Want to operate a tour boat from the Canadian shores of the lower Niagara River?
Then, the Niagara Parks Commission wants to hear from you and your company.
The parks commission, Friday afternoon, set a Nov. 24 deadline for any company to bid on tour boat operations. The Maid of the Mist Steamboat Co. has been running tour boats from both the U.S. and Canadian shores of the lower Niagara River for generations and while its U.S. pact runs for more than three decades, it’s Canadian lease has been under fire for the past year.
Last year, a 25-year extension between the Maid of the Mist Steamboat Co. and Niagara Parks Commission became a political issue in Southern Ontario as some potential competitors cried foul. The uproar resulted in several commission members resigning and a new regime installed to oversee its operations. more…
Niagara Parks Police have been granted a new lease on life for at least five years. Officers with the 123-year-old service will be able to continue carrying firearms, under terms of an agreement approved Thursday by the Niagara Regional Police Services board.
“We’re pleased with it, based on what we know,” said Fay Booker, chairwoman of the Niagara Parks Commission, which funds and oversees the police service. “We’re very proud of what the Niagara Parks Police do today. They’ve been doing it extremely well.” more…
Atlanta-based Alcatraz Media and businessman William M. Windsor are jointly attempting to obtain the billion dollar contract for boat rides under Niagara Falls. The boat rides began in 1846, and there has never been an opportunity for anyone to bid to offer the service until Windsor took legal action against the Province of Ontario and the State of New York. This case is currently being handled by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice under case number DC 09-105JR. more…
Two Niagara Parks Police officers credited with saving two lives in 2009 received commendations from Chief Doug Kane and members of the Niagara Parks Commission during the commission’s Apr. 23 meeting. On July 21, last year, Sgt. John Clark plunged into the forebay of the Canadian Niagara Power plant at about 11:24 p.m., to rescue a woman who was “very clearly in distress,” acting chairman Archie Katzman said.
Tourists had discovered the woman in the water, ran to Table Rock House and called 911. When Clark arrived, he threw a rope to the woman, but she was too weak to grab it. He fastened the rope to a wall and entered the water himself. He swam to the woman and held her against a concrete wall for 45 minutes while firefighters and police figured out how to pull them both out of the water.
On March 22, Const. Kim Burke discovered a missing Niagara Falls man, who was the subject of a police search, stranded in bushes at Kingsbridge Park, close to toppling into the Welland River. more…
NPC ‘happy’ to have regional council support for stand-alone status for Niagara Parks Police, Katzman says
The Niagara Parks Police appear to have a new lease on life, less than two months before it would have been forced to disband, after Niagara regional council backed its request to become a stand-alone police force.
Regional councillors voted Thursday in favour of a request from the Niagara Parks Commission to have its 55-member agency given the same status as the Niagara Regional Police, a move the region’s own police board opposes. more…
Carl P. Paladino has shifted his campaign for Governor to damage control after wnymedia.net exposed these racist and sexist emails. Warning, may contain inappropriate material. Click Here.
Ontario has engaged independent third-party expertise to assist the Niagara Parks Commission (NPC) in its competitive process for the land lease related to tour boat operations at Niagara Falls.
Following a competitive process, the province has selected Knowles Consultancy Services Inc. as a procurement specialist and PPI Consulting Limited as fairness commissioner. The government has also engaged Capilano Maritime Design Ltd. as naval architect consultant to the competitive process. The duties of these third-party experts will be as follows:
The procurement specialist will assist NPC with activities associated with the design, development, management and control of the process.
The fairness commissioner will observe, monitor and oversee the competitive process, and issue a report to the ministry with respect to the fairness of the process.
The naval architect consultant will provide technical advice that will assist NPC in drafting the competitive process documents. more…
The Niagara Parks Commission’s Floral Showhouse is pleased to once again feature a seasonal favourite – The Easter Flower Display – a Niagara Falls Ontario tradition for over 60 years. Back by popular demand will also be the added feature of real chicks and bunnies, a treat for kids and adults alike.
Easter Lily Cross at the Floral Showhouse
The Easter show features a cross display of lilies surrounded by colourful and fragrant spring flowers such as daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and azaleas. The warm and serene setting is bursting with gorgeous blooms, orchids and exotic tropical plants as well as beautiful songbirds to get you in the mood for spring. The Floral Showhouse features eight different displays each year, so you can return again and again to discover paradise right in the heart of the city. more…
This documentary was filmed to show that although people think Niagara Falls USA is a beautiful place, not many people know of the problems that lie right outside the falls. Poverty, drugs, crime, prostitution, and many more issues are daily problems. Although all of these problems exist, there are lots of great organizations that are looking to make changes in the area. Places like The Hana House, Community Missions, and Heart Love & Soul as well as many more, are all teaming up to make the city of Niagara Falls a place of peace and serenity. Niagara Falls once was a thriving city full of hope, and these organizations are helping bring that hope back to the city.
Video by: David Wilhelm www.urdezign.com ; Co-producer Mansha Pasha
OTTAWA, March 10, 2010 – The Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR), Canada’s whistleblower charity, is pleased to announce the appointment of Niagara Parks Commission whistleblower Bob Gale to its Advisory Board.
“I’m proud to be a part of what FAIR is trying to accomplish.” said Gale. “Employees are often the first to know about wrongdoing that threatens the public interest, but in Canada, as I found out, there is little to protect them if they speak out. We need to correct this absurd situation and I’m confident that we will.” more…
The Court of Appeals has ruled in favour of the Whirlpool Jet Boat operator, setting aside a judgment made by a previous judge. The ruling allows the boat operator to use the Melville Street Dock for the purposes of (1) docking space for the loading and unloading of passengers as required; (2) refuelling of boats as permitted by the Applicable law; and (3) overnight docking. Docking space was restricted to a maximum of three boats, though a fourth was allowed to dock if circumstances required. more…
McGuinty Government Nominates Expert In Accounting And Governance
Ontario has nominated business consultant and financial professional, Fay Booker, as the new Chair of the Niagara Parks Commission’s Board of Directors. The selection followed the review and interviews of applicants through an open competitive process.
The nomination is subject to review by the Standing Committee on Government Agencies and approval by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
As the Chair of the Niagara Parks Commission, Booker would lead the overall strategic direction of the government agency responsible for preserving and enhancing the natural beauty of Niagara Falls and the Niagara River corridor for the enjoyment of current and future visitors while maintaining financial independence. Booker would replace Archie Katzman who has served as interim chair since December 10, 2009. more…
Protect our Parks, an activist blog dedicated to protecting the Parks of Southern Ontario, has published this letter to the Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty.
——-
March 2, 2010
The Honourable Dalton McGuinty Premier of Ontario
This letter will be emailed and served by Registered Mail
Re: Reasonable Apprehension of Bias in Maid of Mist Lease Negotiations
Sir.
First, please let me tell you the reason for this whole letter. It is an embarrassment to the people of the Province of Ontario and your Provincial Government to have allowed the present Board of Commissioners and General Manager of the Niagara Parks Commission to still remain in their present positions with what you and the citizens already know.
Second, I fear that if you respond to this letter you will give me a standard explanation that you are forwarding this to Minister Chan, Tourism Minister. To pass the buck again to a new Tourism Minister who has done nothing to improve the credibility of your Government, nor show the people that the process will be fair, is negligence on your behalf. You already know some of the conflicts and dirty inner workings of the Niagara Parks Commission through this ordeal and you choose not to take control and be a leader, but to hope we all go away. That’s not going to happen unless we are assured a fair, unbiased tendering is done that is transparent in its selection.
Here are some of the facts:
1. The Chairman (Jim Williams) and General Manager (John Kernahan) of NPC were involved in a meeting with the CEO of IMAX in fall of 2006 where an option was presented that IMAX will
build a new attraction at Table Rock fully financed by IMAX. This meeting and all information was suppressed from the Niagara Parks Commissioners and never exposed until I was told in May of
2008. In the mean time the NPC borrowed $38 million to renovate Table Rock and build the attraction “Fury” which has been exposed to be a dismal failure.
Code of Conduct
Code of Conduct for the Commissioners and Senior Staff
January 20th, 2010
Memo to: Commissioners & Senior Staff
From: Howard Grant, Fairness Commissioner
PPI Consulting Limited Re: Restrictions on Lobbying Activities related to the Request for Proposals for Tour Boat Services
I have been hired by the Ministry of Tourism to assist the Niagara Parks Commission with the competitive process for tour boat services. In my role as Fairness Commissioner, I will provide oversight and process advice to ensure fairness throughout the competitive process.
The Niagara Parks Commission has established a Project Team comprised of John Kernahan, Nick Murphy and Joel Noden for the planning, design and advancement of this initiative. From time to time, others in the Commission may also be requested to contribute their expertise to the initiative. more…
Step right up. Buy your tickets to the Brawls by the Falls. Grown men kicking, scratching and biting each other in a no-holds- barred fight that comes as close to gladiatorial combat as modern society allows.
The Toronto Sun reported this week there’s a battle brewing at Queen’s Park over whether Ontario should legalize mixed martial arts, a move that would clear the way for the Ultimate Fighting Championship league to hold events in this province. If Ontario were to allow UFC matches, Niagara Falls would be a natural host.
For the uninitiated, mixed martial arts is a type of fighting that pits two men against each other inside a cage in an anything- goes scrap that’s only a tiny step up from a prison yard brawl.
But UFC, which is allowed in Quebec and New York State, is wildly popular.
So popular, on a Saturday night, some Niagara Falls bars turn all their TVs away from Hockey Night in Canada to show pay-per-view UFC fights instead.
The issue has entered the political arena, pitting Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty against Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, who hails from Niagara region. more…
An Atlanta businessman with eyes on tour boat operations at the base of Niagara Falls has lost a legal battle in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
In a decision rendered earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon denied motions filed by businessman William Windsor in a case involving the owners of the Maid of the Mist Corp. more…
The Killer whale shows at SeaWorld Orlando has resumed just a day after, Tillikum, killed a trainer. It’s the third time the 30-year-old whale, who was captured in Iceland when he was two years old, has been involved in a death. In 1991, when Tillikum was at Oak Bay’s Sealand of the Pacific, he was among three whales who killed 20-year-old trainer and marine biology student Keltie Byrne after she slipped into the pool. The whales, Tillikum and females Nootka and Haida, would not allow her out of the pool and she drowned. All three whales were sold to SeaWorld in 1992, the same year Sealand closed its doors. In 1999, a 27-year-old man apparently jumped into Tillikum’s pool. He died of drowning and hypothermia, but his body was also found to have bite marks.
Should Marineland continue the Killer Whale show?
One of their main attractions at Marineland Niagara Falls are the Killer Whales. The Marineland website describes the Killer Whales as affectionate and gentle: more…
Niagara Falls MPP, Kim Craitor speaks to students about the danger of heart disease and cause of heart attacks. He stresses students not to smoke and keep active daily. Very few get another chance at life after experiencing a heart attack, that can be varied between a healthy lifestyle.
Those lives that could have been saved if there were a defibrillator and a professional nearby. But now thanks to technology, the tool has been automated and as easy as jump starting your car. Craitor supports the idea of having AED’s supplied in community centers, or ice rinks. The Good Samaritan Law passed last year in parliament protects those who use AED’s in good faith to save a life.
The Niagara Parks Commission has released details of how they intend to proceed with opening up the Maid of the Mist (Niagara Falls Boat Tour) operations bid process. Bidders will be able to submit their proposals this spring on merx.com. If you are interested in bidding you should preregister for a information session here.
A copy of the official Niagara Parks Commission press release is available following this jump.
As the 2010 Winter Olympics kick off in Vancouver, Niagara Falls will be showcasing the start of a brand new type of special illumination.
During the 17 days of the Winter Olympic Games, visitors to the Ontario Pavilion in Vancouver, over 3,000 kilometres away, will have the unique opportunity to change the colour of the lights on Niagara Falls using the power of their minds!
123-YEAR-OLD SERVICE: Niagara Regional Police Services board agrees to five-year extension
NPC ‘happy’ to have regional council support for stand-alone status for Niagara Parks Police, Katzman says
OTTAWA, March 10, 2010 – The Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR), Canada’s whistleblower charity, is pleased to announce the appointment of Niagara Parks Commission whistleblower Bob Gale to its Advisory Board.
The Illumination of Niagara Falls 
