Former Mayor Bob Bennett and The Fight Against Acid Rain

ACID RAIN AND THE CHALLENGE OF A MAYOR TO HIS COUNCIL

IT ENDED IN RESIGNATION IN THE TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES

     I REMEMBER THIS PERIOD WELL. I WAS A ROOKIE REPORTER, FOR THE MUSKOKA LAKES-GEORGIAN BAY BEACON, COVERING THE TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES. THERE WERE MEETINGS HELD EVERY SECOND MONDAY, AT THE TOWNSHIP HALL IN PORT CARLING.

     MAYOR BOB BENNETT WAS NEVER ONCE, IMPATIENT WITH ME, AS I LEARNED THE PROTOCOL OF MUNICIPAL REPORTING. HE COULD APPEAR STERN AND UNAPPROACHABLE, BUT MANY TIMES, HE WOULD TAKE ME INTO HIS OFFICE, FOR AN INTERVIEW……THAT HE WOULD ONLY GIVE TO ME. I GOT QUITE A FEW EXCLUSIVES BACK THEN, AND TIPS ON OTHER MUNICIPAL NEWS OF THE WEEK. MAYBE HE SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE THIS, BUT HE DID ANYWAY. I FOUND HIM A KINDLY CHAP, WHO WAS SINCERE AND UP-FRONT WHEN OTHER LOCAL POLITICIANS WERE EVASIVE AND RELUCTANT TO GO ON THE RECORD, DURING INTERVIEWS. I KNOW WHY BOB GOT FRUSTRATED WITH THE COUNCIL, DURING THIS PERIOD. I UNDERSTOOD WHY HE FOUND HIMSELF OUTDATED AND REDUNDANT, EVEN THOUGH HE HAD JUST WON RE-ELECTION. HE HAD A COMPANY (COUNCIL) OF FENCE-SITTERS, AND THEY HAD NO WILL TO PUT THEMSELVES IN DANGER, BY STEPPING BEYOND THE SAFETY OF THEIR OWN STATUS QUO. THIS WOULD EVENTUALLY BE THEIR UNDOING, WHEN THE ROSENEATH CONTROVERSY ERUPTED, AND THEY FOUND IT IMPOSSIBLE TO STAY NEUTRAL AND KEEP THEIR JOBS. WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS A SAFE DECISION, ON A RE-ZONING, NEARLY COLLAPSED THEIR COUNCIL WITH RIGOROUS PROTEST FROM THE MUSKOKA LAKES ASSOCIATION.

     "THE MAYOR , IN THE PAST, HAD ALWAYS BEEN ACCUSTOMED TO HEADING COUNCILS WHICH HAD PUT THE PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE FOREFRONT AND HE WAS BITTERLY OPPOSED TO HIS PRESENT COUNCIL'S ATTITUDE. HE EVEN MENTIONED TO THE PRESS THAT COUNCIL HAD AN ATTITUDE OF SELF-HELP, AND THE PUBLIC BE DAMNED."

     THE QUOTATION ABOVE WAS WRITTEN BY FORMER MAYOR, BOB BENNETT, OF THE TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES, IN HIS BIOGRAPHICAL WORK, ENTITLED "BINDLE STIFF." I REMEMBER BEING PART OF THE PRESS GANG BACK THEN, WITH LOU SPECHT, BILL COLE AND GAR LEWIS, FROM CKCO NEWS, AND WE KNEW BOB WAS GETTING RESTLESS, AND HIGHLY AGITATED ABOUT THE LACK OF CO-OPERATION REGARDING THE PRESSING ISSUE OF ACID RAID.

     "IN AN IDLE MOMENT THE MAYOR HAD WRITTEN UP A FORM OF RESIGNATION. IN HIS LETTER OF RESIGNATION, HE HAD OUTLINED MOST OF HIS COUNCIL'S FAULTS AND HE WAS NOW CONTEMPLATING SERVING THE RESIGNATION ON HIS COUNCIL. HE HAD HELD OFF BECAUSE OF HIS RECENT INVOLVEMENT IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS, WHICH HE WAS HOPEFUL IN CHANGING," WROTE BOB BENNETT, REFERRING TO HIMSELF AS "THE MAYOR."

     "HE WANTED TO ESPECIALLY DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE ACID RAIN FALLOUT PROBLEM. HE HAD A SENSE OF THE TERRIBLE DISASTER SUCH ACID FALLOUT WAS HAVING ON HIS AREA. HE COULD SEE THAT THE LAKES WERE DYING, THE CRAYFISH WERE ALMOST NON-EXISTENT IN THE LAKES. HE HAD USED THEM FOR BAIT TO CATCH THE LOVELY LAKE TROUT FOR WHICH HIS AREA HAD ONCE BEEN FAMOUS. NOW THERE WERE VERY FEW LAKE TROUT AND THE GOVERNMENT HAD POSTED WARNINGS ABOUT EATING THOSE FEW PEOPLE MIGHT NOW CATCH. THEY WERE BEING REPLACED BY OTHER COARSER AND MORE RESISTANT FISH, SUCH AS PIKE AND OTHERS NOT NEARLY AS EDIBLE."

     HE WRITES, "THE MAYOR HAD GIVEN A SPEECH ONCE TO A SMALL GATHERING OF LOCAL BUSINESSMEN, AND WHEN HE FINISHED THERE HAD BEEN A STONY SILENCE. HE HAD BEEN OUTLINING SOME OF HIS VIEWS ON ACID RAID PROBLEMS IN THAT AREA (TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES). SOME OF THEM HAD COME UP TO HIM LATER AND CHIDED HIM FOR TRYING TO SCARE AWAY THE TOURISTS SO BADLY NEEDED IN THEIR AREA. THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, THE MAYOR HAD BEEN TAKING RAIN SAMPLES, AND HE HAD A CONFLICTING OPINION WITH THE HIGHER LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT, WHICH CLAIMED MOST OF THE ACID RAIN, FALLING IN HIS AREA, CAME FROM THE CENTRAL INDUSTRIAL ARE TO THE SOUTH (UNITED STATES - OHIO VALLEY). HIS OWN SAMPLE INDICATED A MORE LOCAL SOURCE TO THE NORTH AND WEST OF HIS AREA, WHERE A HUGE SMELTER WAS LOCATED. AGAIN THE BUREAUCRATS HAD POINTED UP HIS LACK OF PROFESSIONAL TRAINING, AND SAID HE WAS MISTAKEN. HOWEVER, THERE WERE SOME OUTSIDE OF THE GOVERNMENT, WHO HAD VERY GOOD ACADEMIC TRAINING IN RELATED SUBJECTS AND AGREED WITH HIM. THE PROBLEM WAS THAT MOST OF THESE PEOPLE WERE EITHER EMPLOYED BY THE GOVERNMENT OR FIRMS WHICH DEPENDED ON THE GOVERNMENT FOR CONTRACTS. THE MAYOR HAD SPENT A CONSIDERABLE SUM OF HIS OWN MONEY ON TESTS OF THE ACID AND THE RELATED PROBLEM OF MERCURY WHICH WAS NOW FOUND TO BE LEACHING OUT OF THE ROCKS AND KILLING THE FISH AND OTHER LIVING ORGANISMS IN THE LAEKS AND RIVER."

     "PROBABLY THE MAYOR BELONGED TO A GENERATION WHO TOOK THEIR PROMISES MORE SERIOUSLY, ALTHOUGH HE DID THINK THAT SOME OF THE OTHER COUNCILS IN THE SURROUNDING MUNICIPALITIES DID HAVE MORE CONSCIENTIOUS MEMBERS THAN THOSE ON HIS COUNCIL." BOB BENNETT FROM HIS BOOK, "BINDLE STIFF." (PUBLISHED IN 1985)

     THE BOOK IS ACTUALLY ABOUT MR. BENNETT'S YEARS AS A YOUNG ADULT, SPENT LIVING AS A HOBO, AND TRAVELLING ALL OVER NORTH AMERICA ON BOX CARS. IT IS ONE OF THE MOST FASCINATING BOOKS ON HOBOS I'VE EVER READ, AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO ME, BECAUSE I SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH BOB, AS A REPORTER, AND LATER AS A FRIEND, WHEN WE'D MEET-UP AROUND THE DISTRICT. THE LAST TIME I TALKED TO HIM WAS AT AN ART CAMPBELL AUCTION SALE, IN THE EARLY 1990'S, ON BEAUMONT DRIVE IN BRACEBRIDGE. HE WAS STILL BITTER ABOUT HIS FIGHT WITH INCO, OVER THE MATTER OF ACID RAIN, AND ABOUT THE COUNCIL HE FELT LET HIM DOWN, AS MAYOR, WHEN THE FIGHT GOT UNDERWAY. WHAT HE IMAGINED AS THE TOWNSHIP FIGHTING INCO, TURNED OUT INSTEAD, TO BEING A CITIZEN ACTION, AND IT DID NOT GO IN HIS FAVOR. BUT WHAT BOB BENNETT DID, REGARDLESS, WAS SET DOWN THE PLATFORM, FOR RECOGNITION OF THE ACIDIFICATION OF OUR LAKES, WHICH SO MANY OTHERS CLIMBED ATOP, TO MAKE THEIR RIGHTEOUS CLAIMS ABOUT PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT. MP, FOR MUSKOKA-PARRY SOUND, STAN DARLING, WAS A POLITICAL DYNAMO WHEN IT CAME TO REPRESENTING THE ISSUE ON PARLIAMENT HILL, AND WHETHER OR NOT HE EVER REFERENCED THE DOGGED WORK OF BOB BENNETT OR NOT, HAVING KNOWN BOTH MEN AT THE SAME TIME, I KNOW FOR FACT, THAT THE SABRE RATTLING OF THE MUSKOKA LAKES MAYOR HAD A PROFOUND IMPACT IN MUSKOKA GENERALLY, AND ON MR. DARLING, AS OUR REPRESENTATIVE IN OTTAWA.

     BOB WAS AN INTELLIGENT, AMBITIOUS, COMPETENT MAYOR, WHO FOUND HIMSELF MERGING INTO AN ERA THAT WAS BRINGING ABOUT TOO MUCH CHANGE, TOO QUICKLY, MOVING A SMALL REGION INTO SOMETHING MUCH LARGER IN TERMS OF DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT. IT'S TRUE WHAT HE FELT, ABOUT BEING OUT OF PLACE…..AN OLD TIME POLITICIAN IN A MUCH MORE AGGRESSIVE PERIOD OF CHANGEOVER……PARTICULARLY IN ATTITUDE. BUT BOB KNEW WHAT WAS COMING DOWN THE PIKE, AND IT WASN'T LONG, BEFORE, AND FROM THE SIDELINES, HE WATCHED THE TERRIBLE YEARS OF POLITICAL TURMOIL, WHICH BEGAN IN EARNEST WHEN THE PROPOSAL WAS MADE, TO RE-ESTABLISH A MAJOR RESORT ON THE FORMER ROSENEATH PROPERTY ON LAKE MUSKOKA, WHICH PITTED LOCAL COUNCIL, AND TOWNSHIP RESIDENTS, AGAINST COTTAGER ASSOCIATIONS……SOMETHING THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY LEAD TO THE INVOLVEMENT OF SEASONAL RESIDENTS RUNNING FOR MUNICIPAL COUNCIL SEATS BACK IN THE 1980'S…..TO ENFORCE THEIR PRIVILEGE OF INPUT, IN REGIONAL GOVERNANCE. I THINK BOB MAY HAVE FELT OKAY ABOUT HAVING RESIGNED JUST PRIOR TO THIS DIVISIVE PERIOD IN TOWNSHIP HISTORY.

     I HAVE OFFERED THIS LITTLE EDITORIAL RETROSPECTIVE, NOT BECAUSE IT MIRRORS THE PRESENT DEBACLE IN THE VILLAGE OF BALA, REGARDING THE NEW HYDRO-ELECTRIC INSTALLATION, APPROVED FOR THE FALLS…..BUT BECAUSE IT CLEARLY ILLUSTRATES WHAT PASSION FOR THE MUNICIPALITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT CAN DO TO A POLITICAL CAREER. IT'S ROUGH OUT THERE, BEING DEDICATED TO THE WELL-BEING OF YOUR CONSTITUENTS, BUT FACING THE REALITY, THAT THE ODDS CAN BE STAGGERING TO THE CONTRARY…….AND IN THE CASE OF THE DIVIDE IN THIS CHARMING LITTLE WATERSIDE COMMUNITY, IT IS MILDLY REMINISCENT OF WHAT PERSONAL SACRIFICES HAPPENED IN THE EARLY 1980'S. BOB KNEW HE HAD RUN OUT OF THE WILL TO BATTLE COUNCILLORS ON THE ISSUE OF ACID RAIN, AND STANDING AS A COMMITTED COUNCIL, TO CHALLENGE INCO. I HOPE IT DOESN'T END THE SAME WAY, AS IT DID BACK THEN, BECAUSE I DON'T BELIEVE IT WOULD SERVE ANYONE'S BEST INTEREST. I DO SEE A LOT OF SIMILARITIES TO THE DAYS I WAS SITTING IN THAT COUNCIL CHAMBER WITH MY COLLEAGUES, WATCHING HISTORY IMPRINT IN THE MOST PROFOUND WAY. I WAS THERE ON ELECTION NIGHT, THAT FIRST YEAR COTTAGERS TOOK THEIR PLACE IN MUNICIPAL GOVERNANCE, AND THERE WAS AN UNMISTAKABLE PALL. YET IT TURNED OUT TO BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TOWNSHIP, AND ACTUALLY CREATED BETTER RELATIONS BETWEEN PERMANENT AND SEASONAL RESIDENTS, AND MUNICIPAL COUNCIL. WHAT HAD SEEMED LIKE A RIFT THAT WOULD LAST FOREVER, AN ORDEAL BY FIRE, ACTUALLY FOSTERED A NEW AND IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ALL THE STAKE-HOLDERS.

     I WOULD STILL RATHER LIVE AMONGST PASSIONATE FOLKS, THAN BE MIRED IN THE COMPLACENCY OF THOSE CELEBRANTS OF STATUS QUO, AS THEIR MANTRA; ESPECIALLY DURING THOSE PERIODS OF UPHEAVAL, WHEN THERE IS A GREAT NECESSITY TO CHALLENGE WHAT APPEARS, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, TO BE BEYOND CHALLENGE. I HAVE BEEN IN THESE POSITIONS MANY TIMES IN MY LIFE, AS BOTH A REPORTER AND PROTESTOR OF DEVELOPMENT, AND I SHALL NEVER FORGET THOSE WHO STEPPED BACK, WHEN THE GOING GOT TOUGH……BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T FEEL SAFE AND SECURE, STANDING UP FOR THEIR PRINCIPLES…..STANDING BY THEIR NEIGHBORS, WHEN THE SHOW OF SOLIDARITY WAS NEEDED THE MOST.

     IN BALA, I HOPE THERE IS AN EVENTUAL RESOLVE, THAT WORKS TO HEAL THE FEELINGS OF THOSE FIGHTING WHOLE-HEARTEDLY, ON EITHER SIDE OF THE DAM ISSUE. IT WILL TAKE MANY DECADES, I'M SURE.

     THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING ME TODAY.