By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The topic of misinformation entered the chat at Chatham-Kent council April 27.
It arose following an unsuccessful bid by Chatham-Kent Coun. Alysson Storey to postpone final approval of the $160 million waste-to-energy Project.
During the meeting, Storey brought a motion forward to delay a decision until further public consultation could be conducted.
But the motion failed 14-4, with Michael Bondy, Amy Finn, Rhonda Jubenville and Storey as naysayers.
Storey said she was concerned with the level of financial risk posed by the project and a lack of public input.
“Overall, we’ve received a lot of information but we haven’t included the public effectively in that process and I think we could,” Storey told council, adding she felt taxpayers weren’t being properly represented. “The bottom line is that we didn’t do what we normally do with public consultation.”
Finn noted there was a lot of “misinformation” around the project, stating that wouldn’t have happened if information had been communicated to the public “in a way they can understand it.”
Melissa Harrigan decided to weigh in, stating council is put in a “difficult position” when motions to postpone a project are brought up – particularly in an election year.
“We live in a world of misinformation,” Harrigan stressed, adding constituents have reached out to her with questions related to false information circulating on social media.
“Engagement is very important, but social media is also really filled with misinformation and I think if we’re always bending to comments that we’re hearing, that are fuelled by misinformation, we will, as a council, never make decisions,” she said.
Harrigan pointed out council has received numerous reports on the waste-to-energy project, adding councillors bear some responsibility relaying information to people in their wards.
“I’m voting no on this and I’m sure there will be some misinformation about voting no for this, but I think it is the right thing to do,” the councillor said, stressing the project benefits the community.
In her comments, Jubenville said she wanted to “clarify” that “opposing comments” made by councillors does not mean they are spreading misinformation.
“That’s what democracy is and we’re entitled to have different opinions,” Jubenville said.
The back and forth continued, and Harrigan brought up a point of order.
“I was not speaking about anybody’s councillors’ comments,” she said. “I was speaking more about misinformation on social media. I’d just like to make that very clear.”
“Thank you for clarifying,” Jubenville said.
Following a question from Marjorie Crew about the ramifications of delaying a decision, Quinton said that if postponed, the project would be dead in the water as the cutoff for one of the funding streams was mere days away.
Several councillors expressed enthusiasm for the project.
“Greenfield is an established partner in Chatham-Kent,” said Jamie McGrail. “This makes sense. This is what we’re supposed to do; we’re supposed to partner and move forward together and bring forth solutions that help everybody.”
Ryan Doyle said the project creates “a great revenue stream” for Chatham-Kent, adding many safeguards have been put in place to shield the municipality from any liability.
Trevor Thompson called the project a “great investment.
“I don’t view this as a gamble at all,” Thompson said. “When we look at all the information that’s been presented to us, strictly from an investment standpoint, this is more information than a shareholder ever gets.”
Thompson pointed out the Chatham project is not the first local anaerobic digester, as one has been operating successfully in Ridgetown for years.
Brock McGregor said the project solves issues the PUC is facing while providing revenue for the tax base. Plus, he said, the example of Entegrus, in which the municipality is a shareholder, serves as a successful model for the waste-to-energy investment agreement.
Crew called the project innovative, adding it wasn’t done in secrecy, as eight reports have come to council since the beginning.
“We told staff to be innovative and come back with some revenue streams, and you did,” Crew said.
