[All] Regional Council re: Hidden Valley

Wed Oct 5 23:08:19 EDT 2011

Hi folks

Before you read about it I want to tell you what happened tonight in Regional Council.

 I lost it in council this evening. I know I could should not have but damn it you should have seen what took place. It was morally reprehensible and blatently illegal!

First off, I filmed the entire presentation given by Regional officials in regards to Hidden Valley. They actually had the NERVE to state they don't actually need to secure a permit for the River Road Extension. They assumed that the laws as established for the protection of Jefferson Salamanders could be grandfathered.  They couldn't even give basic information regarding how many  hectares of trees were to be removed etc.

City staff failed to mention that they intend to seek a permit using the Endangered Species Act section 17 2) but they negated to tell council and the public that this is actually a KILL permit. They know they are going to result in the fatality of these animals in the path of the roadway where at least 1 dominant hybrid was confirmed. 

View the attached power point for what I presented to council.  In the photo regarding non compliance, I included a picture of the Forbes creek with Mr. Forbes standing right next to it. I included the illegally paved Wilmot Line, a large wetland that GRCA reports ignored when they made the Ira Needles mall. (The permit says there was no wetland on site. Look at the size of that "Non-existant" wetland!) and the last photo was Mr. Zister removing his wetland illegally. The man was never charged a penny for that blatant violation of law. 

I spoke with the MNR Senior policy advisors on October 3rd, specifically to ask if the laws could be grandfathered and they told me "absolutely not!" They stated the most current version of the law must be applied. When the Region first proposed the road, only the pure Jeffersons were deemed threatened. There was no protection for hybrids. Staff to this day assume this matter still stands. However, as of Feb. 2011, both the true Jeffersons and dominant Hybrids are protected as ENDANGERED species and in the current law they are mandated not only to protect 300m around the pond, but up to 1km of all potential wetland habitats as well as up to 1km of area to disburse. That is area used to roam about, feed, hibernate etc. Under today's laws, that roadway would not comply so technically they simply cannot build it but council was being asked to approve option 4C that proposes a road right over where one of the confirmed Jefferson dominant hybrids were found.
 Technically illegal. 

So here is how it went. I video taped the entire thing until my camera battery died. When I went to speak as a registered delegate, Jane Brewer asked Mr. Seiling if it was appropriate that I video tape the event. He said yes. She stated she didn't give her permission to be on video tape. I said this is a public process. It's my right. She asked me who I was going to show the video tape to. I told her to various solicitors, the provincial and federal ministries. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Then I began my presentation. I gave all the info. Mr. Seiling tried to interject when I got to the photo of Mr. Forbes but I managed to finish my presentation to completion. He stated I have more time do I wish to comment. I said no but then again.. yes I do. I told them that the roadway is a perfect example to show we're already growing unsustainably, that with the 1.6 million people expected to move here by 2035, this road extension is not
 going to result in faster traffic commutes. The growth we are currently experiencing negates all possible benefits. Ken Seiling said I was over time.  A man in the audience stood up and said, "She can take my time to speak. Give her an extra 3 minutes."  I told them we already have 200 people a year dying of smog and we're actually considering removing our mature trees and salamanders to facilitate a faster commute. Ken Seiling got up and left the council area.  I said our children are going to need the air and the water in the days ahead. How can you morally and ethically do this to them? I told council,  "Under your watch my pond is dead. I spent $27,000 at the OMB to protect that pond by the West Side Lands. I prayed beside that pond for years and now it's gone. The OMB mandated that this pond will be protected and the ruling has been violated on your watch. You failed to protect it." 

I turned to Chris Gosselin and said, "You know exactly what happened." I turned to Jane Brewer and said "You know the truth. You know what happened." I said the same thing to Kevin Eby.  I gathered my materials and I left the chamber, escorted by a guard. I told the guard what happened. How the OMB stated this pond will be protected, and how the work crews destroyed the capture zone with the hills diverting water to the pond. How the work crews leveled it and how my pond is gone now. It dried up and plants have taken over. No more frogs or salamanders there now. The capture zone is gone. The pond will not survive. I told the guard, the council members have blatantly violated the law by not protecting that pond. I have told my story to police, RCMP, solicitors, the Ontario Ombudsman, the Ontario Municipal Board and there is no reasonable measure of enforcement except for me to take them on for contempt of court in the Superior Courts. The problem is
 I can't access justice. I can't afford to do that. The municipalities violated the law, Not me. 

Then I drove home. 

I literally prayed to God before this meeting hoping I would do the right thing. I didn't want to lose my temper. I would have never dreamed I would something so outrageous, but I must confess, it has been a cross on my shoulders so heavy for so long and tonight, for the first time in a long time, I took that cross off my back and flung it right at them with the strength of Samson. They've cursed me with the right to fling that thing and now, finally in the public form I gave it all back. I've finally professed the truth in a public forum.  It's on their shoulders now. For the first time in a very long time, I am free of this pain in my heart. The cross they gave me to bear is right back where it belongs. Let them clean up the mess they've made. 

God bless the Jefferson Salamanders in Hidden Valley for finally saving me from this burden.  I hope to God what I've done helps to contribute towards saving them. I've got everything I need right in my camera. It's all the evidence I need.

Lulu 
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