The community of Southgate, Ontario is fighting to stop a sewage sludge treatment plant from being built there, beside a wetland and a few hundred meters from the local elementary school. Unfortunately, their Mayor and Council appear to be going out of their way to help bring the plant — and hundreds of tonnes per day of Toronto sewage sludge — to the tiny community.

Real democracy requires transparency and when elected officials meet corporate interests quietly, behind the scenes and “in-camera” (which actually means no cameras or members of the public are allowed to know what is discussed) there is no chance that democracy will be served. This is a common occurrence in the battle between the residents of Southgate and their elected officials.

Now, Southgate Council has asked the courts to require that their own citizens provide a $15,000 security deposit before they can proceed with a challenge to the building permit which Southgate Council gave the sludge plant. If the Southgate Public Interest Research Group (SPIRG) cannot come up with that $15,000 to guarantee paying their own Council’s legal bills (if they lose) the appeal will not be heard! The Conservative Party of Canada tried unsuccessfully to crush the robocall court case with this same tactic — happily their request for a $250,000 guarantee was rejected by the court.

For the people of Southgate who have already fought so long and spent a small fortune, this requirement for a $15,000 guarantee may as well be ten times as much. They simply cannot manage it on their own on top of all the other costs associated with the fight. This is their last chance to use the courts to stop this unwanted sludge plant from being forced upon their community. Please consider making a donation: http://www.stopthewastepark.com/

The Council of Canadians is in full support of the community’s opposition to the sludge plant and calls on the Ontario government to order a complete environmental assessment of the project.

More info:

http://canadians.org/blog/?p=15750

http://commonground-spirg.ca/