PUBLIC CONSULTATION- MORE WONDERFUL PROVINCIAL HYPOCRISY

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment rely on public consultation; especially when their credibility is in the crapper. The Wakerton disaster was the third in just a little over a decade. Uniroyal Chemical in Elmira in 1989 and the Hagersville Tire Fire the following spring had people on edge. Ten more years passed before M.O.E. incompetence and budget stripping aided and abetted citizens in Walkerton dieing from bacteria contaminated drinking water. The culprit was E.Coli sort of. The real culprit was laziness, unaccountability, alcohol, budget cutbacks and a complete lack of transparency at all levels.

In Elmira the M.O.E. were just about as guilty as Uniroyal Chemical. Between them they managed to coverup and hide the longterm health effects of their negligence and incompetence. The M.O.E. did all their serious backroom dealing privately but then trumpeted their endorsed and promoted public consultation. First came the Uniroyal Public Advisory Committee (UPAC) followed by CPAC the Crompton and later Chemtura Public Advisory Committee. How serious were they to have legitimate public consultation? The answer is zero. What they wanted was the appearance of public consultation. That's all it takes to pull the wool over the publics' eyes. The M.O.E. neede to be able to say yes we have consulted. Then they claim that all issues have been addressed. The reality is that they spend two or three hours a month listening to the public and they feel that listening equals addressing. No more is necessary.

I've been a thorn in their side for years. I read all the reports and understand them. I ask questions and then I ask more questions about the answers I've received. Over twenty-five years I've been bullshitted, baffle gabbed and lied to by professionals. Every imaginable deception, deflection, prevarication, manipulation and just plain filthy lie possible has been used. Both Chemtura and the M.O.E. are currently in great pain in Elmira. The Chemtura Public Advisory Committee are professional, polite, firm and unrelenting. I try to be professional etc. but my forte is being well researched, knowledgeable and brutally honest. This drives the guilty parties crazy. The M.O.E. have been trying very hard for the past year to get me kicked off the sub-committee of CPAC referred to as SWAT for Soil, Water, Air & Technical. Ask yourself how the M.O.E. on one hand promote public consultation and on the other work so hard behind the scenes trying to turf an honest accurate critic of their and Chemtura's pretend cleanup plans. They are liars, hypocrites and cowards. It's well past time for them and their guilty polluting friends to get off the pot. If you aren't going to properly clean up your mess then just plain leave. We can do better without you here at all then wasting more decades talking and dealing with your self serving drivel.