First of all you need to know something about Public Consultation. Fundamentally it is an intentional sham and facade by our governments used to legitimize bad and self-serving decision making. From the very beginning (Jan. 1992) both the Ministry of Environment and Woolwich Township needed to include the public in a committee (Uniroyal Public Advisory Committee-UPAC) mostly to give the impression that they were open and accountable. In fact the committee was stacked with Uniroyal supporters both government, bureaucratic and even former employees. The alleged sudden openness was due to the fact that decades of municipal and provincial "supervision" of Uniroyal Chemical's gross pollution had done little or nothing. The Canagagigue Creek was polluted and sick albeit less so after partial treatment of Uniroyal liquid wastes by the new Sewage Treatment Plant and after whole scale, daily dumping into the east side pits and ponds ended around 1970. Elmira's groundwater which provided our drinking water from both the North and South Wellfields was grossly contaminated. The aforementioned improvements were way too little, way too late. Today's post somewhat is an addendum to yesterday's which was about both the WRDSB and Woolwich Township marginalizing and minimizing legitimate and informed citizen participation in public interest matters whether education or environmental and human health abuse from intentional pollution.
Governments are generally filled with ambitious, attention seeking individuals who surely do not want to have to make an honest living by doing the daily 9-5 or worse grind. This of course is a generalization and in fact I'm confident that in the beginning maybe as high as 20% actually start in politics to help their fellow citizens. Over time corruption, lying and disillusionment reduce that 20% drastically. Once you have the large majority in it for their own gain how do you possibly think that decisions will all be made in the public interest? In fact decisions are made to help those who have been instrumental in getting the politicians elected in the first place. The polite term may include lobbying but I prefer payoffs.
Folks it's all about appearances. Politicians and bureaucrats at all levels are constrained by petty things like constitutions, Charter of Rights and other laws. They are constrained by the British North America Act as to where their responsibilities and jurisdiction lies. The Feds control funds to the Provinces who also control funds/grants to municipalities. It can be especially galling for municipal politicians to be beholden to other idiot politicians further up the food chain (provincial/federal) than they are. Hence NO politician voluntarily gives up power or authority to anyone especially local citizens who while quite possibly far more informed and intelligent than they, nevertheless have no power or authority on their own. Politicians by their nature will only share when forced to. Hence committees of council are impotent and powerless and in most cases such as UPAC, CPAC, RAC & TAG by intent. Private environmental cleanup deals were made long ago between Woolwich, Region of Waterloo, Uniroyal Chemical and the Ministry of Environment. These deals were NOT in the public interest but solely in the interests of protecting those parties who were signatories to the deals. The public interest be damned!
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