TRANSPARENCY VERSUS GOVERNMENT SECRECY

This following article was posted on-line this morning on the Elmira Advocate blog/website. Although it is focused on a recently discovered twenty year old plus "sweetheart deal" between the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Uniroyal Chemical (Chemtura), our M.O.E. routinely hand out Releases/Indemnitys to major polluters.


Tuesday, March 6, 2012
TRANSPARENCY & M.O.E. SECRECY


Our courts may be hypocrites but at least they say the right things such as "Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done." Obviously this is small comfort to the wrongly convicted whose numbers both in Canada and the United States are becoming legion. Imagine when groups like Project Innocence and The Association for the Wrongly Convicted move on to freeing people for wrongful convictions other than murder. Does anyone seriously think our courts screw up so often and so badly only on murder charges?

Getting back to transparency and justice being seen to be done- political and bureaucratic bodies such as our Ontario Ministry of the Environment have a long history of talking out of both sides of their mouths. At the same time as they are either publicly or privately telling citizens and media that they are indeed going to hold the polluter to account, they are privately sitting down and negotiating "deals" to absolve the polluter of liability. These deals must of course be in the interests of the M.O.E.. If they are in the interests of the public that is sheer coincidence.

In the case of the Elmira "water crisis" the public demanded not only a cleanup and restoration of the Elmira Aquifers but that also the guilty parties be held publicly accountable. The "sweetheart deal" of October 7, 1991 not only absolved Uniroyal/Chemtura of all liability it also specifically stated that nothing in the deal was to be interpreted as admissions of guilt or wrongdoing by any party. Incredible. Perhaps Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka should have negotiated such an agreement between themselves. If they had it would have been held up to public ridicule and thrown out as offensive to common decency and morality. EXACTLY AS THE M.O.E. / UNIROYAL DEAL SHOULD BE.

It is therefore with this background that Woolwich Township and Council must break this cycle of secrecy and backroom negotiations. No you do not privately twist the M.O.E.'s arm and blackmail them into paying you off. No you do not twist their arm privately while promising them some face saving out. All that will do is reinforce their dispicable behaviour and ensure it continues. You deal with them publicly. This is exactly why you have CPAC. This is exactly why the M.O.E. lie and deceive the public because they are confident that if caught they can deal privately with the municipality and offer them some of their own taxpayers money back in exchange for confidentiality. Woolwich Council you need to break this cycle. This secrecy is what got us into this mess in the first place. Lift up the rock that the Ontario M.O.E. and polluters have been hiding under and air out their dirty laundry. Be forthcoming with your CPAC and discuss and negotiate at public CPAC meetings with the Ministry. They will scream bloody murder and that is the proof that you are on the right track.