As I see the candidate signs while driving around the County, read the candidate highlights in the local papers, and attend a few of the “meet the candidate” sessions, I remind myself, however hard it is, that I need to be hopeful that the next council is going to do a better job.

This is what is happening on Picton Bay for those of you who do not live on or frequent the area. Picton Terminals received what is believed to be a load of gypsum on or around September 28th. It is hard to tell what it is as the required ship log entry is not on its website.

This industrial powder was transported from the loading dock via a partially-covered conveyor and dumped behind the escarpment. Under cover of night.

At night, because no one is watching, or because this council gave Picton Terminals the right to do anything it likes 24-7. How much of the material hit the water, and how much toxic gypsum dust travelled to neighbouring properties, we will never know, because no one is monitoring what goes on there. Beyond residents, that is.

Municipal governments generally provide services to a community, but they also have an overarching responsibility to provide safety to their residents and shape the broader community’s quality of life. They also have the ability to liaise with provincial and federal governments to coordinate local initiatives. 

This is where things went very wrong with, not just the approval of Picton Terminals, but Council’s decision to seek an MZO from the province on its behalf. That request was, purely and simply, to allow our councillors to look the other way. 

Even while Picton Terminals’ promise of jobs has not unfolded, from day one, the County ignored the thousands of noise complaints about all the quarry activity. 

The former CAO claimed she investigated and did not find one noise complaint. Explain to me how an operation on the water can dynamite and extract 1.5 million tonnes of aggregate without a sound. The County ignores the quarrying of over one million tonnes of rock — much of which was on land zoned rural, and all without a licence to quarry. It ignores the high levels of salt leached into the bay from improper salt storage. It ignores the toxic dust being blown into the water, leaching into groundwater, and landing on surrounding houses. It ignores the shipping containers placed on the cliff face. 

This Council, instead of reining this company in using its bylaws, requested an MZO. That Ministerial Zoning Order, when it comes, will change much of the zoning of the lands surrounding the current Picton Terminals site from Rural to MX-Industrial-Extractive. Council approved this project, washed its hands of any responsibility, and told citizens to bring any issues up with the provincial governing agencies set up to protect us, the Ministry of the Environment, Climate Change and Parks, and the Ministry of Natural Resources. These agencies have not and do not protect us. 

A current councillor, one who voted for PT and who is now running for Mayor, says that he wants to attract small industry, meaning 10-20 full time jobs. Good luck getting any support from the municipality if things go sideways. We see how well that works with the Picton Terminals case.

Meanwhile, concerned citizens from the start of this, from Save Picton Bay to the Stop Illegal Mining project, have had to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight this initiative in court. 

The current council approved a monster of a project and literally turned its back on local citizens. That is negligence. 

I, for one, will be very happy to see October 26th. There is a slight glimmer of hope that the newly elected will act in a more responsible manner because the bar cannot get any lower.