Archive for January, 2010

Last night my children and I, along with my friends Jim Bradley, Mayor McMullan, and Councillor Kushner were invited to attend the Grand Opening of the new Ridley College Arena. It was an amazing evening that started with a fun game between the Buffalo Sabres Alumni and the Ridley College Alumni before the official dedication. We ran into many friends during the event and had a great time.The facility is something Ridley should be very proud of. The new ice rink is an absolutely beautiful, state of the art, LEED certified facility that will serve the College well for many years to come. What really surprised me was how the College reused the old rink to create a dry land sports facility and how spectacular the finished product was. The old arena (which I played quite a bit of hockey in) was transformed into multi use facility that even has a running track!

Congratulations Ridley!

On Wednesday January 27th I had the opportunity, along with nine other people, to become a member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 138! It was a very proud moment for me and I feel privileged to be a part of such a wonderful organization. St. Catharines is lucky to have so many active Branches in our City, and the impact they have on our residents is tremendous!  At my very first meeting we were able to buy three  new beds for a local nursing home and help a young member of our community in her goal to attend a baseball camp in Hawaii!

My family and I have very closely watched the situation unfold in Haiti after the earthquake and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this disaster, as well as with our fellow Canadians who have loved ones in Haiti at this time. The scenes we have witnessed from Port-au-Prince and areas surrounding have shaken and saddened us deeply. But they have also reminded us that as Canadians we can help our friends in Haiti by donating to the relief effort.

Donna and I have donated, and we are asking all residents of St. Catharines and Canada with the financial means to help to please do so. I have included the following links to organizations that can help;

Canadian Red Cross
Doctors Without Borders
Oxfam Canada
Oxfam Quebec
Centre for International studies and Cooperation (CECI)
CARE Canada
The Humanitarian Coalition
World Vision Canada
Plan Canada

You can also donate to the Haitian Shelter Relief Fund account #3874278 at any Meridian Credit Union in the Niagara Region.

If you can, please help our friends in their time of need.
Thanks,
Andrew

I take great exception with the Harper Government’s position that the prorogation of Parliament is good for the country or good for the people of St. Catharines. I also take exception to this government’s assertion that people are not concerned with the Government shutting down Parliament at a time when it needs to be at work. As Michael Ignatieff said today in Mississauga “Steven Harper gambled on your cynicism, he gambled on your disillusion, he gambled on your detachment from the process and, interestingly, he gambled wrong.” As I have met with residents across St. Catharines I have heard loud and clear that our residents are having a hard time identifying with the government’s decision to shut down Parliament and that they want their elected representatives working hard on their behalf solving the issues that are affecting them.

We all know St. Catharines has been hit very hard by the economic downturn. We have seen the unemployment rate rise to be the second highest among urban centres in Canada. As well, the amount of our citizens requiring social assistance has now risen 20%. These are two statistics that demand that Parliament needs to get back to work. In speaking with our residents I hear, on a daily basis, the tragedy of these hard times and I cannot fathom a government could close parliament in response to this recession. Just today we have seen the Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page state that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s plan to deal with the Canadian economy is flawed and St. Catharines needs now, more than ever, an MP and government working in Parliament to create jobs and put our country back on sound economic ground.

While the Conservatives are on vacation during this shutdown, the Liberal Party will be back at work in Ottawa and I will continue to work very hard on behalf of the residents of St. Catharines as a City Councillor and as your Liberal Candidate.

Andrew