Since the signing of what has become known as the “Ramsar Convention,” more than 2,300 waterbodies around the world have been designated as “wetlands of international importance,” including the United States side of the Niagara River where representatives from federal, state and municipal governments gathered with citizen groups on the American side of the in October of 2019 to celebrate the designation. The letter from New York Senator Sean Ryan is dated March 10th and has been included in Niagara Regional Council’s agenda package before members o fhe council meet this coming Thursday, March 25th to vote on a motion for such a designation under a framework 170 nations around the world, including Canada, signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971. In an open letter to Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley, a New York State senator has expressed his hope that the people of Niagara, Ontario will finally join their American neighbours in celebrating the designation of the Niagara River as “a wetland of international importance.” Posted March 22nd, 2021 on Niagara At Large “An (internationally recognized) Ramsar designation is exciting and something to be proud of we are lucky to live near and share an ecological setting like the Niagara River Corridor worthy of such an honor.” – New York State Senator Sean Ryan In early October of that year, they came together as local, state and federal governments, and as ordinary citizens from Buffalo, all the way downstream to Youngstown, New York, to celebrate the designation of their side of the Niagara River as a “wetland of international importance “under the umbrella of a Ramsar Convention, signed by Canada and at least another 169 nations around the world in 1971 with the blessing of the United Nations. Posted March 23rd, 2021 on Niagara At LargeĬan we at long last come together as a community of communities in Niagara, Ontario and celebrate a natural treasure we should feel blessed to host – the Niagara River – and pay some homage to all of the vision and courage that generations of Niagara residents have dedicated to protecting and preserving this great river for generations to come?Ĭan communities on the Niagara, Ontario side of this beautiful river at long last do what our American neighbours did in 2019? (To watch Regional Council meetings at home, try clicking on and follow the prompts)Ī News Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper Council Meeting this Thursday, March 25th, on a Ramsar Designation for the Niagara River. Niagara, Ontario’s Regional Council Will Vote Yes or No at its 6:30 P.M. “Good for you if this is something that makes you feel good but I am not going to support this.” – Niagara-on-the-Lake Regional Councillor Gary Zalepa at a March 10 th, 2021 meeting of the Region’s Planning and Economic Development Committee, shortly before every elected member of the committee except him voted in favour of a Ramsar designation. But if it is a doctor, they just might have to kill it.”Īt a recent Niagara regional committee meeting, Niagara-on-the-Lake Regional Councillor Gary Zalepa was only one to vote no to a Ramsar designation. To channel George Carlin one more time “They will do anything to save a fetus. Some of the more extreme members of the anti-abortion movement have even shot up hospitals, Planned Parenthood clinics and doctors who perform abortions, God bless them. But once you’re born, you are on your own.” I’m totally surprised in fact I am having an almost impossible time believing that you are “pro-life.”Īnti-abortion activists, as the late American satirist George Carlin famously said, are people who “will do anything to protect a fetus up to birth. However, as a news reporter who has long had a problem with anti-abortion people attempting to pass themselves off as “pro-life,” I must say this. I get it that you are an ardent anti-abortion activist. Posted March 24th, 2021 on Niagara At LargeĮxcuse me Mr. I have always been very clear where I stand when it comes to protecting the right to life.” – Niagara West Ford MPP Sam Oosterfhoff in a statement he made to CBC earlier this March before speaking at an anti-abortion event by at least one group that has compared abortion to the holocaustĪ Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper The Ontario Ford government’s Niagara West MPP and anti-abortion crusader Sam Oosterhoff “I don’t think anyone is surprised to know that I am pro-life.