TAG MEMBERS EVISCERATE "FORTRESS" M.O.E.

My, my the sweet irony. The vindication. The complete turnaround in public understanding that Chemtura and the M.O.E. were not poor victims of a hostile CPAC at all. That lie was courtesy of two professional liars and politicians namely Sandy Shantz and Mark Bauman. Last evening Sandy's own friends that she handpicked for TAG made that clear. TAG members one after another discussed the intransgience, incompetence and inherent corruption that is the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. This was no one man show with Dr. Richard (Dick) Jackson going head to head with Terri Buhlman or Jason Rice of the M.O.E.. This was Tag members, one after another, discussing how to deal with "Fortress" M.O.E..

"Fortress" was the term one of them used and it described an insular, dogmatic, isolated Ministry both afraid of their own shadow when dealing with corporate power and at the same time defensive and antagonistic when dealing with citizens or other levels of government insisting the M.O.E. do their jobs. Repeatedly it was made clear that TAG have presented technical arguments and facts which are undisputed indicating that the Canagagigue Creek needs to be cleaned up. Repeatedly the M.O.E.'s failures and refusal to clean up the English-Wabigoon Rivers in Grassy Narrows was mentioned as an example of the incredible uselessness of this Ministry.

Through all this our alleged mayor sat at the back of the room perhaps keeping an eye on Chairman Dick Jackson. Is she even smart enough to understand what a huge turnaround this is? Almost two years since Chemtura/M.O.E. stopped attending CPAC meetings and only thirteen months since TAG held their first meeting; TAG have learned that the M.O.E. are contemptible. Between the two year mark and the start of TAG, Mark and Sandy lied like dogs blaming CPAC for the M.O.E. and Chemtura's non-attendance at public CPAC meetings. What a farce. Did anyone see either Chemtura or the M.O.E. last night? Of course not! They still don't attend meetings in which honest, informed citizens criticize their behaviour. Four RAC (Remediation Advisory Committee) meetings a year they can handle. Those meetings have more politicians and bureaucrats involved, hence less blunt truths and more sweetness and light.

There are two TAG members who are more concerned with their own self-aggrandizement than anything else. They are spoiled brats unwilling to share the credit with CPAC or anyone else. They are not and never have been team players although both fake it really well. I've been advised that Sandy really isn't smart enough to have been the brains behind the "manufactured crisis" of two years ago when Chemtura and the M.O.E. suddenly stopped attending CPAC meetings after the new Council were elected. These two TAG members (former CPAC) along with Mark Bauman, Chemtura and the M.O.E. came up with the "manufactured crisis" plan. If that is the case then Sandy is less corrupt and more stupid than I've given her credit for.