Lottery helps ease tensions near landfill
Posted By DOUGLAS GLYNN
Posted 6 months ago
Protesters blocking the entrances to dump Site 41 eased tensions Friday by proposing they hold a lottery about what time of day the OPP will begin making arrests.
It was expected that arrests might occur yesterday if workers showed up at 7 a. m., but the workers never arrived. Aside from an OPP video unit, which daily photographs protesters, and a mediation team that occasionally drops by to chat, it was quiet.
The OPP was handed responsibility Thursday by a sheriff's officer for enforcing the interim injunction issued by a court last Wednesday that prohibits blocking entrances to the site.
Yesterday, a dime would buy you 15 rumours about the OPP's ETA (estimated time of arrival).
A handful of protesters sit in front of entrances, while others stood across the road providing moral support.
The protesters' spirits have been buoyed by the prospect of a rally this afternoon that is expected to attract a large number of supporters.
Meanwhile, organizers have changed the rally's location to a pavilion on County Rd. 6 in Perkinsfield because rain is forecast.
The rally -- seeking a moratorium on Site 41 -- will feature speeches by 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, one of the leaders of the successful battle against a dump at the Adams Mine.
