Niagara At Large

 Niagara Residents Deserve Answers For The Whole Region & On Privatization Plans

A Message from the Niagara Health Coalition, a citizens group advocating for quality public health care

Posted October 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

“The government cannot continue to pit community against community in a false competition that, in the end, would see not enough hospital services for anyone in Niagara.” – : Sue Hotte, chair, Niagara Health Coalition

(A Note from Niagara At Large – as of the posting of this article, we have yet to hear a status report from the Premier on plans for a new Niagara Falls hospital.)

Niagara Falls, Ontario – On Thursday, October 6^th, in advance of (Ontario) Premier Kathleen Wynne’s visit to Niagara Falls(this October 11^th), (Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates questioned the Health Minister in the Ontario Legislature on the slow pace of approval for a new hospital in Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls MPP for Niagara Falls Riding and NDP rep Wayne Gates in provincial legislature

Gates advocated that local contractors be used in the construction. All this is good. There is no question that the Niagara Falls hospital is old and a new one is required.

Two years ago, the Niagara Health System submitted to the Ministry of Health a Phase I proposal to build a new hospital in Niagara Falls that has not yet been approved.

Unfortunately, here in Niagara, as is the case in Scarborough, Durham, Picton and other areas, the government has used a vague and distant promise of a new hospital in what appears to be an attempt to stifle dissent about closure of needed health care services and a dismantling of local governance. Continue reading →

Call For An End To Veterinarians Being Allowed To Police Their Own Conduct

A Commentary by Doug Draper, publisher, Niagara At Large

Posted October 11^th, 2016

What do you think the chances are of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and her government ever allowing citizens at large to police themselves when it comes to paying taxes?

The chances of that happening, we might easily guess, are zero because if citizens were allowed to police themselves around paying taxes, a good many of us (except a few honest citizens like, of course, you and I) would probably take advantage of every opportunity not to pay taxes at all.

Only a months’ long suspicion? How weak would the punishment have been if he wasn’t caught on surveillance camera?

So why is it that the Ontario government allows associations and so-called “colleges” for veterinarians, lawyers, doctors, real-estate agents and other professional groups to play a primary role in policing their members?

Could it have something to do with all of the political lobbying these same organizations do to weaken or kill any regulations over what they do and to avoid the kind of policing the rest of us are subject to? Continue reading →

Ontario Government Investment Will Deliver More Licensed Child Care Spaces

A News Release from the Office of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

Posted October 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

“We are taking action to give more parents access to high-quality, licensed child care. We understand that today’s families face many pressures and that parents deserve to know that their children are being looked after in a safe and caring environment.”— Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Niagara, Ontario – This October 11th, Premier Kathleen Wynne visited the onsite child care centre at Glynn A. Green Public School in Fonthill, where the government supported a retrofit of existing rooms to help create more than 30 new licensed child care spaces for toddlers and pre-schoolers.

Approximately 20 per cent of children up to the age of 4 in Ontario are currently in licensed child care, and research indicates that demand is much higher. To address the demand and ensure more working families can find quality, affordable care, Ontario made a commitment in the recent Speech from the Throne to help create another 100,000 new, licensed child care spaces for infants, toddlers and preschoolers within the next five years — starting in 2017. Continue reading →

Banking Executive is Not Trusted to Protect Patient or Public Interest, Especially After Hydro Privatization Debacle

A Message from Natalie and Mehra and the Ontario Health Coalition

Posted October 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario – Earlier this Ocotober, the Wynne government made public a formal invitation from the Ontario Health Minister to Ed Clark to “assess and validate the value these [health data, e-health records and related intellectual property and infrastructure] systems have created for Ontario and to recommend ways to take them to the next level”.

Ontario Health Coalition Executive Director Natalie Mehra

Ed Clark is the former President and CEO of TD Bank – a bank deeply involved in P3 privatization in Ontario. TD’s economics branch was used by the McGuinty government to generate a pro-privatization health care report. The former head of TD Economics, Don Drummond, wrote the pro-privatization and pro-public-service-cuts Drummond Report.

Top former and current leaders of Infrastructure Ontario – the P3-privatization entity of the Ontario government — have come out of TD. Ed Clark recently recommended the deeply unpopular privatization of public hydro in Ontario. He is the father of Bert Clark, the current President and CEO of Infrastructure Ontario. Continue reading →

Industry Exemptions From Endangered Species Act Unlawful, Groups Say

News from Ontario Nature, a citizens advocacy group for the protection of Ontario’s natural heritage

Posted October 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario – The Ontario Court of Appeal has granted Ontario Nature and Wildlands League leave to appeal a lower court ruling that puts already endangered species at further risk of extinction.

Iconic Barn Owl on endangered species list in Ontario

“Biological diversity is a great treasure of our planet with ecological, social, economic, cultural and intrinsic value, yet we are losing plants and animals forever at an alarming rate due to human activities,” says Caroline Schultz, Ontario Nature’s Executive Director. “That’s why the Endangered Species Act was put in place — as an essential safeguard to protect Ontario’s natural heritage for our kids.”

This marks the first time environmental groups have won the right to appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal on a case about the Endangered Species Act (ESA) or about endangered species. Continue reading →

Legendary Hiker to be Featured at Niagara Wetlands Info Session on Thursday, October 13th

A Call-Out from Karl Dockstader and Friends of the Thundering Waters Forest

Posted October 11^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls, Ontario –  Respecting nature is sometimes as simple as understanding how great it really is and that is exactly what the enigmatic, appealing and entertaining youth Owen Bjorgan will do for the people of Niagara Falls and beyond at the Coronation Centre on 5925 Summer St, Niagara Falls, this Thursday, October 13th, at 7 p.m.

Head to YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnwREmarvcQ) and check out Owen’s TEDx Talk and then come see Owen at the Niagara Wetlands Info Session. This is your chance to be a part of a growing community of people that are unlocking the power of finding peace by respecting the natural world. Continue reading →

“I’d like to punch Donald Trump in the face.” – Robert De Niro

A Brief One from Doug Draper

Posted October 9^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

I knew there was a reason why Robert De Niro is one of my all-time favourite actors!

Robert De Niro as Jake LaMotta in the 1970s film classic ‘Raging Bull’

For a campaign launched by a group of American celebrities called ‘Vote Your Future’, Robert De Niro offered a video that has him punching with words to lay a Jake LaMotta-like beating on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

“He’s so blatantly stupid,” says the 73-year-old Academy Award winning actor of Trump in the video. “He’s a punk, he’s a dog, he’s a pig. He’s a con, a bulls–t artist, a mutt. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about, doesn’t do his homework, doesn’t care, thinks he’s gaming society, doesn’t pay his taxes. He’s an idiot. Colin Powell said it best: He’s a national disaster.”

The De Niro video was initially rejected as too hard-hitting and punchy for a campaign that is mainly aimed at encouraging citizens of all political stripes to vote in the coming November 8^th U.S. elections. But with Trump continuing to say and do things that are so outrageously sexist, racist and zenophobic – not to mention so blantantly false – the producers of the campaign changed have changed there mind and put the video out.

Here it is –

.PLEASE JOIN THE CONVERSATION – Niagara At Large encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space below the Bernie quote.

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

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

Please Don’t Inflict This Racist, Sexist, Lying Hate-Monger On The Rest Of The World

A Brief One from Doug Draper, publisher, Niagara At Large

Posted October 8^th, 2016

The front page of the Saturday, October 8^th, 2016 edition of a highly-read New York City tabloid – the New York Daily News – focuses on yet another reprehensible episode starring billionaire celebrity, now Republican Party standard barer Donald Trump – one that should, at long last, drive every thoughtful, decent-minded American citizen (including any that may be left in the old Republic Party of Abe Lincoln) to stand up to the prospect of a Trump presidency with three simple words – “NO DAMN WAY!”

Here is that front page –

For those of you who missed it – and it is hard to believe that anyone who has been near a newspaper or radio or TV news program in the last18 hours has missed it- that front page is a reaction to a newly leaked audio tape made in 2005 of then Reality TV star Donald Trump telling some guy from the Access Hollywood program how, he likes to grope women and “grab them by the pussy,” and that how as the “star” he says he is, he can do that because because, after all, he is a “star” and “they will let you do it. … You can do anything.” Continue reading →

“This memorial is a very important part of the reconciliation between our peoples, and a testament to our survival on our native land.” – Rick Hall (Hayadaha), Coordinator, Indigenous Knowledge Centre, Six Nations Polytechnic

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted October 7^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – It has been eight years in the making and it is 200 years overdue, said Niagara-on-the-Lake regional councillor Gary Burroughs when it was his turn to speak.

Burroughs was Niagara-on-the-Lake’s  Lord Mayor in 2008 when the town’s council voted to work with Six Nations, Niagara Parks and other partners to create a lasting memorial in recognition of a ceremony of peace held over two days in the late summer of 1815 among Indigenous nations that fought on opposing sides during the War of 1812.

A computerized rendition of the new Landscape of Nations Memorial in Queenston Heights Park in Niagara, Ontario.

That Native memorial – named Landscape of Nations and described in handouts prepared by the town and Niagara Parks as “a public artwork of deep meaning, exquisite beauty and power – was unveiled this past Sunday, October 2^nd on the scenic parklands of Queenston Heights where in October of 1813,  Indigenous warriors were engaged with British and U.S. troops in the Battle of Queenston Heights that cost the life of British commander, Major-General Sir Isaac Brock before the U.S. invaders were driven back across the Niagara River below.

The memorial’s unveiling was attended by hundreds of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who arrived in the rain and saw the skies open up and the sun come out as the unveiling ceremony began with a list of speakers that included Ava Hill, Chief of the Six Nations of the Grand River who was particularly eloquent in expressing her hope that the memorial will help keep the spirit of reconciliation between her community and others sharing this continent alive.

Members of the region’s Indigenous communities proceed through Queenston Height’s Park to the site of the about to be unveiled Landscape of Nations commemorative memorial. Photo by Doug Draper

“This memorial will serve to make people more aware of the significant contributions and sacrifices that were made by the people of Six Nations and their allies during the War of 1812,” said Hill, adding that she also hopes it will inspire people to can act together for the betterment of present and future generations. Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted October 6^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

For at least the third time in as many months, The Buffalo News has published a front-page story about the ridiculously long wait times and traffic tie-ups caused by the understaffing of custom booths on the Canadian side of Niagara’s border crossings.

This latest story, published at the top of the Buffalo, New York’s major daily newspaper’s this October 6^th,  is crowned with a headline ‘Canadian understaffing leads to delays at Peace Bridge’, and goes on to talk about a vow from Brian Higgins, a U.S. Congressman from the Buffalo area, to continue putting pressure on officials in the Canadian government to make sure that those wanting or needing to use the Peace Bridge and other border crossings in the area do not go on facing the same long delays long into the future. Continue reading →

News from the Constituency Office of Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates

Posted October 6th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

This billboard sign has been up in Niagara Falls for about three years now for a new hospital that would cost more than half a billion dollars to build. Whether that ever happens in the foreseeable future is an open question.

Queens Park, Toronto – Wayne Gates, NDP MPP for Niagara Falls (a riding that also includes Fort Erie and Niagara-on-the-Lake) rose in the Ontario Legislature this October 6th  and pressed the Government to fulfill its promise to build a new Niagara Falls hospital.

Gates noted that the (province’s) Liberal Government announced funding for the hospital during his by-election two years ago but the project has yet to be approved beyond Phase one.

“They have their Phase 2 plan that now shows specifics of what will go into each unit ready to be submitted in November, but they can’t do that yet. They can’t submit their Phase 2 plan because phase 1 hasn’t been approved yet. That is simply unacceptable.” Continue reading →

“‘Indian’” costumes – no matter how innocent in intent – perpetuate stereotyping.”

A Message of Consideration from the Niagara Regional Native Centre in Niagara, Ontario

Dear Niagara Community at Large,

It is the position of the Niagara Regional Native Centre that “Indian”, “Native American” or any Indigenous based costume perpetuates stereotypes that marginalize members of our shared urban Indigenous communities.

Our Indigenous friends and neighbours are asking us all to respectfully not wear “Indian” costumes this Halloween.

While it is not the place of a community centre to direct the behaviour of retailers, consumers, or families celebrating a Canadian cultural event we do hope to work within our mandate to share knowledge with both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous community in Niagara.

We encourage our friends and fellow community members to be mindful of the impacts of stereotyping as an implicit form of racism. “Indian” costumes, no matter how innocent in intent perpetuate stereotyping. Stereotyping – or overgeneralizing a belief – a group of people is harmful and can fuel prejudicial attitudes that can result in discrimination and hurtful actions. Continue reading →

 ‘The energy that radiates off  patients when you see them visiting with  pet therapy dogs is extraordinary.’

News from the Niagara Health System

Posted October 6^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(A Note to NAL readers – To  clear up any confusion, we at NAL wish to advise you that the Niagara Health System – the  publicly funded body governing the amalgamation of hospital and related health care sites in Niagara, Ontario – has recently begun identifying itself in media releases simply as ‘Niagara Health’.)

A new program at Niagara Health has been a paw-sitive experience for our patients.

Here is Bosco, one of the dogs that is part of Niagara Health’s new pet therapy program. Photo courtesy of Niagara Health System

Niagara Health’s first Pet Therapy Program, which was launched in partnership with the Therapy Dog Program of St. John Ambulance, Niagara Region Branch, is providing comfort and support to patients, their families and our staff.

Therapy dogs and their volunteer handler teams started bringing cheer to our patients in the Woolcott Wing at our Welland Site a few months ago.
Continue reading →

News from the Ontario New Democratic Party

Posted October 5^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – In the Legislature this afternoon the Liberal government joined forces with the Progressive Conservatives to vote down Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath’s Opposition Day Motion calling for an immediate halt to the sell-off of Hydro One and any further privatization of the province’s electricity system.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath still fighting privatization of province’s hydro system.

“Ontarians have spoken. New Democrats are listening. We need to make crucial changes to stop the rising cost of hydro and stop the privatization that’s driving those cost increases,” said Horwath. “The priority of our hydro system shouldn’t be generating big profits for investors. It should be to provide affordable electricity that keeps people’s bills as low as possible.”

Horwath put the responsibility for high hydro rates on a Liberal government that is pushing ahead with plans to sell off Hydro One and further privatize Ontario’s electricity system despite strong opposition from the public. 80% of Ontarians oppose the sell-off of Hydro One. Continue reading →

A Call-Out from the Ontario Clean Air Coalition for more Renewable Energy and an End to Nuclear

Posted October 5^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

We need your financial support to help us persuade Premier Wynne to choose the smart options that will actually lower our electricity bills and create a renewable energy future for our children.

Unfortunately, Premier Wynne has doubled down on the 1950s solution – nuclear power.  She is proposing to spend tens of billions of dollars to extend the life of Canada’s oldest nuclear station – Pickering – and to re-build 10 aging reactors at the Darlington and Bruce Nuclear Stations. According to Ontario Power Generation, this will cause its price of nuclear power to rise by 180% over the next 10 years. Continue reading →

A Statement from Canada’s Green Party Leader Elizabeth May

Posted October 3rd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

 (A Brief Foreword Note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper – This October 3^rd, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tabled a plan to implement a carbon tax, and impose it, if necessary, on provinces that won’t take action on their own) as a way to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change.

Predictably, members of the federal Conservative Party who were schooled for years by former leader and prime minister Stephen Harper on what not to do about climate change, are already screaming that Trudeau’s plan goes to far and will damage the economy.

Canadian Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says Trudeau carbon pricing plan falls short of action needed to address climate change

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, on the other hand, has been openly and actively supportive of the new Trudeau government’s pledge to address climate change, but is saying that the plan tabled this October 3^rd falls pathetically short of what Canada needs to do to address what is, in the view of scientists around the world, the most serious environmental threat facing life on this planet in this century.

Here is a brief statement May and her party’s deputy leader Daniel Green released this October 3^rd on the plan Trudeau tabled.)

Ottawa, Ontario – The Green Party of Canada released the following statement in response to a national carbon pricing plan: Continue reading →

News from Niagara College

Posted October 3rd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – The Niagara College Student Administrative Council (NCSAC), in partnership with the College Student Alliance (CSA),  is proud to bring the Yellow Umbrella Project (YUP) back to the halls of Niagara College.

Now in its fourth consecutive year, the YUP campaign will continue to bring attention to mental health in post-secondary institutions across Ontario. Niagara College and the NCSAC have been at the forefront of institutions to embrace the campaign. Continue reading →

Convoys Likely To Use Canada/U.S. Border Crossings in Greater Niagara Region

“Such high-level radioactive liquid has never before been transported over public roads anywhere in North America.”

A Message of Concern from the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility – a Coalition that includes the National Council of Women of Canada and its Environment Convenor from Niagara, Ontario, Gracia Janes

Posted October 3^rd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Over two dozen non-governmental organizations from Canada and the United States are asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Barack Obama to postpone or cancel an unprecedented series of shipments of highly radioactive liquid waste from Ontario to South Carolina along public roads and over bridges crossing the waters of the Great Lakes.

Push continues to keep truckloads with deadly concentrations of liquid radioactive waste from crossing Niagara border bridges

The groups are demanding that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) be produced, published and circulated, to allow for scrutiny from other government departments and the public in both countries. In addition, the groups are insisting that proper notification be disseminated through the Great Lakes Executive Committee (GLEC) to federal agencies, state and provincial governments, tribal governments, First Nations, Métis, municipal governments, watershed management agencies, and local public agencies, as required under the terms of the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA).

The Great Lakes Commission and International Joint Commission are meeting in Toronto this week.

“There is enough time for the governments to fulfill their duties under the Great Lakes 2012 Agreement and to respond to the demands of Sierra Club and dozens of other environmental groups to prepare and circulate an independent and meaningful Environmental Impact Statement that considers alternatives to this risky proposal,” said Christine Elwell, Green Energy Campaign, Sierra Club Canada Foundation.  Continue reading →

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted October 3^rd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Brock University Chancellor Shirley Cheechoo will be on campus (in St. Catharines, Ontario) this Tuesday, October 4^th for two significant events that will further define the University’s soul and culture.

The Healing Garden to be officially opened at Brock University this October 4th.

At 10 a.m. this Tuesday, October 4th, a special ritual will officially open the Healing Garden that was completed this summer in the planted space on the north side of the Cairns Family Health and Bioscience Research Complex.

Tuesday’s event comes almost exactly a year after Cheechoo helped plant the symbolic white pine tree that is now in the centre of the Healing Garden. Continue reading →

News form the Niagara Health System

Posted September 30^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Foreword Note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper – While NAL is posting this media release from the NHS for our readers’ information, I want stress that editorial, Niagara At Large is opposed to any parking charges at publicly funded hospital.

It is also important to note that the Niagara Health System is not the only body operating hospitals in Ontario and the rest of Canada that uses parking fees as another way to make up for the fact that it is not receiving enough money from the provincial or federal government to cover the operating costs of hospitals.

We, as citizens, also have to remember that many of us have pressed governments for years to reduce progressing taxes like those on income, and that reduces the amount of revenue they take in to pay for health care, education and other services.

Then, to make up for the revenue losses, public bodies come in with user fees for parking and other services, only to have many of the same people who demanded tax cuts complaining about those.

In other words, as much as we continue to have our issues here with the Niagara Health System, this is not a black and white issue, and there is more than one party to point the finger at.)

Niagara, Ontario – Beginning this Friday, September 30^th,, our patients and visitors will notice we’ve made some additions to the parking options in the gated lots at our Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and Welland sites.

The Niagara Health System’s super hospital in the Niagara, Ontario municipality  of St. Catharines. File photo by Doug Draper

In line with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s new directive, we’ve now added multi-day H PASS parking packages that offer discounted daily rates to frequent visitors. The H PASS is a preloaded card available for 5, 10 or 30 uses and is valid for one year from the date of activation. Continue reading →

Come Celebrate The Unveiling Of This Long Overdue Memorial This Sunday, October 2^nd  At 2 P.M

An Invite from Ontario’s Niagara Parks Commission

Posted September 30^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario — After more than two hundred years the significant sacrifices and contributions made by First Nations during the War of 1812 will be permanently recognized.

Landscape of Nations: The Six Nations and Native Allies Commemorative Memorial, a public artwork of deep meaning, exquisite beauty, and power will be unveiled on the historic battlefield in Queenston Heights Park on Sunday, October 2, 2016 at 2:00 p.m.

The memorial also recognizes the historic ceremony of peace and reconciliation held in Niagara on August 31 and September 1, 1815 that restored peace among the Native nations who fought on opposing sides. Continue reading →

Port Colborne’s City Council Votes To Extend Development Charge Waivers

A Report from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Posted September 30^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario –  On September 26th, Port Colborne City Council voted to extend the waivers of all development charges in the municipality for another year, after an address from the GNCC encouraging them to do so.

The city (located in the southern tier of the Niagara region) had decided to waive development charges two years ago, and the policy was up for renewal.

Citing the huge increase in the number of housing starts in the city, the attendant growth in construction jobs (which had outpaced general job growth in Port Colborne by a factor of six since the policy started), and the potential for the city to turn a housing boom into a lucrative construction boom, the GNCC advocated extending the waivers by another year. Continue reading →

Experts Will Explore Race, Privilege And Social Justice At Event Starting Friday, September 30^th

 An Invite from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario

 Posted September 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

 (This is the second time Niagara At Large has posted a piece on this first-of-a-kind symposium for Brock. An earlier piece on this symposium was posted earlier this month on September 7^th)

White privilege knows no borders, says a world-renowned diversity scholar and founder of the White Privilege Conference.

Brock University in Niagara community of St. Catharines, Ontario

Eddie Moore Jr. says that while many in Canada believe prejudice and racism are problems for the U.S., no country is immune to issues of racial inequality and injustice.

“White supremacy, white privilege and oppression is a global phenomenon,” he says. “It knows no borders.”

Moore said the way to change the status quo is to expose it, analyze it and take action.

“I really believe that some of the challenges associated with these issues are a result of not enough people naming it and examining it,” he says. Continue reading →

By Liz Benneian, Founder, Ontario Zero Waste Coalition, Member, No Burn Niagara and Resident of Vineland

Posted on September 29^th,2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Residents in Port Robinson and Allanburg nearly had a new neighbour — a toxic emission belching incinerator, fed by as many as 60 trucks a day, bringing garbage from who knows where, containing who knows what, to a site on Allanport Road.

Liz Benneian speaks for No Burn Niagara, File photo by Doug Draper

That doesn’t exactly sound like a good fit for this quiet corner of Niagara that is promoting its local food, winery and tourism industries and that is advertising itself as a great community for both retirees and young families.

The good news is that citizens formed No Burn Niagara and came together, with the help of Port Robinson Proud, to successfully to oppose it.

At a Thorold City Council meeting this past September 6th, Thorold’s Council voted unanimously to rescind their support for the proponent applying for a taxpayer-funded subsidy for any energy produced. Continue reading →

A Message from the Ontario New Democratic Party

Posted September 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

This September 29^th,  Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath held a roundtable discussion with residents in Guelph, Ontario to discuss the issue of water taking in Ontario and commit to creating a province-wide Water Strategy should the party form government in 2018.

The Horseshoe Falls at Niagara is one of the most spectacular staging areas for one of the world’s largest basins of freshwater in the Great Lakes. File photo by Doug Draper

“Water is a public trust.  Under an NDP government, an Ontario Water Strategy will prioritize planning for water needs now and for future generations based on the public interest, and sustainable public access to water,” said Horwath following the roundtable.

An Ontario Water Strategy will be based on the principle that the public should have access to water for drinking, sanitation and food; ensuring that communities have the water needed for planned sustainable growth; the Strategy will create an inventory of water use and return across the Province and will prioritize sustainable long-term water use planning. Continue reading →

A Commentary by the Ontario Clean Air Alliance

Posted September 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Citing a surplus of power, Ontario’s Wynne government pulled the plug this past Tuesday, September 27^th  on its Large Renewable Procurement (LRP) process for acquiring wind and solar power at highly competitive prices.

But what the Minister of Energy didn’t mention was that the reason we have a glut of power is the government’s insistence on keeping high-cost nuclear plants running despite plenty of better options.

Shut down the Pickering Nuclear Power plant and keep the solar panels coming.

The Pickering Nuclear plant is an excellent case in point. Our new factsheet shows that Pickering’s power is just not needed. Almost half of the power the station produces is exported, often at a loss. The rest can easily be replaced with lower cost water power from Quebec, energy efficiency improvements, Ontario green power or some combination of all three. This is true even if one or more of the aging Darlington reactors are shut down for re-building.

Pickering’s power it is also more costly than these other options. Just last week, Ontario Power Generation was at the Ontario Energy Board seeking a 180% increase in the price it is paid for nuclear power. Water power from Quebec and energy efficiency savings are both substantially cheaper than power from Pickering today. Meanwhile, power from renewable sources just gets cheaper and cheaper, with wind power already more economical than power from Pickering (based on the last LRP round’s prices) and solar likely to be competitive in the near future.

What our factsheet makes clear is that there is no excuse for continuing to run a 45-year-old nuclear plant surrounded by two million people beyond its design lifetime. And now OPG is applying for a license to run the station for another decade. This is not only reckless – it is economically backward because it is only going to lead to electricity bills going up and up, not down.

Please click here to sign our petition to close the Pickering Nuclear Station in 2018 when its license expires.

Please pass this message on to your friends and colleagues.

Thank you.

Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director

About the OCAA- The Ontario Clean Air Alliance is a coalition of over 90 organizations that represent more than six million Ontarians.   We led the successful campaign to phase-out Ontario’s five dirty coal-fired power plants.   We are now working to move Ontario towards a 100% renewable electricity future through an integrated combination of energy conservation and efficiency, water power imports from Quebec and cost-effective Made-in-Ontario green energy.

For more information on the Ontario Clean Air Alliance and its advocacy work for a clean environment and reasonable energy costs to consumers, click on – http://www.cleanairalliance.org/ .

JOIN THE CONVERSATION BELOW – Niagara At Large encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie quote below. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

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

“No new fossil fuel extraction or transportation infrastructure should be built, and governments should grant no new permits for them.” – from Oil Change International, a Washington, D.C.-based  research and advocacy organization

News from Hamilton, Ontario’s Citizens at City Hall

Posted September 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Hamilton, Ontario – The embattled National Energy Board opens hearings in Hamilton in mid-October on an Enbridge oil pipeline proposal that runs 35 kilometres across the city’s rural area between Westover and Nebo Road.

It will face local protests aligned with a rapidly growing continent-wide movement that is challenging all projects that increase the extraction or transportation of fossil fuels.

One of many protests against Enbridge’s Line 9 pipeline running through Ontario

The Hamilton 350 Committee wants the October 18 hearings suspended until the Trudeau government’s promised reforms are put in place. That echoes the demands delivered to the Prime Minister earlier this month by fifty Canadian organizations.

And the climate-driven protest is also bolstered by a national aboriginal declaration last week, and a “spectacular” international investment shift away from fossil fuels that coincides with new evidence that any expansion of the sector will sink last year’s Paris climate agreement. Continue reading →

A Call-Out from Avaaz, an international online citizens advocacy group

Posted September 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Dear friends,

Nestle just outbid an Ontario town for the right to purchase a local well, risking the town’s long-term water security. Let’s stop Nestle from sucking Ontario dry to line their pockets!

The small town of Centre Wellington tried to purchase a nearby well to ensure its future water supply was secure. But Nestle beat their offer.

Now Nestle’s waiting for approval from the government to start testing water quality and quantity — so they can get to work profiting from their purchase.

Sign the petition to Premier Wynne saying to reject the permit, and tell Nestle to get their hands off our water supply! Add your name: Click to sign the petition Ontario sells millions of litres of ground water every day to companies like Nestle, at incredibly favourable rates, letting them profit from what should be a public good. Continue reading →

Wynne Government’s Approach To Project-Based Mental Health Funding On Campuses Is Failing Ontario Students –  NDP MPP Peggy Sattler

A Message from Ontario’s New Democratic Party

Posted September 29^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Queen’s Park, Toronto – An alarming report released by the Ontario University and College Health Association confirms that there is a mental health crisis in Ontario postsecondary institutions, with 2016 survey results showing that student mental health has worsened since 2013.  Addressing the report, the President of the Association said, “lives are at stake.”

In Question Period today, London West MPP and NDP postsecondary education critic Peggy Sattler pointed out that “in my own community of London, the new 24-hour mental health crisis centre has been overwhelmed by college and university students since it opened its doors in January this year.” 

Satter called for a coordinated provincial strategy for student mental health, rather than project funding, and urged the Liberal government to “commit to moving forward immediately with a province-wide strategy for mental health services on Ontario campuses.” Continue reading →

A Brief One by Doug Draper

September 28^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Canadian-born rock starNeil Young has been performing and composing protest songs going back to the  1960s in groups like Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and on his own, right up to the last couple of years with songs that have slammed chemical and oil corporations and others for poisoning and suffocating the life-support systems of our planet.

petroleum corporation hires private cops to sick dogs on Native people attempting to stop construction of pipeline earlier this September

Earlier this September, Neil Young released a song and video in support of Native American communities fighting to stop the Dakota Access oil pipeline in the mid-western United States – a David vs. Goliath battle being played out between Aboriginal and other peoples in the U.S. and Canada, and corporations and government determined to pipe dirty gas and oil to our east and west coasts, and south to refineries near the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

Here are some of the lyrics to Neil Young’s new song ‘Indian Givers’, followed by the video you can click on and view. Please contact your elected representatives and do whatever else you can to fight climate change and the criminal corporations operating these tar sands and constructing these pipelines with greed in their eyes and no real regard for the future of our planet and all who depend on it for survival.

“Bring back the days when good was good Lose these imposters in our neighborhood Across our farms and through our waters All at the cost of our sons and daughters. …

Our brave sons and daughters We’re all here together fighting poison waters Standing against the evil way That’s what we have at the end of day. …

I wish somebody would share the news.”

To hear the song and view the video ‘Indian Giver’, click here –

For more of Neil Young taking musical shots that those who are poisoning the planet, check out his latest CDs – ‘The Monsanto Years’ and, most recently, ‘Earth’.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION BELOW – Niagara At Large encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie quote below. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

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

By Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, Ontario Health Coalition

Posted September 28^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Mariel Schoof was referred to a private clinic in B.C. for sinus surgery. She was appalled when she was charged more than $6,000. So she wrote to her provincial government to have them take action.

Ontario Health Coalition executive director & long-time citizen advocate for public health care Natalie Mehra

Like most Canadians, she expected health care to be provided without charge, paid through our public taxes. But the provincial government did nothing in response to her complaint.

Her experience touched off a set of legal challenges that could change the face of health care in Canada.

In provinces like B.C. and Quebec, recently Saskatchewan, and to a lesser extent, Ontario, private clinics have been taking over more and more from public hospitals. These private clinics sell diagnostics and surgeries as profit-seeking businesses. They make their profits from government contracts and, too often, from charging patients extra user fees for access to health care.

Concerned about other patients being denied care if they couldn’t afford to pay thousands of dollars in extra fees, Mariel Schoof and four other patients took the B.C. government to court for failure to enforce the laws that protect patients against extra-billing by private clinics. (Extra-billing is when doctors charge OHIP – or the equivalent in other provinces such as BC’s MSP – and then also charge patients on top. Continue reading →

Coordinator Will Assist In Implementing Sexual Violence & Harrassment Policy For University

News from Brock University in Niagara, Ontario

Posted September 28^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines, Ontario – Brock University’s new Sexual Violence Response and Education Coordinator, Allison Cadwallader, has been on the job for less than a month but her important work is already well underway.

Allison Cadwallader, Sexual Violence Response & Education Coordinator at Brock University. Photo courtesy of Brock U.

Cadwallader comes to Brock with experience in the area of sexual violence prevention and support to survivors of sexual violence through her various roles at the University of Windsor and the Sarnia Sexual Assault Survivors’ Centre. She started her new position at Brock on Sept. 6.

Cadwallader will provide support to Brock community members who are affected by sexual violence and she will offer education and training on sexual violence prevention and response to members of the Brock University community. Continue reading →

Thank You, Donald, For Sharing That With Us

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 27^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

In the weeks leading up to last year’s federal election in Canada, a few candidates and even fewer media outlets attempted to make an issue of the fact that members of super-rich in this country are flying billions of dollars to off-shore tax havens so they don’t have to do what most mortal Canadians have to do to avoid criminal charges – pay taxes.

A public broadcaster, to its credit – TV Ontario – aired a documentary a number of times before the election called “The Great Canadian Tax Dodge” – detailing how government-sponsored loopholes in the tax laws care allowing an estimated $200 billion a year to fly off to tax havens, leaving the rest of us holding the bag for covering the costs of health care and other necessary public services.

I’m watching and reading  reports about all of this high-flying tax dodging, and I’m thinking – naively or stupidly perhaps – where is the outrage? Why aren’t Canadians standing up, en masse, and demanding that this be an issue in the election, and that candidates and the parties they were running for either draw up a plan to address it or get creamed at the polls. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Posted September 26^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath made a stop at Brock University in St. Catharines this September 26^th to meet with students about the burdening tuition fees and debt loads they are carrying these days.

While on the campus, Horwath, who was accompanied by Niagara NDP representatives Cindy Forster and Wayne Gates, pledged that if her party forms the next Ontario government, it will erase the interest students are forced to pay back on student loans they receive from the province.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwth,, flanked by Niagara representatives Wayne Gates and Cindy Forster, and a gathering of Brock University students, announces pledge to eliminate interest from student loans if her party wins 2018 provincial election.

“The government should not be making a profit off of the fact that students in Ontario need to take out laonds to afford post-secondary education,” said Horwath. “It’s just not right.” Continue reading →

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 25^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

“Everywhere there’s lots of piggies, living piggy lives. You can see them out for dinner, with their piggy wives, clutching forks and knives, to eat their bacon.”    – from the George Harrison song, Piggies

Who do you know in the world of everyday Canadians, who needs more than $100,000 to cover the costs of moving their families from one home to another, just a couple of hours’ drive away in the same province.

Probably no one, unless you are unfortunate enough to know someone who works in a senior position in federal government.

And if they happen to have a job working for the prime minister of the country, it’s a free-for-all on what you can charge the taxpayer for expenses – right up to the time you get caught, of course. Then you might have to practice looking contrite while you are paying some of it back.

You know, it was just about a week ago when I was standing in a long check-out line at a local grocery store that people in the line began engaging in a discussion about how corrupt and how wasteful of our money they feel the still relatively new Liberal government of Justin Trudeau is. “They’re no better than Stephen Harper,” said one to the nodding approval of others.”

Never one to shrink from a discussion about politics, I took a stab at defending Trudeau and company. Continue reading →

Posted by Doug Draper, September 26th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

“If we – and now I mean the relatively conscious whites and the relatively conscious blacks, who must, like lovers, insist on, or create, the consciousness of the others – do not faulter in our duty now, we may be able, handful that we are, to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country, and change the history of the world. If we do not now dare everything, the fulfillment of that prophecy, recreated from the Bible in song by a slave, is upon us:   God have Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, the fire next time.”

–from the late American writer James Baldwin’s epic 1960s epic essay ‘The Fire Next Time’ which still stands to this day as one of the most eloquent and stirring plea for racial reconciliation ever written.

Flames light up the night in Charlotte, North Carolina following another fatal shooting of a black man in the streets.

When ‘The Fire Next Time’ was first published in the early 1960s, Harper’s and Atlantic magainzes .took turns praising it as “a compassionate and eloquent sermon, demanding the most agonizing self-examination from anyone who reads,” and as a work that is “scorching in its candor” and “plunges to the human heart of the matter.”

Yet apparently even Baldwin’s passionate words – still very much available in numerous newer editions of his writings on racial relations for anyone who cares to read them, have not been enough to dampen down the level of racial violence documented on American streets in recent years, or the hateful rhetoric spewing from the mouth of a certain candidate who is dangerously close to being voted in as the next president of the United States.

And for those of us in Canada who believe this is mostly an American problem, we might want to remind ourselves that the kind of prejudices and intolerances we are seeing play out south of the 49th parallel are still alive in this country for millions of people who vote for politicians at the federal, provincial and municipal level who want to ban from entry or screen certain classes of immigrants for whatever their definition is of “Canadian values” or who engage in bashing members of the LBGT community or others they viewas a threat to those values.

More than 50 years after James Baldwin wrote ‘The Fire Next Time’, we still have a long way to go in the peace and tolerance department and it might not hurt both Americans and Canadians to start with a collective re-reading of that essay and national discussions on what the essay was trying to say.

In that spirt, I’ll finish here with a few more words from ‘The Fire Next Time’.

“In short,” writes Baldwin in the final pages of the essay, “we, the black and the white, deeply need each other here if we are to become a nation – if we are really, that is, to achieve our identity, our maturity, as men and women.”

Find out about a new book of essays and poems inspired by James Baldin’s original essay, called ‘The Fire This Time – A New Generation Speaks About Race’, compiled by award-winning writer Jesmyn Ward by clicking on – http://www.simonandschuster.ca/books/The-Fire-This-Time/Jesmyn-Ward/9781501126345 .

JOIN THE CONVERSATION BELOW – Niagara At Large encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie quote below. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

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

– – a on …..

Summit To Focus On Niagara’s Job Market, Skills Gap & ‘What Makes Millennials Tick’

An Invite from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Posted September 23, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – On October 27^th, Niagara’s leaders in business, government, non-profits and community will convene again for this year’s Niagara Economic Summit, hosted by the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce at White Oaks Conference Resort and Spa.

This year, the Summit will dive into myths and misconceptions about Niagara’s economy. A range of panellists and speakers from business, government, and non-profits will bring out the truth about Niagara’s most pressing economic concerns.

The first theme to be explored is Niagara’s job market. Some say it’s a slack labour market and that it’s hard to find work here. Others believe Niagara has plenty of jobs if you know where to look, and the biggest problem is that employers can’t find good people.

Helmut Pastrick, chief economist of Central 1 Credit Union and editor of Economic Analysis of Ontario and Economic Analysis of British Columbia, will deliver a plenary address on the labour market, and then join a panel of experts that will attempt to answer this burning question.

The Summit will also dive into the question of the skills gap, aiming to establish whether it’s real, and if so, what its extent and nature are. A panel of experts from diverse backgrounds including recruiting agencies, major HR departments, trades education and organized labour will join plenary speaker David Tsubouchi, President of the Ontario College of Trades, on this subject.

Finally, the subject of the millennial generation will be addressed. Educators, entrepreneurs, and community leaders will investigate what makes the millennials tick, and how there’s good business in hiring and marketing to that generation. Brand Blvd. Vice-President Chris Sinclair will explain how his business prospered with both.

For anyone interested in Niagara’s economy and the future of business in the region, this is one event that cannot be missed. For a complete list of speakers, further information, and to register for the Summit, visit  http://www.gncc.ca/economicsummit/ .

The Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce is the champion for the Niagara business community. With almost 1,600 members representing 50,000 employees, it is the largest business organization in Niagara and the third largest Chamber in Ontario. The Chamber Accreditation Council of Canada has recognized the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce with its highest level of distinction.

For more information click on –@GNCCadvocacy  www.greaterniagarachamber.com

Niagara At Large now encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie quote below. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

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

Now Madam Minister, It Is Also Time To Focus On Taking Action On Protecting Wetlands, Biodiversity & On Auditing A Conversation Authority Many Have Lost Trust In

A News Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 23^rd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne unveiled a set of mandates for members of her cabinet this September 23^rd, with one for her Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, Kathryn McGarry, focusing on issues that have become a focus on quite a bit of public debate in Niagara lately.

Those issues include what to do about protecting wetlands and strengthening biodiversity in the province, and how Conservation Authorities should be government in the future.

All three of these issues have generated a good deal of heated discussion and debate in recent months as growing numbers of residents across Niagara have joined efforts to save hundreds of acres of forest, savannah and wetlands – located in the southwest end of Niagara Falls and known to many as Thundering Waters Forest – from being bulldozed away for urban development. Continue reading →

Here’s Some Great News For Those Of Us Who Want To See Canada’s God-Awful Tar Sands Shut Down

Posted September 23th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

News from a Coalition of First Nations & Tribal Chiefs in Canadan and the United States

First Nations and Tribes Sign New Treaty Joining Forces To Stop All Tar Sands Pipelines

Montreal/Vancouver — First Nation and Tribal Chiefs gathered this September 22nd in Musqueam Territory (Vancouver) and Mohawk Territory (Montreal), to sign a new continent-wide Indigenous Treaty — the Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion — that commits already some 50 First Nations and Tribes from all over Canada and the Northern United States to working together to stop all proposed tar sands pipeline, tanker and rail projects in their respective territorial lands and waters.

The First Nations and Tribes are committed to stopping all five current tar sands pipeline and tanker project proposals (Kinder Morgan, Energy East, Line 3, Northern Gateway and Keystone XL) as well as tar sands rail projects such as the Chaleur Terminals Inc. export project at the Port of Belledune in New Brunswick. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Doug Draper

Posted September 22nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Can you believe it, it’s September 22nd and the summer of 2016 – the hottest one on record for most regions of Canada and the U.S. (unless you are a climate change denier) – is officially over.

And with it goes that (actually its been gone for about three or four weeks now) is that giant yellow duck – billed as “the world’s largest rubber duck” – in the Canalside waters of Buffalo, New York.

Actually, I could not figure out what the huge yellow duck was doing there, with the old grain mills of Buffalo looming in the background but like numerous others, I had to stop and take a picture of it and here is my dumb excuse to use it here – as passing memory of a summer dominated by a nut-bar billionaire, yelling about building a wall and banning Muslims while sporting a comb over just as yellow as that duck.

So goodbye to Donald Duck and hello to pumpkin patches in the Short Hills of Niagara, and here is bidding us all  a warm and peaceful Fall season.

Pumpkins in the Shorthills of Niagara, Ontario. File photo by Doug Draper

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post in the space below the Bernie quote . A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

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

A Comment from Linda McKellar, a retired health care worker and Niagara,Ontario resident living in the Town of Fort Erie

Posted September 22^nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

This past Tuesday, September 20^th, I had occasion to go to the “marvellous” (sarcasm) new St Catharines hospital from Fort Erie for the first time.

A sunny day, late morning, not rush hour, no accidents, some construction, but it took almost an hour. Lots of traffic on the adjacent streets and numerous stoplights to go through. ER wait time was listed as four hours, which I realize is inconvenient but not dastardly for non urgent issues.

The Grim Reaper in this 2010 rally to save the Fort Erie Hospital ultimately got his way. That hospital is now a shell of what it was a decade ago. File photo by Doug Draper

I had to wait for someone to leave to find a parking space costing $8. (Even staff pay for parking. Imagine demanding GM employees pay for parking so they could go to work!).

Meanwhile, I’m SO glad I wasn’t sick myself or having a major acute incident of any type. Lovely lobby but who cares? If I want a lovely lobby I can go to a Hilton or the Savoy. Also interesting that it is adjacent to a rail line carrying who knows what? The bed space is less than in the hospitals it replaced.

Meanwhile, Fort Erie (the one-time hospital there) is reduced to a clinic and palliative care (where people are sent to die, often from other communities inaccessible to their elderly loved ones) and Port Colborne is reduced to a clinic. Even a lot of equipment acquired through local donations to the auxiliaries were pilfered for other sites.

Next will be Welland. Continue reading →

From Niagara Action For Animals and Brock Students for Animal Liberal

Posted September 22nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

For a related post on the reasons for this vigil click on – https://voiceofniagara.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=21245&action=edit .

Niagara At Large now encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space following the Bernie quote below. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

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

A Message from Peter Joe Certo for the Columbus Park Association, a neighbourhood group in Buffalo, New York

Posted September 22^nd, 2016 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper – Regular NAL readers may note that this is the third post in as many days on concerns over air pollution from traffic bottlenecks at the Peace Bridge crossing between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York.

If three posts in a row seems like overkill to some, I would repeat a few points I have made in the past.

Concerns over the health impacts of breathing poisons spewing from the exhaust pipes of cars and trucks gearing up and down while waiting for clearance at the Peace Bridge crossing have been longstanding for people living and working in neighbourhoods near the bridge. And the contamination in question has no respect for the border and can be just as harmful to people on both sides.

A further point we may want to consider is the responsibility we collectively have to address the concerns of those who are most impacted by a car and truck dependent world of our own making.

In that spirit, Niagara At Large is posting below a message we have received from residents living on the Buffalo side of the Peace Bridge in response to a front-page story published in the September 21^st edition of The Buffalo News and to a media release that was circulated by he New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on air quality tests conducted in the vicinity of the bridge.

That DEC release was posted on Niagara At Large this September 21^st and we believe it is only fair and right to post the following response to it and The Buffalo News story.

From the Columbus Park Association –

We wish to point out, on behalf of the Peace Bridge neighborhood–and specifically the Columbus Park Association (on the Buffalo, New York side of the border —we most certainly were not “collaborators” on the DEC (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation air monitoring) project. Continue reading →

Results Similar to Other New York Urban Areas

News from The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Posted September 21^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

DEC Continues Calls on EPA to Lower Emission Standards for Diesel Trucks, and Evaluate New Standards for                            Ultra Fine Particles

Buffalo, New York – The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced (this September 21^st) that the results of an extensive air monitoring study conducted on the west side of Buffalo near the U.S. Peace Bridge Plaza indicate that air quality in this area is consistent with levels found in other similarly sized metropolitan areas and meets federal standards.

The Peace Briidge crossing between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York in our Greater Niagara Region. Residents living near the bridge and its large flow of traffic have expressed concern about airborne emissions from all that traffic for many years. Photo by Doug Draper

The study was designed with public input and assessed changes in air quality associated with the redesign of the Peace Bridge Plaza and access to I-190. The study expanded upon an initial DEC investigation conducted between 2012 and 2013.

Using two air monitors and data collected by community members, the study measured black carbon, carbonyls, fine particulate matter, ultrafine particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds over a full year, allowing DEC to compare data to annual standards and guideline concentrations and to capture periods when traffic is heavier on the Peace Bridge and I-190. Continue reading →

A Call-Out from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario

Posted September 21^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Residents in downtown St. Catharines are pleased with downtown revitalization efforts, but would like to see more open spaces and places to sit, relax and stroll, according to research by Brock University’s Niagara Community Observatory (NCO).

Downtown St. Catharines, Ontario streetscape, St. Paul Street, south of James Street. Photo by Doug Draper

“They want to see places where people are comfortable and engaged in pleasurable, low-cost or free leisure activities,”said Brock geography Professor Michael Ripmeester, who surveyed 300 residents as part of the NCO’s research paper released this summer (click on following for report), Downtown revitalization in St. Catharines: Building the public space. Continue reading →

News from the Niagara Sustainability Initiative

Posted September 21st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario – September 20, 2015 – We’re pleased to announce that Tikvah Mindorff, Executive Director of Niagara Sustainability Initiative, has been honoured as a 2017 member of Canada’s Clean50-Emerging Leader.

Tikvah Mindorff, executive director, Niagara Sustainability Initiative

Canada’s Clean50 recognizes 50 leaders in sustainable development and clean technology, selected from an initial pool of more than 500 nominees from across Canada. The nominees reflect a wide range of industries; their innovations, programs and strategies are helping to reduce energy and waste and along the way improve Canada’s sustainability record.

Of the applicants, Delta Management Group has selected and named 10 absolutely outstanding younger Canadians as “Emerging Leaders”.  In many ways the description is unfair – they are, quite simply, “Leaders”, who in every case have already accomplished a great deal. Many of the “Emerging Leaders” could be full Clean50 Honourees – something Delta Management Group fully expects in the near future. Continue reading →

Join Us In Honouring Indigenous Adoptees 

An Invite to You from the Niagara Regional Native Centre 

Posted September 21^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large 

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario – The Nurturing Our Roots Powwow is an annual Traditional Powwow held on the grounds of the Niagara Regional Native Centre in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  

All are welcome to attend this family friendly celebration of Indigenous culture at 382 Airport Rd,, Niagara-on-the-Lake, just off the QEW, on Sunday, September 25th, 2016.

The Grand Entry, which is the official commencement of the event, starts at noon and the festivities will carry on until the flags are retired between 4 and 5 pm. Continue reading →

Trollers’ Threats Are Hurting Fight To End Animal Cruelty

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Posted September 20^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

This past Saturday, I turned on the radio  in my car to a report on CBC that a veterinarian in St. Catharines who was recently suspended for abusing animals in his car was receiving death threats.

And that, on top of the hitting and choking of animals that the vet admitted doing before the College of Veterinarians of Ontario suspended him for 10 months with a chance to return to work in six months if he paid $10,000 for some training on how to properly restrain animals, was bad enough.

Now I pick up one of the daily newspapers in Niagara to a front page headline that now, according to the vet’s lawyer, his children have become targets of threats by people irate over the stories circulating earlier this September about the vet’s cruel treatment of the animals in his care. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Doug Draper

Posted September 20^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

It is very easy to forget or to not be aware at all that while many of us are sitting there in long lines of cars and trucks, cursing at the time it is taking to cross the Peace Bridge between Fort Erie and Buffalo, there are very nice neighbourhoods full of people nearby who have to put up with all this.

Cars and trucks waiting to cross on the Buffalo side of the Peace Bridge, on a far less busy day than most.

They not only have to put up with all the noise of idling engines and squeaky brakes, they also have to put up with all the poisons in the air, courtesy of emissions spewing from line after line of cars and trucks crossing the bridge night and day.

Then long after those of us waiting in those lines are finally through and on our way to the art festival, sports arena or shopping mall or where ever else we want to go, the people in those neighbourhoods are still there, breathing the toxins in the air. Continue reading →

“The Faceless Dolls Project is an opportunity to visually and physically create a representation of the known cases of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada.” – Celeste Smith, co-founder, Indigenous Solidarity Coalition

An Invite to You from the Indigenous Solidarity Coalition at Brock University

Posted September 20^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

St. Catharines, Ontario – Too many of Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls remain nameless and faceless.

The Faceless Dolls Project seeks to raise awareness about the epidemic and ensure that each statistic has a story behind it.

Panels of faceless dolls in honour of murdered and missing women

Two workshops for the Faceless Dolls Project will be held at Brock University this week on Monday, Sept. 19 and Thursday, Sept. 22, both at 3 p.m. in Sankey Chambers.

Just a few of the more than a thousand faces of missing Indigenous womenand girls in Canada

The sessions are organized and facilitated by Brock’s Indigenous Solidarity Coalition, and the faceless dolls being created will become an exhibit on display at Brock as a reminder of the MMIW issue. Continue reading →

From Molly Flanagan, Alliance for the Great Lakes, a U.S.-based advocacy group for the binational waterbodies

Posted September 20th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Every year tens of billions of gallons of sewage and stormwater are released to the Great Lakes. The result: closed beaches, polluted drinking water, and illness.

But too often communities don’t know about this pollution problem until long after it happens. Tell US EPA to require public notification ASAP when a sewage overflow occurs.

About 22 billion gallons of this sewage-tainted water ended up in the lakes in nearly 1,500 overflows in 2014. Once in the water, bacteria and viruses from the waste can make people sick. That’s why it’s important the public is notified right away of a sewage overflow so people know to stay out of the water. Continue reading →

A Call-Out from Catherine Ens, Director, Niagara Action For Animals

Dear Friends Of Animals –

We hope that you will be able to attend the Candlelit Vigil on Monday September 26 from 7:15 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at Skyway Animal Hospital – 514 Welland Ave. (near Bunting), in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Brock Students for Animal Liberation (BSAL) and Niagara Action for Animals (NAfA) will be hosting a candlelit vigil for the animals who have suffered at the hands of local veterinarian Dr. Mahavir Rehki of Skyway Animal Hospital.

Recent undercover footage come out exposing Dr. Rekhi’s violent handling of the animals in his care, and concerned citizens are outraged at the lax discipline he faces.  See full story here:http://www.lfpress.com/2016/09/15/i-was-disgusted-ont-vet-caught-choking-punching-animals

Please join us for a silent vigil standing up for animals who have been subjected to this cruel behaviour. Continue reading →

“Canada is a nation built from the ground up by immigrants and refugees. We have a proud history of opening our arms—and our borders—to those most in need.” – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

A Media Release from the Office of Canada’s Prime Minister

Posted September 19^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

New York, New York – The Government of Canada is playing a leadership role on the world stage in refugee resettlement and international migration issues.

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced this September 19^th that the Government of Canada will increase humanitarian assistance this fiscal year by 10 percent. The Prime Minister also announced over $64.5 million in new multi-year funding to support people affected by humanitarian crises around the world, and $467 million in programming as part of Canada’s strategy to address the crises in Syria, Iraq, and the surrounding region.

Prime Minister Trudeau co-chairs a roundtable on “International Action and Cooperation on Refugees and Migrants: The Way Ahead” with Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah – Photo from Prime Minister’s Office

The Government of Canada recognizes the significant contributions migrants and refugees can make to sustainable economic growth and to building dynamic, inclusive societies. In Canada, migrants and refugees fill skills gaps and labour market shortages, address some of the challenges associated with an aging population, increase international trade, and draw in investment from around the world – all of which strengthen the middle class at home. Continue reading →

A Brief One from Doug Draper

Posted September 19^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Ken Burns has shown once again why he is one of my all-time favourite documentary filmmakers.

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns makes a powerful case for opening the doors to  refugees

The producer of ‘The Civil War’, ‘The Central Park Five’, ‘The Roosevelts’, ‘Mark Twain’, ‘Jazz’, ‘The Dust Bowl’, ‘The National Parks – American’s Best Idea’ and so many other great documentaries has once again produced a film that everyone should see at a time when Donald Trump and others like him in the United States and Canada question whether our countries should accept refugees fleeing from war-torn regions of the world.

The film is called ‘Defying The Nazis: The Sharps’ War’ and is about brave people who not only defied Hitler’s Nazis, but defied people in North America who did not want to open the doors to Jewish refugees, to help Jewish families fleeing from certain death in Nazi-occupied Europe. Continue reading →

We’re Still Working To Get The Bugs Out and Get Your Comments and Email Through

A Brief Note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

Posted September 19th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

On the one hand, it is kind of nice to wake up on a Monday morning and not find a couple hundred new messages in my Inbox.

Our mascot Pinky continues to beg your patience. She’s got calls in to our IT people now.

On the other hand, it is not – especially when this online news and commentary site’s very survival depends on a healthy flow of information between our end and you.

Things started screwing up badly for us on the internet mailbox side of things this past Friday, September 16th and while we’ve been able to get a few posts out since then, very little in the way of email, Facebook messages or comments to our posts is coming in.

But keep sending sending your messages, stories and commentary to us anyway because, when the greenlight comes on, it will flood in like a tsunami and the next challenge will be finding the time to go through it all.

In the meantime, I will have our small but mighty canine mascot Pinky ask you again for your patience because she is much cuter than I am and may have a better chance of begging all of you good readers and supporters of Niagara At Large for a little more time while we get all the internet bugs out of the way.

Never stop fighting for a just and peaceful world – Doug Draper

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post in the space below the Bernie quote . A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

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

NPCA Missed An Opportunity To Do Just That

By John Bacher

Posted September 19, 2016 on Niagara At Large

A few years ago, the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority conducted a strategic plan review of its operations.

This review, quite tragically, turned out to be a great opportunity that was missed – one that could have, if it were properly conducted, served as a way to look at the looming threat to our region’s environment from human induced climate change.

Summer fires in Wainfleet Bog in Niagara, Ontario could be one more worrisome sign of climate change calamities to come.

The fires this summer in the Wainfleet Bog – a large tract of wetland in the southern Port Colborne/Wainfleet region of Niagara that makes up one of three dozen ‘Conservation Areas’ the NPCA is responsible for – are a vivid warning of the dangers of increased summer drought and higher temperatures that are a consequence of climate change.

This fire threat illustrates the importance of restoring and protecting the health of our wetlands, through putting water back into them and putting a stop to a two-century-old trend of draining water out of natural places like this (often to create ever more room for stretch-out, man-made development).

Although most of the Thundering Waters Forest is in Niagara Falls – now a high-profile target for urban development – hosts prime wetland, there are areas within it that have been degraded through the digging of drainage channels. Continue reading →

News from the Ontario Health Coalition, a Toronto-based advocacy group for preserving quality public health care

Posted September 19^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

The following note on this public meeting – just as a way of placing its purpose in some context – was prepared by NAL publisher Doug Draper –

The Welland Hospital Site, serving the Niagara City of Welland and neighbourning communities, including Wainfleet, Port Colborne, Fort Erie and southern reaches of Pelham and Thorold.

The Ontario Health Coalition’s Niagara chapter will be hosting a “Save Our Hospital” meeting in Niagara region’s southern tier community of Welland where concern remains high that what is left of the hospital services there are on death row.

The meeting, which is free and open to everyone, is scheduled for Wednesday, September 28^th at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Room of Welland City Hall on 60 Main Street in that city.

Residents in Niagara’s southern tier have been expressing upset and anger over what has been happening to their hospitals for most of the years since the former provincial government of Mike Harris amalgamated of all the region’s hospitals (except for one in Grimsby) under the umbrella of a ‘Niagara Health System’ 16 years ago. Continue reading →

“The Niagara Wine Industry could not exist, nor could it achieve any of the success it will be celebrating during the Niagara Wine Festival, without the work of migrant agricultural workers. And yet, they are denied access to basic rights. …”

An Invite To All from Justice For Migrant Workers & Cinema Politica Network

Posted September 18^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large.

First – Join us this coming Wednesday, September 21^st from 5 to 8 p.m. in Brock University’s Thistle 258 (in the Brock Tower) for the St. Catharine’s Screening of Min Sook Lee’s documentary, ‘Migrant Dreams’!

The film is presented by Justice for Migrant Workers, J4MW and Cinema Politica Network, as part of the Harvesting Freedom Campaign’s stop in St. Catharines, Ontario  in partnership with Brock’s sociology professor Jane Helleiner who teaches a third year Global Migration class and local community activists. Join us for the film, post-screening discussion and how you can support the Harvesting Freedom campaign i…n St. Catharines, Ontario! Continue reading →