Niagara At Large

Niagara Residents Will Finally  Get A Thorough,   Independent Probe Into This Serious Matter

Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dube

“Given the high volume of public complaints, the request from regional council, the concerns raised publicly by two local MPPs and others, the evident seriousness of the issue and the fact that local efforts to resolve the matter have been exhausted, I have determined that a formal investigation by my office is in the public interest.”-  Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé

A News Report from Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted August 30^th, 2-18 on Niagara At Large

Questions about the integrity of the process used to hire this man – Carmen D’Angelo – to the CAO job at Niagara Region will now be investigated by Ontario’s Ombudsman.

After many weeks of calls from citizens across Niagara, local MPPs and finally, this past week, Niagara’s regional council, Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé announced in a media release this August 30^th that he will begin an independent investigations that the process the Region used to hiring the Region’s chief administrative officer (CAO) was corrupted to the advantage of the current individual holding that $230,000-a-year job – Carmen D’Angelo.

The Ombudsman’s announcement also comes after almost five full months of excellent investigative reporting by The St. Catharines Standard – reporting that discovered a growing file of documents produced by staff inside the office of the Region’s Chair Al Caslin and downloaded by D’Angelo containing information that could have given him a significant advantage over other individuals applying, two years ago, for the CAO’s job. Continue reading →

“Newspapers are unique in comparison to other mediums in that they are the most cited source citizens use for news about their local town or city, arts and culture, or schools and education. This is why I am concerned about the imposition of duties on newsprint that this petition would result in.” – Buffalo, New York area Congressman Brian Higgins

Higgins, other Members of NY Delegation  called on ITC and Commerce Dept. to reconsider effects of the tariffs

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

Posted August 30^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Newspapers like The Buffalo News and those who work for the paper stood to take a significant hit from Trump’s punitive tariffs on Canadian newsprint.

Buffalo, New York – The International Trade Commission (ITC) has released a unanimous 5-0 ruling determining that antidumping and countervailing tariffs on Canadian imports of uncoated groundwood paper did not cause material harm to the U.S. paper industry, and has nullified them.

This decision comes after Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) and several other Members of Congress from New York wrote a letter urging the ITC and the US Department of Commerce to reconsider the severe negative impact the tariffs would have on the newspaper industry. Continue reading →

Ontario’s  “Government for the People” moves  to Reduce Cost of Natural Gas. End of carbon tax will save consumers about $80 a year

News from the Office of Ontario Premier Doug Ford

Posted August 29^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

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

For all of you older people across Ontario  who are more in to saving about 22 cents a day on your gas bill more than what might happen to the climate and weather conditions sometime in the future when you may not be around anyway, this news from Doug Ford’s self-described “Government for the People” may be cause for applause.

For younger people who will be around 20 or 30 years from now and are already concerned about the increasing frequency of wildfires, droughts, floods and severe storms, batten down the hatches and get ready for an even more stormy ride.

Continue reading →

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted August 29^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

A large group of Brock University student volunteers and staff members will come together Sunday, Sept. 2 for the University’s annual Move-In Day tradition.

Nearly 2,400 mostly first-year students from across Canada and around the world will be moved into one of Brock’s seven residences between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday. To make that schedule work, families are given a one-hour window of time to arrive.

Nearly 2,400 mostly first-year students will be moving into their residences at Brock University Sunday, Sept. 2 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

As families arrive and pull into a specific unloading area near their residence, some 600 Brock University students from a wide variety of athletic teams, student clubs and groups, will help unload the incoming students’ belongings and bring them to their assigned room. Continue reading →

The Residents Of Niagara Should Not Have To Endure Another Two Months Of This Individual At The Helm

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

Posted August 29th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Regional Chair Al Caslin. How much more of his leadership can we take?

Earlier this August, when a majority of Niagara regional councillors finally showed enough spine to do what they should have done months ago – petition the Region’s Chair, Al Caslin, for a “special meeting” of council, dedicated to getting to the bottom of charges of corruption swirling around the hiring of the Region’s CAO, Carmen D’Angelo – Caslin had the gall to fire back with an email, accusing at least some of those councillors of “disingenuous politicking.”

In the same email, dripping with an insolence we’ve come to expect from this Chair over the past four years, Caslin reminded the councillors of a closed session of council that most, if not all of them attended on July 26^th, before telling them; “You all had two hours last meeting (a council meeting held on July 26^th) to speak candidate to Carm.”

Al Caslin with the Region’s CAO Carmen D’Angelo seated to the right of him.

 “I encourage you to focus on the important community issues before us including: lowering taxes and bring quality jobs to Niagara,” Caslin went on to instruct with all of the grace of a school marm. “I will not be calling another meeting to talk about the same tabloid stories that have already been thoroughly investigated and decided upon by a third party investigation that has cost the taxpayers of Niagara dearly.” Continue reading →

“These allegations (of a memo directing provincial staff to stop using the term climate change) are serious (and) I was shocked to read them.” – Mike Schreiner, Leader, Green Party of Ontario

A News Commentary from Doug Draper

Posted August 28th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

One of the first things Doug Ford did after being sworn in as Ontario’s Premier in late June is scrap the former provincial Liberal government’s recently launched cap-and-trade program for reducing climate changing carbon emissions. And if you want to encourage more people to oppose the program, you call it a “carbon tax”.

Sometime  this August, an email went out to employees in the provincial government’s Ontario Parks department from an official higher up in the food chain, notifying them that; “Per Premier’s Office, we are not allowed to mention climate change in social media at this time. ….We will let you know about any change in this direction.”

On first blush, the contents of this note seems so preposterous that it leaves one wondering if it is, to use a Trump term, “fake news.”

Indeed, a follow up memo was sent to Ontario government employees this past August 24th from Steven Davison, an acting secretary for the Ford cabinet, calling the information in the email “false” and adding that “the premier’s office never provided direction regarding the reference of climate change in social media posts.” Continue reading →

“He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” – then U.S presidential candidate and five-times draft evader Donald Trump in 2015, speaking of decorated military veteran and U.S. Senator John McCain

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted August 27th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

John McCain, one of the last of the “lions” in the U.S. Senate died this August 25th at age 81

Whether we favoured the politics and policies he championed or not, many of us may agree that a towering figure of a person on this continent passed on this Saturday, August 25th with the death of U.S. Senator John McCain.

John McCain, who died at age 81 from the same kind of brain cancer that took the life, a decade ago, of one of his friends and colleagues, Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy, was an elder statesman and standard bearer for what was left of the once proud Republic Party of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

Unfortunately, in his final years, McCain witnessed the Republican Party he devoted so much of his adult life to morph into the stinking, steaming cauldron of hate-filled white supremacists, neo-Nazis and assorted other crypto-fascists, sociopaths and psychos that it is today. Continue reading →

“We encouraged the (Ontario) government to fund municipal projects that help create wealth and prosperity for a community… We also discouraged the government from investing in projects that create more sprawl – like urban boundary expansions or “smart centers” disconnected from community.” – Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

A Column by Town of Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

Posted August 27th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

Last week, Pelham Councillors Gary Accursi and Peter Papp. And the Town of Pelham’s CAO Darren Ottaway (from Niagara, Ontario), and I attended the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference in Ottawa.

The annual three-day conference offered a range of learning sessions and networking opportunities for the more than 1,500 delegates.

While at AMO, your Pelham representatives also met with various Ministries to directly advanced your interests with the Provincial Government.

We met with Hon. Jeff Yurek, MPP, Minister of Natural Resources & Forestry (MNRF), and Toby Barrett, MPP, Parliamentary Assistant, about maintaining and increasing the protection of the Fonthill Kame. Continue reading →

“I’m excited about our strong team of Hamilton and Niagara MPPs. …Together we will give families hope for a brighter future.” – Andrea Horwath

News from the Office of Ontario’s NDP and Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath

Posted August 27th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park – Earlier this August, Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath recently announced the NDP’s new critic roles, naming Hamilton and Niagara MPPs for key portfolios to help make life better for families.

Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch, Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates and St. Catharines MPP Jennie Steven, all appointed to key critic posts for Ontario NDP

“The people of Hamilton and Niagara voted for a vision of hope and elected dedicated New Democrat MPPs to help them deal with their daily challenges,” said Horwath. “From access to mental health supports, to quality education and an increasing cost of living, each of our MPPs brings a unique perspective to the team, and will hold this government accountable to the needs of their communities.” Continue reading →

We Need The Ontario Ombudsman  A.S.A.P. To Help Clean Things Up

A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted August 24^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Regional Chair Al Caslin finally confirmed this August 23rd that he extended CAO Carmen D’Angelo’s contract for the top administrative job. Would we even know this much now if it weren’t for recent leaks to the media?

Whether we like him or not, we now face the possibility that the people of Niagara are saddled with Carmen D’Angelo as the Region’s CAO right in to the year 2022.

That may be the case unless the next term of regional council, to be sworn in following this coming October’s municipal elections, chooses to buy D’Angelo’s contract out for an estimated cost to Niagara taxpayers that could total a million or more dollars, given that the CAO is paid about $230,000 plus benefits per year.

And who do we, the residents of Niagara, have to thank for all this?

More than ever, the answer to that question appears to be the current Chair of Niagara’s regional council, Al Caslin, who confirmed at a special meeting of the council this August 23^rd that he took it upon himself to unilaterally extend the length of D’Angelo’s contract, signed in the fall of 2016, to the year 2022 because – GET THIS! – Caslin said he thought “he was doing the right thing for the new council and for the Region as a “corporation”.

“It just made more sense to me,” Caslin told members of the council this August 23^{rd –} councillors who were hearing for the first time in open session of Caslin’s decision to unilaterally grant D’Angelo, whose hiring is already the subject of serious controversy, a contract extension. Continue reading →

“Confidence must be restored in Niagara Regional Council and this investigation will play a key role in restoring the faith people once had in our local government.” – Jeff Burch

Niagara At Large received a copy of the following  letter, dated Friday, August 24th, from the Constituency Office of Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch

Posted August 24^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

To Mr. Paul Paul Dubé, Ontario Ombudsman

Re: Investigation into the Hiring of the Niagara Regional CAO

Dear Mr. Dubé:

Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch

Further to my email in July to your office, I am sending this letter regarding the ongoing controversy involving the hiring of Chief Administrative Officer for the Niagara Region, Carmen D’Angelo.

Last night (Thursday, August 23rd), Niagara Regional Council voted unanimously to call upon your office to conduct a full investigation into the hiring process of the CAO following in depth reports by the St. Catharines Standard exposing a number of serious concerns regarding this issue. Continue reading →

From the Campaign to Elect Haley Batement to Niagara Regional Council

Posted August 24th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Haley Bateman. one of a large slate of candidates running for a total of six Niagara regional council seats in St. Catharines

Earlier this August, Niagara Regional Council Candidate Haley Bateman for St. Catharines announced her platform.

“After years of participating at Council and speaking with thousands of people, I am thrilled to get to the point where I can confidently say that we can make great progress in Transit, Affordable Housing, Conservation and Culture and other integral parts of Niagara that will improve the live of residents”, said Bateman.

Bateman has been known for challenging Council on several issues and worked to reinstate the Integrity Commissioner. Continue reading →

Wednesday, September 12^th from 7 to 9 P.M at                  St. Catharines Centennial Library

An Invite to All from the Niagara District Council of Women

Posted August 24^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Former Niagara Regional Chair Debbie Zimmerman will be the Forum’s moderator

Niagara, Ontario  – The Niagara District Council of Women will be hosting a “Women in Niagara Politics – 2018 Candidates Public Forum” on Wednesday, September 12 from 7:00 to 9:30 pm at the St. Catharines Centennial Library (54 Church St. in St. Catharines’ downtown.) 

 We have invited all 21 women who are running for either Mayor or Regional Councillor in Niagara municipalities to speak for 3-4 minutes, with questions to follow.  Candidate confirmations to attend have been very high with only a few unable to attend due to other commitments.

 The focus of this unique candidates’ meeting is the fact that women are needed in Niagara politics and can make a difference in how our communities are best served in all aspects of life — economics, education, health, environment, housing, justice, status of women, social development and seniors’ issues. Continue reading →

A Brief from Doug Draper

Posted August 24^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Questions about the integrity of the process used to hire this man – Carmen D’Angelo – to the CAO job at Niagara Region may now be addressed by Ontario’s Ombudsman. Niagara’s regional council approved calling the Ombudsman in to investigate the matter at a special meeting this August 23rd.

Niagara, Ontario – Following four months of damning headlines and public uproar, Niagara’s regional council has finally voted to do what many members of the public and a handful on the council believed it should have done in the first place – call Ontario’s Ombudsman in to get to the bottom of concerns that the process used to hire Niagara Region’s CAO may have been tainted or corrupted.

A motion, calling on Ombudsman Paul Dube’s office to conduct “a full investigation of all matters” associated with the hiring of CAO Carmen D’Angelo two years ago, finally received unanimous approval this Thursday, August 23^rd at a special meeting of Niagara’s regional council Continue reading →

Buffalo Area Congressman  Announces $163,000 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Grant for Western New York

News from the Buffalo Area Office of  Democratic Congressman Brian Higgins

Posted August 21^st, 2018 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from NAL reporter and publisher Doug Draper i – My many years as an environment reporter at The St. Catharines Standard taught me that any news from jurisdictions on either side of the Canada/U.S. border that they are taking steps to fund and carry out water protection programs in the Great Lakes Basin is great news for all of us whose lives depend on the health of these freshwater bodies.

Congressman Higgins’ announcement falls into that category. So thank you Congressman Higgins for this good news, and now here it is.)

U.S Congressman Brian Higgins, a Democrat representing the Buffalo/Western New York area.

Buffalo, New York – Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) announced Erie County Soil and Water Conservation District has been awarded a $163,000 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant by the Great Lakes Commission.

“This award represents national recognition of Erie County Soil and Water Conservation District’s important work to protect the health of our waterways and communities,” said Congressman Higgins, a member of the Congressional Great Lakes Task Force. 

“This grant is also a reminder of the need to protect Great Lakes Restoration Initiative resources, which have contributed to the cleanup of our rivers and lakes, as well as the recent growth of Western New York’s economy.” Continue reading →

What We Need Now Is A New Regional Council

A  Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted August 21st, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Only weeks away from municipal elections, Welland regional councillor Paul Grenier wants the Region’s council to get together to address “challenges” Niagara’s communities face now.

Is it possible that one of our Niagara regional councillors – Paul Grenier, who was gifted to us in the 2014 municipal elections by the voters of Welland – is trying his hand at writing political satire?

If so, he better keep his day job or find one if he has to because if a column he wrote and had published in Niagara’s daily newspapers this past Saturday, August 18^th is any example, he’ll never get past the gatekeepers at Frank or MAD Magazine.

Then again, maybe Grenier’s column, dressed up with a headline that read; “Debate needed on core functions of Niagara Region,”, was not meant to be funny, in which case I have to wonder what regional council Grenier has been sitting on for the past four years because it sure isn’t the one I’ve been covering. Continue reading →

“We tend to think of precarious work as something that happens in low-wage, low-skill jobs, but the findings from this national survey suggest that there is no safe harbour.”

New from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Ontario

Posted August 21^st, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario  – Despite their high level of education, credentials, skills, and even experience, 22 per cent of Canadian professionals are in precarious jobs, says a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Ontario (CCPA-Ontario) office.

Based on a national survey of professionals about precarious working conditions, the first of its kind, No Safe Harbour: Precarious Work and Economic Insecurity Among Skilled Professionals in Canada shows professionals across the country are not immune to the hallmarks of precarious work: no steady income, no pension, no benefits, no sick pay. Continue reading →

Consider Calling Your Ontario Member of Parliament  and Signing the Petition Below

“This project aimed to identify a better social assistance system that was rooted in fairness, adequacy and simplicity.”

From Glen Walker, Chair of the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network

Posted on August 20^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – As you have likely heard by now, the provincial government has cancelled the Basic Income Pilot Project that was initiated last year. This project aimed to identify a better social assistance system that was rooted in fairness, adequacy and simplicity. I think we would all agree that a change like that is dearly needed.

The reasoning provided by the Minister Lisa MacLeod for this decision was that the program is too expensive, not sustainable and is not achieving the expected outcomes. Seeing as we are only one year into a three year project, all of this information is unfounded  at this point in time. Continue reading →

Ontario Premier Doug Ford Delivers His First Keynote to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) 2018 Annual Conference

Helping Ontarians begins with municipal and provincial partnerships

News from the Office of Ontario Premier Doug Ford

Posted August 20th, 2018 on Niagara At Large 

Premier Doug Ford addresses Ontario’s municipal leaders

OTTAWA, Ontario  — Premier Doug Ford delivered his first keynote address to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s 2018 Annual Conference, where he committed that the Government for the People will work with municipalities to deliver better and more efficient services for people across the province.

“Municipalities are the closest link to the day-to-day lives of Ontarians, and we share a common goal: our commitment to working for the people, and respecting the taxpayer,” said Premier Ford. “Through open and collaborative efforts with our municipal partners, we can help more people in more communities across Ontario.” Continue reading →

At Annual Association of Municipalities Ontario (AMO) Conference,  Andrea  Horwath Vows To Protect Local Democracy

“In the most paternalistic and insulting way possible, Doug Ford has interfered in municipal and regional elections.” – Ontario NDP  & Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath

News from the Ontario New Democratic Party

Posted August 20th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from NAL – This address to municipal leaders across Ontario comes in the wake of Premier Doug Ford’s decision this July to cancel elections for regional chair in Niagara and three other Ontario regions, and to cut the number of councillors sitting on Toronto’s city council in half.)

Ontario’s Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath. File photo

Ottawa, Ontario  – Speaking to hundreds of elected municipal representatives from across the province at the annual Association of Municipalities Ontario (AMO) conference now in session, Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath announced new legislation that would prevent the provincial government from changing the makeup of municipal governments without consultation and local approval.

“In the most paternalistic and insulting way possible, Doug Ford has interfered in municipal and regional elections.   Without any consultation and ignoring the wishes of democratically elected municipal leaders he is ripping up ward boundaries, and cancelling elections in the middle of the campaign,” said Horwath. Continue reading →

“During the election, we presented our Plan for the People. Citizens across Ontario supported our plan by sending us to Queen’s Park with a strong majority”, said Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West.

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

Posted August 20^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff

Niagara, Ontario – (Earlier this August), Ontario Government House Leader, Minister Todd Smith recapped our government’s promises kept since coming to office. Focusing on our top 20 achievements, these historic changes will save families money, make life more affordable and bring accountability back to government.

“During the election, we presented our Plan for the People. Citizens across Ontario supported our plan by sending us to Queen’s Park with a strong majority”, said Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West.

“Since July, we have delivered key initiatives that will help lower gas prices, reduce your hydro bills, restore accountability and trust in government, and send a message to the world that Ontario is open for business,” said Todd Smith, Government House Leader and Minister of Government and Consumer Services. Continue reading →

‘Revoke My Security Clearance, Too, Mr. President’

An Open Letter to Trump from Retired U.S. By William H. McRaven, from The Washington Post, August 17^th, 2018

Posted August 20^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

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

Going back at least as far as the War in Vietnam and all of the Cold War posturing with nuclear bombs during the 1960s and 70s, I have never felt all that hot about higher ups in the U.S. Pentagon and  its foreign and domestic intelligence networks.

A very strange thing has happened though. In the past year and a half, with Trump in the White House, the Republican Party of Nixon, Reagan and the Bushes that he has eviscerated has gone from being a shameless supporter of virtually everything U.S. military and intelligence leaders do to sitting back and saying nothing or even applauding while Trump publicly slimes any still active or retired military or intelligence leader who dares to criticize him.

In that spirit, Trump has torn a page from the playbooks of Nixon from the Watergate era of the 1970s and Senator Joe McCarthy from the Red Scare era of the 1950s, and create enemy lists blacklists for any higher ups in the U.S.. military or intelligence community who fail to pay him the loyalty he demands. Continue reading →

Where Is The Courage On Council To Call The Ontario Ombudsman In To Investigate CAO Hiring Controversy?

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted August 18th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Was the 2016 process used to hire Niagara Region’s current CAO tainted or corrupted in any way?

Did the Region’s CAO Carmen D’Angelo receive information he should not have when he was applying for the $230,000-a-year job – information that may have given him an unfair advantage over other candidates applying for the same position job?

Was any information of that nature provided to D’Angelo by one or more individuals in Niagara Regional Chair Al Caslin’s office?

How much, if anything did Caslin know about this?

A special meeting of Niagara Region’s council ended this August 16th with questions around hiring of the Region’s CAO left unanswered

Those are among the questions residents across Niagara were hoping to finally learn answers to at the August 16^th special meeting that 18 members of the Region’s council petitioned for an d ultimately went ahead with despite objections from Caslin himself. Continue reading →

“The protection of Thundering Waters may take up to three appeals to win the legal battle.”

News from John Bacher, a veteran conservationist living in Niagara, Ontario

Posted August 17th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Earlier this August, in the Niagara Falls Clerk’s Department I filed a letter of appeal against Amendment 128 to the Niagara Falls Official Plan. The amendment seeks to pave over about 120 acres of the approximately 500 acres Thundering Waters Forest.

Although most of the Thundering Waters Forest is provincially protected wetland barred from development, much of the Amendment 120 lands known as the Riverfront Community are an unusual savanna complex. It is dominated by a native shrub species, the Dotted Hawthorn. Continue reading →

“These initiatives … place a renewed focus on environmental sustainability and have established goals for restoring native species and culling invasive species.”

News from the Niagara Parks Commission

Posted August 17th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

• New plan includes emphasis on shoreline renewal, removal of invasive species and restoration all along the Niagara River Corridor

• Public Information Sessions to be held in September to receive public feedback

 Niagara Falls, Ontario  – As steward to the environmental and cultural heritage all along the Niagara River Corridor, The Niagara Parks Commission is pleased to announce the advancement of several environmental initiatives.

Ontario’s Niagara Parkway, overlooking the Niagara River, one of the most significant connecting channels in the Great Lakes basin.

These initiatives, as well as Niagara Parks new 10-year Strategic Plan, place a renewed focus on environmental sustainability and have established goals for restoring native species and culling invasive species, while enhancing the many formalized viewing areas, parkettes, picnic areas, and other shoreline sites for the benefit of wildlife and the public.

These goals will be coordinated with Niagara Parks’ new Cycling strategy, which is currently in development. Continue reading →

“Promises Made, Promises Kept.” Doug Ford Says He’s Giving The People wWhat They Want.

“We told people what we were going to do. We promised them action. And we are delivering. If there are four words that define this summer they are: Promises made, promises kept.”                    – Todd Smith, Doug Ford’s Minister of Government and Consumer Services

A News Release from Doug Ford’s “Government for the People”

Posted August 17^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper –

From killing a cap to control climate changing carbon emissions and reducing social assistance to people at the lower end of the income scale for reasons of “compassion,” to vowing to deliver you a “beer for a buck” by Labour Day, Doug Ford and the majority government he was awarded after receiving less than half the votes cast in this spring’s Ontario election is following through on his bumper sticker promises aimed at “putting more money back in your pocket.”

What are you going to do with the extra money you get from all this – plan a vacation to Disney World? Buy a new toaster or perhaps an ice bucket for all that cheap beer? Continue reading →

A Brief News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted August 16th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Lincoln Mayor Sandra Easton stands and makes a point at a special meeting of Niagara Region’s council this August 16th to address concerns over 2016 CAO hiring

Niagara, Ontario – After more than five hours of open and closed discussions at a special meeting of Niagara Region’s council this August 16th, the public learned very little that is new about the CAO hiring controversy that has shaken even more trust in and respect for regional government in recent months.

What the meeting mostly did was confirm which members of the council are determined to get to the bottom of questions around the October, 2016 hiring of Carmen D’Angelo to the top administrative job at the Region and which ones want to keep a lid on any further questions.

But more on them later. Continue reading →

In a recent email to members of Niagara Region’s council, Caslin has delivered “the most puerile and disrespectful taunt any chair has ever lodged. For this alone Caslin deserves to NOT be elected on the St. Catharines regional ballot this coming October.”                 – St. Catharines resident and former Niagara regional councillor Don Alexander

A Special Meeting Of Niagara Region’s Council on the Hiring Controversy has been scheduled for this Thursday, August 16th, starting at 2 p.m. at Niagara’s regional headquarters in Thorold

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted August 15^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Region’s CAO Carmen D’Angelo is at the centre of a controversy over the integrity of the process used to hire him in 2016 to the Region’s top bureaucratic post – a job that pays $230,000 a year.

Niagara, Ontario – Ongoing reports by The St. Catharines Standard and other news media that the October, 2016 hiring of former Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) CAO Carmen D’Angelo to chief administrative officer (CAO) for Niagara Region may have been tainted or corrupted by others inside the regional government have drawn widespread public concern.

This Sunday, August 12^th, those reports, along with growing demands from Niagara citizens for action, prompted 18 members of the regional council to petition the Region’s Chair Al Caslin this August 12^th to address this serious matter again.

In a letter accompanying the petition, the 18 directly elected  councillors and Niagara mayors who sit on the Region’s council stressed that they “are very concerned about the erosion of public trust in our communities regarding Niagara Regional Government. The harm to the reputation of the Region is a serious concern.” Continue reading →

“Public health experts, addictions counsellors and users have all said loud and clear – overdose prevention sites save lives.”           – St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens

News from St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens

Posted August 15th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines’ recently elected  MPP, New Democrat Jennie Stevens

Niagara, Ontario  – Ontario NDP St. Catharines MPP, Jennie Stevens, says the Ford Conservatives’ backward decision to cancel lifesaving overdose prevention sites puts the lives of vulnerable users at risk and endangers local communities.

“These sites save lives,” Stevens said. “There were over 1,200 people who overdosed last year.  Those were 1,200 lives that could have been saved. Yet the deputy premier has already confirmed that no new sites will be opened despite calls for new life-saving sites in communities like St. Catharines.” Continue reading →

“Stripping our right to vote for our Niagara Regional Chair in the middle of an election campaign, without notice or consultation, is an affront to local democracy.” – Karrie Porter, aSt. Catharines resident and candidate for St. Catharines’ city council in Ward 4-St. Patrick’s who launched a petition this July to stop the Ford government from cancelling this October’s election for Niagara regional chair.

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted August 15th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Never mind the public outrage that followed Doug Ford’s July 27th announcement that he and his self-described “Government for the People” were scrapping  elections for regional chair in Niagara,  York, Peel and Muskoka, and cutting the number of councillors on Toronto’s city council in half.

Waving all petitions from residents and elsewhere aside, along with calls from Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Party to at least push a “pause button” and consult with the people, Ford and the majority government he was gifted by less than half of the people who voted in this June’s provincial election, made the shocking announcement this past July 27 – on the last day citizens had to register to run as a candidate in this October’s municipal elections – to slash the size of Toronto’s council in half and cancel elections for the position of regional chair in Niagara and the other three regions referred to above.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his trained seals clap and cheer this August 14 as they ram through legislation to kill Niagara election for regional chair and slash size of Toronto council less than three weeks after it was first tabled.

In all of the vague rhetoric Ford dished out during this spring’s Ontario election, there was never a mention that he would do that kind of a hatchet job on Toronto’s council or deprive the reisdents across Niagara of the opportunity to vote for the person they want serving as our regional chair rather than have a person appointed to that all-important position by those sitting on the Region’s council. Continue reading →

“If PR (proportional representation) had been in place in Ontario, Doug Ford wouldn’t have had the power in the legislature to pass Bill 5.” – former federal NDP Leader Ed Broadbent and the Broadbent Institute of Canada

“The greatest way to defend democracy is to make it work”            – Tommy Douglas, Canada’s Father of Universal Health Care

A Column from Rick Smith, Executive Director of the Broadbent Institute

Posted August 15, 2018 on Niagara At Large

There was a time when all participants in the political process – whether from the left or right – disagreed about the best approach to issues, but did so with a respect for their opponents and our democratic process.

This is not one of those times.

Moments ago (this August 14^th), in the Ontario legislature, Doug Ford’s Conservatives rammed through Bill 5: an unprecedented new law that alters the City of Toronto’s election rules, gerrymandering ward boundaries and cutting the number of Council seats by almost half; over the strenuous objections of the city and in the middle of the election itself.

Make no mistake: We haven’t seen anything like Bill 5 before in recent Canadian history and this stealthy attack on municipal government will have national implications.

(A Note to Niagara At Large readers – Bill 5 is the same legislation Ford’s “Government for the People” is using to kill elections for regional chair in the Niagara, Peel, York and Muskoka regions.)

Doug Ford didn’t campaign on a promise to unilaterally change Toronto’s election rules.  He didn’t submit the hair-brained scheme to public consultation. And he refused to allow it to be studied – as is customary – by a legislative committee. Continue reading →

If There’s Nothing Wrong, You’d Think Niagara’s Region al Chair Would Want To Call In Ontario’s Ombudsman Himself To Clear The Air

“To ask for another meeting less than two weeks later is nothing less than disingenuous politicking by the same few characters who have contributed the least this term of council.” – Niagara Regional Chair Al Caslin, in an August 12th, 2018 email to regional councillors

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted August 14^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara regional chair Al Caslin. He could have agreed to call the Ontario Ombudsman in four months ago in an effort to clear the air over the hiring of CAO Carmen D’Angelo.

More than four months have passed since The St. Catharines Standard published a story that took reporter Grant LaFleche and others at the newspaper months to investigate and fact check.

It was a  a story that raised serious questions and concerns about the  integrity of the process in place to  hire Carmen D’Angelo, in the fall of 2016, to the $230,000 a year job of chief administrative officer or CAO of a Niagara regional government responsible for services  costing more than $1 billion of our tax money to operate each year.

The April 6^th story, based on documents the newspaper obtained and sources it obviously could not name for fear of those people becoming targets of reprisals, alleged that D’Angelo, then CAO of a Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) already facing intense public scrutiny, received information he should not have that  may have given him unfair advantage over other candidates for the Region’s CAO job. Continue reading →

Come this October 17th, Pot Smokers 19 Years of Age and Over Will Be Able To Purchase Weed Online

“We will be ready to put in place a safe, legal system for cannabis retail that will protect consumers.”                                                        – Doug Ford’s Ontario General Caroline Mulroney

News from Premier Doug Ford’s “Government for the People”

Posted August 13th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Doug Ford moving ahead with plans for selling pot in Ontario

TORONTO, Ontario  — Following the federal legalization of cannabis on October 17, Ontario will immediately introduce an online retail channel for cannabis, to be followed by a private retail model by April 1, 2019.

Minister of Finance Vic Fedeli and Attorney General Caroline Mulroney today shared details about how the province will manage cannabis retail following the federal government’s decision to legalize the drug effective October 17, 2018.

“We will be ready to put in place a safe, legal system for cannabis retail that will protect consumers,” said Mulroney. “We will also be ready to undermine the illegal market and protect Ontario’s roads.  Most importantly of all, we will be ready to protect our kids.” Continue reading →

News from Doug Draper & the Ontario’s Provincial Legislature

Posted August 13th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

It didn’t take long.

Premier Doug Ford and his health minister, Christine Elliott, shelve plan for drug overdose prevention site in St. Catharines/Niagara despite spike in overdose deaths here.

Just  days after St.  Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens and the Niagara city’s mayor, Walter Sendzik, asked Ontario Premier Doug Ford if he “supports a safe injection site for St. Catharines,” and urged him to follow through on former Liberal government plans to set one up, Ford and his Health Minister, Christine Elliott, have announced that they are putting the plan on hold while they “review its merits”

The shelving of this site – the type of which has proven effective in other regions of North America for helping people with drug addictions – follows news from Niagara’s public health department this spring that there has been a 90 per cent spike in drug overdose deaths in Niagara over a one year period in 2016 and 2017. Continue reading →

Message Follows In Wake Of Retired Brock Prof’s “Abhorant” Tweets Against Indigenous People. University Is Moving To Strip Prof of                     Honorary Professor Emeritus Title

“I think of my two-year experience at Brock as more of a survival story than an educational experience.  … It got so bad I took a year off to heal and now as I prepare to return, I am yet again reminded about the “underneath”; the subtle mechanisms that perpetuate racial oppression in institutions.  I am tired of hearing about reconciliation when what we need is action.”          – Celeste Smith

Celeste Smith, speaking two years ago at a gathering of Indigenous people and other members of the Niagara community, to save Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls from urban development. File photo by Doug Draper

From  Celeste Smith, Oneida, Six Nations of the Grand River,  Undergrad Student/ Indigenous Human Rights Activist

Posted August 13^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Open Letter to Brock University in response to the recent anti-Indigenous social media activity of Professor Emeritus Garth Stevenson.

To the Brock University Community:

You have a racism problem. Unfortunately, what was exposed last Thursday (August 9th) on social media is not an isolated incident, but a large and underlying truth. I know this first hand as an Indigenous student who has been degraded and humiliated in the classroom and in other spaces at Brock in my short two years of academic study.

Now, before you raise your hand in protest and inundate me with stories of initiatives and strategies you are implementing and before you tell me the professor in question has been thoroughly humiliated and the issue resolved, let me stop you. Continue reading →

“Will the premier continue to bulldoze over evidence-based solutions to combating the opioids crisis, or will he support a provincially funded safe injection site for St Catharines and Niagara?” – St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens

News from Ontario’s New Democratic Party

Posted August 13^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens

Queen’s Park, Ontario  – As communities in St. Catharines continue to have some of the highest opioid overdose deaths and as reports indicate that the riding saw a 300 per cent increase in overdoses in the last year, Jennie Stevens, Ontario NDP MPP for the riding, condemned the Conservative government’s backward priorities and urged the premier to commit to a provincially funded safe injection site for the region.

“Mayor Sendzik and St. Catharines city council unanimously called for a safe injection site for the city in January,” Stevens said. “The future of the site, like other sites in the province, is now in limbo. Does the premier support a safe injection site for St. Catharines?” Continue reading →

Ford’s Bill Threatens to Cancel Regional Chair Election in Niagara – a Move at least some call an “Assault on our Democracy”

“Doug Ford is cancelling public hearings on his vindictive law that determines the scope of municipal elections already underway, cuts representation for Torontonians in half, and ends elections for voters who used to decide on their regional chairs.”  – John Vanthof, Ontario NDP MPP. and Chair of the Standing Committee on Government Agencies

News from Ontario’s New Democratic Party

Posted August 13th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Fighting Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s decision to cancel elections for regional chair, including the election for the regional chair position in Niagara, and to slash size of Toronto city council.

Queen’s Park, Toronto – The NDP has successfully delayed Doug Ford’s draconian bill to slash the number of Toronto City Councillors in half and end regional chair elections already underway.

Fighting back on behalf of the people of Toronto, and the regions where Ford cancelled the election of regional chairs, New Democrat MPPs Gilles Bisson and John Vanthof moved amendments on Ford’s bill after the Ford government cancelled public consultations and cut off legislative debate on Ford’s election-meddling bill.

“We will continue fighting like hell to allow people to have their say in what happens to their local representation,” said Bisson, NDP House Leader who introduced one of two amendments this past Thursday, August 9th. Continue reading →

It’s Time for Regional Councillors to stand up for Niagara’s Taxpayers and Demand that the Ontario Ombudsman do an Independent Investigation – Now

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted August 11th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

If what The St. Catharines Standard is reporting in its Saturday, August 11th edition is true – and this journalist has no reason to believe it is anything but true – heads should already be rolling at Niagara regional headquarters. Never mind waiting for this October’s municipal elections.

Niagara Region’s chair Al Caslin with CAO Carmen D’Angelo to his right

And one of those heads should be that of Niagara Region’s Chair, Al Caslin.

For the past 22 months since Carmen D’Angelo, a former CAO at the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, was hired to the CAO job at Niagara Region, virtually everyone – regional councillors included – believed (because of what they and the rest of us were told) that D’Angelo was hired under a contract that ran three years.

Niagara Region’s CAO Carmen D’Angelo. Should he have anything to do with investigating his own hiring? Why are a majority of regional councillors still letting that happen?

In other words, in 2019 – after a new Niagara regional council is elected this October and settled in – that council, preferably made up of many new players, would have the opportunity to decide whether or not to renew D’Angelo’s contract.

Now, after many weeks of being steeped in controversy over whether the process used to hire D’Angelo in October of 2016 was tainted or corrupted in some way, The Standard is reporting that some way or somehow, between the time D’Angelo was hired and now, the life of his contract was extended  to the year 2021.

More disturbingly than that, this extension was apparently made without the knowledge of most, if not all directly elected councillors and without the knowledge of the mayors of Niagara’s 12 local municipalities who also hold a seat on the regional council. Continue reading →

“Brock has no connection whatsoever with (former political science professor Garth Stevenson’s) views, and abhors comments that have been posted on his social media sites.” – Tom Dunk, Brock’s University’s Provost and Vice-President Academic

Reprehensible Comments Made in Wake of Victoria, B.C. Decision to Remove John A. Macdonald statue.

Brock University now looking to strip  Stevenson of his honorary Professor Emeritus title.

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted August 10^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper –

John A. Macdonald statue, scheduled to be removed from steps of Victoria, B.C.’s city hall this August 11th.

In the wake of a decision by the city council of Victoria, British Columbia this past August 9^th to remove a state of John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, also often identified as Canada’s ‘Father of Confederation’, emotions have been running high across the country.

Yet, few outbursts reported in the news so far have been received with as much objection as those posted on social media this August 9^th and linked to retired Brock University political science professor Garth Stevenson. Continue reading →

Watch for Ontario’s ‘Buck-A-Beer’ Ford Government to Sell LCBO Stores Off for Some Quick Cash

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted August 10th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

It’s one of the oldest tricks in the political playbook.

It was just last January that then Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced the appointed of Edmund Clark, a CEO for the TD Bank Group for 12 years, to Chair of the LCBO. Now he has suddenly ‘stepped down’.

Make an announcement that could be controversial or provocative on a Friday before a weekend so that maybe they will forget or at least cool down by the time the switchboard opens up on Monday.

A couple of weeks ago Ford ‘s self-described “Government for the People” t made its sudden and shocking announcement to slash  the number of seats on Toronto’s city council in half and cancel elections for the position of regional government chair in Niagara and three other regional municipalities.

This Friday, August 10th, the two month-old Ford government announced that all of a sudden, Edmund Clark, who has been  chair of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) barely more than seven months after serving  as CEO of the TD Bank Group for 12 years, is stepping down. Continue reading →

“One of our key goals in undertaking campus redevelopment at Niagara College is to enhance the student experience in learning and connecting with the College community.”                                      – Niagara College’s VP Corporate Services Pam Skinner

News from Niagara College

Posted August 10th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Canadian Interiors magazine has selected the College’s Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) Campus student commons as a winner in its 2018 Best of Canada Design Competition.

The NC space is among 22 projects – one of three in the institutional category – to be named winners of the magazine’s 21st annual competition, celebrating the best interior and product design across Canada.

Niagara College campus resign wins national  design recognition

According to Canadian Interiors editor Peter Sobchak, Best of Canada Design Competition winners were selected by a panel of four judges and professionals within the interior design industry. Continue reading →

“A quality beer cannot be brewed for $1 per unit. To meet this challenge, Niagara’s breweries would have to make enormous compromises on quality and abandon the reputation for outstanding beer which they have so painstakingly built.”           – Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

A Message from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Posted August 9^th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Ontario Premier Doug Ford holds up a cold one following his “buck-a-beer” announcement this past August 7th

Niagara, Ontario  – The Government of Ontario has recently announced its Buck a Beer policy. This program offers no direct financial incentives but lowers the price floor for beer to $1 and will offer LCBO shelf space and promotional advantages to breweries who lower their price to that floor.

Breweries in Niagara and across Ontario have assured both the GNCC (Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce) and the Province that a quality beer cannot be brewed for $1 per unit.

To meet this challenge, Niagara’s breweries would have to make enormous compromises on quality and abandon the reputation for outstanding beer which they have so painstakingly built. Continue reading →

“Somehow it is ok with the CNSC (Canadian Nuclear Savety Commission) that Pickering continues to produce close to 20,000 radioactive fuel bundles every year despite a lack of fully secure storage facilities onsite or any viable long-term plan for dealing with this deadly waste.” – Ontario Clean Air Alliance

News from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance

Posted August 9th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Unsurprisingly, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has approved a ten-year extension to the aging Pickering Nuclear Station’s operating licence, meaning the plant could potentially operate until 2028. 

The Pickering Nuclear Power Plant along the northern shores of Lake Ontario, east of Toronto

It took the CNSC less than five weeks to review – and dismiss – dozens of submissions pointing out the Pickering Station’s terrible location surrounded by millions of people, the lack of thorough emergency planning despite 50 years of operations, and the absence of plans for better dealing with the tonnes of radioactive waste stockpiled at the plant with nowhere to go. Continue reading →

“The discovery of two new non-native zooplankton in the Great Lakes is concerning news.” – Alliance for the Great Lakes Vice President of Policy Molly Flanagan

A Statement from the U.S.-based citizens group, Alliance for the Great Lakes

Posted August 9th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Our Great Lakes from space

Chicago, Illinois  – This August 8th, Cornell University Biological Field Station announced the discovery of two new non-native species of zooplankton – Diaphanosoma fluviatile and Mesocyclops pehpeiensis – in the Great Lakes. In reaction to the announcement, Alliance for the Great Lakes Vice President of Policy Molly Flanagan made the following statement.

 “The discovery of two new non-native zooplankton in the Great Lakes is concerning news. The fact that these are the third and fourth non-native zooplankton found in Lake Erie in the past three years is an alarming trend. Continue reading →

Fundraising; Ontario Municipal Board Appeal; Endangered Species; the last Woodlands in Fort Erie along the Lake Erie Shoreline

News from the Niagara, Ontario-based citizens group Community Voices for Fort Erie

Posted August 8th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Inside Waverly Woods along the shores of Lake Erie in the Town of Fort Erie

Fort Erie, Ontario – For the past ten months, citizens in Fort Erie and tourists from around the world have expressed many concerns about the proposed Harbourtown Village development. Town Council voted to proceed with the development in March 2018.

A local group, called the Community Voices of Fort Erie, spent months researching the environmental, cultural and historic significance of this area.

This group realized that the Environmental Impact Study and the Archeological Assessment paid for by the development team were flawed.  Continue reading →

Premier Doug Ford Announces Return of ‘Buck-a-Beer’ to Ontario

Announces ‘Buck-a-Beer Challenge’ for brewers to lower prices just in time for Labour Day

“The days of the government putting its hand in your pocket each time you buy a two-four or six-pack are over.”                                  – Your Ontario Premier, Doug Ford

A News Release from the Office of the Premier of Ontario’s “Government for the People”

Posted August 8th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

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

Now here is something that is really important. Just what the people of Ontario need right now.

Who cares about funding for mental health services, keeping our public schools in repair, protecting the quality of our air and assisting people living below the poverty level when members of the beer drinking crowd that voted for Doug Ford can get cheaper suds.

Maybe they can use the beer to medicate themselves when their access to affordable health care services disappears.

In the meantime, I have an idea.

You don’t need Ford the Bartender slinging beer for you. Just get in your car and cross the border where you can go to a Wegmans or a Tops supermarket and buy 12 cans of it for about half the price that it costs in Ontario, even with the exchange. Continue reading →

All Niagara residents should take the necessary precautions to prevent WNV

News from Niagara Region’s Public Health Department

Posted August 8th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

A close-up image of a Culex pipiens mosquito perched on a pin is shown. Photo Credit: Centre for Vector-Borne Disease, Brock University

Niagara, Ontario – Niagara Region Public Health has received its first report of West Nile Virus (WNV) in mosquitoes in 2018. To date, Niagara has no human cases of WNV.

While the mosquitoes that tested positive were found in Pelham, all Niagara residents should take the necessary precautions to prevent WNV. To reduce the risk of being bitten by mosquitoes and potentially exposed to WNV, residents are reminded to: Continue reading →

Key Players in 100-Year-Old Rescue Near Brink of Horseshoe Falls Honoured by Ontario’s Niagara Parks

One hundred years later, the rusted remains of the iron scow or barge remains locked on jagged rocks, where it was scuttled by its two-man crew in the roaring rapids above the Horseshoe Falls. Both men were rescued from the barge in the harrowing hours that followed. Photo courtesy of Niagara Parks

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted August 8th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

We don’t do it nearly enough in Niagara, Ontario…. celebrate our history.

Sadly, we often neglect or even destroy it. … something that seems to happen far less often on the American side of the Niagara River where places where momentous events occurred are, not always but more often, preserved and showcased for generations to come.

Niagara Parks Commission chair Janice Thomson, with the scow in the upper Niagara River behind her and Niagara Parks historian Sherman Zavitz standing off to her right, speaks to a gathering this August 6th, in commemoration of a dramatic rescue that took place there, 100 years ago. Photo by Doug Draper

There are too mamy examples in Niagara, Ontario of places where key people in our region’s history lived, or fields where battles that changed the course of our history were fought, or buildings that played host to people or events that played an important part in defining where we are today, have been paved over, knocked down or neglected to the point of falling down, or all too mysteriously, in more than a few cases, burned down. Continue reading →

Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn, making a point in Niagara Region’s council chambers. File photo

“It doesn’t make sense that a Government that claims to be “for the People” removes your and other people’s right to vote and decide on our future together. And to erroneously claim that directly electing the Niagara Chair added an “additional level of government [that] competes with local municipalities” is misleading and insulting.”­                                                                        – Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn

A Column by Dave Augustyn, Mayor of Pelham in Niagara Ontario

Posted August 6th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – In light of the Ontario Government’s unexpected and anti-democratic announcement a week-and-a-half ago to cancel the Niagara Chair election this Fall, I filed my nomination in Pelham to become a Regional Councillor.

I hope to win a seat on Council and to work together with other Councillors, residents and businesses across the peninsula to fix the Region’s integrity crisis and to create a better Niagara.

Dave Augustyn (centre) with former Niagara regional chair Debbie Zimmerman and former Port Colborne Mayor and regional councillor Bob Saracino after his announcement to run for Niagara Regional Chair this past July 12th. A few weeks later, Ontario Premier Doug Ford cancelled the regional chair election for this October 22nd. – Photo by Renate Hodges

In the Fall of 2016, the Province introduced legislation that included mandating the election of all Ontario’s Regional Chairs by the public-at-large, starting in 2018. While this push toward a more accountable and democratic election alarmed a few folks in Niagara, those watching the Municipal sector weren’t surprised. Continue reading →

Ceremony to include guest speakers, an historical address, rescue demonstration, special presentation and plaque and panel unveiling

An Invite to All from the Niagara Parks Commission

Re-Posted August 6th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls, Ontario – In celebration of the 100-year history of the iron scow, which to this day, remains remarkably lodged in the powerful upper rapids of the Niagara River and in recognition of the heroic rescue effort that took place, Niagara Parks will be hosting a commemorative event at Toronto Power Park on Monday, August 6 at 7 p.m.

One hundred years later, the rusted remains of the iron scow or barge remains locked on jagged rocks, where it was scuttled by its two-man crew in the roaring rapids above the Horseshoe Falls. Both men were rescued from the barge in the harrowing hours that followed. Photo courtesy of Niagara Parks

 On August 6, 1918, while involved with a dredging operation above the Canadian Horseshoe Falls on the American side of the Niagara River, a barge had broken loose from its tug boat, sending it drifting into the Niagara River’s midstream, eventually ending up grounded on rocks some 600 metres from the brink of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. Continue reading →

Joe and Anita Robertson, and daughter Laura, died in tragic plane crash this past July 30th

News from Brock University in St. Catharines/Niagara

Posted August 6th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

Joe Robertson, who served for decades on Brock’s Board of Trustees, and his wife, Anita, perished in the crash, along with their daughter Laura

Niagara, Ontario – The families of Joe and Anita Robertson knew they were dedicated members of the community, but it’s only now they’re beginning to realize just how much of an impact they had on the region.

The Niagara community was shocked and devastated this week to learn of the deaths of Joe and Anita, along with their 24-year-old daughter Laura. They were the sole occupants of a plane that crashed in Greenville, Maine on Monday, July 30. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted August 4th, 2018 on Niagara At Large

“My friends …. We are going to turn this province around so that our children and their children will feel proud to call Ontario their home.” – Ontario Premier Doug Ford, after his self-described “government for the people” was sworn in this past June 29th.

Ontario’s human wrecking ball of a premier, Doug Ford

Did we all catch that? He’s going to turn our province around in ways our children and their children can be proud of.

Is he now.

Less than six months after coming to power, Doug Ford and his Tories are swinging axes at schools, environmental protection, social assistance for people living in poverty and other services in ways that are already realizing the worst fears of millions of Ontarians – a majority of whom did not vote for him this past June and likely never will.

One of his targets within the last week alone was – believe it or not –mental health services at a time when studies across North America speak to great un-met need for assistance in this critical area. Continue reading →

 The Three Stooges Film Festival Is Back At Historic Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda, N.Y.

Saturday, August 4th at 7:30 p.m.

A Brief One from Doug Draper

Posted August 3rd, 2018 on Niagara At Large

I know, I know. … You’ve been reading and hearing about stooges all spring and summer for weeks.

Some of you have probably even been unfortunate enough to go to a Niagara regional council meeting, if you live on the Ontario side of the border, or live stream some sessions of the U.S. Congress if you are on the American side and have seen more stooges in action than you would want to see in a lifetime there.

So why, you might rightly ask, would you want to spend precious hours of this mid-summer long weekend seeing even more? Continue reading →

“The response to this petition has confirmed what I’ve been hearing on the doorstep: residents want to directly elect their Regional Chair and they don’t like the provincial government meddling in municipal elections.” – Karrie Porter

News from the Campaign to Elect Karrie Porter to St. Catharines City Council

Posted August 3rd, 2018 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines City Council candidate Karrie Porter (centre) with her petition and names on it so far, with Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch and St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens

Niagara, Ontario – This Friday, August 3rd, Karrie Porter, a candidate for St. Catharines city council in Ward 4- St. Patrick’s submitted petitions signed by hundred of Niagara residents to local MPPs Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines) and Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre).

The petition calls on Queen’s Park to restore the election for Niagara Regional Chair that was abruptly cancelled last week by the provincial government, without notice or consultation.

Porter launched the petition campaign on the same day (Friday, July 27th) the provincial government announced it was cancelling the election. Continue reading →

An Invite  from the Campaign to Re-Elect Carlos Carcia to St. Catharines City Council

Posted August 3^rd, 2018 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines City Councillor Carlos Garcia, running again for the Port Dalhousie ward. One of the very good ones. Give him your support

As many of you already know, Carlos Garcia has announced that he is running for a second term on City Council: Great news indeed!!!

Carlos has been both an effective leader and a rational voice on City Council.  We are privileged to have him representing both Port Dalhousie Ward and the people of St. Catharines.

Carlos brings commitment as well as great leadership and analytic skills to the position.  This was very clearly demonstrated in his determination and management ability as he previously led the community’s battle to preserve Port Dalhousie’s unique heritage and the village feel we all know and love.

Development proposals are reaching some very interesting junctions and the future of Port Dalhousie will depend on the next City Council.  We need Carlos there! Continue reading →

“Only the people of Niagara know what’s best for Niagara, not a government who keeps cooking up secret backroom deals. …When exactly and with whom did the government consult on their decision to cancel the Niagara regional chair election?”       – Wayne Gates

News from the Constituency Office of Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

Posted August 2nd 2018 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates. File photo

Niagara Falls, Ontario  – NDP MPP Wayne Gates continued to fight for the right of the residents of Niagara to be able to elect their Regional Chair after the race was cancelled by Premier Ford last week.

 “The people of the Niagara region want to have a say in who will represent them for the next four years. The government would have known that, if they had bothered to consult anyone before they decided they know what’s best for Niagara.”

“Well, I have news for this government. Only the people of Niagara know what’s best for Niagara, not a government who keeps cooking up secret backroom deals,” said Gates. “When exactly and with whom did the government consult on their decision to cancel the Niagara regional chair election?” Continue reading →

“The federal carbon tax will have its day in court. But it is already on trial among the families who will be forced to pay more for gas, home heating and everything else if the federal government gets its way.”                                                                         – Ontario Attorney General Caroline Mulroney

News from Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his “Government for the People”

Posted August 2nd, 2018 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword  from NAL reporter and publisher Doug Draper – Just by coincidence, the Trump administration south of Canada’s border has just announced plans to move forward with steps to weaken controls on emissions from gas and diesel  powered trucks and cars, which are also significant sources of climate changing carbon and of other pollutants that contribute to health-threatening concentrations of smog.

One key thing that should be considered in all of this is that when you control for carbon emissions you are also often or almost always controlling  other pollutants, including nitrogen oxides,  that cause the smog that, as numerous studies have shown over the past three or more decades, contribute to premature deaths in populations of people (especially older people) who  already suffer from respiratory and cardiovascular disease.

A typical chart, released over the years by professionals in the medical community, showing rates of smog related deaths in communities across Ontario, including Niagara.

 Ironically, a disproportionate number of older people who may suffer the most health impacts from these moves to weaken air quality protection programs on both sides of the border voted for Doug Ford in Ontario and Donald Trump across the United States.

But we may also see at least some short term savings at the gas pumps, even if the health impacts and the long-term impacts on the environment for generations that are younger or not yet born may be significant.

There are almost always  trade offs.)

Now here is the  Ford government’s news release – 

Toronto, Ontario – The Government of Ontario today announced the next step in its fight to defend the people of Ontario from the federal government’s plan to impose a punishing new carbon tax on Ontario families and businesses. 

Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks Rod Phillips and Attorney General Caroline Mulroney today announced that the Government of Ontario will take immediate steps to challenge the constitutionality of the federal government’s carbon tax at the Ontario Court of Appeal. Continue reading →