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The editorial in this Wednesday's Ajax New Advertiser adresses the great mayoral races happening across the Region. Save Ajax and Brock, there are many candidates challenging incumbent mayors - a sight I am happy to see! Let's hope that some of these challengers bring to the table a more open-minded, fair and knowledgable platform, and that they can help clean up this mess we call Durham Regional Politics! I will happily support any candidate in any of the municipalities who wish to bring a forward-thinking environmental and social based platform to the table; and anyone thinking of challenging Mayor O'Connor in Brock - please get your name in there! :)

The Province of Ontario does not have the equipment to do the type of air quality monitoring demanded by the purpose of the Environmental Assessment Act.

The Seaton Land Air Assessment was accomplished by fraud.

A paragraph about Central Toronto's air quality was used as the Seaton Air Quality Assessment and passed off as heavily polluted urban air being equivalent to rural air that is nowhere near as heavily contaminated.

Subsequent EAs such as the Big Pipe, the Incinerator and the Hwy 407 Extension relied entirely on partial information from the existing Air Monitoring stations. For the 407, only one is actually in the air shed and it is located in the wrong place.

Besides that, those monitoring stations don't monitor air quality down here where we breathe and animals breathe, they monitor air quality up there where no one is. Since air layers, the air quality is better the higher up you go (thanks to gravity and other factors)

The air quality difference may not be huge between layers but it is important.

Consequently, those EAs are being done on a fraudulent basis too. Fraud, Section 380 Criminal Code of Canada.

Nine years ago 1,900 people in Ontario died annually from air pollution. Last year 9,500 people in Ontario died from air pollution and it was a rainy summer. If it had been hot and humid the casualties would have been worse. That is an 80% jump in mortality that the Ontario Ministry of the Environment did not even know about until I told some of their people - a scientist, and some engineers. Officially they still don't know and they are supposed to be the monitors and regulators.

The Environmental Assessment Act is worthless because it cannot be enforced and because the public cannot oppose a government initiative effectively. What works is the Criminal Code of Canada. I use both those pieces of legislation to investigate eco crimes committed by the province. There is no shortage of work.

If you want more information on this subject you can e-mail me at jondy@sympatico.ca

I hope you do.

We can't fix our air quality problems unless more people than just me know what's really going on.

I keep looking to see if certain councillors have submitted their responses .. perhaps the site could offer an option to sign up for notifications when questionnaires are completed. It might also serve to let councillors know how many folks are seeking their answers as incentive to respond.

Although the comment period for the E.A. (*) is currently closed, people are nonetheless encouraged to keep the heat on Politicians, particularly at the provincial level.

For the best "bang for the buck", people should write a very brief letter to Hon. John Gerretsen at the following e-address:

JGerretsen.mpp@Liberal.Ola.Org

It is important to keep the pressure on, even while working on local election issues.

Note (*): Sometimes, one may rightfully wonder if the expression E.A. stands for "Expedited Approval"!

ps: Users who still have doubts should look at the following web sites:

http://SnipUrl.Com/jt2ib (mp3: Tapestry - God's Green Earth)
http://SnipUrl.Com/202ws (YouTube: Durham Incinerator)
http://SnipUrl.Com/spke5 (Hazards of Coal Ashes)
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How much does it cost taxpayers for all of the lights on 24/7 at the Regional Parking Garage on Rossland Rd.? Do we need the "energy from waste" of the incinerator to power the parking garage lighting?