This year Culture Days in St. Catharines will expand from its traditional weekend-long format to encompass a whole month, from September 25th to October 25th
News from the City of St. Catharines in Niagara, Ontario
Posted September 25th, 2020 on Niagara At Large
Niagara, Ontario — From the history of the Welland Canal to a vibrant and growing arts scene, there is no shortage of culture to celebrate in St. Catharines. So much so that this year it will take a whole month to celebrate as Culture Days returns.
The City is once again gearing up to participate in the Canada-wide celebration of arts and culture, that this year will expand from its traditional weekend-long format to encompass a whole month, from Sept. 25 to Oct. 25.
Every year communities across Canada participate in Culture Days, featuring hands-on activities inviting the public to participate in the cultural landscapes of their communities. This year will be no different, albeit with the introduction of more online events, and physical distancing measures for in-person events. Continue reading
“Canada has been promising climate action for years now, yet we continue to fall further behind in meeting our existing targets. There is still no vision for how Canada gets off fossil fuels or transforms our economy and energy system.” – Tim Gray, Environmental Defence Canada
Ontario government is providing people with convenient and timely access to free COVID-19 testing at pharmacies in the province. As of Friday, up to 60 pharmacies in Ontario will begin offering testing by appointment only, with further locations coming online in the coming weeks. This initiative will expand testing capacity well beyond the province’s 150 assessment centres.
“Climate action will be a cornerstone of our plan to support and create a million jobs across the country.
Niagara, Ontario – Fall is the perfect time to add trees and shrubs to your garden.
QUEEN’S PARK — NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Tuesday that Ontario is in desperate need of action to help Ontario cope with the second wave of COVID-19 infections.
“It was clear from the visit (by UN Human Rights Council representatives) that many communities in Canada continue to be exploited by toxic exposures. ….. The prevalence of discrimination in Canada’s laws and policies regarding hazardous substances and wastes is clear. There exists a pattern in Canada where marginalized groups, and Indigenous peoples in particular, find themselves on the wrong side of a toxic divide, subject to conditions that would not be acceptable elsewhere in Canada.” – from a newly released United Nations Human Rights Council report
Trump’s cult-like band of worshipers – many of them evangelical Christians – could not seem to wait for 24 hours following the death of the great U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before pressing to have her seat filled with a judge, singularly bent on saving fetus at any cost to anything or anyone else.
Niagara, Ontario – There are 10,524 people living with progressive dementia in Niagara, with the most common being Alzheimer’s disease. Anyone may develop dementia and there is no cure.
Yet there should be no escaping the fact – in a country where, for tens of millions of Trump worshippers, facts don’t matter anymore – the United States reached a jarring milestone this past Saturday, September 20th of 200,000 deaths, confirmed to be caused by this highly-infectious plague over a period of just six months since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global healthy emergency.
Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Region has launched a new waste management app, called Niagara Region Waste, which makes it even easier for residents to obtain current information about waste and recycling collection programs.
Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Region Public Health (NRPH) has advised the District School Board of Niagara that an individual at Eastdale Secondary School has tested positive for COVID-19. For privacy reasons, the identity of the individual will not be shared.
There has been a significant increase in the number of people seeking testing over the past week at Niagara Health’s three COVID-19 Assessment Centres, with 3,484 tests performed between Sept. 11 to 17, which is an average of nearly 500 people per day. 
Niagara, Ontario – The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) is pleased to announce the receipt of federal funding through Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Great Lakes Protection Initiative.
In a piece I posted on the Niagara At Large news and commentary site earlier this Tuesday, September 15th, I left a very important (one might even say key or critical) word out of a sentence I wrote about the current state of democracy in Canada, the United States and other parts of the world.
Well, what is this? Should we start hording toilet paper again for a second wave?
You might have heard the Ontario government has announced that small game hunters will be allowed to kill 15 cormorants per day beginning September 15th and ending on December 31st.
St. Catharines, Ontario – Celebration of Nations 2020 opened on Friday 11 September with a powerful message that reflected upon the many challenges humanity currently faces while honouring a group of remarkable achievers whose accomplishments have diffused knowledge, broadened awareness, and inspired us to live lives of meaning, purpose, enjoyment, and responsibility.
“The OPP’s actions run counter not only to well-established constitutional law protecting freedom of the press but serve to frustrate reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Arresting and charging an Indigenous journalist (Karl Dockstader) for reporting on Indigenous land occupations through Indigenous voices feels very much like systemic racism.” – Dr. Pamela Palmater, an Indigenous lawyer, specializing in Indigenous and human rights law, and an associate professor and chair in Indigenous governance at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario
QUEEN’S PARK, Ontario – MPPs Catherine Fife (Waterloo), the NDP’s critic for Economic Growth and Job Creation, and Jill Andrew (Toronto—St. Paul’s), NDP critic for Women’s Issues, have issued a statement following the publication of a new Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) report on the need to address the disproportionate economic impact of the COVID-19 on women:
Too many pressing issues that we need to be addressing, for the sake of our future, right now – issues like the climate emergency, the toxic algae blooms and plastics choking our Great Lakes, and the continued threat to populations of pollinating bees by chemical sprays used by farmers who should be just as concerned about the loss of these pollinators – are tragically been pushed to the side or are not receiving the attention they deserve because of the pandemic.
QUEEN’S PARK, Ontario — The Official Opposition is asking the Ford government to commit to posting a list online of all schools with COVID-19 cases, while maintaining the privacy of students and staff.
Hamilton, Ontario – In an unprecedented wave of public involvement in a civic issue, Hamilton officials have received written correspondence from over 400 people supporting the defund police campaign. The outpouring continues this week with more than three dozen people set to make personal video delegations to city councillors at the Tuesday morning on-line general issues committee meeting.
Ottawa – To mark Labour Day, Canada’s unions are calling on all levels of government to focus on investments and community supports to help restart our economies and protect Canadians.
Niagara, Ontario – Niagara’s residents, businesses and visitors are asked to treat each other with kindness and respect when it comes to wearing a mask in public spaces.
One Showing Only – This Sunday, September 6th, 2020 at the the Can View Drive-In directly off the Highways 20 and 406 interchange in Thorold – Box Office for the film opens at 7:30 p.m.
Phil Demers is a part-time mailman who lives in a bungalow across the creek from MarineLand, the iconic amusement park in Niagara Falls, where he had his dream job as an animal trainer for over a decade. He swam with killer whales and ran the show, until he quit and blew the whistle, making claims of animal abuse and calling for an end to the near 60-year-old practice of keeping marine mammals in pools.
“Ontario post-secondary students were already paying some of the highest tuition fees in Canada, and were saddled with an average debt load of $28,000. … “It is unfair to expect post-secondary students reeling from months of financial hardship and facing a limited campus and in-class learning experience this Fall to pay the same hefty tuition fees that were too high to begin with.” – Ontario NDP MPP Chris Glover
