Charlie Angus - Unlikely Radicals: The Story of the Adams Mine Dump War

Praise for

UNLIKELY RADICALS

This short book gives many gifts: its the thrilling story of a community fighting off an environmental assault; a series of delightful sketches of ordinary people who accomplish extraordinary things; a cautionary tale of democratic institutions being corrupted by money and shady politics; and an introduction to Charlies funny, generous, and tough-minded charm. Most importantly, it is a guide book for anyone who is called upon to stand up for what they believe in.

I have practiced and taught community organizing all my life and I love this book. Angusa key insidertells the story with passion and respect. The detailed account and strategic analysis offered in Unlikely Radicals makes the book essential reading for anyone facing a similar struggle.

Unlikely Radicals: The Story of the Adams Mine Dump War

2013 Charlie Angus

First published in 2013 by

Between the Lines

401 Richmond Street West, Studio 277

Toronto, Ontario M5V 3A8

Canada

1-800-718-7201

www.btlbooks.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be photocopied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of Between the Lines, or (for photocopying in Canada only) Access Copyright, 1 Yonge Street, Suite 1900, Toronto, Ontario, M5E 1E5.

Every reasonable effort has been made to identify copyright holders. Between the Lines would be pleased to have any errors or omissions brought to its attention.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Angus, Charlie, 1962

Unlikely radicals [electronic resource] : the story of the Adams Mine dump war / Charlie Angus.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Electronic monograph in multiple formats.

Issued also in print format.

ISBN 978-1-77113-041-7 (EPUB).--ISBN 978-1-77113-042-4 (PDF)

1. Environmental protectionCitizen participation. 2. Sanitary landfillsOntarioBoston (Township)Public opinion. 3. Waste disposal sitesOntarioBoston (Township)Environmental aspects. 4. Green movementOntario Boston (Township). 5. Human ecologyPolitical aspects. 6. Local government and environmental policyOntario. 7. Adams Mine (Ont.)Environmental conditions. 8. Boston (Ont.: Township): Environmental conditions. I. Title.

TD171.7.A55 2013 363.7'0525 C2012-907739-9

Cover and text design by Gordon Robertson

Front cover photo by Charlie Angus. For details, see photograph in Chapter 1.

Between the Lines gratefully acknowledges assistance for its publishing activities from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program and through the Ontario Book Initiative, and the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund.

To my dear friend and mentor Jack Layton.

He never shied away from a good fight.

Acknowledgements

This book would not have been possible without the meticulous recordkeeping of Kathy Martin, Joe Muething, Terry Graves, and Barb Biederman-Bukowski. Thanks as well to advice from John Vanthof, Pierre Belanger, Franz Hartmann, Kathy Hakola, and Stan Gorzalczynski. Thanks to The Temiskaming Speaker for their photographic and written archives. Thanks to the team at Between the Lines for their precision in reviewing the manuscript.

A special acknowledgement to my wife, Brit Griffin, who should have written this book. I had asked her to write the book with me but she said she didnt want to live through the Adams Mine years a second time. As a result, she was forced to live through them again and again as I researched, edited, and re-edited the text. Special thanks to Brit and my three daughters, Mariah, Siobhan, and Lola, for their patience and love.

The Adams Mine was just another hole until Metro Toronto nearly fell in it.

The Toronto Star, February 6, 1996

This is not a local issue. This is not a regional issue or even a national issue; your fight is of international importance. What you do to stop the importing and burning of toxic waste from the U.S. and Mexico must be known by people all across the continent.

DR. PAUL CONNETT, April 28, 2002

Virtually all successful garbage battles are won primarily through shrewd, tenacious political action and not through litigation or regulatory proceedings.

NYPIRG, No Time to Waste, 1989

INTRODUCTION

The Watershed

IAM OFTEN ASKED THE QUESTION What got you into politics? I always think back to a cold October night in 2000, when I stood on a makeshift barricade on the Adams Mine Road. Across the road, police were lining up for mass arrests. But the people who were holding the line werent radicals, they were my neighboursmany of them senior citizens and farmers. Up until that moment, I had never considered a life in politics. I believed that organized politics was the domain of stuffy old men. I was the guitar player in the alt-country band Grievous Angels. I worked as a local freelance journalist and didnt even consider myself an environmentalist. But as I stood on that barricade, I realized that the people who should have been there to protect the public interest had sold us out.

The proposal to dump millions of tonnes of waste into the fractured pits of the Adams Mine was bitterly opposed by people in my region. The plan was full of risk. Throughout the planning process, local citizens attempted to have their concerns addressed. They participated in the public hearings. They trusted that officials would do the right thing. But they soon learned otherwise. At every step of the way, the men in the fat ties and the women in grey pantsuits flagged ahead a project that should have been rejected out of hand.

As a result, small-town Northern Ontario was forced to take the extraordinary step of putting up barricades to protect their right to be heard. This act of radical resistance would never have been necessary if public officials had done their job. This realization moved me from observer to activist, to organizer, and eventually to a leader in the fight.

All landfill proposals generate controversy, but the Adams Mine garbage proposal brought Northern Ontario to the brink of conflict. A rural region of 35,000 fought five separate campaigns against the Adams Mine proposal. Each campaign was an increasingly high-stakes affair that included mass demonstrations, blockades, and non-violent resistance.

In pushing the project forward, the provincial government of Mike Harris dismantled long-standing environmental protection measures in the Province of Ontario and opened the door to international PCB import schemes from Japan, the United States, and Mexico. The region of Timiskaming (locally also spelled Temiskaming) became ground zero for a waste battle that was international in scope. The fight against these projects started in small northern Legion halls and ended at an international NAFTA tribunal.