzerland, to drop a bombshell that could have a profound impact on the Old Age Security funding as millions of Canadians are approaching retirement age.

“Harper’s Grand Plan” read the headline in the following morning’s Globe and Mail above a story that quoted saying that Canada’s demographics (meaning the big bulging numbers of baby boomers now approaching their 65^th birthday) pose “a threat to the social programs and services that Canadians cherish.”  What if some of us were to argue that one of the biggest threats to the social programs and services  Canadians cherish is Harper’s government? Continue reading →

NAL Niagara south hospital,

 A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper

 Now Kevin Smith is talking!

NHS supervisor Kevin Smith

Smith was also quoted saying a new hospital in Niagara, Ontario’s southern tier would probably also mean “the closure of the majority of the other sites” in the south end. Continue reading →

 By Bill Trench

Although most residents continue to demand better health facilities, the town of Fort Erie seems determined to welcome into the community a polluting giant, the toxic effects of which could affect the health of residents on both sides of the Niagara River for decades. I refer of course to the proposed motor speedway.

Architect's rendition of proposed NASCAR race track for Fort Erie, Ontario

While proponents trumpet their support of auto racing, the public at large continues in blissful ignorance of the very real threat that this endeavour poses to Fort Erie and the whole Niagara area. In a word: LEAD.

Have locals forgotten the pollution of Love Canal? Continue reading →

NAL Drummond report,

 A Brief Foreword by Doug Draper

Niagara At Large is posting the following January 27 media release from the Toronto-based Ontario Health Coalition, a citizens’ organization that has often visited Niagara, Ontario to support residents fighting for better hospital services in this region.

Ontario Health Coalition director Natalie Mehra

The OHC’s director Natalie Mehra, along with a representative of the citizens group Democracy Watch and Bryan Evans, a politics professor at Ryerson University, warned at a media conference at Queen’s Park this January 27 that the Drummond Commission, created by the province’s Liberal government, is about to recommend “sweeping public service cuts” to the government with no input from the public.

 “Despite no mention of these plans during the election only a few months ago, the McGuinty government has forged a mandate for the Drummond Commission that is extraordinarily biased towards privatization,” Mehra  told Queen’s Park reporters. Continue reading →

By John Bacher

A recent cartoon published in The St. Catharines Standard – a newspaper which is now part of the Conservative Party leaning Sun Media empire – portrayed soldiers standing on guard during the War of 1812. They were instructed by their commander to stand firm, since if the Americans succeeded in winning, Canada would be turned into a National Park.

American troops stand firm during War of 1812 battle.

Following his encounter with the Native Americans of the plains, Catlin wrote the words which still resonate with Canadians who, in these dark times that try the soul, still dare to identify themselves as environmentalists.  He urged that “some great protecting policy of government” serve to preserve its “pristine beauty and wildness (as) a magnificent park.”  Such a “A Nation’s Park”, for Catlin would allow the world to see “for ages to come, the native Indians in classic attire, galloping his wild horse, with sinewy bow, and shield and lance, amid the fleeting herds of elk and buffaloes.” Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Imagine a brand new prison in Niagara! Wouldn’t that be great?

Let’s put it this way. If we really believe, as Niagara Falls MP and Stephen Harper’s justice minister Rob Nicholson does, that we should be cracking down harder on law breakers, we ought to be the first ones in the country to welcome a new prison into our neighbhourhood, shouldn’t we?

Niagara Falls MP and federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson is all for getting tougher on crime. Can he help bring a new prison to the region too?

So I am urging all of my fellow Niagarians to call or email the constituency offices of Rob Nicholson and all of our other MPs and MPPs. Let them know that we want the new prison that Ontario is going to need when the Harper government passes its get-tougher-on-crime bill and the courts start sentencing more people who get fresh with the law to jail time located right here in Niagara. After all, why should the Greater Toronto area get everything? Continue reading →

A Brief Note from Niagara At Large

Each year Niagara, Ontario’s regional government presents awards to businesses, local municipalities and others that have carried out building and other projects that contribute to the aesthetics of urban and rural landscapes in our region, and to the quality of life in our communities.

The latest annual Niagara Community Design Awards were presented this January 25 in a banquet room in Thorold, Ontario and Niagara At Large is pleased to post the following news on them from the region, along with the list of recipients.

NIAGARA REGION, Jan. 26, 2012– The Niagara Community Design Award recipients were announced this January 25 at the Four Points by Sheraton in Thorold.

This year's Architecture Award winner - the new Niagara District Airport Terminal in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

This is the seventh year for the Region’s Niagara Community Design Awards which recognize and celebrate excellence in design in Niagara and that demonstrate the application of Smart Growth Principles. The awards continue to focus on projects that enhance the built environment, efficiently use land, and demonstrate creativity and vision. Continue reading →

 By Doug Draper

Those opposed to a natural gas drilling process called “fracking” because of the impact it could have on the environment, including the waters of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, could find themselves coming up against a cheerleader for the process more formidable than the petro-chemical industry.

U.S. President Barack Obama on the "fracking" bandwagon during State of Union speech

 That cheerleader is none other than the president of the United States, Barack Obama.

 This January 24, during his State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress, Obama lauded the so-called fracking process (more technically known as “hydraulic fracturing”) for obtaining natural gas from underground layers of shale as a key to his country’s independence from Middle East oil and a practice that has the potential to create 600,000 American jobs. Continue reading →

–  McGuinty stresses need to control spending and and public-sector wages

A Foreword by NAL publisher Doug Draper – Followed by Premier’s address

Ontario’s economy is growing and “now we need to take further action on another important front and that is the deficit,” said Premier Dalton McGuinty this January 24 during an address to the Canadian Club of Toronto.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

 “Tackling the deficit is simply an essential step in building the strong economy (that) supports good jobs and quality public services,” said McGuinty, adding that “borrowing money to help Ontarian through a terrible recession is one thing, but living beyone our means, constantly adding to the debt we are leaving to our children (is) quite another thing. That would be wrong for our children and for us.”

 McGuinty said that driving down a debt that now stands at $16 billion and ultimately balancing the province’s budget in the fiscal year 2017/2018 “won’t be easy (and) getting there will require that we slow down our spending significally.” Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the following open letter from Arthur Miller of the citizens advocacy group Marineland Animal Defense/Shark Allies Niagara to regional councillors in Niagara, Ontario, urging them to support a ban here on the sale of shark-fin soup and other products with shark remains in them. Such a ban has already been passed in other Ontario municipalities including Toronto, London, Oakville, Brantford and Mississauga.)

 Dear Regional Councillors,

 We are writing you this letter as concerned citizens from across the Niagara (Ontario) Region.

A shark butchered for its fins before being thrown back in the ocean to drown.

(Niagara At Large is posting the following January 23 media release from Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservative Party. The party believes Ontario residents may receive lower-cost, higher-quality services if wants to see competitive bidding for public service work.)

 “This white paper says loud and clear that it shouldn’t matter if providers are from the state, private or voluntary sector as long as they offer a great service. The old, narrow, closed    state monopoly is dead.”

– David Cameron on the Open Public Services White Paper, The Guardian, July 11, 2011

ONLY ONTARIO PCs WILL CREATE COMPETITION IN PUBLIC SERVICES

QUEEN’S PARK– Public sector unions would compete with private sector unions, not-for-profits and businesses to provide and deliver government services under an Ontario PC government, Leader Tim Hudak said today.

Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak in provincial legislature. Photo courtesy of PC leader's office.

“If we’re going to pull Ontario out of Dalton McGuinty’s jobs and spending crisis we need to think in innovative new ways,” Hudak said. “Creating competition in government service delivery can help us break away from hidebound, dated approaches to serving the public. It will also make government more efficient, freeing up savings for the services we all value – such as health care and education.” Continue reading →

 By Preston Haskell

Everywhere one looks, the headlines scream out misery regarding foreign corporations abusing  their power, abusing their employees, abusing abusing Canadian customs and abusing Canada.

Preston Haskell

Demonstrators cast slurs against greedy corporations. Canadian unions defend their cash flow of dues. Politicians do their best to (to speak falsely or) prevaricate. Socialists blaspheming against every private enterprise, while offering only the imperialistic and failed practice of government-run institutions. However, there is more than enough greed to destroy any society. A greedy growing ‘Patrician Class’ suckling on the life-blood of prosperity, on the power hungry unions playing  their part in the inequality of Canadian fortune, and all carving up the nation as if they own it. Continue reading →

– Close to 15,000 decry foreign company’s bid to slash Canadian workers’ wages and benefits 

By Mark Taliano

If it wasn’t so ridiculous or “radical”, or “extreme”, it might even be funny.

Thousands demonstrate in London, Ontario park against Caterpillar's bid to rip workers' wages and benefits. Photo by Tori Crispo

In 2010, Industry Canada allowed American-owned Caterpillar to bulldoze its way into London, Ontario to purchase Electro-Motive Canada, a plant which assembles locomotive diesel engines.  They even humbly accepted offer an offer from Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper, of $5 million dollars of taxpayers’ money in the form of tax breaks. 

Politicians were no doubt pleased that Caterpillar profits increased by 95% in the first three quarters of 2011, which amounted to a staggering $3.4 billion in profits.  Better yet, production was up by 20 per cent and Canadian workers, who were being paid about $36.00 per hour, hadn’t had a raise for about six years.

Then, in a scene that could have come directly from Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine (create or exploit a “shock” to undemocratically force societal changes), the corporation insisted that its Canadian employees accept a 50% pay cut from about $36.00 per hour to $16.50 per hour, no cost of living adjustment, a new co-payment plan for health insurance and the elimination of pension plans.  This was the “shock”. Continue reading →

A Brief Foreword by NAL publisher Doug Draper (followed by a media release from Port Colborne, Ontario Mayor Vance Badawey)

While the Niagara Health System – the body the province established more than a decade ago to amalgamate most of Niagara, Ontario’s hospital services has been systematically dismantling acute care services, including two hospital emergency rooms, in Niagara’s southern tier, Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey and his council have been working with doctors and other health care professionals to build a health system for the southern tier’s future.

Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey

A new system for the community is already emerging, said Badawey in a note to Niagara At Large, with the “introduction of Family Health Teams and Community Health Centres in our areas. In Port Colborne alone,” added the mayor, “we have recognized that 18% less patients are utilizing the ermegency rooms and urgent care centres throughout the Niagara Health System because enhanced services are available to them through community based primary health care, especially allied health care of which is required in some cases. Therefore, it’s working!” Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

 Close to 30,000 Brock University and Niagara College students will now be able to use the transit passes they purchase through their tuition fees to hop a ride on Niagara Region’s inter-municipal buses.

A Niagara Region Transit bus making a stop in Welland. Photo by Doug Draper

 A majority of Niagara, Ontario’s regional councillors voted this January 19 to accept what are called student “U-Passes” on Niagara Region Transit buses for a trial period starting now through to this April. The decision, following a heated council debate on the matter this past December, was applauded by Brock and Niagara College student representatives. Continue reading →

 By Doug Draper

Gary Burroughs and his Niagara regional council will soon begin addressing an issue that has often been treated as if it was radioactive by previous councils.

Niagara Regional Chair Gary Burroughs

 “We are opening it up and everything is on the table,” Niagara Regional Chair Gary Burroughs told Niagara At Large following a meeting of regional council this January 19. That means everything from sticking with the status quo to making changes to the region’s committee system, to how many individuals should sit on the council and how the regional chair is selected. And yes, the council will also review the ever thorny issue of amalgamating municipalities, right up to an including the idea of one ‘City of Niagara’. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

 “The movement must address itself to restructuring the whole of American society. The problems we are dealing with are not going to be solved until there is a radical redistribution of economic and political power.”

–         Martin Luther King, 1967

 This past Monday, January 16, I drove around Niagara Square in Buffalo, New York where the Occupy Buffalo encampment was first set up last October and lo and behold, even through some of the frigid weather we’ve been having lately, the encampment was still there.

The Occupy Buffalo encampment in the shadow of Buffalo, New York's city hall. Photo by Doug Draper

That Monday also happened to be Martin Luther King Day in America and I can’t help but believe that the late civil rights leader would be pleased to see this encampment and the fight for economic justice it stands for. There can also be little doubt, given King’s record of perseverance, that he would want to see the Occupy Movement in the United States and Canada that this Buffalo encampment is part of survive and grow.

 I predict that the Occupy Movement will grow in the months ahead because the economic conditions that gave rise to the movement this past fall – the growing wage gap between the rich and almost everyone else, the loss of good-paying jobs, the high cost of living and the diminishing of health care and other essential services – are not going to change. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting this column by veteran American filmmaker and longtime environmentalist Robert Redford on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project for your information. The column was originally posted on the online news site Reader Supported News. You can visit Reader Supported News and subscribe for the many insightful posts on that site by clicking on http://readersupportednews.org/)

 Robert Redford,  January 18, 2012

Let’s face it: Big Oil is used to getting its way. But not today… and we have President Obama to thank for standing up to them in spite of the political risk.

Robert Redford, photo from Reader Supported News

President Obama has just rejected a permit for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline – a project that promised riches for the oil giants and an environmental disaster for the rest of us.

His decision represents a victory of historic proportions for people from throughout the pipeline path and all across America who have waged an uphill, years-long fight against one of the most nightmarish fossil fuel projects of our time. Continue reading →

 A Commentary by Doug Draper

 Kudos to U.S. President Barack Obama for at least stalling a proposal for the

U.S. President Barack Obama

controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada until the completion of an environmental review.

 A Commentary by Doug Draper

 Like a drug user hooked on heroin or crack, the Province of Ontario seems hopelessly addicted to gambling.

 Call it “gaming” or call it a tax on suckers and lower income people, successive provincial governments – Conservatives, Liberals and NDP – going back to the 1970s have become ever more dependent on gambling as a source of revenue.  And with the current Liberal government facing a projected $16 billion deficit, the dependence on any and all loot that can be drawn in from lottery tickets, slot machines, crap tables and the like  has become desperate. Continue reading →

A Brief Comment by Doug Draper

Well, it is about time!

Niagara regional council in session. File photo by Doug Draper

(Niagara At Large is posting this media release from Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak for our readers’ information. NAL will continue to post newsworthy media releases from all political parties in the province and we invite you to share your views on them in the comment space below.)

 “We can’t manage the deficit without addressing what is the single biggest line in our budget – public sector compensation.” – speech by Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, Toronto, July 20, 2010

 January 16, 2012

Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

 HUDAK: ONLY ONTARIO PCs WILL FREEZE PUBLIC SECTOR SALARIES

 QUEEN’S PARK – Dalton McGuinty’s dithering over his jobs and spending crises demands an immediate and mandatory public sector wage freeze, Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak said today.

 “We have 560,000 Ontarians out of work and a spiralling $16 billion deficit,” Hudak said. “It’s time for immediate action – starting with our repeated call for a public sector wage freeze to help protect funding for front-line services.” Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the following media release from the Ontario Liberal government for our readers’ information. NAL invites you to share your views on the content of this post in the comment area below. Please remember that we only post comments that are signed with a real name.)

January 16, 2012

Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty

 The McGuinty government remains focused on jobs and the economy.  Despite uncertainty around the world, Ontario’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose 0.7 per cent (2.7 per cent annualized) in the third quarter (July to September 2011).

 Provincial GDP has now increased 5.8 per cent over the past nine quarters, putting it one per cent above its pre-recession level. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting the following media release from the Toronto-based Ontario Clean Air Alliance for our readers’ information.)

Don’t Let Nuclear Projects Blow Our Electricity Bills Through The Roof!  

Despite the fact that Ontario electricity use has fallen by 10% (while GDP increased) since 2005, plans to spend tens of billions of $$ on new nuclear projects are moving full-steam ahead.  That’s money that could be spent on energy efficiency (where Ontario still lags behind most of its major competitors), more renewable power, and safe combined heat and power technology. 

With the province struggling to address a $19 billion deficit, there has never been a better time to end the expensive nuclear goose chase.  This is the year that will decide where Ontario dollars flow: into more bloated nuclear projects or into more cost-effective options.  Continue reading →

 (Niagara At Large is posting the following January 11 media release from the Ontario NDP for your information. We will post media releases from other parties pertaining to the budget when we get them.)

Queen’s Park– New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath says all parties in Ontario’s first minority government in over twenty years have to listen to everyday families when setting priorities for the upcoming Budget and work together to meet their challenges.

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath

Joined by NDP Finance Critic Michael Prue, Horwath announced her plan to visit communities across the province over the next few weeks to discuss ideas New Democrats have already put forward: like taking the HST off home heating bills and replacing reckless corporate tax giveaways with smart tax investments that reward companies creating jobs. Continue reading →

 A Commentary by Doug Draper

It may seem hard to believe given how much Debbie Sevenpifer loomed in the lives of Niagara, Ontario residents for far to long, but a whole year has now passed since her sudden departure from the top job at the Niagara Health System.

Former NHS CEO Debbie Sevenpifer

Then suddenly and shamelessly, Souter and others were telling us that she was out, not because she did anything wrong, but because the hospital system was at a “crossroads” and could stand to have new leadership. What we, the residents of this region whose taxes go to pay for this costly empire have never been told, were the real reasons why she was let go and how much of our money she received from us a severance pay or for all we know of the transaction, a golden parachute.

To have us believe that Sevenpifer’s hand-picked sycophants suddenly woke up one day and said it is time to let her go is an insult to her intelligence. Continue reading →

 By Doug Draper

 Journalism, like any other job, has its share of ups and downs, and one of the ups for me has been the many people I’ve met across our region who have accomplished some pretty extraordinary things.

Percy McKay,always there to fight for re-introducing fish in a Lake Ontario we too often have laced with man-made poisons

 I’m not talking so much about people with big titles and positions – the makers and shakers in the community who often find ways of recognizing each other’s efforts through the bestowal of the obligatory service club awards, honorary college degrees, etc. I’m talking about ordinary people living their lives quietly on the side streets and back streets of our cities and towns. They are people who often don’t have big titles or a great deal of wealth,  but who work just as hard, with little or no compensation, to make our communities better places to live in.

 They are the people I call unsung heroes and they are the people who have so often inspired me the most.

 One of those people is Percy McKay who passed away at his St. Catharines home last week at age 87 following a year-long battle with cancer. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper.

So Mr. Premier, you parachute a new guy in to take over supervision of this Niagara, Ontario region’s ravaged hospital system.

Welland's NDP represnetative demands full disclosure of parachute deals for NHS executives.

Bad enough that we still don’t know how much your government paid off Sevenpifer to leave the system a year ago after her tenure of turning our hospital service system into a train wreck. Now we learn that Smith, your latest minion down her, has dismissed other members of the Sevenpifer crowd and we can’t even find out why they have either left or been fired – let alone what kind of golden parachute your government has granted them at our expense.

In a media release this January 12, Welland Riding MPP Cindy Forster said it right when she put it this way. The McGuinty Liberals (in Ontario have to) come clean and releast the details of the severance packages awarded to departing NHS executives. … Families in the Niagara region feel let down by the healthcare system,” she went on to say and “the public have a right to know where our taxdollars are going and how much money is being diverted from frontline care to pay for secret ‘ golden handshake’ severance payouts.

Indeed, they do. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is pleased to post this one from one of the province’s bravest appointed representatives, Environment Commissioner Gord Miller, on the continued loss of our natural spaces due to low-density sprawl and the failure of the province and regional municipalities to do much of anything about it. Rest assured that Niagara At Large will have more to say about his issue later.)

 Toronto, January 10, 2012 – The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario says the Government of Ontario must come up with a new strategy to stem the continuing decline in Ontario’s species and natural spaces.

Ontario Environment Commissioner Gord Miller

 “The Ontario government did adopt a Biodiversity Strategy in 2005,” says Gord Miller. “Unfortunately, it expired in 2010, and the government has so far chosen not to adopt an updated plan. Our government cannot avoid its obligation,” says Miller, “to guide Ontario’s response to this urgent crisis.” Continue reading →

(As we prepare to officially remember the 200^th anniversary of the War of 1812 this coming spring, check this exhibit out.)

 Ball’s Falls is proud to host an exciting new art exhibit from Canadian Art Cards, part of their Binational 1812 Art Collection – a Lasting Legacy Project. The art work depicts the effects of war on communities and the local population.

Click on this image to blow it up to full screen.

 The exhibit has opened at the Ball’s Falls Centre for Conservation (operated by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority) this January and will continue to April 30th, 2012.

Two hundred year ago, US President Madison declared war on the British Empire launching years of conflict along the borders of Upper and Lower Canada, and with Britain’s Indian allies. This art exhibit portrays life in Upper Canada prior to the war and illustrates the challenges and struggles of living through the ensuing events. Continue reading →

(Niagara At Large is posting this January 10 media release from the office of St. Catharines Conservative MP Rick Dykstra for your information. It speaks to the New York State government’s plans to introduce legislation for controlling the dumping of ballast waters in the Great Lakes with possible invasive species in them and the concern major shipping companies in Canada have that this legislation could hurt their business.)

St. Catharines– City councilors last night voted unanimously to support a resolution opposing New York State’s “unachievable” incoming ballast water regulations, urging the American and Canadian governments to take all possible measure to stop them from being implemented as proposed.

St. Catharines, Ontario federal MP Rick Dykstra.

 Stephen Brooks, vice-president of the Chamber of Marine Commerce, flanked by St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra, made a presentation to council last night, outlining for councilors how potentially devastating these regulations could be for marine shipping on the St. Lawrence Seaway.  Afterward, he praised council for its support. “We’re pleased that the City of St. Catharines recognizes the potential harm that New York State’s regulations could bring to their city and region and we are hopeful that other Canadian and American cities around the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway will also adopt similar resolutions.” Continue reading →

By Bernie Slepkov

 Understanding, interacting with, and affecting the world around us and the communities in which we live call for both telescopic and microscopic visions. Ever since its local owners sold the St. Catharines Standard we have been gradually losing our microscopic visions.

Niagara citizen activist Bernie Slepkov

Meanwhile, without alternate local dailies, skewed telescopic visions foster ill-informed readers and limited worldviews.

 Realizing back in 1996 that certain critical aspects of our societies were on the verge of significant needed change, I began to research and track societal trends. For this I read or scanned every newspaper on which I could get my hands. Frankly, I wanted to—and ultimately have—played a role in influencing the kinds of societal changes I thought would eventually benefit St. Catharines, and indeed, Niagara at large. Continue reading →

Niagara At Large is posting the following media release from the St. Catharines and District Council of Women for our readers information. It draws attention to an event, scheduled for Thursday, January, 12 at the Centennial Library in downtown St. Catharines Ontario.

Featured speaker David Alexander

 That event will feature an address by David Alexander, executive director of the not-for-profit Niagara Workforce Planning Board and it will focus on jobs in this region. As you may know Niagara has recently suffered from some of the highest jobless rates in the province and country. So this is a timely talk on one of the most challenging issues we face as a region. Here is the media release. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

 We often hear a great deal of complaining these days about government and how poorly it is working. These complaints and the anger that so often propels them provide grist for  neo- conservatives and libertarians in our midst to say lets gut government or get rid of it all together.

Image courtesy of Niagara Region.

 Yet there are successes – some of which we take for granted – and in Niagara, Ontario one of the very best is the regional government’s recycling program.

 Thanks to that program and thanks to residents across Niagara who have participated by making use of Blue and Grey boxes for recycling plastics, metal and paper and the like, and those Green bins for compostable organics, we are keeping almost half of the waste we generate in our homes and businesses out of landfill sites – a fantastic achievement given that a mere three decades ago, many skeptics in and outside of government believed  most of us would not go to the trouble to recycle. Continue reading →

(Niagara at large is pleased to post the following media release from the Niagara Parks Commission on this site. It highlights one of the Ontario-based Park Commission’s great annual events – coming to you in January when you might think there aren’t many fun things to do in the Parks. )

 Send your Christmas Tree to the Curb and Give Back to the Environment

 Niagara Falls, ON– What do you do with your Christmas tree once Christmas and New Year’s have passed? Come to the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens and School of Horticulture on Sunday, January 15 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the annual Project Tree Cycle event.

Get out of the January cold at Niagara Park's Butterfly Conservancy. Photo courtesy of Niagara Parks Commission.

 The Niagara Parks Commission (NPC) invites you to bring your own bag and shovel to collect FREE wood chips recycled from discarded Christmas trees. Christmas trees will be collected on Saturday, January 14 through the Regional Waste Program and NPC staff will mulch the trees on Sunday, January 15. The wood chip mulch will be available in the north end of the parking lot directly in front of the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens and School of Horticulture. Continue reading →

By Mark Taliano

In a world dominated by hollowed-out newspapers, vacuous television, and political campaigns obsessed with sound-bites and banalities, it’s always refreshing to dig deeper and expand the public discourse. 

Entering the Wahgoshig First Nations reservation. Is this another country or is it Canada? Photo courtesy of Mark Taliano.

 This is what John Ralston Saul does in A Fair Country Telling Truths About Canada.  Interestingly, his message resonates with today’s grassroots citizens’ movements (i.e the world-wide Occupy Movement). The underlying message is that if we, as Canadians, find the confidence to be true to ourselves, and to understand who we are, we will be empowered to the benefit of ourselves and the world.  Continue reading →

NIA Dec29 col Complete DD

  A Commentary by Doug Draper

Goodbye to the good, bad and ugly of 2011.

A typical template for a holiday family newsletter for people that can't use their own imagination.

 It has been a year of blood-letting wars and revolutions overseas, destructive flood, fire and wind storms, a world economy teetering on the brink and continued high unemployment rates here at home.

Whether 2011 has been a good year or bad one, or something in between depends on your perspective.

 If you lost your job or lost a loved one to illness or a fatal accident, or if some other tragedy of that magnitude shook you on the home front, then this year may be one you won’t look back on very fondly. Then again, if you were fortunate to keep your job and avoid any other calamities, then it may be a different story.

 One of the things I find most interesting in this regard are those family newsletters some people insist on sending around in place of a mere card or, dare I dream, an actual visit or phone call during the holiday season. You know the kind of newsletters I’m talking about, don’t you? They’re the ones written like form letters with no references to you or your family other than your name keyed in after the word “Dear …” Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

 I get sick and tired of reading these stories about newspapers being gutted by corporate vultures across this continent.

One more once-proud newspaper going to the corporate barons' slaughter house.

 I also get sick and tired of those in our communities who pretend to lament the passage of the newspaper as it was, yet continue to purchase a shelled-out piece of crap of that paper, served upby the corporatists anyway. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

 In my 33 years as a reporter, I’ve covered my share of people facing bad times and have been so often impressed with how remarkable people facing the worst of times in their lives can soar above them with strength and dignity.

Reilly's parents, Tim Anzovino and Denise Kennedy, making a final statement following the inquest in to their daughter's death. Photo by Doug Draper

There is no award I can think of in Niagara, Ontario for a family that fits that tall bill, but if I could pick one for the year 2011, it would be the Anzovino/Kennedy family of Fort Erie, Ontario.

 This is the family of Reilly Anzovino who died at age 18 – two years ago this December 27 – following a car accident on a stretch of Highway 3 between Port Colborne and her hometown of Fort Erie. The accident occurred after the Niagara Health System had shut down the emergency rooms in the Fort Erie and Port Colborne hospitals earlier that year. And to say that this family has

 The family, including  Reilly’s mom, Denise Kennedy, and Reilly’s dad, Tim Anzovino, their son Kain and so many other supportive members, worked with the support of the Fort Erie area community to get Ontario’s chief coroner, Dr. Andrew McCallum, to hold a “discretionary inquest” in to the matter – no small thing since mandatory inquests are usually only held for cases of murder and the like. Continue reading →

By Charles Davies, a citizen of Fort Erie, Ontario

(Niagara At Large is posting this piece with the permission of Charles Davies because it is the most detailed one we’ve received yet, expressing disappointment that Andre Marin, Ontario’s Ombudsman, has still not responded in any affirmative way calls from Niagara residents for an investigation by his office into the Niagara Health System, the body responsible for operating most of this region’s hospital services. If anyone one else out there would like to share their views on this issue, read Mr. Davies’ notes then post your comments below. Doug Draper, Niagara At Large.)

 Dear Mr. Draper,

Some time ago, in one of your columns, you  stated that the Ombudsman of Ontario now had the power to investigate the NHS because a government supervisor was in charge. I jumped at the chance to send in a complaint to Mr. Marin.

Where is Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin on the NHS?

Several of my friends sent in submissions with the same result.
It appears that Kevin Smith is only there to put out fires and to “improve communications with the public” . He has stated that he will not look at the past – only the future. They are all in this together – NHS, LHIN, the Ministry of Health, and Dalton McGuity who want to stay as far away from the problems as possible. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

If you are movie buff, you may know that a film called ‘My Week With Marilyn’ is hitting screens around North America.

My father Doug Sr. with me and Casey Adams, starring in the Hollywood film 'Niagara' from 1952. Marilyn Monroe, another star in the film, was greeting fans in the Table Rock restaurant in the background. And why wasn't I there???!!!!

My wife Mary and I first saw it at a wonderful independent theatre on Cape Cod late this November and liked it so much that we went to see it again the week before Christmas at another great old independent theatre in Buffalo called the North Park.

The movie is about a young guy in his early 20s who managed to get a job working as a third-string producer on a film being made in England in the mid-1950s by the late great actor Lawrence Olivia and co-starring Marilyn Monroe, who was on the verge at the time of making her mark as one of the greatest sex symbols in films in such hits as ‘Some Like It Hot’, ‘The Seven Year Itch’, ‘Bus Stop’ and ‘The Misfits’. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

 A coalition of Canadian and U.S. mayors around the Great Lakes, chaired by St. Catharines, Ontario Mayor Brian McMullan, is calling on provincial, state and federal governments for public hearings and “for utmost transparency and disclosure” when it comes to the potential impact of ‘fracking wastes’ on Great Lakes waters.

St. Catharines mayor and Great Lakes mayors' coalition chair Brian McMullan.

 “We are saying that this is such an important issue that we want to make sure that municipalities are part of the discussion and that the discussion is transparent,” said McMullan in a recent interview with Niagara At Large following a meeting of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative earlier this December.

 This initiative or coalition, established in 2003 and made up of 82 mayors from cities and town around the Canadian and U.S. shores of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, used the same resolution passed this December in Chicago to ask for complete disclosure of the chemicals used in a fracking process that involves injecting chemically treated water deep into layers of shale rock to free up natural gas for extraction and use as a source of energy. Continue reading →

A Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper

 How I sometimes wish I could go back to my early childhood when Christmas seemed so magic and my brother and I used to sneak out of bed hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus, Rudolph and company casting a shadow across a full moon on the ‘night before.’

Our Christmas frog. Have a froggy Christmas.

 Of course, our staying up like that made it a bit hard on our mother and father who had to outlast us to put the presents under the tree and do whatever they did with the milk and cookies we left out for the jolly old guy. But it was nice and it sure beats going out for a few last things on the day before Christmas and putting up with ugliness of people playing chicken in shopping mall parking lots for a spot to leave their car and trying to shove in before another at the cash registers. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

 One of the arguments often used against the Conservative government of Stephen Harper by its critics is that thanks to its policies, Canada is losing its reputation as a world leader in such areas as health care, peace keeping and the environment.

A green mushy lawn, along with deflated lawn ornaments, is now what we have of a display that has won awards in the past. It's a green Christmas and let's hope for many more. Bring on climate change! Photo by Doug Draper

 I’ve got to confess. I’ve been among those critics, especially when it comes to what I’ve viewed as the Harper government’s failure to be a leader in making decisions on environmental issues that have potentially catastrophic consequences, not only for Canada but for the rest of the world.

All of that changed last week though when Peter Kent, the environment minister for the Harper government, announced Canada’s intentions to be the first of more than 140 nations to pull out of a Kyoto agreement our country signed in the 1990s to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases to combat climate change. If that isn’t showing leadership on an environment issue of international importance, then what the hell is?!!! Continue reading →

 By Doug Draper

 The coroner’s inquest into the death two Christmas season ago of Fort Erie, Ontario teen Reilly Anzovino is over and it spawned 27 recommendations in all for improving responses to traffic collisions that result in life-threatening injuries.

With Tim Anzovino, Reilly's father to the right, family member Patricia Anzovino behind her and lawyer Maureen Currie to the left, Reilly's mother, Denise Kennedy, reads statement at conclusion of inquest. Photo by Doug Draper

 The recommendations came from a five-person jury in a Welland courtroom after those jurors listened to three weeks of evidence, involving the testimony of about three dozen witnesses, and at the end of the day, the Anzovino family said it was satisfied with the results.

Denise Kennedy, Reilly’s mother, said after the jury completed its deliberations his December 21 that the family hopes the recommendations, if followed through by various levels of government, will prevent other families from suffering the tragedy her family did.

 Those recommendations include reviewing the need for a centre to deal with trauma patients in Niagara and the need for paramedics to adhere, as much as possible, to a 10-minute standard when it comes to loading patients on an ambulance and rushing off to a hospital. In this inquest, there were concerns raised about the roughly 17 minutes of time it took for paramedics to leave the scene of the accident after  Reilly was placed in the ambulance. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Friends of Fort Erie, Ontario teen Reilly Anzovino are asking the province to establish a new law, requiring that families of loved ones involved in serious car crashes be notified of the incident as soon as possible.

Reilly's brother Kain, with Reilly's friends from left, Kate Kutka, Jamal Mills-Alexander, Emma Kutka and Brianna Reay at the Welland courthouse. Photo by Doug Draper

 Reilly’s friends shared their plea for what they are calling “Reilly’s Law” with members of the media at a Welland courthouse this December 21, where an Ontario coroner’s inquest in to the circumstances surrounding their friend’s death two years ago this holiday season was in to its final hours.

 The Fort Erie teen was pronounced dead at the Niagara Health System’s Welland hospital site at 1:21 a.m. on December 27, 2009 following an accident that occurred almost two hours earlier on a Fort Erie stretch of Highway 3. Reilly’s parents were contactd by Ontario Provincial Police at 1:17  a.m. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

 A five-person jury is expected to table its findings and recommendations at 3 p.m. this December 21 following more than three weeks of testimony into the circumstances surrounding the death two years ago of Fort Erie teen Reilly Anzovino.

The Welland Courthouse where the Inquest has been held. Photo by Doug Draper

 Reilly Anzovino was pronounced dead at 1:21 a.m. on December 27, 2009 following a traffic collision in the late hours of Boxing Day on Highway 3 between her hometown of Fort Erie and Port Colborne. Many residents in Niagara’s south end, including members of Reilly’s family, have wondered ever since if she would still be alive today if the Niagara Health System had not converted emergency rooms at hospitals it operates in Fort Erie and Port Colborne to urgent care centres that could no longer accept with life-threatening injuries or illnesses. With the closing of those ERs, Reilly was transported that night to an emergency room further away at the hospital in Welland. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

 There have been those from the start that have said “No” to the idea of a full-fledged regional transit system for Niagara, Ontario, and that is sad.

Niagara regional chair speaks at launch of Niagara Region Transit last September. Is it already time to pull the plug on this "pilot" transit system? Photo by Doug Draper

 Why can’t a region of more than 400,000 residents, with hundreds of thousands more visiting Niagara during the height of the tourist season, have a region-wide transit system of its own, just as Erie and Niagara Counties, New York do, and just as Waterloo Region, Ontario does, and York and Durham in this province?

 Those who’ve read my columns on this site and in other publications over the years going back to my days as an environment reporter at The St. Catharines Standard, may know that I have always been an energetic supporter of public transit. Continue reading →

A  Comment by Doug Draper

 He was one of my favourite fellow atheists, not to mention one of the most brilliant and provocative journalists and essay writers of our age.

Christopher Hitchens

 To say that we humans – all of us who are fortunate to share this planet just for a little while – have suffered a loss of one of the few left among us who kept intelligent and challenging discourse alive in an age of bumper sticker slogans and two-sentence tweets is to say the least. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

 If we need yet another reason why there should be a change in governance in this region, right up to and including the possibility of amalgamating all 12 local municipalities into one ‘City of Niagara’, take a look at the stumbling around we are doing with a service so vital as public transit.

Photo by Doug Draper

 You may or may not know that as of this past September, we now have an “inter-municipal public transit service” in Niagara. It is all but a secret, except for the noble attempts of the regional government’s communication department to spread the word around through newsletters, pamphlets and so on. But this is where we have to be carefull and almost get down to a whisper about regional buses, lest we offend the parochial interests of our local municipalities. Continue reading →