Lame pony is better than no pony

NEWSROOM NOTIONS with Bill Tremblay Jul 04, 2012 - 4:23 PM

Brent Preston has delivered my favourite aggregate-related quote to date. The organic farmer, who lives about 10 km north of The Highland Companies proposed Melancthon quarry site, explained to the provincial Standing Committee on General Government why he believes farming is more beneficial to the economy than aggregate mining. The salad he produces sells for about $18,000 per tonne, while aggregate yields about $8 per tonne. I only produce eight or 10 tonnes of salad a year on my farm, but I can produce salad in perpetuity, Preston told the committee charged with reviewing the Aggregate Resources Act. You can only mine a tonne of gravel once. Preston delivered an intelligent argument and one that made a financial connection to what may look like nothing more than empty fields to city folk. Despite his passionate plea, the chair of the committee, Liberal Sault Ste. Marie MPP David Orazietti, talked with his clerk and typed on his Blackberry throughout the testimony. Regardless of substance of his emails or chats with the clerk, its disrespectful to ignore the people sitting directly in front of you. Orazietti has an impressive political resume. In addition to serving as chair of the Standing Committee on General Government, he is also a member of the Cabinet Committee on Education Policy and Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction. In the past, he has chaired the Liberal Caucus, the Northern Caucus, the Standing Committee on Justice Policy and served as a member of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. With that kind of portfolio, paying attention should be his forte. Sure, he is in possession of many hats, and likely often forced to multi-task, but leading the committee tasked with reviewing provincial rules requires undivided attention. Perhaps puppets are easily bent in different directions.

Fortunately, most of the other committee members were attentive, including Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones, whose performance was impressive to say the least. She was active and engaged throughout the hearing, asking intelligent questions. While its easy to point out a perceived disinterest in the review, at least the province is going through the motions. The federal government recently buried Environmental Assessment (EA) changes in their monstrous budget. Not that the Highland Companies quarry plans would ever trigger a federal review. While Dufferin-Caledon MP David Tilson said federal EA triggers include water, fish and migratory birds, Federal Environment Minister Peter Kent told the House of Commons that none of the triggers required to spark a federal intervention have been, or are likely to be, tripped. I guess there is a loophole for pumping 600 million litres of water per day. The provinces dog and pony may be lame, but at least there is a show.