OPTIMISM- I'LL TAKE HONEST, NON-CREDENTIALED CITIZENS ON COUNCIL & COMMITTEES EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK

 While yesterday I expressed disappointment at Woolwich Council's incorrect decision regarding the proposed truck parking lot on top of the Bolender Park Landfill, today I have seen and read firsthand evidence that our new council have some smart and honest individuals on it. Council members have open minds although the local monied interests including developers and consultants have certainly learned how to schmooze effectively with them. They have also learned when to lie and when to simply deflect. Despite this I am seeing initiative as well as hard work from councillors on some pretty difficult local matters. Hang in there new councillors and do not coast. You have signed up for four likely difficult and onerous years but your efforts could turn this township around such that the public interest finally becomes paramount rather than mere lip service..

PLANNING PROCESS IS BADLY BROKEN

 Firstly there is far too much communication/socialization between developers, consultants and municipal planning departments. "Familiarity breeds consent" might be the quote I'm thinking of. Secondly credentialism is rampant. In other words hire an intellectual prostitute with a long list of credentials and you are half way or more to obtaining whatever you want. Thirdly the bias at municipalities should be in favour of established residents, businesses and stakeholders. It is not. New business, new industry is always welcomed with open arms despite often times the market being tight and it simply means the new business elbows its' way into the market at the expense of already established businesses. 

Of course then there is the Ontario Land Tribunal. When all else fails threaten to go to the OLT who can be relied upon to find in favour of whatever development is presented to them. Last night at Woolwich Council was disappointing. For whatever reason, and it appears those reasons occur in private, councillors reversed their earlier skepticism and voted in favour of turning the former Bolender Park Landfill into a truck parking lot. Methane be damned appeared to be the mindset. Is it possible that councillors did not read the Tables sent to them by Dr. Dan Holt or did they simply not understand them and yet felt that asking questions about them was not necessary? How can honest and intelligent people not be concerned with explosive levels of methane. Well for one if someone is privately whispering lies into their ears. 

MONEY IS STILL THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL, RIGHT SANDY? ($32,149.38)

 It appears as if we the Woolwich residents and taxpayers are paying an exorbitant amount of money to Tiffany Svensson to be the Sandy friendly Chair of TAG. The dollar value is in today's Woolwich Council Agenda on-line I believe at page 107.

Maybe Woolwich taxpayers aren't getting screwed twice here. Maybe Lanxess Canada are actually footing the bill and paying the Township afterwards. If that is the case then we the residents are only getting screwed once as Tiffany is biased in favour of both the MECP (Min. of Environment) and of Lanxess Canada, the successor to Uniroyal Chemical in Elmira. Hence instead of properly publicly hammering Lanxess and the Ministry for their gross and despicable behaviour in long term under pumping of the Elmira Aquifers and for their self-serving, corrupt Risk Assessment which states that there are no unacceptable ecological or human health risks downstream in the Canagagigue Creek to the Grand River, Tiffany is treating them with kid gloves and respect they do not deserve. 

Sandy, Lanxess and the MECP are happy. The rest of us apparently can go to hell. Good investment there whether it be from Woolwich or Lanxess. I wonder how much she paid the honest broker, Dr. Richard Jackson? 

MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL

 No morals, no ethics and no consideration for the public interest. It's all about backdoor, private deals first followed by selling a pile of B/S to the public as well as to municipal councillors. Everything is on the menu including blatant lying, subtle lying, gilding the lily, buying expert opinions, hiding evidence when possible, burying opponents under a mountain of paperwork and reports mostly which are irrelevant and mostly to distract from the real issues. 

You might think that I'm venting in regards to lawyers. Well O.K. some of them have earned criticism albeit not all . No I'm venting about consultants gilding the lily and writing glowing reports for clients in order to further their interests whether or not at the expense of John Q. Public. The public as well as the environment often end up mostly unrepresented at meetings, hearings and other judicial or semi judicial proceedings. Tomorrow night is a Woolwich Council meeting and the obfuscation, lily gilding, junk science and weasel wording will be on full display regarding the proposed truck parking on top of the former Bolender Landfill. It can be seen and heard either virtually or in person although there are hoops and loops to jump through regardless of which you choose. In my opinion Covid has further damaged democracy as it continues to be used as a method of blocking citizen access to their duly elected representatives.

SO WHAT EXACTLY WAS/IS BRIAN SHANTZ'S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE METHANE GAS SYSTEM AT THE BOLENDER PARK LANDFILL?

 That there was some relationship between our current mayor's husband and the gas collection/control system appears obvious. His name is in the Conestoga Rovers 1994 report to Woolwich Council concerning the methane control system. I have sent a copy of the reference to Sandy as well as the Clerk and CAO of Woolwich Township. I expect that between the three of them they will end up doing the right thing.  I have some concerns that our mayor may be in a difficult conflict of interest position regarding her public duties versus her obvious loyalty and wish to protect her husband. Do I believe that he may have done anything wrong? I have no idea but in politics sometimes perceptions are just as important as reality. Perhaps it is as simple as an honest effort from a non-expert, non-professional went awry resulting in four decades of inadequate methane gas control on that property. If so Woolwich Township may have dodged an explosion or other natural catastrophe. Don't Woolwich citizens deserve to know the facts?   

SANDY WAS VERY PRISSY AND VERY PETTY LAST EVENING AT TAG

 First of all there she was again watching over her creation. Lanxess and the Ministry of Environment can't be bothered attending as usual and yet there she is. Why? Her Chair Tiffany is well paid and knows her place and her job. So what was bothering Sandy? Her own Council clearly have taken appropriate exception to the terms of reference for TAG. A package was handed out that says it all. Committees of Council are supposed to be accessible for the public to see, hear and comment or ask questions on. This Sandy finds abhorent as myself in particular plus other CPAC members made her pay a hefty and public price for being a lying *itch  about CPAC during 2015. We took her to court for her election expenses and exposed her way too flexible moral and legal code.

TAG members are starting to actually push in regards to the ever declining on and off-site pumping. They are asking some hard questions and NOT being mollified by Tiffany's bland assurances that hydraulic containment is not being lost. They are also suggesting that above and beyond containment, the fact is that less contaminant mass is being removed with the lower pumping rates at various wells. Sebastian tied that in with Lanxess Canada simply finding a way to save money at the environment's expense. 

WILL CPAC & THE PUBLIC RETURN TO PUBLIC TAG & RAC MEETINGS NOW?

Seven and a half years of contemptible behaviour by mayor Sandy Shantz, past Woolwich Councils and the current TAG Chair (albeit under orders).  I give credit for tonite's changes primarily to the five new council members elected last fall to Woolwich Council. I also wonder if the brain trusts at the Ontario MECP and Lanxess Canada have finally realized that this past seven and a half years of discrimination against and harassment of both specific citizens (CPAC) as well as the general public in regards to the non remediation of the Elmira Aquifers AND the downstream Canagagigue Creek will come back to bite the guilty parties hard.

Think about it. Our provincial government in all its' hypocritical glory allegedly supports Public Consultation especially when it is the public's drinking water that has been destroyed by intentional pollution. Add in self-serving ridiculous Risk Assessments that conveniently ($$$$) ignore dioxin, DDT, PAH, mercury and PCB criteria in the downstream Canagagigue Creek and you realize why public consultation is so important. Albeit here in Elmira (Woolwich Township) it apparently is something to be feared, bottled up and muzzled. NO MORE!  You're done Sandy!

TAG MEETING TOMORROW AT 6:30 PM.

 TAG or Technical Advisory Group has gone grossly downhill since the resignation of Dr. Richard Jackson at the end of 2016. That said his were extremely large shoes to fill and almost nobody could have done it. The Agenda this month isn't much with the new format for TAG and RAC being front and centre. I also note that there is a new report titled "Revised East Side Groundwater Report March 6, 2023" that I do not recall receiving lately or at all. If so then we are off to a bad start with this new and improved TAG committee. We also have a new Support person which I applaud (I don't know her??) although I must admit that the old one, Lisa Schaefer, ended up being significantly better, friendlier and more cooperative than I had expected.

What has been lacking in spades from TAG is backbone. Backbone not technical expertise is what is needed for citizens to overcome the lethargy, apathy and just plain corruption of the system. TAG members appear to be satisfied to look at a report, offer polite criticisms and then accept at face value whatever pathetic excuses and bull Lanxess Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP) offer up. Stacking "citizen" committees with experts working in the field whose companies rely on the goodwill of the MECP, Lanxess or GHD (consultants) for business and contracts guarantees a tame committee which is exactly what polluters and their fellow travellors including politicians want. 

DR. DAN HOLT AND I ARE CO-DELEGATES AT NEXT TUESDAY"S COUNCIL MEETING (7 pm.)

 The issue is the proposed truck parking lot on top of the former Bolender Park Landfill. Dr. Dan and I will be speaking as to why we feel that the parking lot is not in the public interest. The obvious reasons include its' impact on the quality of life of nearby subdivision residents who have lived there for up to half a century. These quality of life issues include noise, diesel fumes  and lights after dark. 

Other issues are in regards to the safety of nearby park users, trail walkers and again the residents themselves. This site has a fourty year plus history of explosive levels of methane in the sub-surface as a direct result of using the site in the 1960s as a municipal/industrial landfill. The site was also shut down by the Ontario Water Resources Commission around 1969 because it was too close to the Canagagigue Creek and too likely to leak leachate into the creek. There were no leachate controls or methane controls installed prior to opening the site to municipal and industrial wastes. Methane controls came later. 

DO CONSERVATIVE PARTY DONORS RECEIVE PREFERENTIAL LEGAL TREATMENT?

 Legal as in laws passed to ensure their ongoing profiteering at the expense of the public interest that is.  The aggregate industry (sand & gravel) just like the chemical industry are full of liars. The public interest is mostly irrelevant to them whereas the interests of their shareholders are paramount. These interests have been augmented for decades by donations to the governing provincial party at the time. This has ensured constantly favourable treatment at the hands of the OMB and now the OLT (Ontario Land Tribunal). Municipalities are running scared especially as they can be held liable for costs if they lose a hearing at the OLT.

Today's Waterloo Region Record has an article by Paige Desmond titled "Woolwich settles for a gravel pit". Woolwich Township just like Wilmot had sent signals that they were not in favour of the neverending proliferation of unecessary gravel pits in Waterloo Region's townships. When push came to shove however, Woolwich just like Wilmot rolled over. Two Woolwich councillors were specifically elected on the basis of opposing the proposed gravel pit on Foerster Rd. just outside the village of Maryhill. All to no avail it would now appear.

The bad guy once again is Capitol Paving the same characters who unsuccessfully (thank god) failed in their bid to build a gravel pit almost beside the famous West Montrose Covered Bridge. Both heritage and citizens' rights and wishes usually mean nothing when gravel pit money is involved .

Is it any wonder that no matter how successful at the poles the provincial Conservatives are they always get thrown out eventually due to their over the top greed, stupidity and pro-business, screw citizens rights attitudes? It's coming whether or not there is an honest viable alternative.

HAS SANDY'S ILLEGAL REIGN OF TERROR AND HARASSMENT AT TAG ENDED?

Seven and a half years that .itch has refused the public the right to either ask questions or give verbal Delegations. Written Delegations were permitted however clearly Sandy and TAG members refused to either read them or question them, to their shame. Next Thursday's virtual TAG meeting has a lengthy report dealing with the behaviour and rules around conduct and operation of both Council and their committees. Unless I am misreading/misunderstanding what I've read to date it appears as if Sandy's reign of terror is over. Pages 9 & 11 deal with both Delegations and public debate and input to TAG & RAC both of which have been refused and denied since September 2015 with the startup of RAC and TAG. The .itch should be thrown out on her lying as. right now but unfortunately prompt removals of filthy politicians are considered improper by all filthy politicians and O.K. maybe even by a few non-filthy politicians.

Her and Mark Bauman's excuse was that CPAC was "dysfunctional". The truth was that they and Chemtura/MECP were in bed together to keep the best public advisory committee that ever dealt with Uniroyal/Chemtura muzzled and out of the picture. May they all rot in hell for eternity. 

NEW INITIATIVES TO SPUR PUBLIC INTEREST IN A BETTER ELMIRA CLEANUP

 The first is via the old, worn out municipal council system. To say that Woolwich Council has been 100% awful over the last seventy years would be an exaggeration. There have been individual good councillors mixed in with the status quo, change nothing majority of people running for office. They are there to preserve privilege and the wealth in a few hands only. I believe however that 90% awful is a more accurate estimate.

Our current council has one tired out, long ago ready to retire Mayor combined with a one term prior councillor and four newbies. I see some great potential with this council as they get their legs under themselves and see which way the wind is blowing. That wind may be blowing in the direction of less tolerance for excuses and delay in taking environmental steps to combat climate change, groundwater contamination and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in our waterways. 

I also see new and younger citizens in Woolwich and Elmira who have heard the odd story about our destroyed groundwater aquifers as well as the past sorry state of the Canagagigue Creek. What they want is information and facts which allow them to make informed decisions. They are also smart enough and skeptical enough to know that vested interests gild the lily and blatantly lie in their own self-interest. Hence the occasional story in the media about local conditions may not be enough for them. First hand discussions and talks with local activists who have been long in the trenches may be required. Especially so as they realize that some of these activists have been intentionally sidelined by lazy media and or unscrupulous polluters and their political friends.  

PROPONENTS CLAIM THAT METHANE WON"T ADVERSELY AFFECT THE TRUCK PARKING LOT

 Who cares about that? The real question is whether the proposed truck parking lot by 39A Holdings on top of the former Bolender Park Landfill will adversely affect the explosive methane underneath and or increase horizontal methane migration to the buildings east, north and west of the site. 

First of all there is no doubt as all measurements, by all parties, indicate explosive levels and higher of methane still on site. Secondly there is also no doubt that there has been a Gas Collection System on site for decades. Thirdly there is no doubt that there have been serious, professional concerns about the efficacy of the Gas Collection System starting in 1986 and eventually resulting in a recommendation to remove/abandon the system in 1998, twenty-five years ago which somewhat seriously undermines claims by R.J. Burnside that GHD or anybody else "decommissioned" the gas collection system recently allegedly because it was no longer needed. It's needed as much now as it was needed back in 1983 and sooner.    

CRA (Conestoga Rovers) reports have indicated that methane migrates horizontally faster in winter than in summer. I am currently also looking for reports I've read suggesting that snow on the ground surface inhibits vertical venting and increases horizontal migration. Regardless I feel that any surface covering whether technically "impermeable" or not is likely to further inhibit vertical venting. After all a relatively small and short lived landfill continues to produce and discharge methane to this day. Clearly venting of the methane gas to date has not been remotely robust or adequate to improve conditions and safety.

Further weird claims by R.J. Burnside suggest that the western end of the methane plume, near the former Paleshi garage, is not from the Bolender Park Landfill garbage. Really? That literally is a new one after fourty years of reports. Care to advise where it is coming from otherwise? I have an idea which for the moment I'll keep to myself.

So gas controls are still needed based upon concentrations greater than both 20% LEL and greater than the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) itself. The proponent however apparently with Woolwich Planning Dep't assistance is looking for a loophole around Ministry of Environment (Guideline D-4) regulations stating that properties requiring methane gas controls cannot be developed within 20 metres of the perimeter of the property.  Woolwich Council, for safety reasons needs to keep that site totally undeveloped until AFTER the explosive methane is long gone.   

WHY HAVE HEADS NOT ROLLED OVER THE PATHETIC HANDLING OF EXPLOSIVE METHANE GAS LEVELS AT THE BOLENDER PARK LANDFILL?

 Four issues are shocking namely the commercial garage (west) with dangerous levels of methane inside, the former Martin's Pet Food plant (north) , the residential homes at the east end of the landfill and finally the park and splashpad to the immediate south. That nothing has gone boom is a miracle unless of course a variety of fires and weird happenings at the Martin's Pet Food plant are methane related.

Generally speaking most of the recommendations of CRA consultants were not vigorously accepted through action items being completed. This includes regular monitoring and more indoor monitoring. Additional gas probes were also advised to the east of the property and if done at all took many years to complete them.

The only good thing was Woolwich Township generally leaving the former landfill empty. Now even that is up in the air with the latest attempt to develop the landfill into a truck parking lot. This is being done despite all evidence indicating that there is lots of explosive methane still on the site just waiting for bad luck or carelessness to result in an explosion. Any and all attempts to remove the gas through either active or passive venting have to date been unacceptable. It is my opinion that the consultants (CRA) are not totally blameless either over the decades.

UPCOMING DATES & EVENTS

 TAG is scheduled for Thursday March 23 at 6:30 pm. on-line most likely. Personally I see no reason why it can't be observed in person in Council Chambers but hey if  Covid has done no good for anybody at least it has allowed our professional liars and other assorted riff raff the opportunity of avoiding in person accountability to the public.

The next Woolwich Council meeting is scheduled for March 21 and a week later (March 28) is the Committee of the Whole. This surprises me somewhat as I was advised that Tuesday March 28 was the date for the next opportunity to address Council regarding the proposed truck parking lot on top of the Bolender Park Landfill.

Lately I have seen two examples of municipal delay going on for many decades. There was a story in last Saturday's Waterloo Region Record about the discovery of soil and groundwater contamination beneath the former bus depot on Charles St. in Kitchener. The story did mention a former coal gasification plant nearby on the site of the former post office (Gaukel St.?).  What wasn't mentioned was coal tar left behind and it's toxicity. In fact I have a newspaper article that is twenty or twenty-five years old that states that the City of Kitchener have known about coal tar contamination since 1971 and done nothing about it. And we wonder why our aquifers are getting more contaminated by the day.

The other example of course is the Bolender Landfill itself. It was closed around 1970 and construction of a methane gas collection system began in 1983 and continued sporadically in use for possibly two decades. It's difficult to say based upon many cautious and client (Woolwich Township) driven self-serving consultant's reports being written by CRA (GHD). It's also difficult to say how effective the collection system was although the evidence seems to indicate that it was not effective and in fact it is amazing that after fifty years of closure that this small landfill continues to produce methane gas at dangerous levels exceeding both 20% LEL (Lower Explosive Level) and and the full (100%) LEL.  

It is my opinion that both benign neglect and intentional neglect have flourished on this matter. I also believe that the initial installation and possibly design were faulty based upon the crappy results. Woolwich Township are currently looking to fix a number of issues including their illegally located waterline running to the former Martin Pet Foods plant as well as presumably to generate some tax revenue from the former landfill site. That is still dangerous as the most recent (2021) methane gas results indicate ongoing and continued methane at and above explosive levels in the subsurface. 

Until or unless Woolwich Township can actually properly manage and hopefully eliminate the methane gas there should be no development of any kind on this property located next door to a park, childrens' splashpad, industry (pet food) and residential housing.

PLANNING DEPARTMENT CORRUPTION OR MERE ADHERENCE TO LEGAL LOOPHOLES?

So who is actually running the municipality whether the big cities or whether the Townships? In theory at least it is the elected politicians. Perhaps in fact though it is senior staff including the CAO. Here in Woolwich we seem to have a tradition of not firing the CAO when there is a major turnover on Council. That tradition is not necessarily a good thing. 

The extent of negligence, incompetence and dishonesty in regards to the Bolender Park Landfill by decades of successive Woolwich Councils is beyond belief. Never have so many councillors and unqualified, uninformed persons made such a mess of such a mess. The initial location was so bad that even the province of Ontario via the Ontario Water Resources Commission (OWRC) ordered its' shutdown. They did the same thing with the First St. Landfill also conveniently located beside the Canagagigue Creek. 

My reading of R. J. Burnside's Guideline D-4  Report indicates that there is to be NO development within 20 metres of the perimeter of former landfills that are subject to methane gas controls. That the Bolender Park Landfill has been under such a regimen for decades is undisputed.  Also likely undisputed although certainly conveniently ignored is the fact that methane gas is still present at numerous locations well above government safety criterion (20% LEL & higher).  

So how do you justify anything much less a truck parking lot on top of the former landfill? Seems simple to me. Ignore your consultants advice (GHD-2016 & 2017) to make a new Remedial Action Plan to deal with methane concentration exceedances and ignore ongoing dangerous methane concentrations in 2021 measured by a different consultant (R. J. Burnside). SO... what you are essentially doing is making a mockery of the law AND at the same time ignoring the safety of a nearby factory (pet food), public park & splashpad (Bolender) and residential homes to the east (Charles St, High St, George St. etc.). All this in order to put a major truck parking lot within the town limits and further erode local residents right to enjoy their property and not die prematurely from diesel truxck exhaust fumes.   

MORE BOLENDER PARK NONSENSE

 At the Council meeting this week a consultant on behalf of 39A Holdings suggested that trees do not do well on top of landfills because their roots penetrate the clay cap installed above landfills (to keep rainwater out) and the roots then enter the waste zone which does not assist the trees health or longevity. Therefore he claimed that generally trees do not do well in such a location and should not be planted. Now of course he did not offer any proof that any such clay cap existed at the Bolender Park Landfill and in fact my research and examination of Borehole Logs on the site shows absolutely no clay cap whatsoever.

Other review has shown that there are Ontario provincial regulations insisting upon no development whatsoever on top of landfills that have working leachate or methane collection systems. What a way to stickhandle around a regulation however. Simply run over a few passive gas probes with a car or truck or unplug the fan/blower on a active methane collection system and voila you've stickhandled around those pesky regulations designed to protect the public from injury.

The Bolender Park Landfill has had an off and on methane collection system since 1983. It was however poorly built and designed which is likely why half a century later the methane concentrations are as bad now as they were fourty years ago. This system was damaged (again) around 2015 or 2016 and the consultants (GHD)  advised that a new Remedial Action Plan was required for methane control and they insisted upon new methane alarms be installed in the former commercial garage on site. 

The latest round of methane monitoring (2021 R.J. Burnside) has shown that the methane is still present and far in excess of all criteria relevant to explosive levels of the gas. Nevertheless discussions and presentations this week at Woolwich Council did not mention this embarrassing fact along with  the Ontario regulations prohibiting development within so many metres of the perimeter of a landfill that has either a leachate or methane collection system. 

HEIDELBERG & BOLENDER PARK LANDFILL HORSE MANURE

Give credit where credit is due. Our governments are world class liars. Lying to them is an art form that far transcends truth and honesty. Governments feel that the ends often justify the means especially when the ends are less disdain for politicians and democracy and the means are mere lying.

 The other problem for politicians is that their reputation proceeds them. They are also incompetent and hence even when they make honest mistakes people naturally assume that they are just lying again. So is the nonsense around a clay cap over the Bolender Landfill in Elmira, Ontario to prevent methane venting more lies or just an honest mistake. In other words the clay cap may have been installed (I'm doubtful) and if it was it likely was to prevent rain water infiltration which adds to leachate migration etc. We the public have been told in various technical reports that the new gravel additions are necessary for parking large trucks but asphalt and concrete are not permitted precisely because they are impermeable and would block vertical methane release into the atmosphere. 

Regarding Heidelberg the lying is mostly by omission. Allegedly the "infrastructure" in Heidelberg is worn and outdated and hence needs replacement. Oddly though the overall effect of this Environmental Assessment is to shut down the Heidelberg Wells and use the next door St. Clements wells for both communities. How quant and how convenient. Absolutely no mention of long time Woolwich councillor and mayor Bill Strauss's shaky environmental record concerning groundwater contamination in both Heidelberg and Elmira (Strauss Fuels). No mention of years and years of remediation at the corner of Kressler and Lobsinger Line to clean up the contaminated groundwater his garage left behind. From my experience studying groundwater contamination in Elmira and more, I have few doubts that initial shallow contamination from his garage eventually ended up in the deeper aquifers supplying the Heidelberg Wells. How much and for how long would require further study which oddly the Region of Waterloo has not publicly made available. Is the fact that mayor Strauss was also a Regional Councillor for many years the reason why?   

WILMOT COUNCIL GETS A TALKING TO: SORT OF

 First of all it's pretty hard to get a talking to when you've got a rule restricting Delegations to only subjects on your Agenda for that meeting. Think about it. Certain politically sensitive subjects might intentionally NEVER be on the Agenda thus ruling them out for discussion despite their relevance or significance to many citizens.

Wilmot Council did magnanimously permit a single Presentation however on the Hallman Pit application. Samantha Lernout from Citizens for Safe Ground Water made a Presentation to Council which "...was met with extended applause."  This applause occurred due to her calling out Council on their broken election promises as well as  on the mayor's non-transparency and non-hearing the voices of the people.

Council and mayor claim that they felt that they would lose at the Ontario Land Tribunal and have no say in any terms or that they could settle and have some say in the final gravel pit terms and conditions. So exactly what concessions did Wilmot Council receive for their rollover and play dead behaviour, I wonder.

Today's Record article by Paige Desmond is titled "Wilmot residents rally against gravel pit". 

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: "TROUBLE IN THE TOWNSHIPS"

 

Sandy Shantz says that "POLITICIANS ARE HUMAN TOO"

Really? Good to know because sometimes their behaviour is decidedly less than human. The article written by Paige Desmond of the K-W Record on March 5, 2016  is extremely interesting and in fact a little bizarre. It's bizarre in that there is a very clear picture of Sandy Shantz dancing in the foreground with former mayor Bill Strauss. Guess what is in the background albeit still very clear? One more unheralded election expense violation by our illustrious mayor Shantz. 

This violation was given by me in time to the Crown Prosecutor who sat on it along with all the other strong evidence and bullshitted the Court by advising that it was not in the public interest to proceed with charges. HORSE MANURE'  Sandy Shantz broke several different commands in the Municipal Elections Act (MEA) and this one publicly displayed in the Record was simply the last one that I caught. Last but Good Lord she'd been ordered by the Judge (Justice David Broad) prior to it to this time include ALL her legitimate election expenses in her third or fourth Financial Statements. 

This last expense was part of her election campaign as the MEA clearly indicates that any party for the victorious candidates, supporters, campaign workers etc. must also be included in her expenses. The photograph shows her dancing at the Elmira Curling Club with a professional, live, for hire band playing in the background. With assistance I have identified the one band member clearly shown and he is indeed a professional musician who charges for his work. Yet again Sandy conveniently did not include that expense in her campaign as ordered by both the legislation (MEA) and by Justice David Broad.  

OPPOSITION IS NOT FINISHED WITH LANXESS/MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT (MECP)

Harsh words are required. This is because the lying filth have the money, the power and the influence. Of course that is because so many of our species are so impressed or intimidated by power and influence. Our politicians want it both ways. They want to do what is in the public interest and be seen to do so hence assisting in re-election. At the same time they want the support of the big shots out there. Support means money for campaigning and it means not having money spent against you with advertising whether television, radio or in print. 

I may believe that 95% plus of human beings are inherently honest and up front but the problem is that it is the remaining 5% who comprise 95% of would be politicians. With only a tiny handful of honest people interested in political life and the public interest is it any wonder that our world is going to hell in a handbasket? Both Covid and Climate Change were foreseen but little was done. Now we will all pay.

I have been advised of a new player stepping up in regards to the Elmira cleanup. How far this will go I do not know. How much time and energy they can expend on the issue I do not know. I am willing and still able to help and have been so asked. I will do what I can as long as I believe that it is an honest and sincere effort. There have been too many insincere and self-serving efforts over the decades.

SOMETIMES "END RUNS" ARE THE ONLY REAL OPTION

 Group think is always a problem with human beings. I suspect that in a highly partisan venue such as the Ontario legislature or House of Commons that group think wouldn't appear to be as much of a problem although it is. All the people in one party (Liberal/Conservative/NDP etc.) tend to think the same or at least vote the same if they want to remain in the party. Group think is also more common in juries, committees and Boards however the latter two may be because members are picked specifically for that purpose. If for example you have a committee ostensibly to provide input on an environmental cleanup but that committee are appointed by long biased municipal council members  who really want to maintain the status quo then they will never appoint real activists only fake ones. Hence group think.

Thus going around groups (i.e. "end runs") that are intentionally designed to run interference and to actually block progress becomes necessary.  RAC and TAG are two such groups and is exactly why back in 2016 Woolwich Council got into such public trouble for attempting to block Dr. Dan Holt and myself from addressing them directly regarding Lanxess Canada (Uniroyal) here in Elmira. Not only was addressing those two groups generally a waste of time but they were simply insulating the then Woolwich Council from criticism and controversy over the environmental "cleanup" underway.

One must identify who are honest and who have open minds and approach them. Over time the makeup of Boards, committees and Councils can change. Then it's always worth another go at them to see if they are indeed the real deal and interested in promoting the public interest versus the usual private interests. 

MORE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDEMNATION FOR FORD's PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

 Today's Waterloo Region Record carries the following Opinion piece from Luisa D'Amato titled "A harsh truth embedded in Wilmot's gravel pit decision". Luisa's harsh truth is that what is the point in having municipal councillors when they have so little power over the things that are so important to us. She is of course referring to Doug Ford's crappy Bill 23 enacted last year which gives the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) more authority to dismiss appeals as well as order costs against the losing party. This likely has created a chilling effect on municipalities including Wilmot to step in and say no to new gravel pits and other undesirable development and zone changes.

The OLT is the successor to the properly reviled OMB (Ontario Municipal Board) which was notorious for siding with developers and gravel pit proponents. Wilmot councillors may yet pay the price for their rollover however as citizens can forget many flaws but promising to block a rezoning from agricultural to aggregate during an election campaign and then doing the opposite is pretty much unforgiveable. 

The question in my mind is will this affect Woolwich councillors and their support for citizens in Maryhill who are trying to stop a new gravel pit around their corner. Woolwich councillor Bonnie Bryant is made of sterner stuff and I expect that she will keep her Council colleagues feet to the fire on this one. Time as always will tell.

BILL C-40 MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE REVIEW COMMISSION ACT

 OMG ! This is (at last) just scratching the surface but is still an incredible public admission as to how perverted and corrupted our criminal Justice System is in Canada. The "corrupted" is corrupted as in "...riddled with errors...". This recently introduced federal legislation has been overdue for decades. Quoting from today's Waterloo Region Record article titled "Wrongful convictions plan mostly right"; "And all it took was over 80 known wrongful convictions; urgent recommendations from seven public inquiries; decades of lobbying by volunteer advocacy groups; and repeated pleas from exonerees."

80 known wrongful criminal convictions mostly for homicide. Good God and we still pretend that our Justice System isn't biased, incompetent, unwieldy, expensive and mostly just plain inaccurate? These are wrongful criminal convictions for murder! If under a system that allegedly demands a standard of proof of "Guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" for crimes that include penalties of Life in Prison, then how many other wrongful criminal convictions are there for theft, assault, rape etc.? How many civil liabilities determined by a much lesser standard of proof of "On the balance of probabilities " are there?

Decades ago I began to understand how bad it was. The three M's come to mind namely Morin, Marshall and Milgaard. Guy Paul Morin, Donald Marshall and David Milgaard were all convicted wrongly in Canadian courts for murder. There have been so many others over the decades including Stephen Truscott and others convicted of murder when in some cases there hadn't even been a crime convicted. Junk science has convicted Canadians of murder in cases later found to be death by natural causes.

Shame on all senior Justice System personnel including Judges who sit on their  fat asses arrogantly advising as to how wonderful and world class our Judicial System is  when they have to have known themselves how seriously broken it's always been.

 

 

NEXT WASTE OF TIME TAG MEETING

 In the U.S. there is a well known phenomenon known as polluters "capturing" their regulators although this can happen in any situation whereby industry are regulated by force of law likely due to past sins of the industry. Obviously the financial services industry is a prime example. The name Bernie Madoff may come to mind as a glaring example of the failure of government regulators. Astonishingly the U.S. Environmental protection Agency was barely known until the Love Canal scandal broke. Again this was a failure of both the chemical industry and of the development industry who made money by building homes on top of Hooker Chemical's former chemical dump. Alas it was also a failure of the government regulators both for the housing /development industry and for the chemical industry who have an embarrassment of scandals around the world including Seveso, Italy and Bhopal, India.

Here the Ontario Ministry of Environment has long been "captured" by Uniroyal Chemical and successors. My guess is that decades of looking the other way and or of approving disgusting and useless toxic waste disposal methods compromised the Ont. M.O.E.  Also of course their decades of assuring the residents of Elmira that their drinking water was safe, even after they knew better, reduced their credibility and integrity to zero.

Add to this mix past lazy or apathetic municipal politicians and the stage has been set for the current sham that is supposed to pass for public consultation.  This can be seen yet again virtually on Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 6:30 pm. Intelligent citizens, particularly environmental professionals, will stickhandle their appropriate criticism regarding lack of Creek cleanup and more, such that Lanxess, MECP and GHD will take little or no offense. That is crucial because citizens were clearly shown in 2015 that blunt honesty  and truth are far less appreciated than either ass kissing or deference to those with money, power and influence  which means the polluter and his friends.