Pressure mounts against Zhiibaahaasing tire dump

Neighbouring municipalities, First Nation, demand quick resolution

by Jim Moodie and Tom Sasvari

MANITOULIN-As Islanders undertake spring cleanups in their homes and along various roadsides, many are also hoping that a massive tire pile on the Zhiibaahaasing First Nation can be tidied up before the full heat of summer hits.

Last week, a half-dozen Island municipalities issued a statement calling for the immediate removal of the hazardous heap, while the chief of the neighbouring Sheshegwaning First Nation also expressed his community's urge to see a speedy resolution to the problem.

Representatives of six municipalities gathered on April 10 to discuss the tire conundrum and figure out ways that action could be precipitated. Apart from representatives of Burpee-Mills Township, which hosted the meeting, municipal leaders were also present from Central Manitoulin, Gordon, Billings, Dawson-Robinson, and Cockburn Island.

"The whole reason for this meeting is that there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of progress or movement being made on this issue," said Burpee-Mills Reeve Ken Noland. "I don't know what we can do, or try to do, but we need to do something."

Mr. Noland added that he wasn't "real pleased" with the outcome of a meeting held at Zhiibaahaasing last month, which was chaired by Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Brent St. Denis and featured representation from various Island municipalities and First Nations, as well as government agencies.

"I felt maybe the whole truth wasn't being told," he said. "We were told the tire recycling plant has been down for nine months, but I understand it has been about four years." Lee Hayden, a Gordon Township councillor, agreed the equipment malfunction had occurred three or four years ago.

Others present wondered why the First Nation continued to accept tires up until last summer, given their inability to recycle them, and to what purpose the revenue would have been put. "If there are one million tires, and money was coming in for them, where has this money gone?" asked Dale Van Every of Dawson. "This is a fair bit of money that could have been used to fix the plant."

Mr. Noland noted that Zhiibaahaasing is presently applying for $80,000 in funding to complete a feasibility study for its stalled recycling operation. On top of that, it is anticipated that "it will be between $600,000 and $800,000 for the equipment needed to process the tires," he said.

Jack McQuarrie, a Cockburn Island councillor, pointed out that his community-also the site of the original Zhiibaahaasing reserve, an island located just west of Manitoulin-is about the same distance from the tire pile as Burpee-Mills Township, and predicted "there would be devastating results if a fire took place; we would all be affected."

The Cockburn Island representative then voiced a sense of impatience that was widely-held within the room. "We need to ask the feds to step in and haul the tires out," he said. "The tires need to be removed."

Leonard Genereux, chief of the Sheshegwaning First Nation, was not present at this latest meeting, but he did attend last month's session hosted by Zhiibaahaasing and shares many of the municipal representatives' concerns.

"I'd like to see something resolved ASAP, myself," he told the Expositor last week, while adding that "there's not much we can do about the whole thing, because it's up to the feds and the province and the community itself."

Chief Genereux expressed confidence in the leadership of Zhiibaahaasing to seek an appropriate course of action. "I believe the people involved are all competent, and I would like to show support," he said.

At the same time, though, he is anxious to see a prompt resolution to the issue, particularly since his community is directly adjacent to Zhiibaahaasing. "They either have to get the business up and going, or pick up all those tires and get them out," he said.

While a few members of the Sheshegwaning reserve have been employed by the recycling company in the past, Chief Genereux said the operation isn't viewed as one that is particularly important to his community's economy. "The tire operation isn't a priority for Sheshegwaning," he said.

The main concern of Sheshegwaning "is safety," said the chief. "We've had assurances from expert staff that there's no way the pile can catch on fire unless lightning strikes nearby or if somebody lit them. But my concern is that, if things aren't being resolved, we'll be at the peak of summer when the heat is coming on. I'd like to see it resolved quickly."

Should Zhiibaahaasing opt to revive its recycling plant, "the feds will have to get involved to get that unit up and going, because everybody's budgets are pretty slim," said Chief Genereux.

He noted that a committee was struck at the March meeting held at Zhiibaahaasing, including representatives of other First Nations, and it will be that group's task to figure out a solution. "I know the entire Island has its attention on this, and are waiting patiently to see what comes from the committee," he said.

But patience is running out for many municipal leaders, who fear a catastrophe at the site would not only have dire consequences for the environment and human safety, but a potentially crippling effect on the Island's tourist economy.

"It would destroy our business and tourism," opined Sharon Alkenbrack at the April 10 meeting.

Reeve Noland said it's imperative that municipalities do as much as they can to lobby for a swift solution to the mess. "If we don't do anything and don't make all the government agencies aware of the problems and concerns, we would be just as responsible as they are if a fire did occur, because nothing was done with the tires," he said.

The municipal leaders present agreed to draft a strongly-worded resolution which will be shared with other townships which weren't able to attend the meeting, as well as be presented to the Manitoulin Municipal Association.

It was agreed that their concerns also be circulated to the various departments and ministries which have jurisdiction over the issue, as well as to Chippewa County in Michigan, because, as Jim McLean of Billings pointed out, "all it would take is the right wind and they would be affected as well."

Mr. McQuarrie suggested that the group's concerns also be communicated directly to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The resolution states that, in light of the health, safety and environmental concerns posed by the tire accumulation, "we demand the immediate removal of all tires from Zhiibaahaasing First Nation, and that legislation be put in place to prevent the stockpiling of tires."

Land assessment system is flawed,

must be changed, Ombudsman says

by Michael Erskine

TORONTO-It is one of the truisms of life that nobody who thinks their tax assessment might be too low ever complains-but when it comes to paying taxes, most people seem convinced their assessments are too high.

Since the province of Ontario decreed that real market value of property would form the basis of property tax assessments, making it happen has been something of a headache for those charged with the mission. With the release of 'Getting it Right,' a scathing report issued on March 28, Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin has turned up the heat on the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, the crown corporation whose job it is to set property assessments.

Mr. Marin's report makes 20 recommendations to MPAC-which he criticized for its elitist attitude-and two recommendations to the Ministry of Finance. MPAC has been given six months to report back on progress being made on fixing their shortcomings, with the report saying the corporation must take real and concrete steps to restore its credibility with taxpayers and property owners.

The report is a good start, note some people involved in the property industry, but it does not go nearly far enough.

"I think it's a good job as far as it goes," said Espanola accountant Ron Heale, whose customers are heavily impacted by property tax assessments gone awry. "But it is not a complete job. It does not address the question of commercial property at all."

When a property is assessed, it pays taxes based supposedly on what that property is actually worth-but as Mr. Heale points out, properties located within feet of each other can be priced at wildly and unrealistically varying prices.

At the heart of the problem, apparently, is the computer program that MPAC uses to set its assessments. In the past, the organization depended on a large number of locally-based property assessment professionals who knew the market and could better judge a property's true worth.

Now, it is done by a computer, with criteria on the property entered in by a more remote staff, and the assessment criteria can deliver a less-than-ideal result.

"I have been involved in that business for over 20 years, and my father was an assessor for 25 years before he retired," said Assiginack Clerk/Treasurer Alton Hobbs. "I think you would be hard-pressed to say that the changes made by the province in 1997 have produced a system that does the job any better."

Mr. Hobbs stressed that the issue is not with the local Sudbury office.

"The people in that office go above and beyond the call of duty, in my opinion," he said. "The problem lies with the corporate structure-the policy and procedures end of things." Mr. Hobbs added that the Sudbury office personnel were as much a prisoner of the system as the taxpayer trying to correct an error.

The statistics produced by MPAC may show they are better at comparing apples to apples, said Mr. Hobbs, but they are not producing what municipal offices need.

Mr. Marin's chief criticism of MPAC, however, centred more on that institution's culture than on the shortcomings of the computer program itself. The ombudsman found that when faced with a customer complaint from a property owner, MPAC was reluctant to correct the error. Placing a so-called reverse onus on the property owner to correct mistakes made by the assessment office is, in the ombudsman's assessment, simply wrong.

"That's the one part of his report I take exception with," said Mr. Hobbs. "There has always been a reverse onus in that it has always been the property owner's responsibility to prove that MPAC's assessment was wrong."

The problem is not the reverse onus as such, but rather the question of accountability on the part of the decision-makers.

"You can make a mistake, that happens." he said. "As long as you are held accountable for that mistake."

The ombudsman found that the corporate culture of MPAC not only does not hold anyone accountable for errors, but even when a mistake is found, the correction is only entered for that year. When the error appeared again the next year, the property owner had to repeat the whole frustrating process of correcting the mistake again.

The Ombudsman recommended increasing taxpayer access to MPAC's information and improving the accuracy and consistency of property assessments. He also said MPAC should be required to carry forward assessment reductions after appeal, unless there are legitimate reasons why the assessment is no longer valid.

The current system has produced a "David and Goliath" dichotomy that places the homeowner in an adversarial position with the corporation. Mr. Marin recommended removing the onus from the taxpayer and shifting the burden to MPAC to justify the accuracy of its assessments if the property owner challenges a decision before the Assessment Review Board.

"The current situation is anachronistic, unfair and just doesn't make sense," he wrote. "Fixing the problem and laying the onus on the state's assessor will level the playing field and recognize that MPAC is filling a public service role in carrying out property assessments for taxation purposes. It will also place the onus on MPAC to ensure that its assessments are accurate and defendable."

The appeal period for assessment reviews has been extended by six months in the wake of the report.

MPAC and the Ministry of Finance have accepted 18 of the ombudsman's recommendations. Minister of Finance Dwight Duncanson has directed MPAC to review the recommendations in the context of operational implication, costing, and the positive outcomes and opportunities for improvements that could be achieved from implementing those recommendations.

"We believe that we all share a common goal of maintaining a property tax system that is transparent and accountable to taxpayers and municipalities," said Mr. Duncanson, in a release. "We appreciate receiving suggestions for ongoing improvements to this system."

The ombudsman's five-month investigation and its culminating report was initiated, he said, in response to hundreds of complaints received by his office.

"Never in the 30-year history of this office have so many complaints been received in so short a period about a single public agency," he said. "Our office was inundated with protests from disaffected citizens-more than 3,700 of them." Not only were complaints received from individual citizens, but also from current and former Assessment Review Board and MPAC employees, the Canadian Association for the Fifty Plus and the Canadian Advocates for Tax Awareness, as well as over 104 local, regional and provincial representatives from 83 municipalities, including mayors, clerks and MPPs.

But the ombudsman did stress that MPAC personnel were co-operative throughout his investigation.

"While I would like to acknowledge the willingness on the part of MPAC to co-operate with our investigation and the proactive steps it has committed to improving its process since this investigation began," said Mr. Marin. "The credibility of MPAC's evaluation process simply cannot be restored without altering how it operates on a day-to-day basis and changing key aspects of its corporate culture."

N.E. council, striking union to resume talks

by Lindsay Kelly

NORTHEAST MANITOULIN-Twenty-nine weeks after the start of the Northeast Town municipal labour dispute, representatives for the town and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) union announced they will meet on May 9 and 10 in Sudbury to attempt mediated bargaining in an effort to end the strike.

The decision to resume negotiations is a variation on suggestions from both the union and the town that were offered last week as possible ways to resolve the outstanding issues. The town had proposed that the bargaining committees for the two sides, along with their legal counsel and independent community representatives meet in a neutral location for round-the-clock negotiations.

The union responded with a counter-offer in which it suggested meeting with a neutral third person who has experience in mediation and no ties to the dispute, and could issue their recommendations on the outstanding issues publicly.

Tim Armstrong, of the Toronto firm T.E. Armstrong Consulting, has been selected as the agreed-upon third party to oversee negotiations in the case.

Mr. Armstrong, a former deputy Minister of Labour, is noted for his work as the provincially-appointed arbitrator that settled a labour dispute between the City of Toronto and its unionized municipal workers six years ago.

In the spring of 2000, 20,000 unionized workers-members of Local 79 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)-walked off the job over several issues, including wage harmonization, part-time workers' rights, benefits, promotions and layoff/recall language, that developed following amalgamation of the city in 1998.

CEP representative Fred Bond was hesitant to be too optimistic about this most recent development regarding the local issue.

"We're pleased the town has agreed to a different process," he said, but noted that "we've been trying to get a deal for seven months and the town hasn't moved off their position."

Up to this point, the workers have not been satisfied with what the town has offered, he continued, and they are hoping the town will come to mediation with an intent to settle the strike once and for all.

While this is not the regular process the union would encourage to settle a dispute, Mr. Bond said the union is anxious to see an end to the strike. He said the union is also open to mediating around the clock. Success is "dependent on the town's bargaining committee going there to get a deal," he added.

Mayor Joe Chapman said he believes it's always positive when the two sides are open to mediation, but, like Mr. Bond, he also expressed the hope that the other side would listen to the arguments of the town.

"We'd like to bring some finality to this," he said. "But we still need to deal with the major issues, and the fact is that we're overstaffed."

The mayor reiterated that he would like to see the staff reduced through attrition, but said he is open to other suggestions on how the staff could be reduced with the town "still being fair to our existing employees."

He also indicated that all issues between the two parties are open to negotiation.

In a related issue, the second part of the hearing to address the union's claim of bad faith bargaining against the town was set to take place on April 11. Mr. Bond said that, in light of the recent decision to attempt mediation again, the hearing has been postponed, and the union will reassess its position on the matter following the conclusion of talks in May.

EDITORIAL

A better way is needed for property assessment

It was supposed to be a fairer way to assess property taxes, but the much-heralded real market value assessment model, and its accompanying computer model software, have so far fallen far short of their billing.

Leaving aside the moral value-laden question of elderly pensioners being forced from their homes simply because the value of their property has skyrocketed under the pressures of urban expansion, the system as it stands seems almost to have more instances of ludicrous imbalances in tax assessments than not.

It is to the credit of the Ontario Ombudsman that he has stepped up to investigate the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) and delivered his scathing assessment of its corporate culture and structural shortcomings.

When the owner of a commercial building near the outskirts of the Northeast Town finds his property assessed at the same value as a similar building on the outskirts of property boom-inflated Barrie, it requires little stretch of credulity to believe the property assessment system has taken a sojourn into the twilight zone.

Property professionals across the province have been assailing anyone who will listen about the inherent unfairness of the system, and the reluctance of those designing the system to brook correction. It is one thing to make a mistake, it is quite another to resist repairing an error and to place roadblocks in the way of justice and equity.

It is also to the credit of the provincial Minister of Finance that he has instructed his department and the 'independent' crown corporation which handles the job of property assessment to implement most of the changes recommended by the Ombudsman, but until fundamental change and reform reaches into the realm of commercial property as well, business people and property owners in this province will remain entrapped within a storyline more suited to an X-file script than a modern civil society.

If everyone's assessment was equally out of balance (and in the same direction) there would be no harm and no foul; the tax bill would be still be fairly distributed. But that is not the case, and the imbalances to be found in the system must be corrected.

The Island has already suffered enough grievous economic harm from the removal of human assessors from the ground in the name of fiscal restraint and efficiencies. To compound this harm by not even delivering those promised efficiencies, and worse, imposing a unfair and illogical process, is unconscionable.

In an earlier age, the dictum that "the computer is never wrong" became ubiquitous in comedy sketches ridiculing bureaucrats who did yet not understand the maxim 'garbage in-garbage out.' For MPAC, the message delivered by the Ombudsman is clear: it is time to take out the garbage and cut our losses and never mind that the system is proving to be a lucrative cash cow for the province.

It is time to recognize that well-trained human beings on the ground are not yet obsolete.

Letters to the Editor

Afghanistan mission a crucial foreign policy test

It's time Canada did some heavy lifting in war on terror

To the Expositor:

So Stephen Harper is going to allow an open debate in the House of Commons on the controversial issue of Canada's more aggressive new role in Afghanistan, where we have now sent military troops to perform actual combat duties. I'm not certain that is the approach he should use.

Such a debate is in keeping with Harper's pledge to implement more open and accountable government if elected. But it is clearly within the prime minister's right, from a strictly legal point of view, to carry out the present Afghanistan mission, with or without the blessing of this parliament. Besides, the federal Liberal Party could hardly complain about prime ministerial arrogance, at least not this soon after Obergruppenfuhrer Jean Chretien virtually ran Canada as an executive dictatorship out of the prime minister's office for 10 straight years.

The current mission in Afghanistan is arguably the most crucial test that Canada has faced in the foreign policy arena for a great number of years. Put plainly, it is our chance to redeem ourselves. The fact that our beefed-up role in Afghanistan should be questioned by such a high number of Canadians demonstrates the low point to which our country has sunk in the field of foreign affairs, and as a player on the world stage. Small wonder that Canada now ranks right down there with countries like Norway or Argentina in terms of global importance, or in its ability to influence world affairs.

If Canadian foreign policy since that watershed year of 1968 (read: the advent of Trudeauvianism) could be summed up in one phrase, it would be this: "The Long Goodbye." We hardly make a blip on the world radar screen anymore.

It's about time Canada did some of the heavy lifting in the war on terrorism. Islamic fundamentalism is at least as dangerous to the world of the 21st century as international Communism was during the Cold War. The Taliban in Afghanistan, and the medieval ideology of Islamic fundamentalism that they form part of, is a threat not just to the civilized world of the West, but even more so to their own people. For both reasons, our new role in Afghanistan is eminently justified. The philosopher and statesman, Edmund Burke, pointed out as early as the 1700s that all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

Those Canadians who disagree with our more enhanced involvement in Afghanistan have the advantage of being able to shelter behind the parapets of the peace activist/anti-war movement that purports to be part of a march toward some mythical new Jerusalem of the future. Nonsense! Instead, these types fall clearly within the category of what the great Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin-referring to the soft left movement in general, a hundred years ago-called "useful idiots." But in our case, useful to whom? Three guesses. Osama Bin Laden would love them. The peace movement in the West has unwittingly allowed itself to become the dupes of the Islamo-Fascists.

Critics of adopting a tougher stance against Islamic fundamentalism are all too able to cash in on misplaced feelings of liberal (small "l") guilt that afflict the political classes in most western countries today. This could be referred to as the "it's all our own fault" school of thought. The thinking goes that we must have treated them "unjustly," or we must have done something terrible to "offend" them. Why else would they react so violently? The West must deserve it, these critics say. It follows then, that any attempt on our part to pre-empt these noble third-world creatures, by attacking them in their own lair, amounts to nothing short of a diabolical plot by western neo-con imperialists, bent on re-colonizing the third world.

Baloney! The Taliban, Al Qaeda, the insurgents in Iraq, or any Islamic fundamentalist group for that matter, cannot be seen as freedom fighters, or local folk heroes, struggling to cast off their oppressors. They are nut cases and political gangsters, pure and simple. And very dangerous ones at that.

It irks me that a lot of the opposition to our new role in Afghanistan amounts to nothing more than the cheap anti-Americanism that is now so prevalent in certain quarters here in Canada. Among Canadians of a predictable political stripe, there is a fear that we risk appearing like toadies of the Bush administration, or as running dogs of the Americans in general. Well that's too bloody bad.

Order and stability are now what is so desperately needed in Afghanistan. Nation-building exercises first need a proper political and social environment in which to take root. That is where Canadian troops can really be of help.

Unfortunately, the requirement of order and stability transcends the borders of Afghanistan; they are in short supply throughout much of the third world, and yet badly needed if those fledgling countries are ever to grow, and eventually flourish. That is where the protective umbrella of the American armed forces, with their overwhelming power and world-wide reach, come into play.

Whether certain Canadians like it or not, the Pax Americana is still what Abraham Lincoln would call "the last best hope" for world peace in the 21st century. Canada, and the rest of the world, could do a lot worse.

Brad Middleton

Mindemoya

Anglers should be concerned about toxic runoff

All lakes connected through limestone backbone

To the Expositor:

I am writing to address what, in my opinion, is a great hypocrisy, or lack of knowledge, among people concerned with the state of fisheries. While people are concerned with the effects of cormorants on various fish populations, these same people operate businesses treating lawns-that are situated directly on the banks of spawning grounds such as the Manitou River-with toxic pesticides. These lawns are within three to six feet of the river. I wonder if these people have bothered to read the label of the products they are using to realize how toxic it is to all aquatic life. Furthermore, these products are used throughout towns on Manitoulin, exposing children, the ones most susceptible, to cancer and nervous system damage.

Along with pesticides, people have not mentioned anything about the effects of runoff pollution on fish. Lake Manitou now contains photomirex, a product from the processing of photographic film. Other contaminants run into the water any time chemicals are dumped down a household drain, including caffeine, antibiotics, and antidepressants. Readers need to be reminded that there is a petroleum "blob" sitting in the channel in Little Current. All of the lakes and water systems of Manitoulin are connected through the limestone backbone that we live on.

Another area of concern are the many dumps scattered throughout Manitoulin that are continuing to fill and slowly leach the products of paint, batteries, cleaners and plastic through the pathways in the limestone. Who will defend the waters from these threats? Just a few other things to think about.

Saulis Tribinevicius

Sandfield

Residents urged to write AKWA

Reckless water use cannot be remedied

To the Expositor:

As your readers are no doubt aware, there is an ongoing dispute about the Ministry of Natural Resources' possible approval of an option to take down 40 percent more of Lake Kagawong for seven months of the year to increase hydro-electric production. This increase is over and above the present take-down agreement between Billings Township and Kagawong Power Inc. Reckless use of precious water resources now will be impossible to remedy in the future.

The power company wants more water. The citizens of Kagawong Watershed (including Ice Lake and all tributaries) are almost uniformly opposed to any increase. The Township of Billings is also opposed to the plan.

We of AKWA, an ad hoc group of citizens who have come together to oppose this increase in water taking, want to compile data on the negative effects of low water levels under the current operating limits.

These negative effects would include: frozen water lines; docks that are now inaccessible but were not when built; decreased fish populations and damaged spawning beds; the drying of wetlands; changes to navigational routes due to rock exposure; and any detrimental changes in relation to lake activity that might have a bearing on this situation.

We urge area residents to write to AKWA and inform us of observations, data, photographs and any other records of problems that they believe may be attributable to loss of water resource from the Ice Lake and Kagawong watershed. We would appreciate specific instances with dates if possible but personal anecdotes would also be welcome. This research may include damage or inconvenience to the life of people on or near the water of Kagawong watershed.

Please enclose name and address, email address and phone number so that we can contact you for clarification if necessary.

Please send to: AKWA Working Group, RR #1, Kagawong, Ontario, P0P 1J0

Joseph Gold

Kagawong

Letters can also be dropped through the slot on the front door of the Expositor office.Send your Dear Dave letters to Box 369, Little Current, Ontario, P0P 1K0,