PUBLICATIONCape Breton Post
DATE Sat 10 Jul 1999
EDITIONFINAL
SECTION/CATEGORY Cape Breton
PAGE NUMBER7
BYLINE Steve MacInnis
STORY LENGTH 273
HEADLINE:
Candidates targeted by Rescue Our Communities group
A newly formed Sydney citizens group is taking aim at provincial
candidates for the July 27 election with questions relating to the
clean up of the .
Rescue Our Communities (ROC) was born out of the relocation and
subsequent buy out of residential homes on Frederick Street and
Curry's Lane.
ROC member Ann Ross said Friday the group has sent letters to all
three provincial party leaders and candidates asking for their
views on the clean up.
Ross was among the residents relocated earlier this year to a
downtown Sydney hotel after traces of arsenic were found seeping
into basements.
However, Ross was excluded from the buy out offer because
provincial Environment Department officials concluded the
contamination wasn't coming from the coke ovens site but rather
natural soil conditions.
She was among the first to pitch a tent across the street from
Premier Russell MacLellan's Sydney home to protest the move.
Ross has since returned to her home but a strong contingent of
campers remain on site.
Ross said ROC is also planning a protest for today at the campaign
headquarters of incumbent Liberal MLA Paul MacEwan. The protest is
set for 9 a.m.
The questions issued ask candidates and their leaders whether they
would release all health findings from studies relating to the
coke ovens and tar ponds; whether they would relocate residents
prior to any remediation work on site; what were the buffer zones
established in the 1970s and whether orange dust emissions still
found in yards in Whitney Pier is safe.
The watershed area is now being reviewed for a clean up headed by
the Joint Action Group.
PUBLICATIONCape Breton Post
DATE Sat 10 Jul 1999
EDITIONFINAL
SECTION/CATEGORY News
PAGE NUMBER1 / Front
BYLINE Steve MacInnis
STORY LENGTH 429
HEADLINE:
JAG employee files court action against volunteer
A spat between the director of public relations for the Joint
Action Group (JAG) and one the group's founding members has
spilled over into the courts.
Germaine LeMoine has filed a peace bond application against Mark
Ferris, a vocal member of JAG who has been with the group since
its formation in August, 1996.
The application stems from an altercation between the two at JAG's
annual meeting in June. Ferris is presently suspended from JAG
because of comments he made to LeMoine at the meeting.
In her application, sworn July 6, LeMoine said she fears personal
injury and damage to her property as a result of Ferris's outburst
June 26.
Her application quotes Ferris as saying: ``You red-headed bitch.
You're going down, you're going down LeMoine.''
She also accuses Ferris of screaming at her and pointing his
finger in her face.
A hearing is scheduled for July 19, at which time Ferris will be
asked whether he consents to the peace bond or wishes a trial.
Given the volume of cases now before the Sydney provincial court,
a likely trial date will be late January, 2000.
Ferris's provincial court appearance comes five days after he's
scheduled to appear before JAG's executive committee to answer a
charge of breaching the group's code of conduct.
``He overstepped his bounds and offended an employee of JAG
greatly,'' Dan Fraser explained at the time the suspension was
issued in June. Fraser is the new chairperson of JAG, elected at
the annual meeting.
In an interview with the Cape Breton Post, Ferris admitted to
calling LeMoine the offensive name and accuses the executive
committee of overstepping its bounds in failing to refer the
matter to JAG's ethics committee.
JAG is mandated to develop a remediation plan for the Muggah Creek
Watershed - a highly contaminated area located in the centre of
Sydney. The area includes the tar ponds which are considered
Canada's worst toxic waste dump containing 700,000 tonnes of
highly toxic sludge.
The JAG process is community-based with all committee decisions
first being vetted by a round table of community and government
members. All three levels of government fund the process.
As well, Ferris accused Fraser of being a government plant in the
organization to wrestle away control of operations from the
community volunteers.
Fraser has denied the allegation, saying he had no meetings with
JAG's funding partners prior to his election in which he defeated
two other candidates.
As a result of the suspension, Ferris is no longer chair of JAG's
site security committee or a member of the human resources
committee.
PUBLICATIONThe Halifax Chronicle-Herald
DATE Saturday July 10, 1999
PAGE A5
BYLINE Tera Camus
HEADLINE:
JAG tries to suspend member for cursing
Sydney - It's not every day RCMP are called in to referee a Joint
Action Group meeting.
But that's what happened Thursday night when some members refused to
allow long-time volunteer Marc Ferris to attend their secret meeting
at the Coast Guard College.
"We're not following our own regulations," Mr. Ferris said Friday
of the group that has previously been described as open and
transparent.
Mr. Ferris was handed a suspension by four executive members a week
ago after he called public relations director Germaine LeMoine a "
red-headed bitch."
But that executive, under new chairman Dan Fraser, is not recognized
to have that kind of power. Only the entire membership of 40, the
smaller steering committee or the group's ethics committee has that
authority, said member John MacMullin, a staunch defender of the
process.
"If they accept my apology, which they don't seem to want, then we
can't move ahead," Mr. Ferris said. "They have to straighten out JAG."
He said he called Ms. LeMoine the name out of frustration that she's
being paid $10,000 more than the $45,000 approved by JAG back in
1997.
Moved to tears, Mr. Ferris said he's only trying to keep JAG on the
right track. The group was formed in 1996 to find a way to clean up
toxic waste sites in downtown Sydney.
He's considering a lawsuit.
"They are not getting what they want. Nobody is quitting. I'm going
to go to every meeting until this is sorted out."
Name calling isn't unusual at JAG meetings. Former chairman Bucky
Buchanan once had to apologize to Mr. Ferris for cursing at him in
public. Another member, Bill O'Neil, was challenged to a fight.
Those members were never tossed out.
Even Bruno Marcocchio was given a choice in 1997 after he called a
member a whore. He was asked to apologize or remove himself. He
chose to leave.
An "extraordinary" public meeting will be held July 13 to deal with
Mr. Ferris's remark.
On Friday, Mr. Fraser defended the executive committee's action.
Mr. Fraser, who witnessed the name calling, admitted Ms. LeMoine is
being paid more than what was approved.
"With the offer of employment was a grid - additional raises over a
period of time," he said. "Regrettably that grid was not brought
back to the process, that's very true."
He said suspending Mr. Ferris was "an urgent matter" because Ms.
LeMoine was a victim of harassment.
Ms. LeMoine refused to comment. Police so far have been kept out of
it.
"If you have a situation where there is fear, endangerment or
whatever in the employee's mind, you must separate the two
individuals or ... take corrective action," Mr. Fraser said.
Sydney-Victoria MP Peter Mancini said Mr. Ferris's allegations of
misappropriation of funds has to be sorted out. "My concern is to
ensure the cleanup of the tar ponds site and
is done in an appropriate and timely fashion and to guard the public
funds," he said.
JAG recently received $62 million for clean-up work. The meeting on
Thursday was to establish a framework for the project.
7072C-2012 Jul 99 NOVA SCOTIA : "ADA HEARN"06:12
CBC-NW/CBC PROTESTOR IN THE TENT CITY OUTSIDE 04:45
MINUTES
EARLY MORNING THE NOVA SCOTIA LEGISLATION, IS
NATIONALINTERVIEWED ABOUT THE TAR PONDS
THAT ARE POLLUTING NOVA SCOTIA
NEIGHBOURHOODS . CONTRARY TO
ACCUSATIONS ADA HEARN AND HER
FELLOW PROTESTERS ARE NOT LAUNCHING
THEIR PROTEST AT THIS TIME BECAUSE
IT IS ELECTION TIME. RATHER THEY
STARTED THEIR PROTEST WHEN THE
COMPASSIONATE HOTEL LEAVE TO MRS.
ROSS WAS ENDED AND SHE WAS FORCED
TO RETURN TO HER TOME WHERE TOXIC
LEVELS ARE DANGEROUS. SO FAR THERE
HAS BEEN NO CONCRETE POSITIVE
FEEDBACK DESPITE HIGH CANCER RATES
AND OBVIOUS DANGERS WITH THE
ARSENIC LACED OOZE IN MANY
BASEMENTS.
(RAVI BAICHWAL)
7 09 Jul 99 REPORT FROM NOVA SCOTIA
PEOPLE ARE CAMPING ACROSS FROM RUSSEL MCLELLAN, NS PREMIER IN PROTEST OF
THE
GOVERNMENT'S NATIONALIN ACTION ABOUT AN ORANGE GOO THAT HAS BEEN SEEPING
INTO
THE BASEMENTS OF PEOPLE'S HOMES FROM THE SITE OF FORMER COKE OVENS. THERE
IS A
HIGHER THAN AVERAGE CANCER RATE IN THE AREA. PEOPLE ARE WORRIED ABOUT THE
TAR
PONDS AND THE PCBS THAT THEY CONTAIN. THERE HAS BEEN SOME ATTEMPTS TO
CLEAN
UP THE MESS AND SOME FEDERAL MONEY, BUT THE CLEANUP IS TAKING TOO LONG.
THERE
IS USUALLY ABOUT 13 CHILDREN AND BETWEEN 11 AND 30 ADULTS CAMPING OUT.
THE
PROTEST IS IN NO WAY CONNECTED TO THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY ELECTION
CAMPAIGN.
THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND TORY LEADERS CALLED ADA HEARN ABOUT THE
ISSUE.
"ADA HEARN", PROTESTOR
(TOM ALLEN, JANE KANSAS)
