MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
July 22, 2009

Controversy Over Site 41 Heads to Court, Simcoe County Targets Peaceful Protesters

The controversy over the unpopular Dump Site 41 overflowed into the courts today. Legal arguments regarding a Simcoe County motion for an injunction against an ongoing blockade of Site 41 were heard this morning at the Barrie Courthouse. The non-violent and peaceful civil disobedience protest began blockading the access road to the dump site two weeks ago in an attempt to stop the ongoing dewatering and construction of the landfill. An interim injunction against the protest blockade of Site 41 was issued this afternoon for a one week period until the application for a temporary injunction is heard on July 29. Damages of at least $160,000 are also being sought by Simcoe County’s motion, in which Anne Ritchie Nahuis and Vicki Monague are named as defendants.

While Simcoe County claimed in the far-reaching motion that the only aim was to stop the blockade of Site 41, the motion explicitly sought to limit protests against Site 41 (even across the street) to no more than five people at any given time. The presiding judge ruled that no limit will be placed on the number of people who can assemble on the property across the road.

The Rally for a Moratorium on Site 41 organized for 1:30pm on Saturday, July 25 will proceed as planned. The rally across the street from Site 41 will feature a welcome to traditional Anishnabe territory and speeches from Maude Barlow, Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the United Nations and Chairperson of the Council of Canadians; David Crombie, former Toronto mayor and former federal cabinet minister; Mary Muter, Vice-president and chair of the Environment for the Georgian Bay Association (GBA) and the Georgian Baykeeper; and Charlie Angus, NDP MP for Timmins-James Bay and one of the leaders of the successful fight to ban Toronto garbage from the Adams Mine.

“Surely the county has enough information by now to realize how many people are against Site 41,” says Council of Canadians Chairperson Maude Barlow, who notes that a recent online media poll showed 85% support for the blockade. “Why is Simcoe County taking people to court whose actions reflect the views of the majority of their constituents?”

In a letter sent July 20 to Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino, the legal counsel for the Council of Canadians’ stated that “there has been no proper approval of [Site 41] by the municipal council for the County of Simcoe.  In the absence of a by-law authorizing the project, it is illegal.”

The letter from Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP points out that the ongoing protest is a result of the objections of protesters to “the County’s attempts to build the waste disposal facility” at Site 41. “The protesters are doing nothing more than peacefully objecting to unauthorized government conduct,” stated the letter.

“The way to resolve this is not by taking peaceful protesters to court,” concludes Barlow. “The constructive way forward is to hold an emergency session of Simcoe County Council, and implement an immediate moratorium on Site 41 construction.”

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For More Information:

Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians, 613-795-8685, dpenner@canadians.org
www.canadians.org/Site41