CITY OF WATERLOO CONSIDERING BROWNFIELD INCENTIVES

We are advised of that charming bit of news above, courtesy of last Saturday's Waterloo Region Record. The title is "City may consider brownfield incentives". The writer of this article is focusing on whether or not the City of Waterloo actually needs incentives for developers. Apparently land is in high demand within Waterloo's city limits and "There's usually a bidding war for any property that comes on the market.". The City of Kitchener as well as Cambridge on the other hand both have brownfield incentive programs in cooperation with the Region of Waterloo. Are we to assume that Kitchener and Cambridge are less attractive locations for developers without $$$ incentives or are those two cities merely playing fast and loose with taxpayers monies?

Or are we completely missing the point here? This province has an Environmental Protection Act. Both by its' wording prohibiting discharges of contaminants which could cause an adverse effect as well as its' prohibition of contamination leaving the owners' property; you would think that contaminated sites whether abandoned or not would be a rarity. You would be wrong. The older I get and the more I pay attention; the more disgusted I become with our industrial legacy. Factorys and industries in Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo and Elmira have on the whole, been disgusting pigs. They have dumped, leaked, buried and poured their industrial wastes en masse into our shared groundwater, surface water and air. The majority of these pigs should not be in the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame, they should be in jail. Lest we forget the golden rule however: THOSE WITH THE GOLD MAKE THE RULES. The other important rule is THAT THE WINNERS USUALLY WRITE HISTORY. "Winners" in this case means those well off individuals and elites who among other things can afford their own pet politicians. Make no mistake, behind most sucessful politicians is money. That money does not come from the masses it comes from wealthy individuals and lobby groups.

Therefore I see these brownfield incentives as proof positive that our environmental legislation and enforcement is a joke. Yes we have numerous ongoing heavily polluted businesses in Waterloo Region who are not cleaning up their properties. They are allegedly "containing" them. When they close their doors, even after decades of containment (hydraulic) or otherwise , they will leave their mess for the next generation. That generation will then pay via their taxes to provide incentives for developers to clean up that which should be cleaned up now. Two such sites out of many include Canadian General Tower in Cambridge and Chemtura Canada in Elmira. This is only possible with the implicit support and approval of municipal, regional and provincial authorities.