Festival of Lights turns up the wattage with new sports events
From the Niagara Falls Review:
With its 30th anniversary looming next year, the CAA Winter Festival of Lights is adding more juice to its lineup.
Sponsored by beverage maker Cintron, a new three-day sports festival will take place throughout the city to conclude this year’s event. It’s expected to attract about 1,300 athletes in a variety of sports, along with 2,600 spectators during tourism’s chilly off-season.
Festival of Lights general manager Dino Fazio looks at it as a “mini-Olympics,” with potential for major competitions and TV coverage down the road.
“Curling, gymnastics, basketball, girls and boys hockey, you name it — if anybody wants to be part of it, they will be,” said Fazio. “The sky’s the limits in terms of the number of sports we could add, the number of age groups we could add.
“The beauty about this event is that it can include provincial and national championships.”
Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor announced $81,400 in funding for the sports festival over the next 24 months through the province’s Trillium Foundation. The money will be used to hire an events manager.
WKBW Channel 7 in Buffalo also had a related article
- Winter Festival of Lights to Open Nov. 5th.
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Falls Incline Railway slated for overhaul
From the Niagara Falls Review:
It’s time to stop the decline of the incline.
The Niagara Parks Commission has plans to replace its aging Falls Incline Railway that makes it easier for visitors to go from the Fallsview tourism district down into the park.
The upgrade is the next phase of its Table Rock Redevelopment Project and is intended to enhance the overall guest experience of Niagara.
The announcement was made Friday near the Table Rock Clock Tower close to the incline by Janice Thomson, interim chair of the NPC, and Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor, parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Tourism and Culture.
The projected opening date is March 2013.
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Ontario tourism minister didn’t force people-mover deal on Parks Commission: Niagara Falls MPP
From Bullet News Niagara:
A pending deal between the City of Niagara Falls and the Niagara Parks Commission to create a new people-mover bus system to service the millions of visitors to the Honeymoon Capital each year was no shotgun wedding.
While Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor acknowledges he and Ontario Tourism Minister Michael Chan were asked to help resolve an impasse in negotiations between the parties in recent weeks, the minister did not force a deal on the provincial agency, whose chairwoman Fay Booker continues to raise concerns about the impact the new system could have on Niagara Parks’ revenue stream.
“No – I don’t think that’s true,” said Craitor, when asked if the ministry put pressure on Booker and the commission to get the deal done.
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Auditor general won’t probe Parks
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Ontario’s auditor general is “not likely” to launch a special investigation of the Niagara Parks Commission following a Queen’s Park committee’s vote asking him to stay out.
“I’d have to say, at least in the short term, it is not something I would be pursuing,” auditor general James McCarter told The Review Wednesday.
The public accounts committee voted 5-3 against New Democrat MPP France Gelinas’ motion calling for a special audit of the commission.
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Justify sole-source contract: MPP
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Whatever information Niagara’s regional tourism organization used to justify an “exception” from the province’s ban on single-source contracts, it should be disclosed to the public to ensure public confidence in the agency, Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor says.
“I think that the chairman of the board should explain to the media or to the public what they presented to the bureaucrats that convinced them this should be an exception,” Craitor said Th ursday.
The first project by Niagara’s regional tourism organization — a body created last year by Ontario’s Liberal government to promote tourism — led to a controversy after it was revealed it commissioned Niagara Fallsbased Rev Publishing to produce a glossy $500,000 tourism magazine without putting it out to tender.
“This is not a good way for it to start out,” said Craitor, who is also parliamentary assistant to Ontario Tourism Minister Michael Chan.
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Craitor kicks off Tourism Week in Falls
From Niagara This Week:
Niagara Falls’ economic bread and butter is front and centre this week as part of celebrations for this year’s national Tourism Week.
In a kickoff celebration held today at the Ontario Travel Information Centre on Stanley Avenue, Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor, who’s also the newly appointed parliamentary assistant to the minister of tourism and culture, encouraged Niagarans to get out and enjoy the summer in Ontario.
“Our province has so much to offer, not only to visitors but residents as well,” he said.
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Convention Centre halfway done
From Niagara This Week:
Construction of the Niagara Convention and Civic Centre reached its half way point with a topping off ceremony as the last pieces of the roof were installed last Friday.
Construction began on the centre May 1, 2009 and the doors are scheduled to open April 8, 2011.
Mayor Ted Salci, MPP Kim Craitor, Regional Chairman Peter Partington and vice-president of Bondfield Construction, John Aquino, all spoke, congratulating the workers on their work in keeping the construction on schedule and in budget.
“You guys really do work hard,” said Craitor, “I tip my hat to each and every one of you.”
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Kim Craitor stresses the importance of Defibrillators
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 [...]Strong future secured for Casino Niagara
From a CNW Group press release:
The future for Casino Niagara was unveiled today, with the finalization of a long-term lease between the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) and Canadian Niagara Hotels Inc. (CNHI).
“The McGuinty government has delivered on its commitment to ensure that Ontario not only maintain two casinos in Niagara Falls but also enhance the exciting variety of gaming and entertainment options for Ontarians and visitors alike,” said Kim Craitor, MPP for Niagara Falls, who made the announcement on behalf of the Honourable Dwight Duncan, Ontario’s Minister of Finance and the Minister responsible for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.
OLG and property owner Canadian Niagara Hotels Inc (CNHI) announced agreement on a 15-year lease extension for the current location, effective March 1, 2010. The extension provides long-term economic stability for local businesses, employees and communities in the region.
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Casino Niagara future appears secure
From the Niagara Falls Review:
The Ontario government appears to have secured Casino Niagara’s long-term future. Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor is expected to make an announcement at the casino Friday afternoon about the “economic future” of Niagara Falls. The location of Craitor’s announcement is listed as the second-floor atrium of Casino Niagara.
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