Guergis accuses Carroll of “cheap politics”

By Kate Harries WaterWatch
In a letter to Simcoe County last November, Barrie MPP Aileen Carroll advised council to file a request with the Ministry of the Environment to revoke the Certificate of Approval for Dump Site 41.
Today, at the urging of Oro-Medonte Mayor Harry Hughes, councillors voted to send a letter to the Minister of the Environment asking whether the province supports the position taken by Carroll.
“Do we have the authority to withdraw the C of A? and if we do why don’t we withdrawn it?” asked New Tecumseth Deputy Mayor Rick Milne, noting that that’s what the people in the public gallery (mostly Site 41 group members) were looking for.
“I’m quite sure we have the authority to request the ministry to revoke it,” replied Adjala-Tosorontio Deputy Mayor Doug Little. CAO Mark Aitken pointed out that councillors have twice voted against doing so.
Springwater Mayor Tony Guergis recalled that Premier Dalton McGuinty had expressed his support for Dump Site 41 on a visit to Carroll’s riding last summer.
“I think this is purely cheap politics,” Guergis said of Carroll’s letter. Guergis also said that if the province decides to revoke the C of A, he believes there should be “some kind of cash award” for the county. But “if we request it, I think we’re on our own.”
Hughes pointed out that that the matter has been discussed in the legislature (last November, when Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop’s private member’s bill to revoke the C of A passed second reading).
“We need to be sure that the province’s position hasn’t changed. We need to be sure that there’s going to be some compensation,” Hughes said.
Thousands of people across Simcoe County are concerned about Site 41, Tiny Deputy Mayor George Lawrence said. “We have to decide on this, we have to decide on this soon,” he urged, explaining that Dunlop is engaged in discussions on the issue at Queens Park, and is pushing for compensation
Guergis took offence when Lawrence mentioned the $250,000 the county allocated to improve an image that was battered by the Site 41 controversy.
The $250,000 expenditure was for “communications,” insisted Guergis, who embarked on a tirade accusing anyone who calls it image-making of making “another lousy comment” for the media in a bid for votes – a jibe that prompted jeers from the gallery.
Also today, the Simcoe County Children’s Aid Society told council that the agency faces a $4.9 million shortfall because of cutbacks by the province, its only funder, and could be bankrupt by March
Aileen Carroll letter to Simcoe County