Oshawa Port Authority: Another Case of Conservative Cronyism
Creation of Port Authority Against Will of Oshawa City Council; Process Tainted by Shady Appointments
February 13, 2012
OTTAWA – Converting Oshawa’s Harbour Commission into a federal Port Authority was portrayed as a step towards a brighter future for the city. Instead, the Harper government is ruining Oshawa’s harbour front for good with an unwanted ethanol plant pushed through by the newly-created Port Authority – against the wishes of Oshawa’s citizens.
Making matters worse: the new entity’s director is a close friend and ally of MP and Finance Minister Flaherty (see The Globe and Mail article). A clear case of Conservative cronyism.
Last Friday, Transport Canada announced the creation of the Oshawa Port Authority, eliminating the country’s last harbour commission and replacing it with direct federal control.
The problem: a 2008 study commissioned by the ministry strongly recommended handing the Crown land back to the City of Oshawa (who had ceded it in the 1960s). The city’s vision: a mixed-use harbour, including goods, services, bike trails and cultural offerings.
Instead the Conservatives are ramming a 12-storey ethanol plant down the citizens’ throat. The new Port Authority director will have the sole authority to put the ethanol plant in place – after a rushed, negligent Environmental Assessment.
That director happens to be local MP and Finance Minister Flaherty’s riding association president – another instance of serving up your friends with well-paid government positions.
NDP Transport Critic Olivia Chow hammers the Conservative government about these undemocratic, unethical acts during Question Period. A stunned Parliamentary Secretary is struggling for words. One thing is clear: the citizens of Oshawa are the losers while Conservative insiders help themselves to taxpayers’ money.
Transcript:
Ms. Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, David Crombie, in his report to Transport Canada recommended that all Oshawa port lands to be handed to the city council. The city wants a clean and green development, with bike trails and cultural facilities, not an ethanol plant.
Instead of clean and green and civic pride, the Conservatives have taken over these lands. Why is the Conservative government trying to impose an ethanol plant against the wishes of the good people of Oshawa?
I would also remind the member that the creation of this port authority is excellent news for the local workers and the local economy in the community of Oshawa and the surrounding area, and it is this government that has undertaken that initiative. They have an excellent member of Parliament who is working to create jobs there. The member should celebrate all of that.
Ms. Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, the city of Oshawa and the mayor want control of their own port lands.
They have never been consulted about this port authority. The Conservatives said no to their control and created a federal port authority. Who got the plum job of setting up this port authority? The Minister of Finance’s riding association president.
Did the Conservatives create another patronage board just to reward the minister’s friend, or did they do it so they could impose the refinery against the wishes of the people of Oshawa, or are they doing both?
Mr. Pierre Poilievre (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, that hon. member knows much better than that.
The transition team in place was already at the helm of the port commission before the announcement last week. The partners are of course going to collaborate to put in place a successful new port authority. They are going to work with the city. They are going to work with community stakeholders. They are going to continue, as part of our economic action plan for jobs and growth, to reach out and get the job done.
