Features:
 
 

* Adams Mine Controversy - Articles on the Toronto Garbage Pollutes the North Issue below

Adams Mine Vote - Toronto Council just Screwed our City
In the Megacity Election Vote against the candidates who supported this deal with a yes vote
In favour - 32
Against -   24

Mayor Mel Lastman - YES
Case Ootes, Deputy Mayor - YES
Jane Pitfield - No
Michael Prue - No
Irene Jones - No
Blake F. Kinaham - No
Mario Giansante - YES
Gloria Lindsay Luby - YES
Doug Holyday - YES
Dick O'Brien - YES
Elizabeth Brown - No
Bruce Sinclair - YES
George Mammoliti - YES
Paul Valenti - YES
Maria Augimeri - No
Peter Li Preti - YES
Mike Feldman - YES
Howard Moscoe - No
Milton Berger - YES
Joanne Flint - YES
John Filion - No
Norman Gardner - YES
Gordon Chong - YES
Denzil Minnan-Wong - YES
Joan King - YES
David Shiner - YES
Gerry Altobello - YES
Brian Ashton - ABSENT
Norm Kelly - YES
Mike Tzekas - No
Lorenzo Berardinetti - YES
Brad Duguid - YES
Ron Moeser - ABSENT
David Soknacki - YES
Doug Mahood - No
Sherene Shaw - YES
Bas Balkissoon - YES
Raymond Cho - No
Chris Korwin-Kuczynski - YES
David Miller - No
Joe Pantalone - No
Mario Silva - YES
Betty Disero - YES
Cesar Palacio - YES
Anne Johnston - No
Michael Walker - No
John Adams - No
Ila Bossons - No
Olivia Chow - No
Kyle Rae - No
Jack Layton - No
Pam McConnell - No
Sandra Bussin - No
Tom Jakobek, Budget Chief - YES
Frances Nunziata - No
Bill Saundercook - YES
Joe Mihevc - No
Rob Davis - YES
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Candidates and the Environment - The Toronto Environmental Alliance has the facts on environmental issues in the Megacity and records on how candidates voted.
See - Toward a Greener and Healthier Toronto
Torontoenvironment.org/campaigns/campaigns-electenviroment.html
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Tenant Election Report - info from the Greater Toronto Tenants Association (GTTA) Oct.25.2000

WARD 3 -  Etobicoke Centre -  GTTA hosted an all-candidates meeting last night in Central Etobicoke.  Doug Holyday angered the crowd of 100 tenants by putting down rent controls and the Rent Freeze. At least he was honest. Nicholas Florio spoke only of alternative energy sources. He didn't seem to be aware he was at a tenant meeting.

WARD 4 -  Etobicoke Centre -  John Sumka was at our meeting. He seemed to be stuck in a time warp, since most of his speech was about what he was doing in the 1950's. He was short on  policy and long on personal anecdote. The contest is between the other two. Gloria Luby claimed to have voted for the Tenant Defence Fund, though this is  untrue. Mario Giansante said his 'eyes had been opened' to tenant issues in recent months. All three said they would call Chris Stockwell to urge him to change  the tenant laws. They are both courting the tenant vote through organizing and politicking. Who knows whether it will last after the election. GTTA at  this time can not make a recommendation in favour of either. And Sumka does not provide a real alternative.

WARD 21- St. Paul's -  Rob Davis has been courting the tenant vote for half a year now though organizing and special motions at City Hall against rent increases. I have heard numerous statements that this is disingenuous - that his interest is short-lived. The voting record strongly favours Joe Mihevc, who is about equal in the organizing department.

WARD 22 - St. Paul's - Voters may be misled here as there are two 'Walkers' on the ballot. Jim
Walker is backed by landlords and Tories - this we know as fact. Tenant voters should turn out in droves to support MICHEAL Walker.

WARD 23 - Willowdale - John Filion hurt tenants in Ontario greatly by ramming through the Greatwise deal, which set a bad precedent for demolition of rental housing. He is very weak on organizing and response to  constituent concerns. Ron Summers, his opponent, is a tenant and is friendly to tenant issues.

WARD 26 - Don Valley West - Jane Pitfield has been one of the strongest tenant supporters on Council this year. She has the strong support of Thorncliffe tenants. Don't know anything  about the other two.

In WARD 28 - Toronto Centre-Rosedale - Pam McConnell is pro-tenant. So is Wendy Forrest, and so is Mike Armstrong, also running.

WARD 34 - Don Valley East - Kim Scott is a classic middle-of-the-road Liberal - not strong on tenants, but she can learn. Obviously, Denzil Minnan-Wong is anti-tenant, though he has done a lot of organizing to win their votes.

WARD 40 Scarborough Agincourt - Mike Tzekas is the most pro-tenant candidate in Scarborough. He sits on the Tenant Defence committee. He votes for tenants in Council. He organizes.
Norm Kelly is public enemy number one for tenants in Scarborough. He is in bed with landlords and developers. He always votes against tenants in Council.
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Help Candidates Opposed to Mel's Garbage North Deal - Oct.14.2000
Councillor Kyle Rae has already put forward a motion for the December meeting of Council to re-open the debate.
The following campaigns need support to help ensure a victory:
Sandra Bussin - Beaches/East York - 686-2774
Adam Giambrone - Davenport - 538-4500
Anne Johnston - Eglinton/Lawrence - 410-1932
Joe Mihevc - St.Pauls - 651-9849
David Miller - Parkdale/High Park - 604-1060
Gail Nyberg - Broadview/Greenwood - 835-4245
Anthony Parruzza - York West - 398-9060
Michael Walker - St.Paul's - 482-9027
Tooker Gomberg - Mayor - 968-7626
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Green Mayoral Candidate Drops Composter at Mel Lastman's Home
(Do the rich and powerful provide better for themselves?)
Report from Doreen D

   Do you ever wonder if the ruling class with all their money and power provide better for themselves than for the rest of us who feel like we get the worst of everything - air pollution, genetically modified food, poisoned water, etc.? Do the Rich and Powerful buy the best for themselves and give the worst to us, or are they ignorant fools? I'm afraid to say that newly discovered evidence may point to the latter as correct.

   On Friday evening I met Gordon McGuinty in the restaurant at city hall after a fierce session in the council chambers regarding the Adam's Mine dump which his company owns. It was rumoured that a new smoke stack for Toronto was thrown into the deal. I was shocked and approached Mr. McGuinty with a reminder that Toronto was already in the path of fallout from one of the biggest smokestacks in the U.S.A. He and his buddy seemed surprised and "swore" that his company would never build a smokestack in Toronto. I asked them a personal question, "What good is having all this money if even his family is going to be exposed to the toxins? Is this the legacy he wants to leave to his children and grandchildren?  Does he want to put them at risk for cancer and respiratory ailments for the sake of a few dollars? Both gentlemen seemed quite shocked by the question and feebly nodded their heads to denote nay. It seemed like they had never made any connection that the pollution could also harm themselves and their families. The lesson learned here is that we must get politicians, corporate presidents and other bureaucrats to understand that they and their families will also be harmed by their decisions.
 

   In the council chambers Mel admitted that he didn't have a composter at home and he wasn't sure how it works. In true environmental spirit Mayoral candidate Tooker Gomberg and friends went straight to Mel's house and delivered one to him on Sunday. They also discreetly put some of the nutrient rich compost on Mel's lawn. Wherever Tooker goes the press follows. They know that in Tooker they have a very serious mayoralty candidate who is an expert on the issue of garbage and other important matters like air quality, sustainability, and homelessness - a candidate who is willing to work hard to create a healthy city.  It was amazing how little the reporters knew. One reporter for a major newspaper wanted to know how the compost bin works, what does the compost look like, what is it used for and how much does one cost?

   What was really astounding about all this was the location of Mel's house. It is located just metres from a hydro field.

   In the last twenty years much research has been gathered linking exposure to extra low frequency radiation emanating from power lines and other sources with an increase in cancer, especially childhood leukemia, birth defects, depression, learning disabilities, Chronic Fatigue syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, AIDS and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Do the Rich and Powerful do better for themselves? Mel has a lot more money than the rest of us, but he is ignorant and lives in a house that will expose him and his family to serious health risks. I also noticed that his perfect green manicured lawn was probably the result of numerous applications of toxic weed killer. So can we trust our politicians to make informed decisions regarding our health and safety when they aren't even informed enough to take care of themselves. The green dollar signs have blurred the green grass and leaves. Does Mel know what organic means?

On this Thanksgiving I am truly giving thanks that Tooker Gomberg with his vast knowledge of environmental issues and courage to face this opponents and bring about healthy changes is running for mayor of Toronto. Please vote for him and tell your friends.
Cheers!
Doreen
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Mel Passes the Mine Buck - Oct.6.2000
(Battle over garbage deal to continue)

   Mel Lastman passed the buck to the federal government today saying that the city will not go ahead with the controversial plan to ship garbage to the Adams Mine in Kirkland Lake if the feds call for an environmental assessment before Februrary 2001. In that case the city would then move forward with another plan to ship to a US landfill. David Anderson (Anderson.D@parl.gc.ca) is the federal environment minister.

   A clause on incineration will find its way to the trash bin and the Mayor also said that if section 10.6 called Unavoidable Costs is not struck out through agreement with Rail Cycle North, the contract will die and our garbage will go to the Republic landfill in Michigan.

   Lastman is still trying to get the contract through in an amended form and he has called another meeting of council for Tuesday. In spite of what other media says, Gordon McGuinty, spokesperson for the Rail Cycle North consortium, appears ready accept the amended contract. I was standing next to him as he did a media interview, and though he wasn't happy his tone of voice indicated that he finds the amended deal acceptable. The Star has Jack Layton talking about Rail Cycle North walking away from the deal, but that isn't going to happen. The push to get this thing through is still very much alive.

   By chance I ended up sitting near Gordon McGuinty in a restaurant after the council meeting. A female friend of mine (Doreen) went over and had McGuinty nodding in agreement as she explained that his grandchildren would also be harmed through the water contamination from the mine dump.

   The issue got discussed further on a streetcar party held by mayoral candidate Tooker Gomberg. The vintage car rolled about the city with singing, dancing and country musicians playing. Tooker took the time to thank people who showed to give Lastman and Council a hard time. He feels that we took back city hall today with a strong public presence that included clapping, booing and heckling. The general sense now is that the public has a hold on this thing and if we show at council and squeeze harder next week we can strangle it.

   During the council meeting I was one of the hecklers, shouting that the secret deal would leak and so would the mine. At that time I did not know that the deal had already been leaked to the Toronto Star.

   I did take some interesting notes on the meeting. Here is a capsule.

   It began with Councillor John Adams announcing that a security breach allowed public access to council e-mail. (Guess we now know how the Star got the details of the contract)

   When Pam McConnell asked Mel Lastman if he was aware of the criminal charges against Waste Management Inc., Lastman replied saying that he is not aware. He's only a little mayor in TO.

   On the clause in the contract on the building of an incinerator, Lastman said that the clause has no significance or meaning. It means absolutely nothing. Mel Lastman hates talk of incinerators and blames the media for making it an issue. Later during the meeting councillors went on so much about incineration that Lastman's obvious pain amused me.

   One of Mel's reasons for getting the contract through now is that he feels that after the election the people with the knowledge will be gone

   Michael Walker accused Lastman's staff of strong-arming members of council. Lastman replied saying that it is nothing that hasn't been happening over the last three years.

   Olivia Chow pointed out that 37 municipal councils don't want the mine deal and that polls and referenda in the North show 78 to 98 percent of the people against the deal. She asked if Lastman was worried about more municipal councils opposing the deal.

   "No," Lastman said.

   Councillor Cho wants to defer the deal because he feels pushing it through is depriving the city's lawyers of the chance to come up with something better. Cho says that this is the biggest municipal contract in Canadian history, so why rush it?

   Lastman said that Cho and others should listen to him and not the lawyers.

   Councillor Bosons said that there isn't a garbage crisis and that the city has lots of options. Her idea of democracy is taking the issue to the people and then deciding after the election.

   Councillor Fillion pointed out that most of the councillors who aren't running for re-election are in favour of the deal.

   Councillor Bussins was upset because the details of the contract seem to be changing on the fly.

   Michael Prue quoted Socrates telling Mel, "I would gladly be persuaded by you, but not against my better judgement."

   John Adams attacked Lastman, saying there are no recycling bins at Mel Lastman Square.

   Jack Layton attacked a secret clause as extra costs that will make the deal more expensive. The secret clause is part of the deal the public is not allowed to see. Layton says staff did not write the secret clause, Rail Cycle North wrote it. He calls the secret clause a cancer growing inside the agreement. Layton pointed out that if council signs onto the deal it will cost up to 200 million to get out of it.

   I was also shocked at the shameless way City Staff tried to push the deal while being questioned by councillors. City Staff looked more like Gordon McGuinty's staff. The agreement and the way all council accepts the idea of secret clauses and closed door meetings is a cancer growing inside City Democracy.
………………………..
Toronto Council continues to corrupt democracy in Secret Garbage Deal - Oct.5.2000
(Adams Mine Trash Vote Friday. Shocking revelation as Vote draws near)
   The garbage debate is raging at City Hall and tomorrow Council will decide whether trains will ship our trash to a mine (described as an environmental time bomb) 600 kilometres north, near Kirkland Lake. The meeting begins at 12.30 p.m. at Toronto City Hall.
   The suspicious deal would cost taxpayers up to $1 billion, and today a shocking revelation came out. This secret deal includes a monster garbage incinerator in the city of Toronto.
   Mayoral candidate Tooker Gomberg and angry citizens staged a sit-in at council over the stinky plan that includes secret details that the public is not allowed to see. Protesters called the trash-train plan the biggest and dirtiest deal that the city of Toronto has ever done.
   In response Mayor Lastman and Councillors moved to clear the chambers to discuss the contract behind closed doors. Later in the night it came out that the city negotiated a side deal with Rail Cycle North that would allow them to build an incinerator in Toronto to burn this city's - and other cities' - garbage. This news infuriated some councillors who demanded to know how incineration got into the deal.
   ''This is the backroom, cozy dealing,'' Councillor Jack Layton said. ''There has been no public process. This comes out in secret.''
   Mayor Lastman, in his mad push for a hasty decision, called a ''special meeting'' for tomorrow afternoon at 12:30 p.m., saying council would continue to meet until all the items on the agenda are cleared.
   ''We're being given five minutes to ask questions to our solicitor for a billion-dollar contract. What's the rush?'' Olivia Chow said.
   Up North natives continued a blockade of the Ontario Northland tracks near Earlton. They were joined by Kirkland Laker mayor Richard Denton and area MP Benoit Serre.
   At Queen's Park opposition Liberal and NDP members accused Mike Harris of creating this crisis and called for a full environmental assessment.
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One Billion Dollars on the Table in Mayor Lastman's Secret Garbage Deal - Oct.2.2000

* Note - On Wednesday Oct. 4th the council debate and vote on the Adam's Mine Garbage issue takes place. Many citizens will show to oppose the deal. Show at 9:30 a.m. or later at Toronto City Hall, Council Chambers.

   At the same time Mel Lastman is saying a clause in the contract will allow the federal government to put the plan through an environmental assessment. Whether there really is any such clause is something the public and even councillors can't check. The billion-dollar deal involving Waste Management Inc. and Rail Cycle North has been negotiated in secret and is being kept secret. Councillors are not allowed to see it until Wednesday just before they vote on it.

   A meeting on the issue took place tonight at Eastminster United Church in Toronto. Mayoral Candidate Tooker Gomberg and Council Candidate Gail Nyberg invited Mayor Lastman and Deputy Mayor Case Ootes to debate the issue. They refused to attend and to highlight their absence large photos of them were put on the stage.

   The meeting moderator began by noting that there is no debate from the pro Adams Mine side. Mel Lastman and all other supporters of the deal are canceling appearances in the media on the issue. A CBC CounterSpin TV show was suddenly killed when pro Adams Mine forces ducked out of the debate. According to our moderator, there is no good reason for shipping Toronto's garbage North to the mine and that would show in any debate. Which is why Mel will not appear.

   The current strategy of Team Lastman/Ootes/Harris/Lobbyists is to bully this deal through and then hope that the citizens of Toronto never find out just how bad it is.

   Councillor Jack Layton spoke, saying that the lobbyists for Waste Management Inc. have worked the back rooms to lock up the vote of the majority of councillors. When council votes the deal through it's going to be a demonstration of arrogance - Toronto Council is willing to say that We Don't Care About The North.

   Layton accused Mine supporters of using scare-monger tactics. They are saying that garbage will be piled in the streets if the deal doesn't go through. And that's a big lie because Toronto has plans that would allow us to recycle and compost 78 percent of our waste. Those plans were killed so the Adams Mine deal would be viable, with the North swallowing a million tons of groundwater-polluting trash.

   In Toronto, the citizens do care. They use blue boxes and recycle willingly. There isn't any grassroots support whatsoever for the Adams Mine Deal. All active citizens are opposed to it. Layton says he would like to see the box program expanded to green boxes for organic material and red boxes for toxins.

   Councillor Layton is genuinely saddened that council will go ahead in secret and only show the public the truth after the damage has been done.

   Mayoral Candidate Tooker Gomberg says he went down to the opening of Case Ootes' constituency office. He tried to bring up the issue, but Ootes refused to discuss it and his handlers moved in to force him out.

   When Tooker was a councillor in Edmonton they did solve the trash problem. And he says we can easily solve it here. We have the expertise, talent and brains and it won't cost us any more. We could protect the environment and do things like generate methane gas with the waste.

   But instead of doing the right thing our Mayor and Council want to go ahead with this hare-brained, unecological Adams Mine deal . . . and for them to want to do that means something must be happening behind the scenes.

   Council candidate Gail Nyberg also feels something is happening behind the scenes. She says that some friends of Lastman and Harris are gaining and she wants councillors to open their books so the public can see who is donating to their campaigns.

   Gail says she will open her own books as she has nothing to hide.

   Near the end of the meeting the moderator announced that council votes on the issue on Wednesday. Perhaps after that vote they should have a strategy session as to how they will camouflage a million tons of garbage and get it to the North without angry citizens blocking the trains.

   Behind the scenes, Lastman and the lobbyist gang know that they have the spin-doctors of the big Toronto Papers and press working on their side.

   It's too bad that our media and politicians lack Vision and Common Sense, and it's too bad that all of us in Toronto and in the North are going to suffer because of it.

By Gary Morton
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Adams Mine - Anglican Priest to protest Toronto's decision to ship garbage to Adams Mine
   On Friday Sept. 29, The Reverend David W. Opheim will begin a 174-km walk to Toronto to protest city council's decision to ship its waste to the Adams Mine site. Departing from his home at Six Mile Lake, Mr. Opheim will arrive at Toronto City Hall, on Monday October 2nd by 10:00 am. He will deliver a small container of home produced compost to the mayor and council as a symbolic gesture designed to encourage a change in attitude about what we all do with waste.
   The protest walk is based on three fundamental considerations.
1) Toronto can creatively deal with its own waste within its own boundaries. This is an adult model of operation and a good example for Toronto's youth.
2) The plan for waste management at the Adams Mine site is myopic, dangerous and based on greed.
3) As an Anglican Priest Mr. Opheim thinks he has a responsibility to support the aboriginal people who oppose the plan; A small way to add voice to the work of reconciliation given the ongoing pain resulting from the abuse suffered by First Nations people in residential schools.
e-mail - david@artist.ca
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The Garbage That Won't Die - Dead Adams Mine Deal will Cost Toronto Hundreds of Millions - Sept.28.2000

Latest News Flash - NDP leader Howard Hampton says the Adams Mine dump site near Kirkland Lake in Northern Ontario is in an earthquake zone. Since Jan. 1 the area surrounding the site has been hit by three earthquakes.
   "Every time an earthquake occurs, no matter how small, the cracks at the bottom of the Adams Mine will get bigger and more water will leak out. That's why there must be no garbage dumped into the site," Hampton said.

   Citizens protesting Toronto's plan to send more than a million tons of garbage North to Adams Mine filled the OISE Auditorium tonight. From a news standpoint there were a few highlights, and a few shockers.

   The shockers came from Toronto Councillor Jack Layton at the end. Layton alleged that a number of city councillors are happy with the Adams Mine garbage deal because some of the lobbyists and wealthy corporate types pushing and profiting from it are also working as fundraisers for them in the fall Megacity Election. Though that sounds pretty stinky, residents can't uncover the actual facts because the lists in regards to election fundraising won't be released until long after the election is over.

   Also rotting in the can are the decisions taken by the Works Committee at Toronto Council today. The committee voted down the idea of a public review of the contract to ship garbage North via Rail Cyle North, and they will only release that contract to the public after it is approved. A rabid anti recycling mood prevailed and it led the committee to such extremes as voting down a plan to put recycling containers in city parks.

   The Adams Mine garbage plan involves pumping and cleaning contaminated water at the site for a thousand years. At one point Jack Layton speculated as to what people five hundred years in the future would think of the narrow-minded city council that left them the huge garbage time capsule.

   At the beginning of the rally, Kirkland Lake Mayor Richard Denton addressed the crowd. He said the people of Toronto should ask three questions.

Is this the best solution for the environment?
Is it the best deal for TO?
Are we sending it to a willing host?

   Denton said the garbage plan is a negative thing because the Rail Cycle North deal needs one million tons of garbage to be financially viable. This means Toronto will have an incentive not to divert, reuse and recycle. We will need all of our garbage for the North.

   Denton ridiculed Toronto City Council, saying its solution to pollution is dilution. Adams Mine is now a lake and we would be pouring garbage into water. We need to prevent another Walkerton, not create one, says Denton. He feels Toronto should sign a number of short-term contracts and improve its poor record in the area of diversion. The larger chunk of our garbage could be diverted through recycling, etc.

   Chief Carol McBride, Lake Timiskaming First Nation spoke saying that the environmental assessment by Ontario didn't consider downstream impact. She does not believe promises that the dump would be safe. And she certainly doesn't believe thousand year promises from politicians like Mike Harris. (One thousand years is how long the water would have to be pumped and cleaned at the Mine Dump.)

   The Lake Timiskaming First Nation will seek a legal injunction to keep Rail Cycle North off their land.

   Chief Charles Fox appeared as a surprise guest and he delivered an impressive speech. Fox says his people will be doing everything that can be done. And that will include blockades, if they become necessary.

   Federal MP Benoit Serré also spoke, saying people in the North are opposing the plan by the thousands. He called the mine dump idea an insult to Northern Ontarians, and an insult to all Ontarians. Benoit had a bottle of water from Adams Mine and he shared a drink with a few people onstage. Then he said he hoped the water would be as clean ten years from now.
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e-mail addresses of Toronto councillors who voted for the Adams Mine Garbage deal  (leave out the commas)

mayor_lastman@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_ashton@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_altobello@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_balkissoon@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_berardinetti@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_berger@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_cho@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_chong@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_davis@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_disero@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_duguid@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_feldman@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_flint@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_gardner@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_giansante@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_holyday@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_jakobek@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_kelly@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_kinahan@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_king@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_korwin-kuczynski@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_lipreti@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_luby@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_mammoliti@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_minnan-wong@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_moeser@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_obrien@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_ootes@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_saundercook@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_shaw@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_silva@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_shiner@city.toronto.on.ca,
councillor_sinclair@city.toronto.on.ca,
===================

The Plan to Poison the North - Sept.7.2000
* Contacts and a listing of further meetings and events are below the news article.

   Toronto mayoral candidate Tooker Gomberg, with NDP MPP Marilyn Churley and Shelley Petrie of the Toronto Environmental Alliance were feature speakers at a public meeting tonight in Toronto. The issue being a plan by Mayor Mel Lastman, City Council and the Harris Provincial Government to send Toronto's garbage by train to be buried in Adams Mine near Kirkland Lake. A plan that many think will lead to an environmental disaster in Ontario.

Some facts put forward by the speakers.

   The Plan - Toronto's tons of garbage will be shipped north to Kirkland Lake by trains belonging to Rail Cycle North. It will be dumped in the Adams Mine, which is really no longer a mine, but a large water-filled lake sunk deep in the Temiskaming water table.
   This plan is entirely experimental. It has never been done before. Waste Management Inc., an American firm has the contract, and one of the worst environmental records imaginable.
   New to this plan is the idea of throwing garbage into a body of water and then continually pumping and cleaning that water before letting it flow elsewhere into the North. Such a plan could not have passed an environmental assessment in the past and even now many studies say that it is a plan that won't work.
   It requires a pump that would last a thousand years. And even if the pump works that doesn't matter because the mine has fissures in it and pollution is going to leak out and contaminate the water supply in the North and Ottawa.

   The Disaster - When it comes, it will make the recent poisonings of citizens in Walkerton through tainted water look like small potatoes. If people die, Toronto will face a legal and financial disaster.

   The Solution - Tooker Gomberg and Shelley Petrie noted that we have only a short month to act to block this plan. Door canvasses by the Environmental Alliance already show sentiment against the Kirkland Lake deal. We all have to get out and convince the public to oppose this plan in door to door campaigning.

   On opposing Lastman for mayor, Tooker says he thinks it would be a travesty if Lastman were to get elected without alternative policies being articulated and debated in the community.

   Tooker did a display of some of Toronto's garbage that he picked up on the way to the meeting. First he showed some computer parts. Then a handful of green lettuce he called organic material. According to Tooker, recycling has now become part of our lives. The next steps to take us into the 21rst century are composting on a large scale and eliminating landfills. Existing landfills can even be mined and composted to shrink them.

   Shelley Petrie says the alternative is doable. The city is spending a billion on the Adams Mine dump. We could cancel that and with that billion divert 70 percent of our garbage through composting and store the rest in a temporary landfill. In Toronto we could get recycling equipment built and running even before the Kirkland Lake site could get going.
   Similar plans have worked elsewhere in Canada.

   The Lies - Mayor Mel Lastman said we wouldn't send garbage to an unwilling host. 77 percent of the people in Temiskaming are shown to be against the deal, yet Lastman and Council are ignoring that fact.

   Opposition in the North - Residents from the North presented Toronto Council with thousands of handwritten letters opposing the plan. They have blocked rail lines with tractors and drawn a line in the sand. Yet Toronto City Council responds with a screw-you, we'll-do-as-we-please message.
   A tonight's meeting a spokesman from Temiskaming vowed that the garbage train would only to get to the Adams Mine over their dead bodies.
===============

Contacts:
NDP Provincial Environment Critic Marilyn Churley
marilyn_churley-mpp@ontla.ola.org

for members of Toronto City Council see
http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/council/councillors.htm

Tooker Gomberg for Mayor of Toronto
Please join us! Call: (416) 532-3939, or drop us an email: tooker@web.ca.
On Sept. 12 we will launch an exciting web site:
http://www.GombergForMayor.org

http://www.peanut-tree.com/scam/
http://www.adamsmine.com
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Mayor Mel's Garbage Train - Adams Mine may be another Walkerton - Aug.20.2000
   Mike Harris and Mel Lastman have both been big supporters of a plan to dump Toronto's garbage in an abandoned open-pit mine near Kirkland Lake. Mel even went so far as to bully the deal through city council.
   But this plan has a lot of leaks and holes in it. Leaks that could contaminate ground water and rivers, leading to another Walkerton-style poison water horror.
   Last Thursday hundreds of residents of Kirkland Lake turned out at a public meeting denouncing the deal which Toronto city council voted for this month. Many of them have place picket signs on their lawns and there are homemade billboards along the highway leading to Kirkland Lake.
   The Campaign Against the Adams Mine includes petition and letter-writing campaigns. Another public meeting is planned for Tuesday near the Adams Mine and 300 people attended two similar meetings last week in New Liskeard and Englehard.
   Waste Management Inc., a U.S.-based multinational with a long record of environmental damage and a history of paying fines for its waste-management practices will be running the garbage into Adams Mine.
   Environmentalists and the NDP Party have vowed to lie down on the tracks to block the Toronto Garbage Train. See - http://www.adamsmine.com or http://www.peanut-tree.com/scam/
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The Stink Lingers from Toronto Garbage Plan– Aug.5.2000
   In spite of opposition from environmental groups and the Mayor of Kirkland Lake, Mayor Lastman managed to bully a majority of councilors into supporting a controversial mine dump.
   Now the stink will linger into the megacity election as New Democrat Member of Parliament Nelson Riis has called on the federal government to stop the plan to bury garbage in the Adams Mine near Kirkland Lake, Ontario. The plan could pollute the water supply of millions of people living in the area and along the Ottawa River.
   "The Ottawa River is pivotal to Canada's second and fourth biggest cities and runs through two provinces," Mr. Riis said. "Ontario's narrow environmental assessment is not good enough."
   He called on Environment Minister David Anderson to immediately order a federal environmental assessment.
   Reiterating NDP demands for a green infrastructure program to help cities reduce the amount of garbage they create, Mr. Riis said waste reduction is the best solution for Toronto's garbage problem.
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When Disaster Strikes: Review of the first Megacity Election, 1997 as covered by Citizens on the Web Internet News.    They called it the Rebellion of '97 when citizens rose up to fight Mike Harris' forced Megacity. It ended in betrayal and for me in an article below with the word surrender in it. The article is about Mel Lastman's mayoral announcement in Kensington Market. For others it didn't end there, but dragged on through one of the most flawed elections in Canadian history. Flashback to the 1997 Megacity Election The Promise - During the first Megacity Election, Mel Lastman promised to put a tax of 20 dollars on every house to deal with child poverty. The Truth - Mel did nothing, it's the year 2000 and Mike Harris is mailing 200 dollars in tax cuts to many people who are well off while child poverty is worse than ever. Mel Makes it Work was the Slogan last time. Mel Made Everything Worse should be the Slogan this time, and if it's used it may be during a whistlestop as Mel rides his Garbage Train to victory. Twenty candidates ran for mayor of the Toronto Megacity in 1997.     The media gave support through daily coverage to only two of them. Both were millionaires and former mayors. Other serious candidates got a picture and blurb from the Toronto Star in one issue. In the entire Toronto election press I saw only two news articles on candidates other than the two front runners.    There were eleven candidates other than the front runners, running on serious platforms - Hans Bathija, William Burrill, Santa Cuda, George Dowar, Courtney Edwards, Munyonzwe Hamlengwa, Alan Heisey Sr., Karl Hille, Laurence Honickman, Michael John  Houlton Charest, Joanne Pritchard.    Four of them openly protested the lack of media coverage and their protests didn’t get any coverage.     We have now suffered the humiliation of racist Don Andrews and a country comedian coming in third and fourth in the mayoral race. Can the editors of the Toronto dailies and television stations honestly say to me that a candidate like Direct Democracy candidate George Dowar is not important and that I have no right to be informed?    I have heard the argument that it is up to the candidate to promote himself, but in a Megacity election of 2.4 million people I think the responsibility of the media is greater – it is their duty to give coverage to the non-millionaire candidates. And they are derelict in that duty. -------- August 17. 1997 - article on Mel Lastman's Mayoral Announcement Sweet Surrender in the Rain By Gary Morton    Walk down Kensington Market past the fruit markets and bargain shops and you come to a little park. It has willows, pines and maples, a tiny playground, picnic tables and a wading pool. Today the wading is pool is drained and there is a makeshift blue tent top over by the fence.    Some people are already beside the top handing out Mel Makes it Work! folders to the press.    This is the park Mel Lastman played in as a child, before he became a rich guy from North York . . . or should I say not so rich guy, as I heard his strategists talking, saying they had a small budget and the secret was to divide Toronto into three campaign areas. On this low budget he gets a liberal MPP, a labour NDP rep and some conservative councillors to help. Seems Mel is not tied to one party, it is more like all three. And I had to wonder how a little guy like myself could ever run for Mayor when big Mel can't afford it.    Rain spits out of a gray sky. The brass band plays on, and the very middle-class crowd cheers when Mel finally arrives and comes over the lawn. The band plays Rocky now, and under the tent he is secure, ready to speak. His supporters raise a wall of signs, but they fail to block a Vote No Megacity for Mayor sign. The No Megacity sign is from legal challenge people here to hit Mel with protest, and they get their point across, disturbing his speech with interjections.    I guess some people feel Mel will wimp out on everything like he did the legal challenge.    I guess I am one of them.    Mel's son, the bad boy himself, tells me -- We hate Mike Harris too. (I'm the only person attending with an anti Mike Harris sign) And then a Conservative councillor supporting Lastman hits me with an angry --I voted for Harris, he doesn't hate Ontario.    Back to Mel - When it comes to plugging himself, Mel does a great job. I am convinced that Stonehenge may have been built because of a plan Mel cobbled together. And did you know that people never knew about things like Child Abuse till Mel angrily went to the hospital and told the doctors about it. Mel is also taking credit for pooling, but when there is an interjection he also mentions that he actually favours paying for this stuff through provincial tax. Of course there will no property tax increase if you elect Mel.    I tell a reporter from the Toronto Sun that Barbara Hall and Mel Lastman are tired blood, and they have given up the fight. They won't fight on user fees and hospital closures and finger scanning and the many other key issues. They won't even fight to make it a more humane Megacity. We really need a younger candidate who really does have visions and strength.    Mel says he shoots from the hip but speaks from the heart. The gray clouds roll by and a few raindrops fall. Drops that might be tears from the people who wish someone would fight Mike Harris and reclaim this city.    Soon Mel will leave and the brass band will play. The song should be called Sweet Surrender in the Rain. Because Mel won't fight for us -- Rocky has no fight left in him -- and Mike Harris rules -------- Post Mortem 1997 - Mel Lastman Elected Mayor.    A Scandal in the City of Toronto Vote reveals that the Media reported incorrect polls and Barbara Hall conceded the election according to incorrect polls.  A total breakdown of the downtown polling system was reported.    Our brilliant media pundits state that Lastman was selected because the people want to show that they approve of the Harris agenda, and they also say that Lastman was elected by the people because he is the best person to Fight Mike Harris.  Referenda results in the election show a massive rejection of the Harris agenda of Casinos and Downloading. There should be an Investigation into this Election (Here readers may note that not much has really been done about the disaster that happened during the first Megacity Election. Are we on our way to another?) --News Flash    Experts are now stating that this election could be challenged because of the polling breakdown and because people in central Toronto were not able to get registration forms or ballots.    Ballot Fiasco in record election turnout as Toronto polling stations run out of forms and ballots. Residents furious as they can't vote. East York reports mass confusion in voting. ---    Provincial Enumerator Michael O'Dowd admits that 100,000 Toronto residents or 48% percent of voters were left off the voters' list. He says legislation encouraging the cooperation of landlords will improve the situation.    Toronto City Clerk Syd Baxter called the voters' list an absolute disgrace and said the province should not have contracted enumeration out to a private consortium, which used a mail-in process to create a new Voters List. Critics had opposed the use of the American Express Company from the beginning.    City TV and CFTO noted the total breakdown of the downtown Toronto electoral system in this election. City had Barbara Hall believing she was the winner early on because of incorrect polls and CFTO informed Mel Lastman of his victory and asked for a statement based on incorrect polls.    A number of council races downtown were squeakers and the huge errors in polling results mean that losers have no real guarantee that they actually lost. At least one candidate (Peter Tabuns) is considering a legal challenge. Another councilor actually went to bed a big loser and woke up a big winner.    Ballots and registration forms weren’t available to many people downtown. For me the ballot was not even secret as people stood behind me while I voted. When I said I wanted to put in a complaint I was told - No One is in CHARGE at this poll, then it was recommended that I go to the Toronto Sun newspaper with my complaint. There were shouting matches, shoving matches and people who left after waiting an hour or more for ballots that never came. Part of the problem was that polls didn’t open till 10 a.m. Now the City Clerk is taking the list of 100,000 errors to Mike Harris at Queen’s Park as he is responsible for this new voters list. Questions on this Election 1. If everyone in downtown Toronto, which voted heavily in favour of Barbara Hall, had got to vote, would Mel’s six percent victory have turned into a squeaker of a loss and would the results in a number of council races be different? 2. In an election this flawed, shouldn’t there be a serious inquiry as to whether it is valid. And aren’t the citizens and candidates entitled to justice and assurance that this was a fair election? 3. Why isn't there an investigation and why are the media and all levels of government just accepting that an important first Megacity Election can be this flawed? Aren't they saying that any sort of skullduggery goes in Megacity Elections? 4. Shouldn't there be an investigation into the private company that built this horrible voters' list? I believe the company is American Express. And shouldn't the Harris Government be questioned on the horribly flawed Toronto list, especially when many people have said all along that the Harris Government created the Megacity to disempower people in Downtown Toronto? 5. If our media had been responsible and covered all of the candidates for mayor, would Mel Lastman be mayor today? 6. The 2.4 million democratic citizens in this city have the right to be informed. So shouldn't we lobby for legislation that guarantees coverage for serious mayoral candidates? The question is how do we do this? 7. Referenda questions were the most positive aspect of this election. Perhaps we should look to building a future election system that can easily handle referenda questions?  --------

Rampant Racism and Cruel Poverty Built into the Social Structure in Ontario - Study - July.2000

   A study commissioned by the City of Toronto has found huge inequalities in income, employment, education, and rates of poverty among racial groups. It notes that Toronto is rapidly becoming segregated along racial, ethnic, social, and economic lines.

      - Poverty is based on race to a disturbing level . . . We need to address it in a far more provocative fashion. There are huge inequalities in income, employment, education and rates of poverty -

   Michael Ornstein, director of York's Institute for Social Research is the author of the study. The results show that more than half of the families in visible-minority groups are living below Statistics Canada's low-income line. That rate is less than 10% in white, European and British-origin groups. The disparity is also clearly evident in unemployment rates. Unemployment rates vary from less than 6 per cent among Europeans to more than 40 per cent in some black groups, and child poverty rates range from less than 10 per cent to more than 60 per cent.

   The more visible you are, the more difficulties you have. Ethiopians, Ghanaians, Afghans and Somalis are the most severely disadvantaged, followed by Vietnamese, Iranians, Tamils and Sri Lankans. A third group suffering significant disadvantage, with poverty rates around 50 per cent, includes aboriginals, Central Americans, Jamaicans, West Indians and people with multiple South Asian heritage.

   More than half the children from four areas of the world live in poverty. That includes Caribbean children, Arab and West Asian children; Latin American children; and South Asian children. These Canadian Children don't have enough to eat.

   What worse is that this big race dimension doesn't disappear over time. It is built into our social structure. The report shows overwhelming evidence of widespread discrimination against members of many of Toronto's ethno-racial communities.

   The new study also reveals that the income gap in Toronto is widening. There's a bigger difference in pay between the best and worst jobs. Key social problems are the low minimum wage. People who are working on it can't lead a decent life, especially if they have children. The social welfare cuts in 1996 have had a devastating effect on people who are the worst off, and Toronto also faces an incredible housing crisis. These key social problems are all tied to the bad policies of the Harris Government, and they are straining the fabric of Ontario Society to the breaking point.

   Many people who review the report may conclude that Ontarians are an extremely patient people, when they should probably be rioting in the streets to force the government to act.

   The report was done for the city, but at present it has been put aside by Toronto City Council, as it does not want such an issue on the table during the fall election.

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