ARE REGIONAL COUNCILLORS STUPID, TONE DEAF OR ALL TRYING TO LOSE IN THIS FALLS MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS?

 

You almost have to think that when everybody are unhappy with the Region's water decisions that maybe they really are all trying to get the boot this fall. Don't they know that they can simply say "I've had enough of the good times and am uninterested in the bad times so goodbye. "? 

Firstly they are about to take 15 litres per second more water from Wilmot wells. This item should not even be on the table until AFTER they have committed to drilling old wells deeper or new wells for Wilmot residents whose wells are no longer reliably providing water. This "commitment" does not mean either verbally or in writing because they are proven liars and deceivers.  This "commitment" means the cheque or cash is in the hands of the residents desperately needing them for immediate construction of new or deeper wells.

How clear has it become that the developers and builders are the tail wagging the dog? Man we've recently seen Woolwich Township cut and run from a single wealthy individual whose wants, not needs, for an enclosed, full size, full amenities ice rink on his property buffaloed them. Now over and over again we publicly see developers and builders telling the Region what to do and the difference between us and them is that the Region says O.K. to them. 

Basically the developers and builders have given the Region of Waterloo a deadline and it is June 3/26. That is this coming Wednesday and presumably will occur at the regional council meeting. That is when those in charge will find out if their specific projects have been allocated enough water to go ahead and start building, essentially after the cities give them the building permits and or other required documentation. Make no doubt any failure by the Region to do so this Wednesday will likely result in legal action by those far more entitled than you or I to continue making millions of dollars building homes, apartments, townhouses etc. for the Region's no longer grossly expanding population. Federal government policies finally stopping mass unneeded immigration have been enacted. That said allegedly there were only 90 new residents in Waterloo Region last year which seems unbelievable in the opposite direction of what we've had for the last twenty to fourty years.  

Politicians as well as those in charge may have gone too far this time as many of us have lost all trust in those who run the Region of Waterloo. Today's K-W Record have several water articles keeping us informed as to the latest nonsense going on.

THE TALK AND THE ROUND & ROUND IN CIRCLES NEVER ENDS, IT JUST GOES ON FOREVER

 

The Woolwich Observer published a Letter To The Editor from Ms. Bryant that was commenting on an earlier article in the Observer (Oct. 12/23) titled "Lanxess study finds Canagagigue contaminants pose no unacceptable risk". Ms. Bryant's Letter To The Editor one week later is titled "Canagagigue hotspots should be addressed".  Well yes as a matter of fact they should and only a wealthy corporation with more money than ethics could think otherwise. 

There is of course no health study to back up the Risk Assessment claims of no unacceptable risk. There is however reams of paper involved in a number of Draft reports as well as in the possibly final report. As stated lots of contaminants were found some 1,000 times higher than regulated standards. These contaminants are long proven Persistent Organic Pollutants (Pops) including DDT, DDD, DDE, dioxins and furans, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), PCBs and mercury. They are found in the bottom of the Creek as sediments as well as along the Creek as creekbank soils plus further away from the Creek as Floodplain soils. Finally they are also found in members of the Benthic community that lives within the sediment and finally via bioaccumulation have moved up the food chain into fish tissues. These fish of course are also predated upon by birds of prey, raccoons, foxes, coyotes and more. Yes the fish tissue concentrations also exceed published health criteria  None of this seems to matter to the suits merely doing the job they were paid to do.

This situation is the result of money talking. The successor polluter has more money for legal battles than the Township, the Ministry of Environment (MECP) or anybody else involved. They are not afraid to spend it to save themselves millions in further cleanup costs. In my opinion both human health and environmental health for them are not nearly the priority that shareholders' profits are. Money talks!

THE BRASS, THE AUDACITY, THE NERVE & SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT IS BOTH SHOCKING AND DISGRACEFUL

 

This is not the first time that hockey of all things has determined the makeup of Woolwich Council. The irony is that Mayor Shantz's initial win (20 years ago?) as a councillor over Pat McLean was not due to any remote superior character, education or experience but due to Sandy Shantz publicly supporting a two ice rink recreation centre whereas Pat wanted but one. Now as Sandy is not running again in this falls municipal election she won't lose her seat over her decision to permit the new, private rink to stay. The same may not be said for other councillors whether in favour or against allowing the new rink near Bloomingdale to stay despite the property owner pretty much literally waving their middle finger at Woolwich Council.

It was a calculated, in your face slap to both councillors and planning staff as the very well to do property owner decided to simply ignore zoning and by-law issues by building his personal, fully enclosed and fully equipped ice rink supposedly for his family and friends only versus for commercial purposes. Time will tell as this person has demonstrated a willingness to publicly flip the middle finger at Woolwich Council.

There are many issues involved in this situation and frankly despite my harsh criticism of Woolwich Council environmentally, I almost feel sorry for them with this no win scenario.  Issues include individual's property rights versus the encroachment and expansion of government influence and authority. Issues also unfortunately include the Rule of Law whereby each and every citizen is to be treated equally before the law.  What we clearly see here is an individual with the money and influence simply confronting a municipal government and effectively telling them to #uck off or else I'll see you in court or at the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) or both. No subtlety, no apology, no oops I goofed. Any other average citizen treating Council this way would have the Township's lawyers all over them and a very expensive, possibly bankrupt inducing legal battle before them. 

Part of my sympathy for the individual involved has to do with most municipal council's including Woolwich historically lying, deceiving and bullying citizens whenever it pleases them. Think of the Rattasids among others who for a while owned the former Paleshi garage and auto wrecking yard and how they were treated by staff and council. Clearly this individual in Bloomingdale whether through good luck, good management or whatever has the financial means to push back hard and has chosen to do so. His is a classic case of do what you damn well please on your own (very large) property and then ask for forgiveness afterwards with little to no sincerity and a blatant in your face attitude because clearly his lawyers have told him that an expensive legal battle for the Township during an election year will not be wanted by them. 

Frankly half of this looks good on a municipal Township with a long history of both stupidity and arrogance. It's just unfortunate that it sends the message that yes indeed money does put you above the law. Just ask a couple of guys by the name of Nygard and Stronach about how long money can buy you legal protection in this country.

     

  

LOCAL GOOD NEWS: CANAGAGIGUE CREEK IS AS TOXIC AS IT'S BEEN FOR THE LAST TWENTY YEARS BUT BETTER THAN IT WAS THIRTY TO FOURTY YEARS AGO

 

The headline above demonstrates what passes for environmental cleanup and improvement in Woolwich Township particularly between polluters and politicians.

These results are from the recently released 2025 Biomonitoring Report. DDT and metabolites (mostly DDE) in fish tissues are above the CCME (Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment) Guidelines of 14 ng/g for several reaches in the Creek on the Lanxess (Uniroyal) property.  The guideline is 14 ng/g and the concentrations in Shiners and Bluntnose Minnows averaged between 50 and 70 ng/g, well above guidelines.  

PCB concentrations in fish tissues were all below the CCME Guidelines except for the upstream reach which is interesting. What is just upstream from the former Uniroyal that could have discharged PCBs in the past?

Dioxins and furans concentrations in fish tissues were above the CCME Guidelines of .71 pg/g TEQ (Toxic Equivalency) downstream but below them upstream from Lanxess/Uniroyal.  The downstream composite samples were around 1.6 pg/g which also indicates a decrease from  concentrations that were higher in the early 1990s but have been stable over the last five years. Now this result similar to the others allegedly can not be "...directly or statistically compared with historical MECP tissue data..." due to differences in sampling, fish species assessed and other reasons which I find very convenient and dubious. 

Somewhat strangely the dioxin and furan tissue concentrations in Shiners are higher in 2025 than they were in 2020. One excuse given is that the fish (shiners) averaged a little larger in the 2025 sampling than the earlier one.

All in all this study proves that doing nothing is cheaper than actually cleaning up and that eventually when you stop polluting, concentrations of toxic Persistent Organic Pollutants (Dioxins/DDT/PCBs etc.) tend to decrease over decades.

HOW WILL WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP RECONCILE DOWNSTREAM TOXIC HEALTH EFFECTS WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLACENCY ?

 

By environmental complacency I mean Woolwich Councils' arms length, treat the polluter with kid gloves behaviour and attitudes.  I mean appointing various "citizens" committees whose primary characteristics are deference and submission to credentialed suits. Even that twit Todd Cowan after appointing a more vigorous and aggressive group of knowledgeable citizens to CPAC in early 2011 bent over backwards to Uniroyal/Chemtura pressure to have me removed. That wasn't enough for the Chemtura scum who couldn't stand to have me present as a sub-committee (SWAT)  assisting CPAC along with Dr. Henry Regier and Rich Clausi. They yelled and screamed in late 2014 and the incoming queen (mayor) got rid of in later 2015 the entire CPAC of highly experienced, knowledgeable and even professionals in the field such as Henry, Ron and Graham. All this was to appease Chemtura who didn't like to have to justify or do more than simply pronounce from on high their inadequate cleanup plans.

The various polluters inadequate cleanup of the Elmira Aquifers is now on record. They have utterly failed after twenty-five years of loud and vigorous claims that all was well and they had the cleanup under control. They lied and they were supported all the way by the Ministry of Environment and by Woolwich Township. I and other citizens have talked to each and every  council since then and despite apparently listening they have done little or nothing. They continue to take all words from the MECP and now Lanxess Canada as gospel from proven deceivers. The only way Woolwich Township survive the last thirty-six years of selling out to a world class polluter is with the eyes closed, ears covered behaviour of local citizens. That is also truly disgraceful.

2025 RECEIVER BIOMONITORING REPORT LANXESS CANADA, ELMIRA, ONTARIO

 

This is a 313 page report which I have not read in its' entirety as yet. There are examinations of fish species, fish abundance, fish tissues as well as of other smaller lifeforms (benthic invertebrates) etc. in the Canagagigue Creek. The area examined is from immediately upstream of the Lanxess property to just downstream past their property. 

Regarding an examination of both numbers and types of fish found (via electrofishing) there certainly are larger numbers than there were back in 1998 as well as some improvement particularly in smallmouth bass numbers later in the season (i.e. August). That said the Creek certainly has not been remotely restored to its' glory days when it was a trout stream. Besides contaminants quite simply the Canagagigue no longer is a cold water stream/creek capable of sustaining cold water species such as trout. The Creek continues to this day to be dominated by coarse fish, highly tolerant of pollution, such as shiners, chubs, suckers and carp. Now and again a northern pike will wander by but they are very rare. 

Observations I made show as expected dioxins, furans , DDT and metabolytes in fish tissues. Some sample have only a few congeners others have many.  Regarding DDT breakdown products DDE is much more prevalent than DDD in fish tissues. What did concern me as well was the amount of samples with PCBs in them. Far too many clearly have been uptaking PCBs despite after 36 years of study neither the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP) nor the known polluter (Uniroyal/Lanxess) have ever shared the source with us. To me that is similar to just recently finding out that indeed as I've long said there is a second source of chlorobenzene to the Elmira drinking water aquifers, still unnamed. 

While mercury is a known contaminant in the Creek including in fish tissues I haven't found any sampling for mercury in fish tissues to date. That too may be convenient as Uniroyal Chemical also never took credit for mercury in the Creek as well as PCBs. The wildlife and the environment and human beings are suffering from these two contaminants as well but Lanxess and the MECP have shown little to no concern for them. If I had to guess I might suggest that the Woolwich Dam bears some responsibility for the mercury as natural mercury that is submerged can become the more toxic kind. Or not.

Yes there has been improvement from the sewer that Uniroyal Chemical turned the Canagagigue Creek into. There is however still a long ways to go with little apparent enthusiasm to do it.

WORKING FOR ORGANIZED CRIME

 

There's an old joke about a young boy telling his father that when he grows up he wants to work in organized crime. His father pauses then asks: "Government or private?" In my opinion it's not that the system per se is totally past redemption it's that just like private industry it's not necessarily the cream that rises to the top. Too often its' the yes men, the loyalists, the cronys and the good old boys who rise . Those already at the top will talk about the intangibles, the willingness to follow all orders no matter how bizarre, the blind loyalty to either the company or the face of the company. 

There is also an old joke about the head of the company talking to an upcoming executive regarding promotion possibilities.  "We need a man of vision, a man of action, a man capable of surreptitiously disposing of 2,000 barrels of alleged toxic waste."  

In other words loyalty first, second and third with knowledge and experience coming in a strong fourth and fifth. That is the route to the top in both private industry and in government. 

Our local legal system has impressed me twice within the last few days. Could it be an advanced right wing conspiracy solely for he purpose of undermining my opinions and positions? Not likely in this dimension or on this particular planet. I have recently spoken here about the corruption within our local Justice System with a focus on that idiot Justice Craig Parry versus any idiot who is a doctor and their name ryhmes with Cola . Notice just like the K-W Record who now have unnamed reporters (i.e. "Record Staff") writing about this case since the obviously guilty or innocent accused (you choose) was recently acquitted of all criminal charges thus opening the door to civil lawsuits for Libel against any folks who might have prejudged his guilt and  directly or indirectly said so. Well I too am covering my (m)ass by now referring to him as Cola not @*ola. 

Back to my point. I puke at that "decision" by Justice Parry and I applaud the homeless people at the tent encampment at Weber and Victoria St. and Judge Gibson who has given them literally a small, tiny place to hang their hats. Obviously a community of this size can and should do better for our homeless who through layoffs, firings, mental health issues, drug addictions, ridiculous housing costs and so much more are trying to live without even the bare minimum of a roof overhead to keep off the rain and snow.  It behooves me to again say that corruption may be the norm but there are still many within the system who try and who care. 

P.S. The other recent positive impression I've received from the Justice System is their darn quick announcement that they are appealing the Dr. Sloka case to the Ontario Court of Appeal.

AN IMPROVED APPEALS COMMITTEE-HOO BOY MAYOR SALONEN & THE REGION REALLY DON'T RESPECT WILMOT CITIZENS

 

Well this time I have to disagree with Record reporter Luisa D'Amato. She feels that Waterloo Region are stepping up by rearranging their water interference Appeals Committee to at a minimum give the appearance of fairness and transparency. Well yes likely the Region are willing to go that far: i.e. give the appearance of fairness and transparency. I'd almost be willing to bet my last dollar that Mayor Salonen and her regional colleagues are laughing their heads off right now. They have just bought more time and lots more water from Wilmot all for the price of ...a promise. Has the Region ever reneged on a promise, verbal or written, to Wilmot before? Not only have they but just last month they voted to rescind the 1980 agreement limiting water taking from Wilmot AFTER having been taking that water surreptitiously for the last nine years. And guess what: Do you think Wilmot council are so stupid that they didn't know that their water was being pumped steadily from beneath their feet by the Region? Of course they did but politics is all about getting your way while lying to the majority of citizens and bribing those in the know to stay on side with you.

Good will? Good faith? Give me a break. Just look at the past water interference appeals committee.  It was unilaterally appointed by regional council. Complainants had a grossly inadequate maximum $4,000 ceiling on a claim for a new (deeper) well AND they had to sign a release of future claims against the Region if their wells ran dry again.  Furthermore all aspects of the appeal and investigation were handled by regional staff. As Samantha Lernout of Citizens for Safe Ground Water stated that was not an impartial process it was a structural conflict of interest. And guess what? IT WAS DONE SO INTENTIONALLY by professional liars and manipulators called politicians.  

HOW MANY MORE JUSTICE CRAIG PARRY'S ARE THERE?

 

Is he the last one left or are most of our judges as stupid as he is? Other than taking the word of self-serving, well paid sycophants is there some fool proof way to judge our judges? Maybe put them on trial for a change and see how they like it.

We now have two candidates running for mayor in Woolwich Township. At fist blush I believe that either one of them will be an improvement over whom we've had for the last twelve years although that bar is set quite low. It is also possible that as life is rarely all black or all white (no racial slurs/undertones intended here) that Ms. Shantz may actually have some attributes and behaviours that have actually been in the public interest. Time usually tells.

Here is another thought concerning Justice Craig Parry. Maybe he's not an out of touch, old phart, sexist, self-serving member of the court. His attitudes towards 49 women (48 complainants, 1 Neurologist) might not be one hundred years or more out of date as it certainly appears. What if he simply is stupid, thoughtless and lazy? Just as bad what if he's senile or actually suffering from past mini strokes or some other brain injury? As a senior myself I do not wish that upon anyone but unfortunately it does happen and maybe Judges' vaunted independence is what is keeping him behind the bench ruining people's lives. Equally bad is there any possibility that he has been blackmailed or extorted somehow? Seriously I think a formal investigation to ascertain whether or not he's been a victim of criminal activity or pressure is called for. Again I would hope not but his behaviour appears bizarre.

Further issues abound. Anyone remember Tumblur Ridge in British Columbia? Anyone remember the weird circumstances surrounding the shooter's home life and diagnosed mental health struggles? She/he did not have a valid firearms license yet clearly had access to firearms as the authorities had returned them to the home and presumably to the registered owner. The shooter killed themselves afterwards which is a common occurrence in mass shootings. Right now our federal government continue to sell the myth that registered and licensed firearms owners are a threat to Canadian citizens. Could it be that the bigger threat is the government's own failures and refusal to enforce their own safety and firearms laws  especially those dealing with violent criminals and or mentally unstable individuals both of which must not have access to firearms ? 

OUR LOCAL (Waterloo Region) JUSTICE SYSTEM IS CORRUPT

 

This by definition could be merely  "riddled with errors "which in and of itself frankly is disgusting.  A little passing shot to our previous long term Regional Chair, Ken Seiling. This has occurred on your watch, you pissant. Got that out of my system albeit while I know that the Region of Waterloo for example have major responsibilities with local policing (WRPS) and all their failures towards their female officers a lot of that blame should lie with female regional councillors who've kept their heads down and let their gender counterparts in uniform get treated shabbily. Another passing shot is to our (thank God) departing and currently lame duck Woolwich mayor Sandy Shantz who's been a regional councillor for the last twelve years and probably felt that her political career would not be advanced by supporting and assisting female police officers. Oh and by the way while I've never made a big deal out of it but that same *#%*$ was my Trustee back in 1996 and she didn't lift a finger to help this parent constituent or others when the WRDSB  was protecting bad teachers such as Ron Archer (convicted pedophile).

I do not know all the connections between our Justice System and regional government. I do know that the Region have responsibilities in regards to providing facilities and infrastructure for our various courts. Furthermore I believe that certain prosecuters may be federal  prosecuters and others provincial prosecuters. Whether they are actually paid by the feds or the province versus the Region I am not certain. I do know for a fact that judges are appointed by goddamn politicians and that alone should scare most honest citizens. Nothing like stacking the deck in favour of the already entitled .

Today's K-W Record advises us that the Crown are filing an appeal in the Dr. Sloka case.  Corrupt or not the Crown and the entire system know when a stupid Judge has gone way too far. It's called putting the administration of justice in disrepute which is exactly what Justice Craig Parry has done when he called out 48 female, adult witnesses plus one expert witness for the prosecution, a practicing and respected Neurologist. By the way that Neurologist just happened to be female. The Judge described her and all 48 witnesses as unreliable, some dishonest and all mistaken in their testimony. But that's O.K. because he found the accused, Dr. Jeffrey Sloka credible. 

I too have experience with a biased, idiot Judge (Robert Reilly) unilaterally throwing out multiple witnesses' testimony in order to find me liable in a civil case. Based upon his behaviour the same Judge may have conspired with the Plaintiff's lawyer to try and manipulate my wife onto the stand in order to give testimony that he could twist against her and I. He and the Plaintiff's lawyer also used subterfuge to deny me a trial by my peers i.e a jury trial that I wanted and deserved.  

Who should have reined in both these Judges decades ago? Are these cases a one off whereby a normally rational, sane and honest Judge has simply been broken for one case each, alone? It seems very unlikely. Why does the Justice system not correct gross injustices by their own judges? What the hell has happened to common sense? News flash Justice system.  There are lots of honest, educated people out there who know when liars and filth are hiding behind walls that they've helped put up. How dare you judge citizens when you yourselves won't even clean house of dishonest people within your ranks.     

POLITICIANS & CORPORATIONS ARE SUCH INCREDIBLE LIARS

 

So where did that headline above come from? Generally speaking it's based upon close observation of the buggars over the last fourty plus years. Specifically speaking it's based upon the recent behaviour of the Region of Waterloo regarding how they've managed our water and secondly how they've behaved towards Wilmot Township residents. Regarding corporations that is also based upon past personal experiences as well as recent revelations as to how Uniroyal Chemical treated CEAC (Citizens Environmental Advisory Committee) back in the 1980s. There is a newspaper article (K-W Record) dated February 8, 1991 titled "Key data withheld, group learns". It turns out that while Uniroyal were telling CEAC how transparent they were, they were lobbying the Ministry of Environment behind the scenes to reduce discussions with any and all citizens They also pilloried CEAC in the early 1990s for advising against pumping on-site Municipal Aquifer wells they had installed.  Of course at least part of the reason for CEAC's advice was based upon inaccurate or missing data that Uniroyal failed to provide them. Last point is this. Without being intentionally a smart as* I can confidently suggest that the bald and bold statement in the headline above does not refer to 100% of either politicians or corporations albeit in my opinion it is a very high percentage and for now we'll leave it at that.

Today's Record article written by Luisa D'Amato is titled "Wells in rural Wilmot are running dry. The Region should fix that. It's the least they can do."  I agree whole heartedly with that. I'm also going to add to Luisa's point that to date the Region have both lied and reneged on their promises to Wilmot Township regarding taking their water for the big cities. They also need to apologize and ask forgiveness for that as well as paying 100% of the costs for rural well owners to obtain access to the now much further from the surface aquifers in parts of Wilmot Township. 

Finally maybe a backup plan is needed. Give the Region a hard date by which the money for deeper wells will be provided. After that quoting Uniroyal Chemical years ago in Elmira, the gloves may need to come off.   

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REGION'S DESPERATION BECOMING MORE AND MORE CLEAR

 Well I knew that the Region of Waterloo had been eyeing previously shut down water wells due to industrial contamination which was absolutely not confidence inspiring but here they go now looking at wells in Baden long closed due to Nitrate contamination. Nitrates result from over fertilizing farm fields with manure, sewage, hog, cattlle and sometimes even Sewage Treatment Plant solids.  Sounds yummy doesn't it? Yours truly has actually seen fields after dumping...oops I mean after fertilizing farm fields with biosolids including needles and other stuff that shouldn't have gone down the toilet in the first place but does anyways. Nitrates are basically nitrogen combined with some oxygen.

Today's K-W Record carries the following story titled "The search for clean water". Who exactly are they kidding? Possibly the clean water is long gone and the best we can do now is simply to a) find water that can be treated somehow and b) treated fully at a price that won't bankrupt us. We are advised that the Region are hoping to drill deeper through the contaminated aquifers to find a less contaminated aquifer. This action will of course increase our water costs as deeper wells mean bigger pumps and greater electrical costs to bring the water to the surface. Other issues pointed out in the article have to do with well interference in the Baden and New Hamburg areas as both farms and residents homes there are already dealing with lower water levels. 

Essentially what has happened is that citizens and residents have been subsidizing polluting industries throughout Waterloo Region for decades as they have contaminated our waters with solvents, pesticides and other industrial chemicals. We have also known that manure, nitrates and nitrites have been getting into our surface waters for decades from farm and feedlot runoff. This of course affects our drinking water as we attempt to treat Grand River water for human consumption. For decades even wells near our three biggest cities have been showing Nitrates and Nitrites at alarming levels. Further to the mix is Sodium from salt (NaCl-sodium chloride) put on our roads and sidewalks.

All in all the Region of Waterloo politicians have been playing fast and loose with our water and not keeping citizens informed as to the severity of the problems. We are now beginning to see the big picture and it's not a pretty picture.

LIGHTNING & HOCKEY BIAS STRIKE ELMIRA AGAIN!

 

Maybe that's why I'm having a hard time with this one .An obviously wealthy family (check out the mansion, the number of acres owned and the size /cost of the friggin fully equipped hockey rink and infrastructure) made the decision not to follow fairly normal municipal rules and regulations regarding constructing buildings, hooking up to municipal services etc. Now at first blush their excuse was well it's only a hockey rink for kids and hockey is a good thing here in Canada, right. Hmm well maybe O.K.   Although this is no outdoor rink, watered with a hose and used plywood for the ten inch high boards.  This is a full indoor rink and building including a commercial ice /refrigeration system, a commercial ice cleaner (zamboni??), washrooms etc. etc. A friend's first question to me was : How did this family get a professional contractor (plumber, electrician, carpenter, concrete specialists etc. ) to build all this without a Building Permit much less other paperwork to prove this is a documented, legitimate, built to code safe building. 

Now my friend can be enthusiastic at times and he considered that maybe somebody, somewhere got paid off. The more I think about it the more I wonder too. Is our municipal system so lax that a major building built between the mansion and the roadway can be expected to be ignored? This is Woolwich Township not Mississauga or Toronto where I expect buildings come and go all the time without proper paperwork.  O.K. somebody caught this "nice" undocumented building to be used for kids healthy entertainment. The last time Woolwich got an extra rink it was at the proposed new Rec Centre and cost us an experienced councillor (Pat McLean-no loss really) in exchange for a novice (Sandy Shantz) who went on to three terms as mayor totally ensuring that Uniroyal Chemical and successors got away with paying the absolute minimum to "clean up" their chemical nightmare including  Dioxins, DDT, NDMA etc.  

So is this as bad a decision as my gut is telling me or am I still leery of ice rinks after the last one  Woolwich voters wanted and what it really cost us all?

The story was in the K-W Record this week yet I did not see it in the Observer this week. Odd!

GOVERNMENT INCOMPETENCE DOES NOT ALWAYS EQUAL CORRUPTION

 

Unfortunately though it does make many citizens believe that government corruption is a normal thing. Is our provincial Conservative government inherently corrupt? I'm going to be nice today and suggest that ideological stupidity combined with zero sense of history may be driving Doug Ford's most recent attempts to make his corporate sponsers greener. By greener I am not suggesting that Ford's government love the environment nearly as much as they love money and Ford by trying to make them "greener" is trying to make them wealthier at the public's expense. There is absolutely no attempt here to actually make, develop or improve upon a product. It's simply yet one more way to legally transfer wealth to those already expert at sucking at the government's udders. 

The Opinion Page in today's Record has an excellent article by Joel Bakan and Jim Standford titled "Was nothing learned from Walkerton" The straightforward answer is indeed NOTHING ! Below that article is one by Susan Koswan both reiterating recent posts of mine here but also adding information concerning pollutants in our Grand River. She also comments on how the Region of Waterloo were mishandling our water supply back in 1992 and none other than Dr. John Cherry so advised them of that fact.

We as citizens have been far too complacent and we've already paid too high of a price for that complacency. For the love of all that's holy why doesn't Doug Ford get his Conservative back up about the federal government's ongoing attacks against honest citizens including threats of criminalization? Other provinces have done so and while Doug's environmental failures will cost him votes he could recoup many if he took similar steps to those of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Newfoundland who will not allow our federal government to steal lawful property and criminalize honest citizens who have followed firearms laws and rules for decades. 

REGION OF WATERLOO TWISTS IN THE WIND WHILE TAXPAYERS CONTINUE TO FOOT THE BILLS ($15 MILLION MOST RECENT)

 

The math may be a little off or that is just typical Record reporters who either can't do math or simply described the increased capacity from portable trailers unclearly. Apparently one trailer will start filtering water at 25 litres per second and then be scaled to 50 l/sec by the end of 2026. If all goes well than three more filtration trailers will be added for a total increased capacity of 300 l/sec. Readers who can do the math can see the potential contradiction. This story is in today's K-W Record titled "We have a lot of eggs in the basket".

Just to keep the pressure on everybody we are also advised that the four filtration containers weighing 100,000 pounds each will be sitting on top of critical water and service lines located seven metres below ground. By my math that is 400,000 pounds of containers although we are not told if that is dry weight or wet weight. It could make a huge difference just as the mixing of measurement systems (British & Metric)  for weight (pounds) and distance (metres) might also signify somebody who is less than proficient in one or both measuring systems. I just state this in order to tee up the Region down the road for yet another excuse if things don't work out.

Permanent repairs to the Mannheim Treatment Plant are scheduled to be completed by 2031. I have yet to see any explanation as to why that plant was allowed to get so degraded in the first place. Allegedly after June 3, 2026 there may be some partial development allowed to move forward based upon a risk assessment that has been done. If it's anything like the piece of garbage Risk Assessments (two of them) done in Elmira for both the former Uniroyal plant and for the Canagagigue Creek then developers and house builders can rest easy as the Risk Assessment will merely justify what the people paying for it want. 

Further work by the Region includes completing renovations to wells and searching for other sources. If only all the wells that have been shut down either short term, long term or permanently could be safely brought back into service. They can't because there were serious and inescapable reasons for their shutdowns in the first place. Perhaps again greater thought and consideration to real groundwater remediation should have occurred long ago in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Elmira.

IT SURE SEEMS TO ME THAT MR. MACKIN (LANXESS) IS FULL OF BULL RIGHT ALONG WITH THE ONT. MIN. OF ENVIRONMENT

 

Michael Mackin is/was a spokesperson for Lanxess Canada here in Elmira. I and a few others take umbrage with either blatant lies or even just disingenuous statements intentionally made to mislead the public. Sorry but that's the way I'm built and living here in Elmira unfortunately it happens far too often from various authorities (MECP), politicians and of course polluters and their consultants. In this case I'm referring to an article in the Woolwich Observer dated May 18, 2023 and written by Leah Gerber titled "  Chlorobenzene spike latest mystery for environmental watchdog". 

According to sources there has been recent increases in chlorobenzene concentrations found in observation well CH-75B. Now Lanxess would have us believe that there are other sources of chlorobenzene in the Elmira Aquifers which certainly is a realistic possibility based upon the number of local facilities using chlorobenzene and the sweetheart deal of Oct./Nov. 1991 between Uniroyal Chemical and the Ontario Ministry of Environment. Basically at that time Uniroyal accepted 100% blame and responsibility in exchange for not proceeding at the Environmental Appeal Board (EAB) to eviscerate the Ministry of Environment's credibility and integrity. Also Uniroyal received some slippery wording allowing them to escape DNAPL cleanup based upon the Ministry's biased interpretations of future reports written by Uniroyal consultants and others. Also the 1991 deals have allowed Uniroyal and successors to so far escape all downstream cleanup of the Canagagigue Creek that has been contaminated initially with solvents etc. but remains to this day as a repository of DDT, dioxins and more from Uniroyal's behaviour.

I also believe that there is likely a second source of NDMA to the Elmira Aquifers which to date has not been admitted to by any of the guilty parties. The entire "investigation" was a joke by the MOE (later MECP) and that also would have been exposed at the EAB hearing if it had been allowed to continue. Currently we have admissions that both Nutrite and Varnicolor contributed chemicals to the Elmira Aquifers with Nutrite responsible for ammonia and Varnicolor for half a dozen chlorinated solvents. 

Meanwhile both Mr. Machin, Tiffany Svensson and others are all quite willing to blame some unknown chlorobenzene contributor versus determining who the culprit is. The MECP however are sticking to their 1991 story suggesting that it's all speculation and the chlorobenzene plume is contained within the larger NDMA plume and will be remediated eventually along with the NDMA. Likely candidates for further pollution blame would include the former Borg Textiles and former Varnicolor Chemical. Sanyo has always caught my eye based upon nearby observation well CH-38 and its' results over the decades. Nobody of course mentions the small cleanup at MotiveAir (First St.) years ago that most likely was a result of their next door neighbour Varnicolor Chemical. Other nearby companies are also potential candidates.

By the way the concentration increases at CH-75B are likely due to the shutting down of pumping well W4 that was controlling the chlorobenzene  DNAPL found in observation well OW57-32R. Everyone knows this and everyone lies about it. That off-site DNAPL was an embarrassment to all the guilty parties.

EXACTLY WHEN DID THE CORRUPTION START IN WOOLWICH?

 

Oh my but that's a tough one. Which corruption are we talking about? What kind of corruption are we talking about? Are we talking about brown paper bags filled with cash or "merely" corruption defined as "riddled with errors"? Are we talking government corruption as in the Ontario Ministry of Environment or rather as bilateral deals between Uniroyal Chemical and Ontario or Uniroyal Chemical and the Region of Waterloo or Uniroyal Chemical and Woolwich Township? How about lower key corruption whereby Uniroyal has an understanding with one or two local councillors to keep them in the loop ahead of time?

Finally how about local citizens with connections to Uniroyal Chemical in the old days. Did those cheerleaders change their tune as Uniroyal's complicity and negligence become more obvious over time? How about local citizens representing a larger group who are persuaded to change teams? APTE under Susan Rupert was a force to be reckoned with and it amazed me when I heard how accommodating a certain mayor and real estate agents were in assisting Ms. Rupert's move from Elmira to Waterloo to attend the University of Waterloo.  It's one thing to be happy when you are losing a harsh critic but did they know who her replacement was going to be?

Clearly there had been a certain amount of corruption at the municipal,  regional and provincial levels for decades in allowing Uniroyal Chemical free rein to pollute, destroy and degrade our air, soil, Creek (Canagagigue) and groundwater. There were pollution laws which simply weren't enforced. The Ontario Ministry of Environment viewed their job as squelching complaints, misrepresenting critics and defending corporations inalienable rights to make money off the backs of their hired labour, the environment and unfortunate local residents. The residents rights to clean air, water, soil and food were way down the list of priorities.   

With decades of corruption under their belts it really wasn't that difficult to manipulate both the public and the public's representatives, voted or otherwise. This is what democracy has become. The dishonest leading the disinterested . Those that do step up are either co-opted or squelched one way or the other. That is the huge advantage of governmental corruption. You are on the inside protecting the guilty who are also on the inside.

THE BIG STICK IS COMING: WRDSB FOR SURE IS IN TROUBLE BUT WHAT ABOUT WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP?

 

I know, I know we have lots of Conservatives locally who have always toed the provincial line. Heck we've got a number of Conservative M.P.s (federal) such as Connie Cody and Kelly Deritter and Matt Strauss. Apologies if I've lumped in a provincial Tory (Conservative ) here along with the federal ones but that just makes my point more that Doug Ford really shouldn't be gunning for anybody in Waterloo Region. Heck both Ken Seiling and Sandy Shantz are both Conservatives as well.

The Waterloo Region District School Board frankly are a bunch of idiots and whatever their political leanings have long been an embarrassment locally.  Whether it was the Caroline Burjowski fiasco in which the Chair made the initial errors only to be followed by the rest of the Board leaping in with both feet and treating her savagely; they actually got their comeuppance by the courts which just goes to prove that they at least are not corrupt all the time.  Or maybe it's been the treatment of their own trustees when one has dared not to follow the company/Board line on all things stupid. The Mike Ramsay affair makes a complete sham of the Board's commonsense and decency. Suspending publicly elected trustees based upon a few hurt feelings on the Board is jus so sad and pathetic.

Yes I can certainly see our premier being fed up with the WRDSB's nonsense and taking hard action. But what about a municipality (Woolwich) that has let one of the most heavily contaminated chemical sites in the country continue to fester? Instead of redoubling their efforts years ago they are merely preparing excuses and rewriting the narrative. What about a Region (Waterloo) that  seems hell bent on infuriating its' citizens through secret land grabs (Wilmot) as well as a local Elmira Water Crisis that is now a Region wide Water Crisis? Plus don't forget speed cameras removed by Doug Ford only to be replaced by surveillance cameras.  You know I'm not a Conservative voter but I could get behind the province saying enough is enough here in Waterloo Region. Call it amalgamation, call it sending in a superviser but whatever it's time for a major shakeup. 

THE LAWYERS ARE COMING, THE LAWYERS ARE COMING!

 

Oh thank goodness for involved and keen citizens. Despite decades of reading technical hydrogeological reports and understanding them and then providing informed advice which was generally ignored if it cost 25 cents more than another option; this time I will be a tad frivolous in my advice. In today's K-W Record Luisa D'Amato warns us that lawsuits are on the way. Her article on page A3 is titled "Region is running out of time to avoid legal action on water supply".  My suggestion is this: Embrace the judicial system sticking their noses in, their supercilious attitudes, user unfriendly processes and procedures all combined with occasional ignorant judges and go for it. Sort of. Here's what you have to do. It's called judge shopping and the fact that it has a name indicates that it is a thing. 

Pick Justice Craig Parry to be the sole jurist. No jury involved to dilute the pool of common sense that he has recently displayed. Based upon his obvious displeasure with the public as represented by 48 adult women versus one male doctor (we'll call him Dr. "hands") a lawsuit made up of mostly male plaintiffs aimed against a mixed bunch of regional councilors should be a slam dunk in favour of the developers and house builders at the expense of the public interest. This sounds to me right up this Judge's alley don't you think?

Now on the other hand if you were to pick judge Robert Reilly instead you could likely tailer the legal decision differently. If as I was told, after the fact, he favours females over males then by putting all the female regional councillors in the front row to emphasize regional council's femininity versus the masculinity of rough/tough home builders and construction guys; then the decision would be a slam dunk in favour of the public interest (politicians) over wealthy, influential, monied interests.

There is yet another legal term involved. It's called "home cooking". Basically courts who rely somewhat on the good will of the people they terrorize.... oops I mean tenderize, prefer to make decisions that the public can get behind no matter their legal merits. Hence each party needs to do a small, subtle con job on the judge alone (possibly favoured by Reilly & Parry?) which is much easier than winning over a jury of citizens based upon evidence. The party that the Judge feels represents more people should generally win court decisions to avoid controversy and worse such as bringing the administration of justice into disrepute. 

So who really is in charge in Waterloo Region? Is it the behind the scenes movers and shakers or is it the pack of dummies that get elected every four years? Those politicians may get elected on the lies they tell the public during the election but it's the truth they tell the movers and shakers privately beforehand that gets them money and organization to run in the elections. 

Exactly how rigged is the system? Can you believe the coincidence that speed cameras are being torn down in Waterloo Region literally at the same time as surveillance cameras are being put up? Who masterminded that Orwellian nonsense without public input? Waterloo Region still refuses to divulge what should be public knowledge regarding the 770 acre land grab in Wilmot Township. They also still haven't come clean as to the quantity of contaminated groundwater combined with incredibly dirty Grand River surface water requiring massively expensive treatment. 

My personal view is that we are watching a bruhaha between the greedy and the incompetent. There will ne no winners but I can guarantee you who the losers will be! We can't vote out the movers and shakers but come this October we can vote out every single regional councillor plus incumbent mayors on regional council.

   

I PROPOSE AN ANNUAL AWARD NAMED THE ROBERT REILLY DULY MEMORABLE BASTION OF ARTICULATE SOUL SEEKERS - 1ST RECIPIENT JUSTICE CRAIG PARRY

 

Justice Parry through his recent, courageous and forward seeking decision to put 48 female whiners and complainers in their place can only be given the due he deserves. With full knowledge that all the lefties, some righties, men and women of all shapes and colours would find fault with his independent, long thought out and incredibly humourous exaggerations that he used in order to calm the ever complaining masses. This award has of course been named after another giant of jurisprudence, Robert Reilly, who pioneered the advanced technique of dismissing witness credibility based upon zero evidence presented on the matter. Now of course Robert Reilly was a mere piker compared to Justice Craig Parry but innovators sometimes have to begin small. Both gentlemen have surmounted the tightly constrained and impeded bounds of logic, fact and reason with their obviously male talent of foresight, psychic vision and mind reading capabilities far in advance of their peers, their critics, and humanity in general.

This award known as the RR DUMBASS could easily have been mistaken for the name of their joint pleasure yacht the SS DUMBASS but for the foresight of  Mr. Reilly's parents' naming abilities. It is rumoured that they too were giants in their fields as well. Clearly the apple does not fall far from the tree and Mr. Reilly's legal exploits are as equally balanced as his bicycle riding we are advised. Further praise and public recognition may be forthcoming for both gentlemen at the planned festivities outside the Elmira Waste Water Treatment Plant this Saturday at 11 am.  All are welcome although sore losers and complainers will be met with Waterloo Region's finest batons and pepper spray.

CREDIT GOES TO SANDY SHANTZ FOR ANNOUNCING HER STEPPING DOWN EARLY

 

Instead of delaying her announcement that she wasn't running and hence possibly being viewed as a "lame duck" mayor by both her Woolwich and regional colleagues; she has announced already that she is not running for Woolwich Mayor again this October. Hallelujah albeit the damage is done and the last ditch chance to reverse Woolwich Township's disgraceful "water crisis" legacy is now well past. The Township rolled over early and joined the Uniroyal Chemical fellow travellors' cheerleading group. After the new CPAC (2011-2015) changed the channel and set the new direction however it was Sandy Shantz who re-embraced Uniroyal/Chemtura, kicked out CPAC and went back to the status quo of much talk and little action or cleanup.  

Uniroyal and their corporate successors have made a laughing stock of local democracy and of the provincial Ministry of Environment (MECP). Clearly our provincial environmental laws are absolutely no match for multi billion dollar, multi national corporations with large legal budgets and tiny ethics and decency. No effort was ever spared by the polluters to minimize their cleanup costs and enhance their soiled reputations. And our local councils aided and abetted that over decades to their everlasting shame. 

To date I believe that councillor Eric Schwindt has thrown his hat into the ring.  I guess I'm not terribly surprised nor alarmed although I will admit my knowledge of him is limited. What I have seen over the last four years has been positive in a number of areas . I do not know if there will be other contenders or not although it seems likely. You know I can live with a mayor with a different background than myself but dear God at least let them have an open mind regarding our public water supply and they must put the public interest first in all matters. They must not be beholden to developers, builders, industrialists or our local big shots or for that matter any other self-serving groups especially including regional and provincial governments.   

GROWTH AT ANY COST MANTRA

 

All around the world economic growth continues to be the alleged panacea of all our ills. Which is complete nonsense even on the face of it. Yes it would be nice to have enough food, water, shelter, health care etc. for everyone on the planet but it is an impossible task getting worse everyday. Why is that you ask? Well there are more and more people on the same size planet everyday. There is however not an automatic and corresponding increase in those life sustaining items everyday as the population continues to grow.  Combined with that is the fact that economic growth at least partially depends on population growth. In other words it's a case of having an ever expanding market for your goods be they foodstuffs, clothing or automobiles.

Population growth leads to some awful environmental problems from basic dumping and overflows from sewage treatment plants into our lakes and rivers as well as forest removal in order to grow more food for more people. Then of course we have climate change which certainly is attributed to more petroleum uses whether for heating our homes or running cars and trucks delivering more products to more people. Climate change including rising ocean levels as ice caps melt is causing havoc with flooding of coastal towns and cities. Greater heat worldwide is causing massive increases in both the numbers and magnitude of violent weather events resulting in more hurricanes and tornados destroying property and lives. Both droughts and floods are increasing in numbers and both affect food production which is already under stress.

Water shortages used to be an issue in third world countries. Now countries are looking for water sources outside their own borders. Water, whether groundwater or surface water, is in greater demand even as our industries continue to ignore pollution laws with little or no public recourse against them. Here in Elmira the now responsible chemical company are bragging about their fine "cleanup" work even as the Ministry of Environment rewrites the Control Order (1991) that was supposed to restore our local aquifers destroyed by Uniroyal Chemical. The deadline is 2028 and it won't happen although desperation may cause attempts to reopen parts of the aquifer to drinking water pumping while pretending to isolate other more contaminated parts. 

This is all our futures unless growth is more seriously limited and supervised. 

ABUNDANT, ACCURATE & HONEST ADVICE WAS GIVEN TO UNIROYAL & SUCCESSORS : IT WAS ALL IGNORED AND DENIGRATED

 

Who gave them advice exactly? CEAC gave them good advice for years. The Region of Waterloo as well until they walked away unhappy with being ignored. Various bodies from the initially independent albeit stacked with Uniroyal supporters UPAC followed by CPAC (Crompton/Chemtura) followed by RAC/TAG and then TRAC all gave some good advice but other than the 2011-early 2015 CPAC none of the others ever stood up to the company and the Ministry (MOE/MECP) and demanded honest discussions, action and good faith from them. Chemtura were just like their predecessors incapable of doing any of that. 

Woolwich Township have always been far too sympathetic and deferential to the chemical company with the Oct. 2010 to Oct. 2014 council of Todd Cowan at least trying to support greater honesty at CPAC although even then Todd Cowan personally was a problem. Eventually as we all know he self destructed albeit with a little help. The GRCA can best be described as a joke which speaks volumes as to my lack of response to Doug Ford's clipping their wings. 

The advice given was based upon various reports and experts advising what needed to be done including the MOE from time to time, in between polishing Uniroyal's apple and kissing their feet . Advice included Source Removal including DNAPLS, pumping to both the on-site and off-site Target Rates determined by their own consultants,  removing dioxins, DDT and more in the downstream Canagagigue Creek and so much more. Off-site there were poorly managed DNAPLS (chlorobenzene) whether from Uniroyal or a now decades later admission to a second (unnamed) industrial source. There was also advice given to clean up their air emissions which literally took them years to get around to meanwhile harming local residents' (adults & children) health. 

The company's and the Ministry's (MOE) early on sweetheart deal (Oct. & Nov. 1991) set the tone for the company's continuing to be in charge of the "cleanup" from start to finish. The "cleanup" unsurprisingly has failed just like the company and Ministry have failed Elmira, Woolwich and downstream residents. 

HOW MANY WOOLWICH COUNCILLORS WANT TO HANG AROUND FOR THE WATER BLAME ?

 

Well the chief architect of the Elmira cleanup failure over the last twelve years by the time the October elections roll around is running for the hills. She also bears some responsibility at the regional level for the water crisis throughout all of Waterloo Region. How many other regional as well as local councillors do you think will join the exodus? I would expect the mayors with more than one term as mayors and regional councillors might be thinking that this is a good time to hit the road. Is that only Barry Vrbanovic or is one of the other big city mayors a repeat culprit?

I expect that up here in Dogpatch (Woolwich) that there might be some small exodus of councillors although actually other than Bonnie Bryant, the others are all first term councillors. Hard to fault them horribly from one term's experience in which a quadruple term Sandy Shantz was leading the pack. She also spent a term as a councillor before her three terms as mayor. A small peccadillo derailed her for one term between her term as councillor and her three terms as mayor.  

I have spent years trying to figure out if she basically is a naive fool, easily swayed and manipulated by the likes of Dave Brenneman, Mark Bauman, Chemtura/Lanxess and other local big shot companies and individuals. Or has she with full knowledge ploughed ahead wrecking havoc on our environment and health by prioritizing growth and business at all costs?  Uniroyal and successors is not the only industrial dump  in Woolwich Township. Breslube, prior to Safety-Kleen, damaged our environments's air and water for extensive distances throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s. Safety-Kleen were always welcomed with open arms and glad handing by earlier Woolwich mayors including Bill Strauss who personally owned multiple contaminated sites related to the fuel industry. 

Perhaps we the citizens deserve both the environment and the mayors that we've had. Sebastian (TRAC) has very lately sent an excellent treatise on to some local environmentalists and unfortunately to a couple of wanna bees that may bite him. That could be unfortunate or it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise as he spends less time with those he refers to as deferential.  

MAYOR SHANTZ"S LEGACY IS LIKELY PROBLEMATIC

 

I suggest that her legacy is problematic mostly based upon her efforts regarding Elmira's water situation. Yes I am aware that the Woolwich Observer and others have been warning taxpayers here in Woolwich Township for decades about profligate municipal spending. Those folks have also likely suggested either empire building or at least unnecessary municipal hires which further add to the Township's financial burden when wages, benefits and long term cost of living increases are all included.

It is also possible that there are other issues such as local development both in Breslau and Elmira that may have offended many citizens. I do not however pretend to be either an expert on the intricacies of development nor on waste water infrastructure. I do have considerable knowledge however on water supply including both municipal, regional and even individual wells on private residences.

For myself there is one other major area of recent dispute that Mayor Shantz possibly cleverly avoided at all costs and that is the Region of Waterloo's mishandling of  Wilmot's water supplies. Keep in mind that Mayor Shantz has also been a regional councillor for the past twelve years and should have stepped up and provided some leadership within regional council. Absolutely none was heard or reported upon at regional council meetings that multiple media have been attending vigorously for at least the last six months. 

I have a colleague here in Elmira who has resoundingly been repeating the following mantra namely that Ms. Shantz's actions and decisions over the last eleven years have guaranteed the now universally accepted failure to clean up the Elmira Aquifers by 2028. While the "cleanup" has been irregular, inconsistent and inadequate for decades, the last chance to turn things around was in 2015 after the previous year's election which made Ms. Shantz mayor. Unfortunately, likely with bad advice (Brenneman & Bauman), she did absolutely everything wrong to restore the public's aquifers and everything right to minimize the polluter's environmental expenses and to polish Chemtura's and Lanxess's public images. 

She has announced that she won't run in this fall's election. While that is a long overdue blessing I am not sure that local powers that be will not have multiple replacements waiting in the wings to solidify their influence generally at the expense of the public interest.