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by Jay Arthur
Pity the poor Ontario municipality. Like a hockey goalie facing shots from everyone at once, local governments in Canada's most populous province have had to face a continuous, over-whelming assault on all fronts.
They have been downloaded upon by the Harris Corporation (due in part, of course, from reduced transfer payments from the Chretien soon-to-be Martin Corporation). They have been reorganized, amalgamated and streamlined--usually against their will. And they have had to manage all these extra responsibilities with fewer resources and a political climate that says they shouldn't raise local taxes if the province can afford to hand out tax cuts.
So it really isn't any wonder that with affordable housing and other social programs being pushed onto the table in the council chamber that recycling is not getting the attention it should.
The dollars involved may look significant when they come to the budget process, but compared to the numbers at the bottom of the pages of the other departments, waste management is peanuts.
Even in mighty Toronto, where all numbers are magnified beyond most people's reality, the monies required for garbage do not justify an inordinate amount of council time when other pressing issues demand the attention of the decision makers.
Well, not until Adams Mine came along. Then, because it involved disposal of garbage, like anywhere else, it became the number one topic.
The fact that council made what might be considered the fiscally appropriate decision, given the climate, didn't matter. There were just too many questions. In the end, it was the fine print that killed the deal (for now, at any rate), and Toronto taxpayers will pay more money and put more trucks on the 401, on their way to US landfills via Windsor.
This mess was created when the Province killed the Interim Waste Authority. As a process, it was well on its way (after
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great expense) to coming up with a made-in-GTA, and inevitably controversial, solution to the area's garbage problem. But the disposal site would have had a 905 phone number and that wasn't going happen. "Common sense" dictated it would be better to have a 705 or even US area code.
Given the fiscal climate, it really isn't fair to blame councils for making inappropriate environmental decisions. Toronto's diversion rate is not bad, but could be a lot better. Would an ambitious waste reduction and diversion budget have survived the penny-pinching philosophy needed to keep tax increases at zero? Probably not.
Will it now? Only time will tell. If a truly ambitious waste diversion policy, as opposed to grand claims made in the heat of disposal debates, were put in place, it might just be possible to push it through at budget time for fear of the alternative. A protracted fight with Northern Ontario or municipalities on the 401 route would do nothing for the province's biggest city and the taxpayers may be prepared to support real diversion to avoid that.
The mayor is again talking deposit return and increased diversion. The mayor is a great talker. We'll see (and cheer) if real action follows.
But what of the rest of the municipalities in Ontario? After turning down the CIPSI proposal back in the mid-90s, they seem to be generally supportive of the latest proposals from the industry-dominated WDO. Just as many electors held their nose and voted Liberal on November 27, local councils seem to be prepared to take what they can get. It is, of course, a long way from what the very same industries contribute to support waste management programs in other provinces, but what's a municipality to do? They need the money.
If the Province puts in regulations requiring municipalities to collect organics, however, they could end up worse off, not better off. There is no question the diversion rate would increase, but if industry funding is dependant on adding organics, it will be a very bad deal for municipal tax payers.
And holding their nose won't help.
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