HAS MAYOR SHANTZ ACTUALLY SICCED THE FEDS ON CHEMTURA ?

Last evening was interesting. Woolwich Council seemed rather subdued, dare I say intimidated? No can't be just because of a little outburst of democracy over on the outskirts of Woolwich, namely in Breslau. Could it? Regardless they seemed almost accomodating when they advised me that normally Delegations regarding technical matters at Chemtura are to be handled by the Township's TAG committee. TAG of course stands for Technical Advisory Group. TAG normally do not allow Delegations and in fact even written comments are to be vetted through the committee's Chair, Dr. Richard (Dick) Jackson. Therefore while Council were very polite regarding their claim that as a rule they didn't want to hear "technical" Delegations, nevertheless their position is bizarre. They had advised me right from the start that yes they would listen to my Delegation last night but it was an exception. Really? Is this just another attempt to make up new rules on the fly? Are they trying to keep Chemtura issues away from public Council meetings which are attended by our local media? What is going on now?

I had presented a Delegation last evening dealing with CPAC's (Citizens Public Advisory Committee) Press Release which clarified Chemtura's press release and hopefully provided a more balanced view of the recently released "East Side Soil & Groundwater Investigation" Report. The main gist of my Delegation was that the Ontario Ministry of the Environment had taken thirty years to order an investigation and needed to be upgraded as the authority in charge, perhaps by the federal government. Lo and behold mayor Shantz publicly claimed that they Woolwich were already dealing with the federal government in regards to Chemtura. Wow! I was shocked and in my excitement responded "Excellent!" to her.

Reality has set in. Our current mayor suffers from the same affliction as our last mayor. Uncharitably that could be referred to as dishonesty. On the other hand I began to understand that mayor Cowan simply liked to tell people what they wanted to hear. Some politicians think that telling untruthful good news gets them further than telling truthful bad news. Go figure! So despite the incredibly good news transmitted to myself and the public last evening in Council Chambers that the federal government have been approached by Woolwich Township for help in dealing with Chemtura Canada, my enthusiasm is restrained. If indeed this has occurred then my sincerest congratulations to mayor Shantz and Woolwich Council. If on the other hand we are advised of a correction or clarification otherwise, then thanks for nothing, again.