4 ~ Wednesday, May 15, 1991 - North Shore News A problem that wont o0 away LAST SUMMER, a successful anti-poHution group in East End Toronto decided to erganize itself around the issue of the horrible smeil caused by a local factory where animal remains were melted down into tallow. The place had been operating for decades. In winter, it wasn’t so bad. But in summer, outside windows were always greasy. No matter how hot it got, you had to keep them sealed against the stench. The trouble was, it was an old working-class district, and not everyone could afford to have air conditioners installed. Barbecues were out of the ques- tion. Just sitting around on the porch in the evening was an in- vitation to vomiting. Visitors never came over more than once. People sniffed at you suspiciously at work or when you went out. it was the smell of death, really. The neighborhood was adjacent to lands administered by a gov- ernment body called the Harbour Commission, controlled by an army of bureaucrats and a hand- ful of elected representatives. The factory itself was actually on har- borfront fand. As fate would have it, the com- pany’s lease was expiring. It would have to apply to the com- mission for permission to renew. And of course the savvy East End anti-pollution group was there ahead of the company boss and his phalanx of lawyers and VPs. Politicians and their aides had Jong since been lobbied by the East Enders. Bureaucrats and their aides had been iobbied. The media had been lobbied. The political context of this lit- tle situation was that Toronto has traditionally been ruled by devel- opers wanting to keep industry down on the railway lands as a kind of right- by-occupancy move, a mirror image of the modern In- dian land-claims position. If the tallow factory got the boot, it would make it harder later to shove another factory into the area. The tree-huggers and subsidized housing zealots would have gained another foothold. Thus, when the boss of the fac- tory presented himself to the Harbour Commissioners, he was not facing an automatically hostile group. In the normal course of events, the commissioners would be Tory or Liberal types in favor of business, definitely not prone to paying anything more than lip service to single-issue grassroots winners. So the boss sat down at the committec table, squinting against the sun-guns from the TV cam- eras, and laid out a comfortable, win-win situation for everyone, 99% sure his reasoning would be so logical and sane that even the protesters would applaud. In several other tallow-making plants he also owned in the U.S., the problem of stench had been overcome by bringing in expensive State-of-the-art scrubbing equip- ment. {t pushed up his capital costs, but it saved him the worse fate of relocating. And, as for the neighbors, well they could all breathe easy. It would only take six months for the equipment to be installed. Not only did the irate citizens not applaud, they booed and heckled. ‘‘A trick!’’ they cried. The politicians around the committee table noticed this and ducked their heads, Oops. This Bob Hunter . STRICTLY PERSONAL would not be your usual easy pro-development vote. For one thing, it wasn’t some- thing sexy like a condo or upscale marketplace being discussed. It was something almost as bad as a slaughterhouse, a relic left over fron the bad old days of city planning, when heavy industry and housing were allowed to hunker down together. Sensing the tide turning against him, the tallow factory boss of- fered to kick in extra money for monitoring, as well as submitting to a year-long delay on the licence, subject to tests proving that air quality had been improv- ed. A commissioner asked the fac- tory boss what would happen if the vote went against him. The answer was growled out: he would throw lawyers at the commission and tie the whole thing up in the courts for maybe seven years, dur- ing which time he wouldn’t feel obliged to install any scrubbing equipment whatsoever. The roll-cal! went against him. By one vote. The deciding nay came from a female politician who took a good look at the crowd, decided that sweet reason and business sense had nothing to do with the next election, and gave the thumb’s-down to the tallow factory’s licence. The boss stomped out with his entourage, angrily lighting a stogie as he went. And, of course, a few weeks Jater the first legal challenges to the commission’s decision landed on the receptionist’s desk. Spring has come now. If you happen to be so unlucky as to drive through the East End neighborhood near the railway lands, you pick up the stink of death from the tallow factory. By now, the fresh-air scrubbers would probably have been in place, and there would be no such odor. As it is, the death-camp stench will be there for probably at least another seven summers, while the lawyers grow fat. After the Harbour Commis- sion'’s cowardly decision, there was much waving of little clench- ed fists in the air. The lady politi- cian who chose expediency over logic was rewarded with cheers. The “‘people’’ had won a decisive victory. I dunno. That may have been democracy in action, But it stinks to high heaven, if you ask me. CATR TESTIS A good night can do wonders for your ¢ days. Chiropr: ractic with 8 SPRING KALLE Now is the time to replace that lumpy, tired, wom out For a worry-free decorating experience with beautiful results Fine Interiors by mattress and box spring thatis oo - robbing you of a good refresh- atricda ing nights steep. This is the mattress de- signed by the Chiropractic Profession to relieve moming backache. Hurry In for yours and save a fot. All sizes reduced. COLONY ; HOME FURNISHINGS 1075 Roosevelt Crescent, Le North Vancouver 985-8738 Fa. 99, aun, 12-4 (2 blocks behind the Avalon Hotel) coker WEDDINGS, VACATIONS, LITTLE LEAGUE ... CAPTURE THE MOMENT WITH THE NEW CANON CAMCORDERS! Canon £63 © Canon 8X zoom lens. © Sports Finder ~ a must feature. © 180° Flexgrip for steady comfortable recording. © 2 ft infra-red Auto Focus. © Advanced titling. © Hot shoe for compact video light. © High speed shutter. © Wireless remote. 2-LUX RECORDING! oo Canon £65 © Same features as E63 plus: © 10X Canon zoom lens. > Digital superimpose. © Professional character titling. © Hard case. ONLY 312 9 G Canon H850-Hia With Graphic and music chips. © Select from 12 chips and 97 different selections of music that you can mix into your recording or titles that come to fife with full muiti-colour, full motion, or mix the music with your action titles: “Incredible.” ¢ Hi8 for best picture quality. © Hi Fi stereo. © Fuzzy Jogic. auto focus and more! FREE COMPACT VIDEO LIGHT & HAXD CASE: 1699 35 YEARS OF SOUND ADVICE ON THE NORTH SHORE: ACROSS FROM SAVE-ON-FOODS 987-4323 or 987-3121 1285 MARINE DRIVE, NORTH VANCOUVER — OPEN 6 DAYS A WEEK, FRIDAYS TIL 9