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From the April 10, 2008 Meeting of Regional Council
Goal Surpassed for the 5th Year in a Row!!!!
Ms. Marilyn St. John and Ms. Ellen Wodchis, Co-Chairs of the Niagara Region Employees United Way Action Group announced with great pleasure that Niagara Region's goal of raising $130,000 for the United Way has again been surpassed for the 5th year in a row. Thanks to the hard work and commitment of the employees of the Niagara Region, this year to date a total of just under $133,000 was raised.
They also announced that a few weeks ago at the St. Catharines and District United Way celebration dinner Chairman Partington and Chief Administrative Officer Mike Trojan, Campaign Chair were honoured and pleased to accept the Corporation of the Year award, which is not only based on campaign achievements, but focuses on sponsorship, volunteerism, corporate and management support and most importantly, long standing commitment.Â
Dr. Robin Williams who is the in-coming Campaign Chair will do a fantastic job in continuing the work for the United Way campaign in our community.
7th Annual Elementary Tobacco-Free Poster Contest
Regional Council congratulated the students who received prizes for their posters illustrating the benefits of smoke-free vehicles. 5,521 elementary students from 92 elementary schools across the Region created posters illustrating the benefits of smoke-free vehicles. The posters will be on display in schools, health professionals' offices, libraries and the Public Health Department entranceway from May 26th to June 6th in promotion of World No Tobacco Day May 31st.
The Province Invests in Niagara
Niagara Region has been successful in its application to the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Initiative. The Province is investing $2.7 million to retrofit the Niagara Region recycling plant in Niagara Falls, an investment that will help to significantly reduce the amount of recyclable materials ending up in Regional landfills.
Regional Council Supports 'Buy Local Food' Efforts
Regional Council supported and will participate in efforts to promote 'Buy Local Food' efforts and requested that staff report back on the appropriate means of demonstrating leadership in the broader institutional sector on the "Local Food" policy and review the Niagara Region's purchasing by-law for how it supports "Local Food".
2015 Pan Am Games
Regional Council endorsed its continued involvement in the provincial discussions regarding the hosting of the 2015 Pan Am Games by the Greater Golden Horseshoe communities with the creation of a region-wide committee with representation from interested individuals and municipalities to guide regional input into the provincial process.
Call For Increased Action to Control and Eliminate Contraband Tobacco
Regional Council supported increased action to control and eliminate contraband tobacco in Ontario and Canada, by requesting that the Association of Local Public Health agencies (alPHa) urge the federal and provincial governments to stop the manufacture and supply of contraband tobacco by: confiscating raw materials destined for unlicensed manufacturers; revoking manufacturer licences if a manufacturer is operating illegally; imposing quota and refund systems for tax-exempt tobacco products supplied to First Nation reserves; introducing an effective tracking system; and advocate that the federal and provincial governments be requested to increase the search and seizure powers of police agencies and tobacco control officers; and to include additional funding for studies or methods to better identify contraband cigarettes.
The Canadian Award for Financial Reporting Achievement
The Canadian Award for Financial Reporting was presented to the Regional Municipality of Niagara by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for its Annual Financial Report for the year ended December 31, 2006. The Canadian Award for financial Reporting Program was established to encourage municipal governments throughout Canada to publish high quality financial reports and to provide peer recognition and technical guidance for officials preparing these reports. The Canadian Award for Financial Reporting Achievement also went to the individuals designated as primarily responsible for preparing the award-winning report. The recipients include Brenda Garrett, Nicole Rosset, Denise Papaiz, Karen Russell, Debbie Williams and Richard Bendell.
Niagara Region to Partner with Ryerson University
Regional Council supports Niagara Region's participation in a research project entitled "Protecting Canada's drinking water: Developing real-time early-warning biomonitoring technology". Water and Wastewater staff are partnering with Ryerson University on this project which has received a significant research grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The Niagara Region will benefit from being part of this leading edge research on source water protection as it will be piloted at one of the Region's water treatment facilities.
Break Your Daily Routine on May 28th
Regional Council supported Challenge Day 2008, a worldwide event with a goal to move every citizen to break their daily routine and practice some form of physical activity for just 15 minutes on Wednesday, May 28, 2008.