Niagara At Large

A New CBC Report Says Doug Ford Is Continuing To Talk Up Urban Development In Greenbelt

Jim Bradley, during one of the many times he, as an MPP for St. Catharines, spoke to a gathering of Niagara residents working to protect and preserve green space in the region.

“When our (Ontario Liberal) government was elected to office in 2003, urban communities were sprawling at a dangerous rate and tens of thousands of acres of precious land were being gobbled up for development. To counter this worrisome trend, our government created the largest permanent Greenbelt anywhere in the world, which protects almost two million acres of pristine land and fresh water.”                                                  – then-St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley, in a statement in the Ontario legislature, delivered May 1st, 2018

A News Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted September 190^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

“One of the main reasons I decided to run for public office at the provincial level was to protect our valuable farmland, green fields, wetlands, ravines, rivers streams and environmentally sensitive areas from unwise and reckless development.”

Those words were spoken in the Ontario legislature on May 1^st, 2018 by Jim Bradley, who was the Liberal MPP for St. Catharines at the time, and who earlier in his long tenure in provincial politics, served twice as Ontario’s environment minister.

Now Chair of Niagara Region’s council, Jim Bradley’s words recall the concern he already had for the survival of what is left of our natural heritage in the Golden Horseshoe while he was a a St. Catharines city councillor in the late 1970s, preparing to run as a candidate provincially.

Bradley’s words were also spoken after a video tape was leaked to the news media a year ago this spring, showing then Tory leadership candidate Doug Ford speaking to a group of developers in what he thought was a private setting about allowing “chunks” of the province’s protected Greenbelt to be paved over for housing if he were to become premier.

“People of all political persuasion have … expressed support for the Greenbelt,” added Bradley during his statement in the provincial legislature in May of last year. “They would be appalled and extremely concerned when viewing a video of (then) PC Party leader Doug Ford promising developers to open up a “big chunk” of Ontario ‘s greenbelt for development, and admitting that he had already talked to some of the biggest developers in the country (about doing just that.)”

Before I go on to comment on Ford’s continued, obsessive interest in turning over “chunks” of our world renown Greenbelt running through Niagara and around Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area, here is that infamous video that you can watch by clicking on the screen below –

After this video went public, political critics like Jim Bradley slammed Ford. And the video also  triggered an outcry from environmentalists and members o the general public alike.

So much so that Ford quickly retreated from the words he was caught uttering in the video. Continue reading →

This year – 2019 – on Track to be Worst for Toxic Blooms Causing People to be Sick and Pets to Die

Toxic Algae is killing fish and threatening other life in Great Lakes

A News Release from the Office of U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins in Buffalo, New York

Posted September 10^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large 

Buffalo, New York – Congressman Brian Higgins  is asking the United States Army Corps to expand a pilot project, which is seeing success in combatting Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB), to the Great Lakes.

In his letter Higgins says, “I write today to respectfully request that, simultaneous with the pilot effort on Lake Okeechobee, similar pilot efforts be undertaken in Lake Erie, which has suffered, in recent years, from serious harmful algal blooms.

A shot from space shows mats of green algae spreading through Lake Ontario. File photo

  “These phenomena (the letter continues) are not merely an impediment to recreational activities on the lakes, but the toxins associated with algal blooms threaten the water supplies of major cities.  This crisis is significant and growing and requires a rapid and coordinated response.” Continue reading →

Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterfhoff

“Adding new long-term care beds and upgrading older beds to modern design at Shalom Manor (in Grimsby), and across the (Niagara) region, is key to our government’s transformational strategy to end hallway health care in Ontario. … “We owe it to the older generations who need care now, and for our children. One day, they will need this care too.” – Niagara West MPP and Ford Government rep. Sam Oosterhoff

A News Release from the Government of Ontario

Posted September 10th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Grimsby, Ontario  — Across the province, there are more than 34,000 Ontarians waiting to get into a long-term care home, putting strain on the health care system and leaving residents waiting too long for the care they desperately need.

The government is taking swift action and delivering on its commitment to end hallway health care by adding more long-term care beds in communities across Ontario.

This September 10th, Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Long-Term Care, was joined by Effie Triantafilopoulos, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Long-Term Care, MPPs Sam Oosterhoff, Toby Barrett, Will Bouma and Donna Skelly at Shalom Manor & Gardens in Grimsby to announce the government is allocating almost 1,000 new long-term care beds and upgrading almost 800 existing beds to modern design in Haldimand-Norfolk, Brant, Hamilton and Niagara. Continue reading →

Reiger Begonia Show at the Floral Showhouse this Fall·   Floral Showhouse takes on fall harvest theme, September 14 – October 21, in Niagara Falls, Ontario 

An Invite from Ontario’s Niagara Parks Commission 

Posted September 10^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large 

Niagara Falls, Ontario – A wonderful mix of fall colours will be featured in this year’s Reiger Begonia show at the Floral Showhouse, from September 14 – October 21. 

The floral design theme is Rooted: Fall Harvest, with collections of rooted vegetables showcasing orange and red begonias in the north house. Continue reading →

Will Niagara West MPP and Ford Government Rep Sam Oosterhoff be Among the Last to Enjoy a Wedding at NPCA’s Ball’s Falls Conservation Area?

What more will Ontario Premier Doug Ford do to province’s cash-strapped Conservation Authorities?

And How Much Right Does The Province Have Left To Dictate Anything  Conservation Authorities Do When It Contributes So Little To Conservation Budgets?

A News Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted September 9th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

This August, in a letter to Conservation Ontario – an umbrella group for the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) and 35 other Conservation Authorities across the province – Jeff Yurek, Ontario’s Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks, recommended that Conservation Authorities begin to “wind down” any activities that “fall outside the scope of (their) core mandate.”

Kim Gavine, general manager of Conservation Ontario, responded that the recommendation, or “request as Yurek put it, in the minister’s August 16^th letter “stunned” Conservation Authorities and left them “caught completely by surprise.”

Ontario Environment, Conservation and Parks Minister Jeff Yurek stuns Conservation Authorities with letter suggesting they should “wind down” some activities.

In the wake of Yurek’s letter, Conservation Authorities were left wondering what “activities” he was referring to and what exactly the Ford government he serves views as their “core mandate.”

As the dog days of August dragged on, Ontario’s Conservation Authorities and the public at large were treated to at least a partial list of what activities the provincial government has in mind.

In media interviews, Yurek and one of his spokespersons were quoted in newspapers listing activities like zip-lining, maple syrup festivals, and photography and wedding permits in their conservation areas among the activities that should be wound down.

“Over the years, conservation authorities have expanded past their core mandate into activities such as zip-lining, maple syrup festivals and photography and wedding permits,” Yurek was quoted saying in an August 21^st story in the Toronto Star.

Weddings, just to focus on one the possible activities on the Ford government’s wind down list, have been very popular at the NPCA’s Ball’s Falls Conservation Area for many years now and through the fees the NPCA charges wedding parties for use of the facilities on the area’s scenic lands, it has also been an important source of revenue the NPCA uses to help cover the costs of watershed restoration and other conservation projects that are arguably part of its core mandate.

Niagara West MPP and Ford Government representative Sam Oosterhoff and his new wife recently enjoy their wedding reception at Ball’s Falls Conservation Area. (This photo was taken this August on front steps of historic Ball family residence.) Will they be among the last to do so as Ford government eyes winding down such activities at Conservation Authority sites? A Facebook image.

And it just so happens, as Niagara At Large recently learned from sources outside of the NPCA and this region of the province, that just two weeks before Yurek “stunned” Conservation Authorities with his request that such activities be wound down, that Niagara West MPP and Ford government representative Sam Oosterhoff, had his wedding at the Ball’s Falls Conservation Area, located in the Niagara municipality of Lincoln.

One of the many guests at wedding, sources confirmed was Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Continue reading →

Government of Ontario is proposing to open up hunting of wolves and coyotes across the north.

Ontario’s Ford Government is moving to put more of province’s wolves and coyotes in the cross-hairs. An Ontario Naturephoto of Grey Wolf cubs.  Photo by John Pitcher

An Action Alert from Ontario Nature, a non-partisan, not-for profit advocacy group for protecting and preserving Ontario’s natural heritage

Why are these wolves being scapegoated? Why, indeed, when there is no scientific evidence to justify Ford’s proposed cull? Ontario Nature photo by Douglas Sprott

Posted September 6^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Without a shred of supporting scientific evidence, the Government of Ontario is proposing to open up hunting of wolves and coyotes across the north.

The reason?

They claim that it’s to address the declining moose populations. But the evidence doesn’t add up. Continue reading →

“The Tongass (National Forest) is an essential carbon sink. It stores more atmospheric carbon than any other U.S. forest.  Each tree that is cut down removes a piece of this invaluable resource that helps slow climate change.”                                                                                – The Sierra Club, in an open appeal for our help to save this rich, life-giving forest

One of North America’s greatest stand of trees is now in Trump’s sights for destruction

A Call-Out for Support from the Sierra Club

Posted September 6^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from NAL’s Doug Draper – I am generally reluctant to post calls for support that involve asking for dollar donations on Niagara At Large, outside of a shortlist of exceptions.

I am making an exception in this case because the organization asking for donations – the Sierra Club – is one of the oldest and most respected conservation groups in the world – and the battle they need funding for is against efforts by the Trump administration and some of the greediest pirates in the logging industry to literally cut the life out of one of the last great stands of trees on this continent that Canada shares with the United States.

This disgusting and dangerous move, along with so many others Trump and his fellow swamp creatures are making around deconstructing a legacy of environmental safeguards has the potential to seriously compromise a healthy and prosperous future for all of us.

So we need to support groups like the Sierra Club in whatever way we can to fight these battles.)

Now here is the Sierra Club’s call-out for support –

In the last week of August, President Trump told the Forest Service to exempt the Tongass National Forest from the Roadless Rule that has protected it ; and millions more acres of National Forest System land; from road building and logging for 20 years. Continue reading →

* St. David’s Public School on Regional Rd. 81 (York Rd.) from Queenston Rd.    to Concession 3 Rd. in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake 

* Twenty Valley Public School on Regional Rd. 24 (Victoria Ave.) from    Frederick Ave. to Regional Rd. 81 (King St.) in the Town of Lincoln

Community Safety Zones will help get students to school safely at two locations in Niagara this September

A News Release from Niagara’s Regional Government

Posted September 6^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – It’s back to school time, and Niagara Region is launching Community Safety Zones at two locations on Regional Roads to help improve safety for students and their families travelling to and from school.

Community Safety Zones are intended to modify driver behaviour including reducing speed and distracted driving, and improve safety on certain sections of road where public safety is of special concern. Continue reading →

Ford Is Trying to Bully Gas Stations Into Affixing  Propaganda Stickers to Their Pumps

A News Release from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association

Posted September 5^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

This Ford government sticker is a shot at one of the federal Liberal government’s efforts to place a price on climate-changing carbon pollution by, in part, demonizing it as a “tax.” Many critics see the sticker as propaganda Ford is putting out there just in time to assist his federal Tory friend and ally Andrew Scheer in the upcoming October federal election.

As promised, this September 4^th the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) filed its legal challenge to the mandatory anti-carbon tax gas stickers required by Ontario law, failing which gas retailers will be fined up to $10,000 per day.

The government stickers direct consumers to a website to read about how the Ontario government has a “better way” of fighting climate change.

“The provincial government can engage in a war of words with the federal government over the carbon tax, but it cannot use the threat of fines to conscript private businesses to take up its cause,” says Cara Zwibel, Director of the Fundamental Freedoms Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

CCLA’s claim argues that the law violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ protection of freedom of expression. Forcing retailers to post a particular, government-mandated message about a political issue, particularly just prior to a federal election, is compelled speech that is not reasonable and cannot be justified by any compelling government objective.

The CCLA is represented by Sandra Barton and Steven Sofer of Gowlings LLP in Toronto.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) is a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization that works to protect the rights and freedoms of all people in Canada.

For more information on the CCLA and its Civil Liberties work, click on the association’s website at – https://ccla.org/ .

To read a recent Niagara At Large commentary on this issue, click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2019/09/03/fords-devious-and-dishonest-carbon-tax-sticker-now-on-display-on-gas-pumps-near-you/ .

The following image has recently been making the rounds on Twitter, and has been posted here by Niagara At Large because NAL believes, based on Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s record, that it makes a valid point. (It has nothing to do with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.)

NIAGARA AT LARGE encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie Sanders quote below.

A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For more news and commentary from Niagara At Large – an independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at www.niagaraatlarge.com .

“A politician thinks of the next election. a leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

A News Brief by Doug Draper

Posted September 5th, 2019 on Niagara At large

Niagara, Ontario – Just ahead of what is expected to be a close and hotly contested federal election, it is hardly unexpected that Canada’s current federal government has finally come through with $29 million in funds for the 2021 Canada Summer Games to be hosted in Niagara.

The announcement of the funds – a dollar for dollar match with those secured days ago from Ontario’s Ford  government, was made this September 5th in Niagara by Canada’s Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, François-Philippe Champagne, and comes just 10 days before the September 15th deadline for calling the federal election, set for October 21st. Continue reading →

Niagara Parks’ Botanical Gardens are transformed into a hub of activity over four weekends in September

Festival grounds are free to the public with a variety of family activities

Access to workshops, demonstrations and tours included with purchase of a Rooted Pass

An Invite to All from Ontario’s Niagara Parks Commission

Posted September 5th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

One of the many majestic trees in Niagara Parks’ Botanical Gardens

Niagara Falls, Ontario – Niagara Parks’ signature autumn experience, Rooted, returns to the Botanical Gardens this September. Guests are invited to enjoy the beautiful gardens through interactive workshops, talks, tours and demonstrations that explore how the natural environment sustains and nurtures us physically, mentally and creatively.

The Rooted festival presents four specially themed weekends with workshops led by local experts, behind-the-scenes tours and demonstrations with Niagara Parks staff, and other interactive events, all taking place within the stunning Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens. Continue reading →

A News Release from the Constituency Office of Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey 

Posted September 5^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large 

Niagara Falls, Ontario – This September 3^rd, Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey and St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle visited the future space of the Niagara Falls Creative Hub and announced funding of up to $3,000,000 for the Corporation of the City of Niagara Falls.

Attending funding announcement, from left to right are Kim Van Stygeren, City of Niagara Falls Cultural Program Assistant;
Kathy Moldenhauer, City of Niagara Falls Director of Recreation & Culture; Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey;
Jim Diodati, Mayor City of Niagara Falls;
Clark Bernat, City of Niagara Falls Culture & Museums Manager; St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle; and Janet Zylstra, City of Niagara Falls Farmers’ Market Coordinator

This funding will support the creation of a new multi-use creative hub designed to bring together professional artists, artisans, and arts and heritage organizations from a variety of creative disciplines. Continue reading →

Living Wage Certification Goes to one of Ontario’s first shelters for abused women and children 

News from the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network 

Posted September 5^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large 

Gillian’s Place managers received Living Wage Certification

The Niagara Poverty Reduction Network is pleased to announce that Gillian’s Place has become a certified living wage employer at the Champion level.

As one of Ontario’s first shelters for abused women and children, Gillian’s Place has grown to provide services throughout North and West Niagara.

With the 34 bed shelter and two office locations, Gillian’s Place provides safe refuge and non-residential programs that enable women and their children to break the cycle of violence for over 40 years. They currently employ 24 full time and 18 part time staff. Continue reading →

From his Bully Pulpit, Ford orders Gas Retailers to Affix this Propaganda to Gas Pumps – Just in Time to help get his Tory pal Andrew Scheer elected Prime Minister

A News Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted September 3^rd, 2019 on Niagara At Large

How sad it was to go to a gas bar at a Canadian Tire outlet in Niagara this Labour Day weekend and see Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s propaganda sticker, decrying a price the federal government is placing on carbon pollution, displayed on all of the pumps.

This sticker, for anyone who has not yet seen it, claims that the current federal Liberal government’s move to place a price on carbon pollution – a cost that Ford and his Tory allies across the country, including federal Tory leader Andrew Scheer, choose to demonize as a “carbon tax” – is now costing Ontarians4.4 cents for every litre of gas they purchase at the pump, and will cost 11 cents for every litre if it is still in place three years from now.

You can take a look at the English-language version (and yes, there is a French-language version too) of content on this sticker, all featured on a background of Tory blue, just in time for a federal election in which Scheer is sure to bring this issue up, right here, alongside this paragraph, where you can also note something else.

This the sticker says absolutely nothing about the fact that most Canadians will be eligible for a tax rebate or refund each year that runs in to the hundreds of dollars and may, for many of us who are not huge carbon emitters, more than make-up for any “carbon tax” we pay at the pump.

After all, the whole idea behind this “carbon tax” Ford and company claim to hate so much is to use financial costs as one way – and not the only way, by any means – of shifting slowly but surely away from an economy that involves pumping so much climate-changing carbon into the earth’s atmosphere. Continue reading →

At The First Ontario Performing in downtown St. Catharines/Niagara- Thursday, September 6^th to Sunday, September 8th, 2019

“The programs we’re producing will present a wide range of Indigenous artistic expression and knowledge, combined with scientific research, designed to nurture human connections to the natural world that foster environmental ethics and manifest our responsibility for future generations.”                                                   – Artistic Director Michele-Elise Burnett

News from The FirstOntaro Performing Arts Centre 

Posted September 2nd, 2019 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines, Ontario – The FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre and Kakekalanicks Indigenous Arts present Celebration of Nations, a gathering of Indigenous arts, culture, and tradition in downtown St. Catharines from *6–8 September 2019*.  

*More than 40 events will take place in downtown St. Catharines, within the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre’s four venues, as well as The Mann Raceway Plaza (the FirstOntario PAC’s outdoor gathering space commonly referred to as “the Backyard”), and within spaces at Brock University’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. Continue reading →

Niagara, Ontario City Wins Bid to Host Prestigious World Rowing Championships

“This is a great day for rowing in St. Catharines and Canada.”    – St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik

News from the City of St. Catharines in Niagara, Ontario

Posted September 3, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Linz, Austria –  At the FISA Congress, held annually after the World Rowing Championships, the organization that represents the world of rowing voted on future sites for the World Rowing Championships. 

 The City of St. Catharines, in partnership with St. Catharines World Rowing and Rowing Canada Aviron submitted a bid to host the World Rowing Championships in 2024, which includes Senior, Under 23 and Junior championships.

It is the largest rowing event in the world. Continue reading →

City’s Council moves to plug loopholes Ford Government has created in planning rules to encourage sprawl

“The provincial rules approved  (by the Ford government) in June (2019)allow any owner of rural property to initiate an urban boundary expansion of up to 40 hectares – a process that until now has been reserved to municipal governments.”

News from Citizens at City Hall (CATCH) in Hamilton, Ontario

Posted September 2^nd, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Hamilton, Ontario – In the wake of new provincial loopholes, local developers may be lining up to convert their rural properties to subdivisions, but the city says it’s determined to block them.

It has approved prohibitive application fees and warned developers that it will almost certainly reject any attempts to use the Ford government rule changes to expand Hamilton’s urban area.

That doesn’t mean an end to conversion of foodlands into residential suburbs just that this will continue to be driven by city initiatives not those of private landowners.

Indeed the main justification city planning staff are providing for their dramatic anti-developer moves is so they can uninterruptedly proceed with the GRIDS2 and MCR process whose primary purpose is to justify “orderly” urban boundary expansions. Continue reading →

“From universal healthcare to fair wages, weekends, and paid vacations, the movement (that the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919) transformed the lives of millions of Canadians, and laid the foundations of a growing economy and a strong middle class.”     – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

A Statement from Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Posted September 2^nd, 2019 on Niagara At Large

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on Labour Day: 

“On Labour Day, we celebrate the workers who have built our country and made workplaces from coast to coast to coast safer, more equitable, and more just.

“This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike, one of the most influential strikes in Canadian history. It launched a labour movement that fought for – and won – many of the benefits and protections Canadian workers can count on today.

“From universal healthcare to fair wages, weekends, and paid vacations, the movement transformed the lives of millions of Canadians, and laid the foundations of a growing economy and a strong middle class. Continue reading →

We could use more environmental champions like Greta Thunberg in Niagara

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate activist from Sweden, should serve as an inspiration to all of us all to stand up to power and greed  before it is too late to save some of the last of our  rich natural places in Niagara, Ontario like Waverly Woods in Fort Erie and Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls.

“From Lakes Ontario to Erie, our forests, thickets, savannahs, PSWs (provincially significant wetlands), shorelines, water tables, watershed at large and all of the life they support as well as climate they protect/enhance are under siege, leaving it up to local citizen activists to protect what is left.” – Carla Rienzo, Niagara Falls, Ontario

Will enough of us in Niagara act to save what is left of this?

“Groups trying to preserve Thundering Waters, Waverly Woods/Beach and hundreds of other sites around the province (and the entire world) wish the powers that behad as much common sense and the guts to stand up to greed and selfishness as Greta.” – Linda McKellar, Fort Erie, Ontario

Or will we keep seeing more of this?

A Brief Foreword from Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted August 30th, 2019 on Niagara At Large 

When a 16-year-old Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, who is now known around the world for her activism and her urgent call-outs to all of us ‘act as if our own house is on fire’ to address a global climate emergency, arrived from Europe, via sailboat, to attend a United Nations climate summit this September in New York, Niagara At Large posted a news release from the UN this August 29^th on that.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, seen here on the bow, sails in to New York Harbour from Europe for this September’s UN climate summit

The post received comments from some of our readers, including Carla Rienzo from Niagara Falls, who has been involved in the ongoing battle with local politicians and developers to save Thundering Waters Forest, and Linda McKellar of Fort Erie, who has been involved in a similar ongoing battle in that community to save Waverly Woods and Beach. Continue reading →

“We are looking at the best plant material for Ontario’s industry, not only now, but moving forward with climate change uncertainties.” – Jim Willwerth, Brock University’ Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) Senior Scientist

News from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario

Posted August 30th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Thousands of grapevines have been planted in two CCOVI research vineyards for a clone and rootstock evaluation program.

Niagara, Ontario – Two research vineyards filled with thousands of grapevines are being used by Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) to help Canada’s grape growers and wineries.

CCOVI partnered with two commercial grape growers to plant the St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake vineyards that are being used for a clone and rootstock evaluation program of the main VQA grapevine varieties in Ontario. Continue reading →

“Businesses across Ontario have expressed their belief that the stickers are partisan, noting, for instance, that it only mentions costs and not the substantial rebates to households that the carbon tax offers.” – the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Ontario’s Ford Government, often boasting that it wants to cut red tape and get out of businesses way as much as possible, has ordered gas stations across the province to display “carbon tax” stickers on their pumps – stickers that many argue appear to be politically partisan in nature

A News Release from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Posted August 29^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

On the Ford government’s insistence, here is the sticker that gas stations across Ontario are now instructed by the government to display on their pumps.

Niagara, Ontario  – Today (Thursday, August 29^th) marks the Government of Ontario’s self-imposed deadline for the imposition of carbon tax pricing stickers as part of the Federal Carbon Tax Transparency Act, 2019.  

After today, gas stations across the country will have to display a sticker on each pump advising motorists of the costs of the federal carbon tax. 

The GNCC is opposed to this requirement.

Firstly, it is an additional regulatory burden upon businesses, and the penalties for non-compliance are disproportionately harsh. This is doubly jarring from a government that has pledged to reduce red tape for Ontario.  Continue reading →

Tell Ontario’s Doug Ford Government Where to Put its “Carbon Tax” Stickers

A Call-Out from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance 

Posted August 29^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper –

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has clearly sided with petroleum corporation polluters

Just as the earth-plundering pirates running the petroleum industry must be cheering Donald Trump on today for gutting standards in his country for reducing emissions of methane – one of the more significant greenhouse gases – they have got to be pleased with Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s efforts to do their dirty work for them too.

It is not enough that the Ford government has just filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada to overturn the top Ontario court’s ruling in favour of the federal government placing a price on carbon pollution in the province by charging a few more cents a litre on gas sold at the pump.

The Ford government has also pressed ahead with directing petroleum companies to attach stickers to all their pumps – highlighting how much extra per litre consumers are paying thanks to what Ford and company prefer to demonize as a “carbon tax” rather than a price on pollution.

Those propoganda stickers go on the pumps just in time to possibly help this guy, federal Tory leader Andrew Scheer, standing next to Ford (right) in the upcoming October federal election

The stickers are going on the pumps now – just in time to help Ford’s political pal, federal Tory leader Andrew Scheer, use this so-called “carbon tax” as another way to paint Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberals, in this coming October’s federal election, as government out to make Canadians’ lives less affordable.

As for the petroleum corporations, why would they not comply with the Ford government’s order to put these “carbon tax” stickers on their pumps? There is no profit for them in shifting away from carbon-based fuels as something we have got to do to address the climate crisis. Continue reading →

St. Catharines federal NDP candidate Dennis Van Meer

A Message from Dennis Van Meer, Federal NDP Candidate for St. Catharines

Posted August 29^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper –

After Niagara At Large recently posted news from the Green Party of Canada, highlighting its plans to cut cell phone and internet costs for Canadians, I received this message from St. Catharines federal NDP candidate Dennis Van Meer, including a link to the federal NDP’s website that lists plans for making life more affordable for Canadians in this and a number of other areas.

In the spirit of fairness, with a federal election coming this October, Niagara At Large is posting Dennis Van Meer’s message here)

Doug, 

Your readers deserve to know that months ago the (federal) NDP declared their commitment to making cell phone service affordable for all. Continue reading →

Niagara Region’s municipal long-term care homes will lose $164,000 in 2019 and $391,000 in 2020

“These cuts will hurt vulnerable seniors living in long-term care.”

An Open Letter To Ford Government’s Minister of Long-Term Care Merilliee Fullerton from Ontario NDP MPP Teressa Armstrong

Posted August 29^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Dear Minister Fullerton, 

Last week, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said Premier Doug Ford indicated in a private meeting that cuts should not be made to long-term care homes.

The City of Ottawa is poised to lose about $800,000 in provincial funding for the four long-term care homes it operates as a result of your planned cuts to the High Wage Transition and Structural Compliance Premium Funds.

Warnings of billions of dollars in cuts to public services – this one circulated by the Ontario Health Coalition just before the June, 2018 Ontario election – failed to stop Doug Ford from getting elected with a majority government. Does anyone out there regret voting for him now?

Mayor Watson said he hoped the premier would follow through on his private comments with a formal and public statement. 

I’m writing to add the voice of the Official Opposition to Mayor Watson’s request. I urge you to publicly renounce these cuts and immediately reverse them. 

Your plan to cut these funding streams will have serious financial consequences for many long-term care homes in Ontario. Continue reading →

The young environmental campaigner (a 16 year old from Sweden) has been captivating people around the world since she waged a one-girl ‘school strike’ for climate action last August.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg, arrives in New York Harbour ahead of United Nations September, 2019 climate change summit

New from the United Nations

Posted August 28^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from Doug Draper at Niagara At Large – I continue to post the efforts of Greta Thunberg, to raise the world’s awareness of the global threat the climate crisis poses to us all because this  remarkable 16-year-old is a hero in my books. We desperately need more individuals that show her concern and dedication in positions of government leadership.)

After a two-week sail across the Atlantic, youth climate activist Greta Thunberg arrived in the Big Apple on Wednesday (August 28^th) to take part in two major climate summits to be held at UN Headquarters next month.

Refusing to take a gas-guzzling plane, the Swedish teen decided on a zero-carbon mode of transportation to further bring awareness to the dangers of rising global emissions and pollution caused by human activity. Continue reading →

“Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow. Why then, oh, why can’t I?”

The Wizard of Oz was first release in movie theatres on August 25^th, 1939

A Brief One by Doug Draper

Posted August 28^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

My father was an usher (back in the days when film theatres had ushers) at a long gone Capitol Theatre in Welland when The Wizard of Oz was released 80 years ago this August.

Movies filmed in colour was still very much a novelty then and I remember him telling me that he would stand at the back of the packed theatre, just to hear the audience say ooh and aah when Dorothy opened the door of her old farm house to Munchkinland, and the screen turned from black and white to a radiant Technicolor.

An image of an original poster from the 1939 debut of the film

It happened at every single screening.

The Wizard of Oz went on to become a classic and one of the most loved movies of all time – a status it continues to hold to this day. And back in the 1950s and 60s, long before the days of Netflix and gadgets that played movies you could rent or buy on VHS, DVD or Blu-ray, one of the television events of the year came every October around Halloween when they one of the networks broadcast The Wizard of Oz.

In my neighbourhood, there wasn’t a person outside during those broadcasts. Everyone was home, watching Dorothy, Toto and their friends following the Yellow Brick Road.

The Wizard of Oz remains one of my favourite moves and as a journalist, I can’t even count the number of times I have cited episodes from it to comment on some of the puzzling, disturbing or just plain weird stories unfolding before my eyes.

There are countless metaphors for life in The Wizard of Oz, not to mention the wealth of quotable quotes. “A heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others,” and; “Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking” are among my favourites.

Then there is the scene near the end of the film when Toto pulls back the curtain to expose the man pretending to be the Wizard behind.

“Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking.”

“You are a very bad man,” says Dorothy to the imposter. “No, my dear. I’m a very good man – just a bad Wizard.”

How many people have you met in your life that turned out to be a poor boss, or apolitical representative or poor at whatever other lofty position they may have ascended to, yet they were a nice person. I can think of quite a few.

Then there were the Flying Monkeys that chased after Dorothy and her friends for the Wicked Witch.

We had a bunch of what I don’t mind calling creeps on Niagara’s Regional Council and in top administrative positions at the Region during the 2014-to-2018 term that I sometimes compared to those Flying Monkeys.

One of the most popular songs of all time was also in that movie – one that, believe it or not, the business suits at MGM studios (and business suits are almost always wrong when it comes to art) wanted to edit out because they thought it was a little too slow and melancholy for what they saw as a children’s film

That song was “Over the Rainbow” and thankfully, the film’s director and others involved in the art of making The Wizard of Oz stood their ground because without the song, the movie would not be the same.

In the film, Dorothy, played by Judy Garland, sings the song with her furry friend Toto looking on. I find that song going through my mind every time I lose one of my fury friends, as I have this summer with the passing of two wonderful cats, Dylan and Dexter.

In my mind at least, they are “somewhere over the rainbow.”

You can click on the screen below to hear and watch Judy Garland as Dorothy, singing that song –

For more of a bio on The Wizard of Oz, click on – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Oz_(1939_film)

NIAGARA AT LARGE encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie Sanders quote below.

A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For more news and commentary from Niagara At Large – an independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at www.niagaraatlarge.com .

“A politician thinks of the next election. a leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

Our fabulous feline friend and family member, Dexter

A Brief One from Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted August 27^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

This July, our family lost its oldest feline member – Dylan at age 20 – and today we lost one of our remaining feline friends, our warm and beautiful “Caramel guy,” Dexter at age 15.

It was been hard enough working through the loss of Dylan, and now this!

It is like a sucker kick to the chest that has left me feeling so numb that I am having a hard time getting back on track as far as producing much in the way of news and commentary goes.

Our “boys.” Dexter in front. and Dylan in the background. File photos by Doug Draper, one of their humans.

I can’t quite bring myself to write the kind of tribute I would like to for Dexter, as I did for Dylan in July, so I will leave that for another day. My main purpose in writing such tributes has always been to celebrate the rich relationships we can have with other species on this planet if we try.

So I hope all our readers out there will understand if things seem a little slow on Niagara At Large for a few days.

I still can’t believe that both of our “boys,” as we call them are gone.

To read the tribute I posted on Niagara At Large this July to Dylan and to cats in general, click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2019/07/08/saying-a-sad-goodbye-to-one-of-our-very-best-cat-friends-in-the-world/ .

NIAGARA AT LARGE encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie Sanders quote below.

A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For more news and commentary from Niagara At Large – an independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at http://www.niagaraatlarge.com .

“A politician thinks of the next election. a leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

People all over the world are calling for a shift towards a greener, cleaner future, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, August 26^th, stressing that “we have the tools to address the climate emergency, but we need more political will.” 

A Message from the United Nations

Posted August 27^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

This was the urgent message delivered on Twitter from Biarritz, France, where the UN chief has been meeting for the past two days with G7 leaders to mobilize action ahead of his Climate Action Summit next month in New York.   

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Guterres said the UN Summit – and the need for concrete action – come against the backdrop of a “dramatic climate emergency,” with the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reporting the 2015 to 2019 are on track to be the five hottest years ever recorded, and historically high concentrations of C02 in the atmosphere.  Continue reading →

A Brief Remembrance for a Record Lover’s Paradise by Doug Draper

Posted August 27^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Just a few weeks ago, while I was a passenger on a tour bus in Buffalo, New York, the tour guide mentioned, with well-deserved pride, that in recent years, Buffalo has been going through a great period of growth and renewal

“That is true,” said a passenger near me, “except for one thing. We lost a wonderful record store.”

That store was Record Theatre, and it’s not the first time I’ve visited the city over the past two years and heard people mentioning its loss, with notes of sorrow in their voice.

Record Theatre’s very last store, its mother store going back to the 1970s, closed on Sunday, August 27^th, 2019, about six months after its founder, Leonard Silver, died.

There aren’t too many record stores still around that are as epic as this any more

It was the last of the grand old record stores – the kind you could walk into and find just about any music that popped into your mind – from Western New York to Toronto, Ontario, and a real loss for music lovers who prefer to go to a real brick-and-mortar place where there is a spirit of community around finding that special CD or vinyl disc.

When the doors closed on that iconic store at the corner of Main Street and Lafayette in Buffalo, it was a very sad day for the wonderful staff there and for those of us who believe that coming together at places like this is one of the best ways of sharing the love for music.

Fortunately, we still have some brick and mortar record stores left on both sides of the Niagara River. They may not be as epic in size as Record Theatre, but they are doing their best to survive in an internet age.

Do what you can to support them and to buck the soulless business of purchasing music online.

To read about all that is left on the web about the history of Record Theatre, click on – https://recordtheatre.com/about-record-theatre/ .

Here is a commentary Niagara At Large posted following the August 27^th, 2017 closing of Record Theatre – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2017/08/29/the-day-the-record-store-died-or-did-it/

NIAGARA AT LARGE encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie Sanders quote below.

A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For more news and commentary from Niagara At Large – an independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at www.niagaraatlarge.com .

“A politician thinks of the next election. a leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

Your cell phone and internet bills are too damn high.

News from the Green Party of Canada

Posted August 27^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Your cell phone and internet bills are too damn high.

A NEW REPORT REVEALS THAT CANADIANS PAY AMONG THE HIGHEST PRICES IN THE WORLD FOR CELL AND INTERNET PLANS. Telecom giants like Bell and Rogers lobby the government and block competitors to reap huge profits, all at the expense of hard working Canadians.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We can break the vice-like grip Bell and Rogers have on our data — and STOP THEM FROM RIPPING US OFF. In the digital age, everyone needs access to an affordable cell phone. Continue reading →

A Free and Open Public Forum Hosted by the       Niagara District Council of Women

Wednesday, September 11^th at 8 p.m. at the St. Catnarines Central Library in Downtown St. Catharines

Guest speaker Ed Smith

An Invite to All from the Niagara District Council of Women

Posted August 26^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

The Niagara District Council of Women will be hosting a free Public Forum, “The Climate Change Crisis – We all Have a Role to Play” on Wednesday, September 11 at 8:00 pm in the Mills Room at the St. Catharines Central Library (54 Church Street).

Our guest speaker will be Mr. Ed Smith, a clarion voice in the rapidly growing public awareness of threats to Niagara’s natural world from global warming and climate change.

Recently appointed as the City of St. Catharines representative on the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) Board of Directors, Mr. Smith has spoken strongly over the past several years about NPCA’s pro-development decisions which have put Niagara’s environment at risk.

Now, with the public’s strong awareness and desire for change, he is urging NPCA to take a leadership role. As he said recently, “We are very aware of the ecological crisis and the damages global warming will bring if we don’t act immediately.

Now is the time to put Niagara’s environmental protection on the top of everyone’s agenda!”

The Niagara District Council of Women (NDCW) has 24 federated group members plus individual members from across the Region. This year we celebrate our 101st year of service to the community.

You can learn more about our council at www.ndcw.ca <http://www.ndcw.ca/>

NIAGARA AT LARGE encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie Sanders quote below.

A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For more news and commentary from Niagara At Large – an independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at http://www.niagaraatlarge.com .

“A politician thinks of the next election. a leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

“That lung of forests is vital for our planet.” – Pope Francis, this August 25^th, during an open prayer at the Vatican for the Amazon Rainforests

A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper, a veteran environment reporter and not-so-proud member of the Baby Boomer generation

Posted August 26^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Countless, mostly younger people around the world, demonstrated in recent days for action to save what is left of the Amzaon Rainforests

Over the past four or five days, as I watch and read reports about the Amazon Rainforests on fire, I have found myself getting angry and angry at my generation – that big bulging population of Baby Boomer born from 1945 to 1964, that is now  entering their senior years by the tens-of-millions.

And I have found myself getting more and more worried for the future of younger people like my daughter (now in her 20s) who will be around long after we are gone, struggling to survive on whatever scorched earth is left.

The Amazon Rainforests, we’ve been reminded over and over again as images of them burning fill our video screens, are the largest forests of their kind on the face of the planet. So large, that they play host to much of the biodiversity we need to properly survive, and so large that they literally produce about 20 per cent of the world’s oxygen. Continue reading →

‘The health of our planet depends on your vote.’

A Message from Ontario Nature, a non-profit advocacy group for Ontario’s natural heritage

Posted August 23^rd, 2019 on Niagara At Large

With a federal election on the horizon in October, it’s time to make the conservation of wild species and wild spaces an election issue. 

Whom we vote for matters more than ever. Not just for our country, but for the health of the planet. 

As wildlife declines, ecosystems unravel and the climate changes we will need leaders prepared to chart a course to a better and safer future for us all. Continue reading →

“On behalf of all the employees at Pioneer Flower Farms, we extend our thanks again to the community for all your kind words, thoughts, prayers and efforts to assist us during this heart wrenching time.” – Kristen Sikking, Pioneer Flower Farms 

A Brief Foreword from Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper – 

With all of the rotten things going on around the world these days, it is heartening to have a story about an outpouring of kindness and generosity so close to home. 

I am talking about the way people across Niagara came together as a community to donate clothing and other necessities to all of those, including migrant workers, who found their lives so negatively impacted by a monster fire that ripped through the sprawling growing operations of Pioneer Flower Farms in west St. Catharines earlier this August. 

Even while we read reports about our own Ontario government re-launching its plans to cut more funding for public health care, ambulance services, and day care spaces for children across the province, many people in Niagara went out of their way to help people affected by this destructive fire.  Continue reading →

A News Release from Niagara’s Regional Government

Posted August 23^rd, 2019 on Niagara At Large 

​Starting on Tues Sept. 3, Niagara Region Transit is expanding service on many of its routes and adding service to the Town of Pelham.

As a result of these changes, almost all Niagara Region Transit Routes will have standardized service hours available Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Riders can download the free Transit App for use on iOS and Android devices or they can find all the transit information they need including schedules, fares and maps by visiting niagararegion.ca/transit . Continue reading →

On Wednesday, September 4th, 2019 from 7 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. at Silver Spire United Church, 366 St. Paul Street, in St. Catharines, Ontario

An Invite to All from Extinction Rebellion Niagara, a group of Niagara area citizens calling for urgent action to address the climate crisis

Posted August 23rd, 2019 on Niagara At Large

EXTINCTION REBELLION NIAGARA (XRN) INVITES YOU TO THE ST. CATHARINES FEDERAL ELECTION CANDIDATE (CONSERVATIVES, GREENS, LIBERALS, NDP) CHALLENGE ON THE CLIMATE

PURPOSE – Extinction Rebellion (XR)   is extremely concerned about the imminent climate collapse that virtually the entire scientific community, including  the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is warning us about.

This concern is acutely heightened because of the dire consequences that this collapse is already beginning to have on the entire world, especially the most marginalized. Our security and, much more so, that of our children and grandchildren are immediately at stake. Continue reading →

Now We Have the Amazon Rainforests – What Many Scientists Have Called “The Lungs of the Earth” – On Fire

A Brief Comment from Doug Draper

Posted August 22^nd, 2019 on Niagara At Large

How much more will it take before we collectively take this threat to life on this earth seriously? Stop all this blubbering about a “carbon tax”.

Our children’s future is at stake.

If the melting of the ice caps, recording flooding, droughts, wind storms and heatwaves are not enough, check out what is now happening to one of the world’s greatest rainforests –

NIAGARA AT LARGE encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie Sanders quote below.

A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For more news and commentary from Niagara At Large – an independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at http://www.niagaraatlarge.com .

“A politician thinks of the next election. a leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

This is the delusional nutbar Canadians now have ruling the roost next door

A Brief Commentary from Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted August 22^nd, 2019 on Niagara At Large

When it comes to capturing the dangerous and delusional madness of Donald Trump, few have done a better job of pinning the tail on the jackass than the editorial staff responsible for the front pages of the New York Daily News.

The front page of the latest August 22^nd Daily News tabloid is a sterling example, and without any further words from me, because no further words are really necessary, here is the whole front page –Amen.

And no wonder evangelicals worship him so much they line up to have him sign their Bible.

The “chosen one” autographs Bibles in Alabama earlier this 2019 for the faithful. If the real Jesus came back, is this something He would do?

Here is a link to a New York Times opinion piece on this – https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/21/opinion/trump-chosen-one.html .

NIAGARA AT LARGE encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie Sanders quote below.

A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For more news and commentary from Niagara At Large – an independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at www.niagaraatlarge.com .

“A politician thinks of the next election. a leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders

Thousands of student time-tables and staff assignments were redone months ago

A News Release from Ontario’s NDP/Official Opposition Party

Posted August 22^nd, 2019 on Niagara At Large

QUEEN’S PARK – Students, parents, teachers, education workers and the NDP have blasted Doug Ford’s scheme to hike class sizes – and an eleventh-hour attempt to soften that bad news by the Ford government won’t save students who have already registered for gigantic classes that start in a couple weeks.

“When Doug Ford revealed a plan to hike average class sizes and cut teachers, that’s when schools, school boards and students had to undertake the monumental task of redoing course offerings and student timetables for thousands of students,” said NDP Education critic Marit Stiles. Continue reading →

The 20th Annual  Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts in Buffalo, New York – Saturday, August 24^th and Sunday, August 25th

A Brief One from Doug Draper

Posted August 22^nd, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Wow. Here we are, heading into the last week of August – ALREADY!

Where did the spring and summer of 2019 go?

It’s not over yet though – not while we still have one of the last great street festivals in our greater bi-national Niagara region to look forward to.

The annual Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts in Buffalo, New York. File photo by Doug Draper

The Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts in Buffalo, New York is on this Saturday, August 24^th and Sunday, August 25^th from 10 a.m. to 5 and 6 p.m. each day, with several blocks of the avenue open to nothing but art and crafts, live music, food trucks, information booths for environmental and other community groups, and thousands of pedestrians having a good time. Continue reading →

Contact Ontario Environment Minister Jeff Yurek and tell him to keep his hands off our Conservation Authorities

A Message from the Green Party of Ontario  

Posted August 21^st, 2019 on Niagara At Large 

In a surprise letter, Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities were told toshut down part of their operations.  Their reaction: “Stunned. Confused. Extremely disappointed.”

Reject cuts to flood prevention 

These are the experts who protect us from flooding by conserving thenatural areas that absorb excess water.   So why is the Premier taking an axe to their work? Continue reading →

NDP Education Critic Marit Stiles blasts Ford for playing politics with kids’ safety

“Instead of prioritizing kids’ safety over the last year, Ford spent a year showing off for social conservatives at the expense of kids. He forced children to go to the human rights tribunal to fight for their rights. He threatened teachers with a snitch line for answering students’ questions honestly. He tried to make students – especially LGBTQ+ students and families – feel less important than his politics.”

A News Release from Ontario’s  NDP/Opposition Opposition Party

Posted August 21^st, 2019 on Niagara At Large

TORONTO – Doug Ford ripped up the Health and Physical Education curriculum, threatened teachers with a sex-ed snitch-line and spent $1 million on an online survey, only to release a new curriculum Wednesday that is largely unchanged from the 2015 sex-ed curriculum.

The new curriculum is a victory for student safety, and for the families, teachers, education workers and experts who led the fight alongside Andrea Horwath and the NDP – but it also means Ford wasted a year just so he could posture for social conservatives, said NDP Education critic Marit Stiles. Continue reading →

Join the Green Party of Canada’s NIAGARA GREENS FEDERAL CAMPAIGN LAUNCH.  Join us Thursday, August 22th at 6:30 pm, in the Pond Inlet at Brock University in J-Block of Mackenzie Chown Building in St. Catharines, Ontario.

News from supporters for the Green Party of Canada

Re-posted August 21st, 2019 on Niagara At Large

The latest poll of Canadians shows that “82% say climate change is a serious problem, including 47% who describe it as an extremely serious problem.”

The Green Party believes that we have no more time to waste – Canada needs a bold and all-embracing strategy to address climate breakdown NOW.

The Green Party is the single political party with a sound, reliable plan to lower emissions, while ensuring that workers in fossil fuel and related industries are able to transition to the new green economy.

Greens have always stood for environmental protection and serious and immediate action on climate change. The 2019 platform is a comprehensive and evidence-based blueprint providing policy and direction for a better, more just and sustainable Canada.

Come find out more!

Continue reading →

“I live in the (Niagara) watershed. (and) this is the worst news possible. How can we protect the green belt and its rivers and lakes when these greedy gangsters want to pave it over. It’s scary.”                                                                                                           – a comment from one of Niagara At Large’s readers, Edila MacIlrelli, in response to news that the Ford Government has sent a letter to the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and other Conservation Authorities across the province, directing them to “wind down” conservation activities that fall outside of whatever the province deems to be their “core mandate”.

A Brief Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted August 20^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

“Promise made. Promise kept.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford was caught on video in 2018 saying he would cut up a “big chunk” of the Greenbelt for development

It is one of the lines Ontario Premier Doug Ford seems to love to throw in when he claims he is fulfilling another pledge in a campaign platform that had to be one of the thinnest when it came to specifics in modern Canadian political history.

There was at least one pledge Ford made that he was real specific about – this one caught on a leaked video that was made without his awareness – while he stood before a group of friends and supporters in the development industry weeks before Ontario’s June, 2018 provincial election and told them he would be willing to carve up a “big chunk” of the protected Greenbelt running around Lake Ontario from the GTA and Hamilton, and through Niagara to the Niagara River.

Here is that video (click on the screen immediately below) of Ford making his “big chunk” promise to a group of developers who looked happy to hear it –

When this video leaked out, the pledge met such a public backlash that even Ford, as much of a battering ram as he is, scrambled to put it back in the box. Continue reading →

Ontario NDP and Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath

“The countdown to devastating cuts is on. Slashing public health and child care is slashing things that keep our families safe and healthy. The human cost of failing people when it comes to public health, ambulance services and child care is unthinkable, and so is the Ford Tax municipalities are now being forced to contemplate to fill the holes Mr. Ford is digging in your budgets.” – Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, in an address in Ottawa this August 19^th, 2019 at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s annual conference

A News Release from Ontario’s Official Opposition New Democratic Party

Posted August 19^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note – Andrea Horwath delivered this message to Ontario’s municipal leaders, including representatives from Niagara, shortly after they learned that Ontario Premier Doug Ford will move forward this coming year with already planned provincial cuts to public health, ambulance, child day care and other municipally operated services – therefore downloading any costs for these services, should municipalities choose to keep them – on residents and businesses that pay property taxes. So much for saving people money.)

OTTAWA, Ontario – NDP Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath shared her vision for stronger communities in remarks Monday at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference in Ottawa.

“No matter what part of Ontario we live in, we all want similar things,” said Horwath. “We all want a future where municipalities continue to be the heart of life at home – with provincial funding for municipalities that’s stable, predictable and certain – so the things our families count on will always be there.” Continue reading →

Premier Doug Ford and his Environment Minister Jeff Yurek are moving to shut down work Conservation Authorities in Niagara and across the province are doing to protect and preserve Ontario’ watersheds

Conservation Ontario General Manager Kim Gavine

“We’ve been caught completely by surprise. … We’ve been working for months in good faith with the government to make a number of planning and development approvals streamlining changes to support their agenda to eliminate the deficit and implement the Housing Strategy. … I can only assume they are trying to avoid criticism about downloading conservation authorities’ programs and services to municipalities.”                     – Kim Gavine, General Manager of Conservation Ontario, the Association which represents the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and  Ontario’s 35 other Conservation Authorities

A News Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted August 19^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Conservation Authorities across the province “are stunned” by a letter the province’s anti-environment Ford government circulated to them this August 19^th, recommending that they shut down any conservation programs that are not related to their “core mandate,” says a statement circulated by their umbrella group, Conservation Ontario.

Jeff Yurek, shown here in Ontario legislature, is Ford’s Minister of Environment. He seems more bent on declaring war on the environment than on protecting it.

As the letter signed by Jeff Yurek, a Ford Tory MPP for the Riding of Elgin-Middlesex-London who seems to be making it his business to go down as one of the worst environment minister in Ontario history, circulated through social media, Niagara At Large began receiving email from residents in Niagara with messages like “this is beyond nuts” and “the public needs to be outraged.”

The statement from Conservation Ontario and its general manager, Kim Gavine, representing the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and 35 other Conservation Authorities across the province, said the letter from the Ford government was “confusing and extremely disappointing.” Continue reading →

A Final Few Words on Woodstock’s 50^th anniversary by Doug Draper

Posted August 19^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Before I leave the 50^th anniversary of the Woodstock music festival completely, just for a bit of fun, I will leave you with this.

Is ‘going back to the garden’ 50 years later really such a cool idea? Skip the brown acid. Cue the Geritol.

While I was writing and posting my own tributes to this legendary pop culture event on Niagara At Large, there I was, at one point, amusing myself with the thought of what it might be like if all of those festival goers – looking so young and fresh in the Woodstock movie and those 50-year-old photos – went “back to the garden” and gathered on the festival grounds today.

With images of these people, many of them now in their 70s, back on Yasgur’s farm, sliding in the mud, and God help us, having another skinny dip in the ponds, I came across a cartoon on the editorial pages of this past Saturday’s August 17^th Buffalo News that placed the hilarity and, perhaps a bit of the nightmare of such a reunion, fully into focus.

Thanks to Dave Granlund, a well-known and respected cartoonist from Massachusetts whose cartoons are published in many daily newspapers across the United States and who was kind enough to grant me permission to  his cartoon, here it is –

Some of the organizers of the 1969 Woodstock festival tried to put together another one for the 50^th anniversary. But unlike the first time, when they finally managed to find a person in Max Yasgur to let them host it on his land, despite opposition from other town’s people, they couldn’t overcome the opposition this time. Continue reading →

Why Max Yasgur – the Bethel, New York Dairy Farmer who owned the land the Woodstock Festival took place on – became so Beloved to Millions of Young People Around the World

Max Yasgur addresses the masses gathered on his farmland for the Woodstock festival, 50 years ago this August

“The important thing that you’ve proven to the world is that a half a million kids–and I call you kids because I have children that are older than you–a half million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music, and I God bless you for it!”                                                                                                    – Bethel, New york dairy farmer Max Yasgur, in a short address he delivered on August 17^th, 1969 to the more than 400,000 Woodstock festival-goer s assembled on his land, 50 years ago this summer

One more look back at Woodstock at 50, by Niagara At Large reporter Doug Draper

Posted August 17^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Before the 50^th anniversary celebrations of Woodstock, one of the most pivotal events in 20^th century pop culture history, draws to a close, let me leave you with a few nice memories of a most unlikely individual who helped make the legendary festival possible.

The individual’s name was Max Yasgur and in the age we live in today, where people seem so divided along so many lines – race, gender and age, just to name a few – and we have leaders more interested in exploiting those divisions for their own gain than bringing people together, Max Yasgur’s role in the Woodstock story should serve as inspiration to all of us.

Max Yasgur on the land on his farm that would host one of the 20th century’s greatest music and art festivals

It was July, 1969, just weeks before the Woodstock festival took place on August 15^th, 16^th, and 17^th, and continued on into Monday, August 18^th to accommodate a backlog of entertainment, including Jimi Hendrix, that had their sets delayed due to off and on pouring rain during the weekend, that the festival organizers negotiated a deal with Max Yasgur to hold the even on parcels of land on his large dairy farm in the Catskills. Continue reading →

 A Free Event, this coming Saturday, August 24^th, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. at NPCA’s Ball’s Falls Conservation Area in Lincoln, Niagara

An Invited from the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority in Niagara, Ontario

Posted August 17^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Taking inventory of all the flora and fauna found at NPCA’s Ball’s Falls Conservation Area is the purpose behind the “Niagara Peninsula BioBlitz” event taking place Saturday, August 24th.

Hosted by Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, in collaboration with the Canadian Wildlife Federation, BioBlitz will see members of the public become citizen scientists and join forces with scientists, taxon experts and nature enthusiasts to take a “nature selfie,” tracking and taking inventory of all the species that can be identified during the day-long event. Continue reading →

Priority project will create new Canada Games Park and new jobs in Niagara Region

A News Release from the Constituency Office of Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff

Posted August 16^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Ontario is supporting the 2021 Canada Games by committing to a cost-shared investment of $29 million for the construction of new sport facilities, which will support athletes and bring new jobs to Niagara region. This will include investments in Grimsby, West Lincoln, and Wainfleet.

Niagara West MPP and Ford government representative Sam Oosterhoff, at left, with Lisa MacLeod, Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, at announcement for Canada Games funding

“I am thrilled that our province is hosting the Games. For the Niagara region, hosting a national sport event is a tremendous opportunity to reap the economic and social rewards that come with it,” said Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

“Not only will this project create an amazing, unforgetable experience for athletes, but new sport and recreation facilities will be enjoyed by residents of all ages and abilities.” Continue reading →

Join the Green Party of Canada’s NIAGARA GREENS FEDERAL CAMPAIGN LAUNCH.  Join us Thursday, August 22th at 6:30 pm, in the Pond Inlet at Brock University in J-Block of Mackenzie Chown Building in St. Catharines, Ontario.

News from supporters for the Green Party of Canada

Posted August 16^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

The latest poll of Canadians shows that “82% say climate change is a serious problem, including 47% who describe it as an extremely serious problem.”

The Green Party believes that we have no more time to waste – Canada needs a bold and all-embracing strategy to address climate breakdown NOW.

The Green Party is the single political party with a sound, reliable plan to lower emissions, while ensuring that workers in fossil fuel and related industries are able to transition to the new green economy.

Greens have always stood for environmental protection and serious and immediate action on climate change. The 2019 platform is a comprehensive and evidence-based blueprint providing policy and direction for a better, more just and sustainable Canada.

Come find out more!

Continue reading →

Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey

“As the Conservative Government of Ontario failed to cooperate with the federal government with respect to much needed infrastructure funding, expected to be delivered under the bilateral agreement signed over a year and a half ago, our local partners needed a mechanism to get projects out the door in time for the 2019 constructions season. We needed to, once again, step up to the plate and lead by example.”                                                                     – Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre

A News Release from the Constituency Office of Niagara Centre Liberal MP Vance Badawey

Posted August 16^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Welland, Ontario – Doug Ford is delaying infrastructure funding to Ontario’s municipalities. The federal government stepped up. Our government has doubled its commitment to fund infrastructure projects, with the Municipal Gas Tax Fund. We won’t abandon towns and cities. Let’s get shovels in the ground.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, shown here at right with his political friend and ally, federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, has fallen short on infrastructure funding for municipalities, say the federal Liberals, leaving their government to step up with more for towns and cities.

Niagara Centre has received its first installment of the annual federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF), along with the top-up announced through Budget 2019, to support infrastructure projects in communities across the province.

The top-up doubles the amount of money for Ontario communities, based on their allocations for the 2018-19 GTF transfer, enabling them to carry out infrastructure projects that support the well-being of their residents. Continue reading →

A Message from Ontario’s Green Party

Posted August 16^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

This week, GM and Volkswagen announced they’d no longer be making hybrid vehicles.

The reason – THEY’RE GOING ALL-IN ON FULL ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

The writing’s on the wall for gas-guzzling cars, but the Ford government refuses to read it.

Tell the Premier to stop unplugging Ontario from an electric future.

Over the next 5 years, the global auto industry is spending a whopping $255 billion to develop electric vehicles. Continue reading →

While water levels remain high, and are still above average, City officials say there is enough usable space on the beach to safely reopen it for use

News from the City of St. Catharines in Niagara, Ontario

Posted August 16^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – St. Catharines residents will be able to enjoy a trip to the beach at Lakeside Park before summer vacation wraps up.

How the beach at Lakeside Park in Port Dalhousie looked early this past June when water levels in Lake Ontario were reaching near-record highs. File photo by Doug Draper

The beach at the park, which has suffered flooding due to record high water levels on Lake Ontario since May, will reopen to the public on Friday, Aug. 16. While water levels remain high, and are still above average, City officials say there is enough usable space on the beach to safely reopen it for use.

“As the water levels have started to recede, our staff have been hard at work cleaning and grooming the beach,” said Darrell Smith, director of Municipal Works. “As long as the weather cooperates, and the water levels continue to decline, we could see even more space available for use before the beach season ends.” Continue reading →

Unfortunately, not enough of the hope, idealism and sense of community that made the Woodstock festival so magical survived. And we sure could use  it now

A  Look Back by Niagara At Large reporter  Doug Draper

Posted August 15^th, on Niagara At Large

The iconic poster for the Woodstock festival

“About a thousand years ago there was a very brief period of time that is now referred to as the Sixties. …

“It lasted about 11 or 12 minutes before the hustlers and hucksters pour in, and it has become a kind of black hole in the national cosmos into which all of the noblest and fiercest aspirations of a generation sunk and disappeared. … a kind of Bermuda Triangle of idealism.”

• Leonard Cohen, during a 1994 performance on the PBS program Austin City Limits.

Down a black hole it went alright, but oh what a wild and crazy, strange and frightening, and sometimes magical and beautiful 11 or 12 minutes it was while it lasted.

And near the end of it all, for what seemed like just a few seconds of that time as the decade of the Sixties were drawing to a close, it reached a zenith of peace & music 50 years ago this August 15^th, 16^th and 17^th on the verdant pasture lands of Max Yasgur’s farm in the Catskills of Upstate New York.

An aireal shot of the Woodstock festival in progress, August, 1969

The Woodstock Music & Art Fair, as this now legendary festival was called, was more than f somewhere between 400,000 and half a million young people surviving three days and nights of mud and rain, and a shortfall of food, drink and sanitary facilities, all bound together in a spirit of peace and community. Continue reading →

A New Report Reveals That Canadians Pay Among The Highest Prices In The World For Cell And Internet Plans

A News Release from the Green Party of Canada

Posted August 14^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large

Telecom giants like Bell and Rogers lobby the government and block competitors to reap huge profits, all at the expense of hard working Canadians.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We can break the vice-like grip Bell and Rogers have on our data — and STOP THEM FROM RIPPING US OFF. In the digital age, everyone needs access to an affordable cell phone. Continue reading →

 The Government of Canada partners with municipalities to create jobs and improve quality of life for Ontarians 

A News Release from the Office of the Prime Minister 

Posted August 14^th, 2019 on Niagara At Large 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario – Whether getting people to work on time, building recreation centres for young people, or helping communities adapt to climate change, investments in local infrastructure create good, middle class jobs and make our cities and towns better places to live.

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today visited Niagara, Ontario, to highlight a one-time Municipal Infrastructure Top-Up in Budget 2019, which doubles this year’s federal transfer to municipalities in support of local infrastructure projects.

More than 600 communities and local roads boards in Ontario are benefitting from the first of two $408.3 million annual installments in federal funding in 2019-20 for local infrastructure projects. These transfers – along with the one-time top-up of $819.4 million – mean that more than $1.6 billion in federal funding is going to Ontario municipalities this year for the infrastructure projects they need. Continue reading →