Cornwall Ontario – At least one city councilor is speaking loud and clearly about the Chemical Tanks that the Federal Government has green lit to be constructed on Cornwall’s Waterfront. Lands that clearly have been ear marked to be de industrialized and geared to fit into tourism and residential development. The land where the tank construction has started is next to the Legion Baseball Diamonds and across from the largest Condo development in the city.
City Councilor Andre Rivette shared an email on 12/07/2013 03:25 PM that he sent to a concerned voter which he said he will be repeating Monday night in Council.
Hi Tom
Thanks for your e-mail, I would like to be straight up with my feeling on this issue.
I will only support a motion that states “That the Federal Government cancel the lease they signed and that they remediate the property to it’s original state before this project started.
I will not support any compromise !!
I hope this make my feeling clear on this MESS that has occurred in regards to the proposed tanks. This makes no sense at all with all the investments the City and the private sectors have put in to our waterfront over the years to have the Federal government pull a stunt like this.
Regards
Andre
Councilor Carr via telephone echoed Mr. Rivette’s statement.
All the effort and time that’s been put into the waterfront and the future of the waterfront; I don’t think these tanks should be a part of it.
Ironically Mayor Bob Kilger has yet to publicly state that he is against the tanks in spite of the clear resistance shown by the public. His first quote on the subject was that the tanks wouldn’t be that high and not that visible. That statement seemed odd as he said he wasn’t aware of the project which later turned out to be a lie as he officially knew in November 2013, a month before the story went public in December and nearly one year after Transport Canada stated that the City was made aware, in February and April of 2013.
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The question now is who in Economic Development knew, Kevin Lajoie, Bob Peters, or Mark Boileau(or all of them) and who did they share it with? IE Norm Levac or Mayor Kilger? Or why it was never stated in their monthly reports to Council? Also, if there’s a connection between Councilor Thibault leaving the Waterfront Development committee during the last communication from Trillium Distribution Cornwall Inc. and the City?
Council was caught mostly unaware of the development until the construction of the tanks started as was the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne.
Chief Brian David spoke with CFN One on One about the tanks and about Land Claims in the region in General.
Chief David stated that the MCA found out about the tanks via the media. He then pointed out to CFN that the Federal Government, in their own documents, have an onus and duty to consult before starting such construction.
In particular it clearly states that “The duty cannot be delegated to third parties” which puts into play the whole process.
As a matter of fact these lands have been debated before with Akwesasne willing to partner with the city to develop a “free trade zone” and other purposes, but the city of Cornwall rejected the appeal of Mike Mitchell at the time.
When you look at Anti-frakking protests to the East and West, Big Ben, our City Dump possibly leaching waste through the bedrock into the area water system, and the fact that the MCA helped stave off nuclear waste being boated by us could this be a hot button topic? Is that possibly why construction has ceased?
CFN located a confidential document written by former CAO Paul Fitzpatrick, as well as a letter from Mr. Mitchell to Cornwall at the time appealing for Council to change its mind and work with the MCA. Mr. Mitchell’s appeal fell on deaf ears at the time.
Trillium Distribution Cornwall Inc. which was only registered as a Corporation in October 2013 may end up in a windfall. Rumors are that they originally tried to set up in Kaneb owned tanks in Morrisburg and were rebuffed and that with a NDP MP in nearby Valleyfield (where most of the road chemicals are rumored to be headed) “someone” thought it made sense to simply lease out the old tank farms which had been remediated years ago at tax payer expense. If as expected, the Feds kill the project, Trillium may have to be made whole depending on the language of the ten year lease the Federal government generously gave them.
Off the record even some Environment Canada officials were upset as no assessments were done for the project or consultation.
MP Guy Lauzon states that he knew nothing about the tanks, but also has not come out and condemned them or demanded that they be removed.
Chuck Charlebois will be speaking to Council Monday night and there’s a ridiculous meeting set up Tuesday between all parties that Mr. Charlebois has now been invited to attend.
At the end of the day most tax payers at all levels simply want straight up answers.
Who ok’d all of this? Who knew and why wasn’t it shared with the people of Cornwall long before construction started with no public consultations or any steps to protect residents and development of the struggling River City?
And with Municipal, Provincial, and Federal Elections all lining up within the next 18 months is this the type of issue that will weigh on voters decisions?
You can post your comments below and please sign our petition as well!
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Jamie I remember very well about the government wanting to use the St. Lawrence River to send nuclear waste over to either Sweden or Norway because it was one of those countries that uses nuclear waste from other countries and turns it into electricity. I am totally against that and always was when I first heard that and that was some years ago and haven’t heard a peep about that since then. Can you imagine if there was a spill of that contamination in the water or even if that were to explode what would happen. OMG I don’t even want to think about what would happen. If only people would wake up and stop being so fluoridated and understand just what the implications of everything is and how it is being shoved down their throats. I am upset a lot with the people because they just whine and then accept everything that is thrown at them and don’t investigate anything going on whether it is in Cornwall, in Canada itself, as well as in the US and around the world. I am on so many different places on the net knowing what is going on.
About the Trans Canada Pipeline it won’t be just our Canada involved in the pipeline but Alaska is coming on board with the Trans Canada Pipeline and our Canada will be even pushed down lower than before when the Yanks get hold of everything. The native people in Alberta are very sick living near the pipeline and I knew about this for some years now not only that but they showed a white man who is a farmer near the pipeline and he was sick as well and didn’t know what to do with his land. Study about what happened in Fukushima Japan and many are going to die and not just in Fukushima but all over Japan and many people are sending their children to live abroad including adults who can speak English are even leaving and going elsewhere. The Pacific Ocean is dead and fish and animals along with plant life are so contaminated and dying whatever is left.
In China people cannot even breathe with all the industries that have left Canada and the US to go over there and even Mexico City is in terrible shape. The land in China is so contaminated and we get some of our food from there. Many people here are not buying fish at all nor other kinds of seafood because they are very afraid. Our native people live off the land with the fish and wild game and if the river gets contaminated by the leaks then even Cornwall’s water for drinking, bathing, cooking, brushing one’s teeth, etc. will be so contaminated that you won’t be able to use it like what happened in the US the other day. I even saw it on an alternative news in the US that I like to look at called: “whatreallyhappened.com” which belongs to Mike Rivero from Hawaii and people were seen buying bottled water in order to live and they don’t know how long that they will be able to go back to using their tap water. I think that people better sharpen their witts and know what is coming and going on in the community and not just depend on Bare Ass and his cronies. The people in Cornwall have never gotten interested in what is going on and it showed the results today for not getting involved enough and to see Bare Ass taking everyone for a ride in the high tax bills and shoving things down people’s backs. I can go on and on Jamie but I will stop here just now. Thank you.
Jules : Do You Ever Hush Up ??? On every story you come on long winded more than 1/2 the time off subject
Knowing everything about nothing just a motoring with your mouth, and repeat the same old line over . . and over. Why in heck don’t you give us a break Please?
This is off topic, but I’m curious to know how many people submitted the required personal info for the privilege of posting comments on this site. Is it more than ten or twenty?
@ William E Beattie. Jules rules! Once you come around to that truth, you too will realize what a fountain of wisdom she has to offer. Rather than ridiculing, you should be grateful for her insightful comments.
Thank you Furtz. I do my very best to ignore the “PEANUT GALLERY” who are totally ignorant and believe me there are enough of them out there. I thank you very much Furtz and you are one fine gentleman indeed.
I just wish to take this moment to one; thank all of our registered users and two, remind everyone to try and keep it on topic and keep it moving and entertaining as well as informative. Comments were never meant to be novels, or novellas even; or travel brochures… We have an awful lot of people read them even though they don’t post. 🙂
Sorry Jamie for the long rant but I had to say what came to mind. Another thing is that I wish that more would come on board and blog. We need to see a great deal more names on the petition.
While I appreciate that Mr. Rivette and Mr. Carr have finally vocalized an opinion on the matter concerning the chemical tank construction, it comes at a very late and convenient time. Had either gentleman found their voice and verbalized an opinion at an earlier stage, respect could have been earned. At this late date and just prior to a council meeting it comes across more like an attempt to duck what may come when the fan is turned on.
I find it hard to communicate my disappointment that the federal government and our city council did not include the MCA and share in a timely fashion information concerning the usage of the land in question. There is simply no fair or reasonable explanation for this omission. This is the very kind of disrespect which has perpetuated far to long and has maintained a wedge between people who otherwise could be living in a healthier relationship. No excuses .
David to be fair if you look at Councilor Rivette’s comment you’ll see that it was dated nearly a month ago. He’s been very busy selling ads for one of our rivals and unavailable for comment to this date 😉
This type of behavior from Bare Ass and his councel as well as the federal government is unforgivable. Not one word was said beforehand. This shows dictatorship on both levels if not the provincial involved in this fiasco as well. For the bulldozers to be digging out there it means that the papers were signed and delivered a long time ago. Governments never do anything on the spur of the moment and you can be very well assured that it was well planned in advance. Who said that long before I did was former US president Roosevelt. Everything was well hidden from the public and the whole crew should be tossed out on their behind now.
André Rivette and Carr only voiced an opinion when the horse left the barn. Everyone was kept in the dark about everything. When papers have been signed, sealed and delivered what else can we do. This is why they never breathed a word to the public. It will be very hard to sell the condos near the tanks. That would even lower the prices as well.
Why didn’t Feds consult First Nations
Because they don’t consult with anybody
but Prime Minister Harper it seems has to OK
each and every comment by MP Guy Lauzon
Neil Young is right…in forty years…yet another Canadian Prime Minister
will be making a public apology for destroying Canada’s enviroment
@ Claudette MacIntosh. Prime Minister Harper is not concerned about the environment because he knows that the “second coming” is imminent, and the whole world is about to be consumed by fire anyway. Why sweat the small stuff when the end of the world is just around the corner?
Harpoon Harpo has made it a point since he first came in that it would be the Harper Government instead of the Canadian Government and I went oh no this isn’t good at all. I never voted for him at all since I had a very strange feeling about him. I voted NDP and I sure am not a socialist but a conservative person in nature. It was like boiling water that fell on top of me to see that he won but he didn’t win in the right way. I refuse to vote ever again and my mind has been made up for a long time now. I know very well how it works. I learned something else just yesterday and that describes the frame of mind of Harper and other world leaders to a T. These people are nuts to the core and very narcistic. I hate to see Canada go downhill the way it is and as for the second coming of Christ I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens because of the way the world is in these days. Maybe little Harpoon Steevie might help things come along sooner than we all think.