Recipe for the Iron 407 Pound-it-Thru Cake

In the spirit of Jonathan Swift, this is a special recipe for all those who live along the Georgetown corridor for the Iron 407 Pound-it-Thru Cake. A New Year's summary of the events of the past year, it is also a recipe for disaster. This is not just a 'Modest Proposal', it represents $50 billion of taxpayers money used unwisely to devalue our health and homes through shortsighted choices for unsustainable transit infrastructure.

Take this time during the prorogation of Parliament to tell your MPs what you think of this plan- they have time to read their emails. Until March 5th, in fact.

Ingredients:

• Tier 4 'clean diesel' with extra special, scientifically engineered ultrafine particulate matter
• 3 air monitoring stations (cost: 3 x $500,000 = $1.5 million)
  
• 8 railway tracks
• MP40 Tier 2 diesel locomotives for the Georgetown and Lakeshore corridors
• Platinum Catalytic Converters for these locomotives so that they can be retrofitted to become Tier 4 (if no catalytic converters available, develop 'clean diesel')
  
• Hybrid Diesel Multiple Units for the Air Rail Link (specially engineered, as only electric are being built internationally to meet environmental standards)
  
• 10 km, 5.5 meters high of concrete wall (in total)
• Private land along the rail corridor
• Old growth forest along the tracks, to be destroyed for the additional tracks

Instructions:
In 1996, ask Minister David Collennette to write a secret memorandum of agreement with SNC-Lavalin and Infrastructure Ontario to create an Air Rail Link, like London's Heathrow Express. Ensure there are no other competitors for this Request for Proposal.

Sign the contract without taxpayers' consent. Hide it carefully behind the Freedom of Information Act so that taxpayers cannot question your future modus operandi based upon its commitments.

Create an arm's length provincial transit agency. Name the transit agency 'Metrolinx' and buy out GO Transit. Use diesel technology because GO has experience with diesel trains, although the rest of the world, both developed and developing, uses electric trains.

Devise a blueprint called 'The Big Move'. Tell taxpayers that this new, massive diesel rail corridor is 'getting cars off the road' rather than adding a significant number of transit corridors for carbon emissions and pollution. The residents are OK with clean, quieter electric trains- but diesel it must be.

Kick off all municipal representatives, including Mayor David Miller, from your Board of Directors. They are too concerned with the health and welfare of those who live in Toronto, and are slowing your rail expansion down with concerns about constituents.

Replace the old Board of Directors with a new, friendlier Board of Directors who have a corporate agenda to support the memorandum. This job must be done quickly before anyone finds out. Thank goodness you have the newly fast tracked Transit Project Approval Process to hasten the Environmental Approval process!

Now you are cooking! Ignore all international and local directives for sustainable electric rail corridors- you have an old pre-climate change agreement to fulfill!

Ensure that you appear to be consulting with the communities about their concerns about noise, vibration and pollution. Realize that corporate consultation is the 'new counter-insurgency' to quell your opposition. Consult, consult, consult. Ignore, ignore, ignore.

Nod your head and cluck your tongue when over 450 caretakers and children attend a Clean Air for Little Lungs Stroller Parade to express concerns about their future health on July 20th at Queen's Park.

Divide and rule by lining the rail corridor with pamphlets saying that the Medical Officer of Health was wrong - there will be no impact on the health of those in the 'strike zone' and near the 'cancer spots'. This is because the environmental impact of one carcinogen which causes leukemia- 1,3 butadiene- has been slightly changed by US EPA standards. This is your chance to publicly discredit the Medical Officer of Health.

Hide behind a curtain when over a thousand residents of this corridor walk along the length of this corridor as a 'Human Train' to protest at Whistle Stops at each of the twelve neighbourhoods along the route.

Spin basic facts with the provincial and federal Ministers of the Environment such as 'largest and most frequently used diesel corridor in the planet' to ensure their approval process. You get it!

Take the half-baked plan out of the oven - you can go ahead, and build your train tracks now, with far more tracks than you need. Destroy old growth forest along the tracks because it is in your way. All transit expansion is sustainable expansion, and how dare these 300,000 people live in an at risk, lower income transit corridor and expect to breathe or sleep between 5:30 am and 12:30 am? 5 hours is more than enough.

Build three air monitoring stations at $500, 000 each to monitor the affects of pollution. Provide a report to the Minister of the Environment on Bad Air Days. They can let the community know when there have been official smog days due to 'clean diesel' well after residents have acquired asthma.

Apologize to the 76 schools, 96 daycare centers, and 4 hospitals who are disturbed by the air pollution, vibration and noise of your diesel trains. You could had stopped to pick them up had the trains been electric, but when you studied electrification thirteen times, it was just too expensive. Much of the money has already gone into consultancy fees, after all.

Ooops! The highways have backfilled with more cars, and there are 60 more smog days a year. It is really not your problem anymore.

Walk away from this project. Hand the maintenance and running costs to the taxpayer, and the profit to the private company, SNC-Lavalin.

Well done. Another proud day protecting the environment in Canada. After all, Canada has won 6 Fossil of the Day Awards at COP15 from the Climate Action Network for the highest per capita Greenhouse Gas Emissions at 23 tonnes per person. You have done your duty to ensure our role as international leader in climate change.

In 15 years, revisit this Iron 407 at the taxpayer's expense, and rebuild the corridor as electric. Oil is $250-$400 a barrel, and it has become just too expensive to run. Just another public private partnership gone awry.

Canada wins Colossal Fossil Award! and The Hidden Costs of Diesel

Congratulations, Canada, for winning the Colossal Fossil Award for the third year in a row at COP15 in Copenhagen! This blog entry is to support the decision of Climate Action Network, which tallied the vote of 500 NG0s to present this dishonourable award to my country. In the spirit of Christmas, I would like to present my own informal, ad hoc local chapter's award to Metrolinx for using diesel trains as part of our government's protectionist policy toward the tar sands, contrary to all environmentally sustainable, electric transit solutions.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Minister of the Environment Jim Prentice, have obstructed all constructive and binding agreements regarding carbon emissions to profit Alberta's tar sands at the cost of tarnishing our international reputation three years in a row. The tar sands leak 11 millions of litres of toxic water a day into the Athabasca River basin, and emit 40 million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually. The size of the tar sands, 149,000 square kilometers, is so vast it can be seen by satellite as a black blemish on the earth's surface.

How do our politicians' actions relate to the Georgetown South and Air Rail Link expansion? Why do you think these trains will run on diesel, when relatively non-polluting and increasingly renewable-based electricity from the Ontario grid is available at far more stable prices? This diesel rail expansion is another piece of the puzzle which shows that PM Harper was elected by oil interests, and does everything in his power to promote oil, when the rest of the world is scrambling to develop renewable, clean energy sources.

Many knowledgeable and well-informed energy analysts predict that oil will soon exceed $200 a barrel, perhaps as early as 2010. Why, in this midnight hour, are we developing a long-term piece of public infrastructure to run on non-renewable fossil fuel that will pollute the atmosphere, choke our city with fumes and particulate, and build zero resilience into our transportation system against rising fossil fuel prices? Tcktcktck. The clock is ticking, and the world was watching Canada defend corporate oil interests at all cost in Copenhagen.

There are many other hidden costs which add substantially to the base cost of this diesel 'solution'. These costs go far beyond the predicted peak of oil prices, and multiply its final tally. The diesel multiple units for the Air Rail Link are being custom built for this corridor, as well as the platinum catalytic converters to change Tier 2 into Tier 4 'clean' diesel on the larger, inter-regional, MP40 locomotives, and which will double their original cost. Neither of these are available on the market; they are being engineered solely for this diesel project as they are so far below international standards for electric trains.

In addition, there is the 5.5 m high, 10 km in total, concrete wall dividing our twelve neighbourhoods, and the cost of building and running three air quality monitoring stations to analyze the ultrafine particulate matter of Tier 4 emissions. Each of the stations is estimated to cost $500,000 per year, and is monitored by a mechanical intake device which tests the air quality. This device will alert Metrolinx on a 'Bad Air Day' to hold a boardroom meeting to consider what to tell people along the corridor when 'clean diesel' emissions are damaging their health.

As 'clean diesel' is being engineered specifically for this transit project by Metrolinx, scientists can only create computer models to hypothetically test its emissions. There is no scientific evidence beyond computer modelling that Tier 4 diesel will be any less harmful than Tier 2 diesel; in fact, there are fears that the concentrated particulate matter may be worse, and that it travels very far from its source to cover more surface area. Research is just beginning to understand the complex impact of 'clean diesel' emissions on human health, particularly the lung development of children.

Curiously, as part of the federal Rail Transportation Act, the data for mobile pollution for transit projects is not included in the Environmental Assessment, so the emissions of moving trains do not count. Why is this? This pollution still registers in my lungs. liver and kidneys as permanent and accumulating toxins. Is Metrolinx' mechanical monitoring service going to call me at home to tell me how much has toxicity has registered in my body, and to take a blood sample to verify their data? Or tell me to stop breathing entirely? Or that it is just another 'Bad 'Air Day' and to check in the mirror?

It is no wonder that the Prime Minister Harper, and the federal Minister of the Environment, Jim Prentice, can sign off on the Environmental Assessment on the diesel expansion of the Georgetown South corridor. They have already signed off on the Environmental Assessment of the tar sands. Their mandate is to guarantee, and develop the future supply and demand of oil by expanding air and rail infrastructure to support their supporters' corporate interests. In response to this government's hidden mandate for this project, the Medical Officer of Health has estimated that pollution-related health costs in Toronto are $2.2 billion, and has formally announced that to protect human health, this rail expansion must be electric, and that the Toronto City Center Airport should monitor and submit data on its increasing air pollution.

Why not just electrify this rail corridor from the start rather than continuing this absurd public relations charade to ensure diesel fuel consumption for loud, heavy MP40 locomotives? Electric trains are half the weight, half the noise, and will recoup the cost of electrification within ten years. Every other country in the world is electrifying their rail system, and curtailing short haul flights, and our government is expanding both to fulfill corporate promises to their campaign supporters.

For my part, the greatest cost has been my utter loss of faith in the federal and provincial Ministers of Environment, who have not stepped forward to protect the health of my community. My fundamental rights as a citizen have been brushed aside so that a secret memoranda of agreement may be signed for a public-private partnership between Metrolinx, Infrastructure Ontario, and SNC-Lavalin to profit from cheap diesel trains. It is just not the health of 300,000 Toronto citizens that has been ignored, it is the democratic process itself.

The Minister of Transport, Infrastructure Ontario, SNC-Lavalin and Metrolinx have an important choice. They can build an electric rail system, and add immeasurable value to businesses and cultural communities through transit oriented development, or they can reverse the revitalization of these communities, create a diesel ghetto, and turn back time to an industrial era when the west end rail corridor was lined with factories, rather than thriving, intelligent and diverse communities. And to cap it all off - SNC-Lavalin knows how to build electric trains. So does Bombardier. So what are we all waiting for?

My Christmas pledge to all of my readers is that I will work to shift Canadian transit policy to become environmentally sustainable and socially just. My devotion for the health and welfare of Ward 18, particularly its new immigrants building small businesses, and the progressive, green communities built around my parks - Sorauren, MacGregor and Dufferin Grove - is boundless. The twelve neighbourhoods along this corridor must not be devalued by illogical transit policy enabling the purchase of expensive, noisy and unsustainable diesel infrastructure, 10 km of retaining walls, and three air quality monitoring stations, and an extra, unneeded track for the Air Rail Link.

After Copenhagen, the world knows that there is no more time to waste. Every single decision must be sustainable.

Happy Holidays to all.

References:
COP15 Fossil of the Day Awards at http://www.fossil-of-the-day.org/
Climate Action Network Link at http://www.climatenetwork.org/
Fat Cat Post by Franke James at http://www.frankejames.com/debate/?p=964
Greenpeace Tar Sands at http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/tarsands
Tcktcktck at http://tcktcktck.org/
Joe Fiorito's Toronto Star article "Metrolinx diesels are dirty, ugly and NOISY" on December 11, 2009 at http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/737504--fiorito-metrolinx-diesels-are-dirty-ugly-and-noisy

George Monbiot article "The Urgent Threat To World Peace Is … Canada" at http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2009/12/01/the-urgent-threat-to-world-peace-is-…-canada/

Better Transit is Better Business

Everything is political. As I go from transit conference to design conference, and I wonder why Metrolinx is building three - count them, three- new train tracks for an Air Rail Link to run Pan Am athletes to their Olympic Village for a total of twelve days, this is what I hear from transit experts repeatedly. The type of the trains, the choice of fuel, the number and placement of tracks, and which corridor is electrified first - Georgetown or Lakeshore - everything is based upon trade deals, secret memoranda of understanding, and political promises. And it is clear that my neighbourhood is not the winner in this horse race of Liberal promises, which date back to 1994, when Minister David Collennette took the Heathrow Express, and said "Toronto should have one of these, too". Note that the Heathrow Express is electric, rapid rail, and 99.9% on time, none of which will be true of the Air Rail Link.

The Union-Pearson Air Rail Link is costly, and duplicates new and existing transit routes. According to recent Metrolinx research on cost-benefit scenarios, only 17% of passengers will leave from Union Station, and only 4-7% of passengers will go from Pearson directly to Union Station. Three extra train tracks will be built for a choo choo train for executives, at $35 a ride, to ensure that they have extra leg room so they not have to rub pinstriped shoulders with riffraff. The riffraff includes me, as not only will this regional transit will skip the Bloor GO Station, there is no reason for me to loop back east to Union-Station to go west again, and pay two transit fares when I can call for an airport limo for roughly the same price. Redundant activity, and so is this unneeded cost of these three tracks in this corridor, duplicated by Transit City's Eglinton LRT, which has just begun to be built by the City of Toronto.

Our taxpayer's money is paying $1 billion to fund another white elephant, directly after the eHealth scandal, but this rail corridor is much more actively destructive to health, as it eats diesel and private property as rail land for dinner. At least the eHealth scandal generated mountains of paperwork and consultation fees, and no doubt paid for at least one cottage renovation, but has had no long lasting effects except to add to Ontario's $24.7 billion deficit. Why add three tracks to the cost of this Air Rail Link to the highest deficit in the history of Ontario, Minister Bradley? At the very least, if the Air Rail were electric, it would require fewer tracks and less land acquisition.

Two days ago, as I attended OCAD's Health and Design Conference, I asked these questions: Why do we have to prove through predictive statistics the affect on health of transit projects, rather than applying tried and true measures, such as electrification, as primary prevention policies to protect the health of citizens first? Why are the Ministers of Environment not advocating environmentally sustainable 'best practice' initiatives? Why is it that the provincial Minister of the Environment, John Gerretsen, has allowed a rolling submission process for data by Metrolinx for months after the September 1st deadline of the Environmental Project Review? Since when did Minister Gerretsen begin to work with a transit agency to allow them to revise their data for their EPR submission to enable them to use their choice of rolling stock and transit infrastructure, thus to privilege a public-private partnership? Why is it valid to model future air pollution data for Tier 4 'clean diesel' emissions, when the ultrafine particulate matter of Tier 4 has not been tested yet? And when do our communities get to have a public forum on their views on 'clean diesel' as it does not impact the amount of noise and vibration by rail traffic, and still necessitates the building of 5.5 meter high walls for 10 kilometers through their neighbourhoods, and in many cases, directly beside their homes and businesses?

I also attended the Canadian Urban Institute's Designing Transit Cities Conference where, ironically, Metrolinx was one of the sponsors. Case studies from Zurich, Portland and Paris were presented, and delighted the audience with the ingenuity of their design, sensitivity to community input, and transit implementation. Each of these cities did everything within their power to preserve and enhance the integrity of their built heritage, ensure that the area walking to the transit hub was beautified, and increase business opportunities around each station to ensure transit oriented development. In addition, the business plan and design for each station was designed specifically according to its neighbourhood demographics, topography, location, historical tradition and cultural heritage.

My favourite transit designs were the wayfinding signs and decals for the Light Rail Transit for the RATP in Paris, based upon icons taken from daily life- their cafes, their grates around trees on boulevards, and their gargoyles. Toronto is forty years behind Paris and Portland in its transit policy, yet in a networked society, we can easily get up to speed as we have access to other cities' knowledge and expertise. We can make progressive transit decisions, unlike those given lip service to by Metrolinx in their 'Big Move'. I say "we" because "we" should have input on how our communities are impacted by this transit network as it is our money and future quality of life, and it is clear that noise, vibration and their subsequent mitigation walls are not considered as part of this consultation process by the recent 'clean diesel' decision.

The big question is why has it been decided that all transit projects are healthy, and beneficial to communities by nature, so not worthy of a full Environmental Assessment to ensure that environmentally sustainable decisions are made? As the Toronto City Centre Airport has gone from 25,000 to 750,000 passengers between 2006 and 2009, and the west end of Toronto is the center for all this transit activity, why are the communities in this transit corridor and region considered expendable? In the case of the Air Rail Link and Georgetown corridor, once the corridor is built as diesel with the Pan Am Games as an excuse, with a seven, or eight, track rail capacity, it is unlikely to be electrified, and the frequency of traffic will increase due to the expansion- see the TCCA as a case study. As air and noise pollution in this region increases, businesses will be less likely to invest in these areas affected, as customers are reduced as residents sell their houses. People are already moving out of the Brockton Triangle, which is at the fork of the future rail traffic. In effect, the Georgetown South rail expansion is enabling business development and exurban expansion of the 905 region at the expense of 416 future business development, and investment, in businesses along the rail corridor. Better transit is better business for both the GTA and the 905 when passengers can get on and off to do business from a rail system that has multiple access points along the corridor by being electric.

Had the federal government given the $736 million loan guarantee, and around $450 million of under the counter subsidies, given to a private company, Porter, as federal funds to begin to rebuild and electrify the rail system in Ontario, the desire for short haul flights would be reduced, and we would join the rest of the developed world in enabling sustainable, electric transit, and alleviate the role of our megacities to carry the health burden for the majority of pollution for Canada. Pollution and poverty are hand in hand, and the closing of businesses, and their loss of clientele due to these toxic transit systems, both air and rail, is a very serious and legitimate concern. In effect, our tax money is being used to fund two separate, public-private transit partnerships, aided and abetted by governmental agencies- Porter Airlines and the Toronto City Center Airport, enabled by the Toronto Port Authority and the federal government, and SNC-Lavalin and the GSSE/UPRL enabled by Metrolinx and the provincial government. As GTA citizens, we should press for answers why. It is our tax money, our businesses, and our health which pay the price for others to profit.

This Air Rail Link will be a joyride for executives and athletes on our dime, with no benefit to the neighbourhood businesses it passes by on its way to Pearson Airport. Better transit does mean better business for present and future provincial prosperity. There is an important business case study by the Toronto's Business Improvement Areas which should be launched to research the future economic impact of this rail expansion on their businesses in the corridor. And it should be soon, as Metrolinx is saying that the Air Rail Link must be built as diesel to meet the Pan Am deadline.

References:
Heathrow Express at http://www.heathrowexpress.com/Home
OCAD Health and Design Conference at http://www.ocad.ca/about_ocad/news_events/health_summit/news.htm
Presentation by Rémi Ferredj, Director for Real Estate of the RATP, résident Directeur général des filiales SEDP et Logis-Transports (groupe RATP), Paris, France at the Canadian Urban Institute's Designing Transit Cities Symposium at http://www.canurb.com/events/event_details.php?id=270
Pollution Watch 'Rankings for Pollution in the Great Lakes Basin' and 'Pollution Poverty Report' recommending The City of Toronto pass the proposed Environmental Reporting, Disclosure and Innovation Programme, allowing for better tracking of pollutants in Toronto’s neighbourhoods, at http://www.pollutionwatch.org/pub/pollutionandpoverty.jsp
Community Air and the Toronto Port Authority at http://communityair.org/

Green Pan Am Games, Green Parks, and The Right to Play

Former Mayor David Crombie lobbies to keep 39 inner city school swimming pools open on April 17, 2009 because the City of Toronto cannot afford them. On October 22nd, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced that Ontario has the largest deficit in its history. On October 25th, my neighbourhood park, MacGregor Park, presented a children's play called "All Hallow's Train" about the train tracks crossing its border. On November 1st at the Pumpkin Parade in Sorauren Park, a mother put out her anti-diesel train pumpkin to represent the concerns of her 140 member Toronto Mom's Group for their childrens' health. On November 6th, Ontario won the bid to hold a $2.4 billion Pan Am Games in Toronto, 2015.

These seemingly unrelated facts are intricately interwoven. The two parks, MacGregor and Sorauren, have all the future eight tracks of railroad expansion running directly beside them, and these 464 trains daily will cause irreparable damage to these parks. I thought, as I watched the children's play, whether this play would be possible when the noise of the trains is a non stop wall of sound, and metallic diesel fumes from the trains fill the air. Metrolinx is currently purchasing MP40, 4000 horsepower locomotives, which are much heavier and noisier than previous stock, and their sound travels much further, with a distinctive, high pitched whine, and shudder when they brake. These new generations of children will have very little clean air, or quiet moments, in either playground, or on the running track, behind West Toronto Collegiate in 2015. I wonder if they will be able to perform with period costumes, cut out trains, rolling clocks, and stories written to delight in the railway and amuse their parents, when their lines cannot be delivered over the traffic.

It has been said again and again by Minister of Transportation, Jim Bradley, that the additional $200 - $300 million needed to electrify the Georgetown South Service Expansion and Air Rail Link - not the $8 or $10 billion repeatedly and erroneously stated by Metrolinx to dissuade the taxpayer - is too expensive, yet surprisingly, there is $2.4 billion for the Pan Am Games in the provincial and federal coffers. As part of this Pan Am Games, the Air Rail Link will take the athletes to the Olympic Village through these parks in west end neighbourhoods, so winning these games will speed up its construction to meet this hard deadline.

The Pan Am Games Committee has proclaimed that it wants to be the first 'green games in history'. I wonder what the athletes will think as they board the refurbished 1950s BUDD trains to go to their Olympic Village? If put to a vote, would they think that it is good sportsmanship to impair the lung capacity of children by diesel emissions when they are dependent on their own lung capacity to shave off milliseconds in their performance? The athletes will come from forty-two countries, many of whom have seen systemic poverty, and many of whom have learned that sportsmanship can bring opportunity to learn and travel. I am quite certain that many have been supported by the initiatives of the Right to Play, an organization which creates a healthier world for children through the power of sport and play in developing countries, and would say 'no' to giving children asthma.

In this era of private-public partnerships, untendered contracts, unbridled overspending and cronyism, it is unfashionable to say that I love my vulnerable Ward 18, and want to protect the health of all the children who act, learn and play sports in these parks. The athletes of the Pan Am Games should be made aware that my neighbourhood will be saddled with a diesel corridor which will impact my neighbourhood with a lifetime of pollution, vibration and noise, for their twelve day event. The free community-based events, the Pumpkin Parade, the children's performances, and the right of all children to play in parks without harm, mean the world to me. The welfare of my neighbourhood is priceless, and the health of the children who live within it is not to be used as collateral damage for a temporary sporting event, or air rail link. According to Unicef's Convention of the Rights of the Child, the use of diesel trains, with 'clean diesel' or not, for this rail expansion violates three of its fundamental principles: the right to survival; to develop to the fullest; and to protection from harmful influences.

It seems to me that the cost to electrify the rail corridor is a pittance in comparison to the total budget of the Pan Am Games. When Ontario hosts the Pan Am Games, the contractual agreements for building the infrastructure should be transparent and tendered, the Air Rail Link should be built as electric from the beginning, and the impact of its construction should be considered in relation to the neighbourhoods so that it improves the quality of life of those who live there. It may be that the athletes' lodgings, which will be turned into low income housing, in the West Donlands, will be the only positive, permanent contribution of the Games for disadvantaged residents, if other areas affected are not considered, such as this transit corridor.

I am quite sure that the Pan Am Games Committee, and its athletes, will agree that the lung capacity of athletes is worth as much as those of children. The Pan Am Games Committee should practice what they preach, and publicly announce that the performance of the athletes is based upon good sportsmanship, optimal conditioning, and the right to play, and support the goals of social and environmental justice by ensuring this games has green, electric transit. The Pan Am Games should be green for all parks, playgrounds and track fields throughout Ontario, so that no child is harmed when the athletes come to compete. None of these budding actors, or athletes, in my neighbourhood deserves to have impaired lung capacity to host a twelve day event, or to not be able to play safely in their nearby park for the remainder of their life. The playing field should be level for all in the name of sportsmanship and social justice, internationally and locally.

References:
Crombie begs city to rescue 39 pools, The Star, April 17, 2009 at http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/619943
The Right to Play Canada at http://www.righttoplay.com/site/PageServer?pagename=canada
Unicef: 'Convention on the Rights of the Child' at http://www.unicef.org/crc/
'Ontario deficit billions more than expected' on October 22nd at http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/714276--ontario-deficit-billions-more-than-expected

Quick, Dirty and Diesel: Our Health is Collateral Damage

Recently, an alarmed neighbour of mine, who lives directly beside the future eight tracks of all the diesel rail expansion, sent me Metrolinx's official notice of their air mitigation measures. The notice states that:

"All trains utilized for GO Transit that travel to, from or through Georgetown along the Georgetown South Corridor shall be Tier 4 compliant when service begins or when Tier 4 compliant technology becomes commercially available."

What does this mean to someone, my neighbour, who is now dependent on Metrolinx to build ambient air monitoring activities 'at a minimum of three sampling locations' on a line 32.5 km in length, when the commercial availability of Tier 4 'clean diesel' could be a long time away? What good is community consultation with Metrolinx when air quality is being monitored to prove that your health is not being affected, when the trains are already running? Metrolinx's track record for community consultation is very poor, and its elaborate air monitoring and mitigation measures promise to be no better. My neighbour is horrified at the prospect of these diesel trains in her backyard, and rightfully so. These October 5th stipulations by Minister of the Environment have enabled Metrolinx to build air monitoring stations to study how to develop mitigation measures for 'clean diesel' emissions when the damage to her health is happening in real time, and to enable Metrolinx to buy diesel trains with government permission.

One term I have heard repeatedly, used by representatives from Metrolinx, Minister of the Environment, and Minister of Education, is 'collateral damage'. Collateral damage, a term used in warfare, is defined as 'damage that is unintended or incidental to the intended outcome'. None of the Metrolinx air mitigation measures address the issue at source, the scientific testing of 'clean diesel' before it is used in the midst of a heavily populated rail corridor, in comparison to the environmental impact of electric rail traffic. As part of Metrolinx's cost-benefit analysis, the health of my neighbour, and 300,000 other people, is viewed as 'collateral damage' to this project's rapid implementation. This collateral damage is justified as it will save a little bit of initial infrastructure money for the provincial government, and its straw man, Metrolinx, which cushions the blows for the Liberal Party.

What has become clear to me, through an interview with the head of Metrolinx, is that Metrolinx has recently purchased new Tier 2 diesel locomotives, which will be moved around the rail corridors like chess pieces to meet a series of aggressive project milestones. These new, heavier, noisier Tier 2 diesel locomotives will be shifted to the Georgetown Line to be fitted with platinum catalytic converters to become Tier 4 locomotives emitting 'clean diesel'. This is a form of environmental discrimination, in which the corridor considered to have a lower socioeconomic status, the Georgetown South corridor, is permanently given a noisier, polluting diesel corridor after the Lakeshore corridor has long been electrified. These project milestones are being forced through by Metrolinx before the Terms of Reference in its recently announced electrification study are completed in the coming year, which compares electrification to diesel infrastructure, including its social impact.

Sound confusing? It is to me, too. Industry expert, David Brann, says that these Tier 2 platinum catalytic converters will double the price of the diesel locomotives, and require new hardware. Even SNC-Lavalin has raised an eyebrow at the converters' cost, which depend upon untested and very expensive technology. Right now, platinum costs about $1,400 an ounce on the stock market. And to add insult to injury, officials won't say how much the privately operated rail link to the airport will cost by itself, or how much will be shouldered by taxpayers, until the contract is signed. Quick, dirty, and diesel is the name of this game of chess, and it is happening as I write.

Why not electrify all components of the rail corridor from the outset, and make transparent the private-public partnership with SNC-Lavalin to see whether the physical extent and frequency of service of this rail expansion is actually necessary? The cost of diesel is tied to fluctuating world market prices, platinum catalytic converters will double the cost of the locomotives, the cost of land acquisition along the corridor is high, and clean diesel has not been environmentally tested. The health of our communities should not be viewed as collateral damage for the desire of Metrolinx, and the provincial government, to save a few dollars upfront. We are not human guinea pigs on a chessboard, composed of privileged and less privileged neighbourhoods.

The Clean Coalition will be attending the Climate Change Rally this Saturday, October 24th from 2-4pm at Queen's Park. Come, sign a petition, and check out the absurdity of this Clean Diesel White Elephant with its new improved, platinum catalytic converter!

References:
Expert warns of high cost for planned diesel trains by Brodie Fenlon, October 6, at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/expert-warns-of-high-cost-for-planned-diesel-trains/article1314629/

Interview with Rob Prichard by Brodie Fenlon, October 6th, at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/an-interview-with-rob-prichard/article1314661/

18 Strict Conditions Placed On Metrolinx Diesel Rail Transit Expansion

Just hot off the press. It has been decided that this GSSE/UPRL diesel expansion has been allowed to go forward with eighteen conditions for monitoring health risks, and using Tier 4 diesel, to be built by 2015.

To be honest, I am too angry to write, but I consider it tremendously important that those in the corridor have access to this information. The link to the press release and PDF of eighteen conditions is here: http://www.news.ontario.ca/ene/en/2009/10/strict-conditions-placed-on-metrolinx-rail-transit-expansion.html

"The conditions on the Metrolinx approval would help us deal with the health and environmental impacts from transit growth. As we work to improve transit, we must protect the health and well being of citizens who may be affected by these projects."

— John Gerretsen, Minister of the Environment

Yes, Minister Gerretsen, when did you privilege the right for urban expansion, and 905 developers, to build homes beyond the green belt, and to run diesel trains for passengers who do not exist yet, over the health and welfare of 300,000 residents who live in the GTA corridor?  These are the people whose health and well being must be protected. What doublespeak- when you analyze Minister Gerretsen's remark, it is actually nonsensical as it points out that there is a need to protect those who will be affected by these projects. How about no affect at all, as with electric trains? Shame.

I have lost all faith in all levels of government, and governmental protection agencies, particularly those run by the provincial Liberals and federal Conservatives. There is no such thing as clean diesel, and there is nowhere else in the world that is using diesel trains in cities. Vancouver has the quiet, electric Skytrain, and Calgary has a train powered by wind turbines, and Toronto has hypothetical Tier 4 'clean' diesel trains as an 'alternate' infrastructure, which has not been tested on a population's health yet as it does not commercially exist.  

Our communities are going to be used as an environmental test case for unproven technology and scientifically untested diesel fuel. As some online sage said, "Is clean diesel the same as clean coal?"  Metrolinx is going to run an experiment on the GTA, and we are going to pay for it with our health so they can learn how to mitigate the effects of Tier 4 diesel fuel.  Note that this 'clean diesel' measure will in no way address vibration or noise issues as diesel trains are twice the weight, vibration and noise of electric trains. Therefore, many concerns sent to the Minister of the Environment are not addressed about the impact of this rail corridor on our communities with this decision. 

There is something very rotten in the State of Denmark with this project, and Crown Agencies, such as Metrolinx, which think they have the right to lie to taxpayers, poison our children, and pollute our neighbourhoods.

Please, take 5 minutes to call or email:

Dalton McGuinty

Tel: (416) 325-1941

dalton.mcguinty@ontario.ca, dmcguinty.mpp@liberal.ola.org, dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org

John Gerretsen, Minister of the Environment

Tel: (416) 314-6790

minister.moe@ontario.ca

Jim Bradley, Minister of Transportation

Tel: (416) 327-9200 

minister@mto.gov.on.ca

George Smitherman

Tel: (416) 327-6758

gsmitherman.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org

Keep your message short and to the point. I suggest: 

"Premier, our children need clean air.  Electrify the Georgetown Corridor Now!"

"Minister, demonstrate your commitment to Ontario's Green Agenda. Electrify the Georgetown Corridor!"

"We believe in clean, green, and modern transit. We demand electric trains!"

For more analysis, see Steve Munro: 'Weston Corridor GO/UPRL Approved, But With Conditions' at http://stevemunro.ca/?p=2705

Metrolinx Telemarketing Advisory:

Metrolinx has hired a telemarketing company to ask homeowners about the number of children in each household over the next couple of days. Most likely, this poll is being held to ask leading questions in which telemarketers will try to convince people that the negative health issues have been resolved in this diesel expansion by the use of 'clean diesel'. There is not, and will not be in the future, 'clean diesel'. It does not exist.

Metrolinx is also trying to discredit the Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David McKeown, who has said on record that he recommends electrification as the only solution, by a series of pamphlets delivered to homes along the corridor saying that Metrolinx is working collaboratively with Dr. McKeown. This is not true.

Now is the time to let Metrolinx's telemarketers know that all children, parks, daycare centers, seniors' residences, homes and schools are to be protected as the highest priority, not polluted by 464+ diesel trains passing daily through our neighbourhoods.

Build it once. Build it right. Go electric.