Mayor O'Brien, MPP Norm Sterling and Councillors show support for Stittsville residents

Rain fails to dampen anti-dump ferver

Mayor avows solidarity with residents, to fight expansion. MPP Norm Sterling and councillors add their support

Despite the showers Tuesday afternoon, a large crowd showed up to hear Mayor O'Brien, using a panorama view of the Carp Road Dump as his backdrop, vowing to protect their community from what he has dubbed, "a canker in the middle of a cosmopolitan city."

He said that his declared "war on landfills" is not merely a slogan. It's based on his belief that, "Landfills are a 19th century invention that have no place in the 21st century."

He asserted that the time is long past due for Ottawa to have complete control over all of its waste, including industrial and commercial waste, not just household waste that it now processes.

The Mayor believes that Ottawa could manage the Industrial, Commercial and Institutional, (IC&I) waste diversion and sorting much more efficiently than that being carried out under the current provincial controls.

Mayor Larry O'Brien

CJOH Video clip of the June 22, 2010 rally:
Carp dump expansion gathers controversy

Local politicians give Stittsville residents a show of solidarity against the dump expansion. L to R: MPP Norm Sterling, Councillor Marianne Wilkinson, Councillor Alex Cullen, Councillor Shad Qadri and Mayor O'Brien. Part of the Carp Dump Mountain can be seen in background (left).

Stittsville resident Gilles Chasles is the founder and Chairman of Nodump.ca. He also co-hosted the event with Stittsville Councillor Shad Qadri.

MPP Norm Sterling at the mike

Carleton-Mississippi Mills MPP Norm Sterling has provided stalwart opposition to every previous Carp Road landfill site expansion attempt as well as the current one. "Enough is enough," he stated, "We've done our part. If the landfill has to grow, it's time to take it somewhere else."

As a follow-up to O'Brien's comment that the city should have jurisdiction over its IC&I waste, not just over household waste, Mr. Sterling reiterated his commitment to press the cause in the Provincial Legislature.

Sterling agreed with the mayor, that the City of Ottawa should have the right to manage it's own waste, and not have the province impose its control over the city's commercial waste. He noted that provincial handling of the IC&I waste has fallen far short of being adequate.

Both Councillors Shad Qadri and Alex Cullen also added that if the city controlled its own commercial waste, the city's existing waste diversion programs would do a much better job of managing the problem.

Councillor Qadri maintains that Waste Management Inc. should be applying waste sorting and landfill diversion much more aggressively, NOW, and not wait while attempting to get and expansion permit, before starting.

Councillor Qadri - Mayor O'Brien

Councillor Cullen suggested that if the Province won't mandate waste diversion for the ICI sector, then the City should be given this authority. "In this way we can obviate the need for landfill sites near our residential communities by reducing the amount of waste going to them through implementing recycling programs for the ICI sector in our community."

Realizing that waste diversion has its limits, Gilles Chasles commented, "Ottawa deserves a world class solution. A dump is not a world class solution."

There were many questions from the audience, seeking assurances.
Residents were pleased to see their elected representatives giving so much support in the interest of protecting their health and safety.
Mayor O'Brien suggested that Premier McGuinty should listen to the wishes of residents of his home city: Ottawa. Let's hope he does!