But first, they’ll have to get by the Lambton-Middlesex Landowners Association;
Doug and Sheila Thompson own and operate Thompson’s Hardwood, a sawmill specializing in the milling and harvesting of hardwood lumber. The company employs between 25 and 30 people, most of whom are residents of the area.
Doug Thompson — who with his wife took the mill over a number of years ago from his father, Dean Thompson — said the MOE recently notified him that they would be entering the business on Feb. 22 to do an “air facility inspection.”
Thompson said this has become a problem for his industry, adding that the ministry had recently shut down eight sawmills in Eastern Ontario following similar inspections, an issue the Ontario Landowners Association (OLA) has taken up on behalf of private sawmill owners.
“They’re saying sawdust is a pollutant, but as far as I can see top soil is basically sawdust and rotted trees,” said Thompson, who added that he sees it as just an excuse to mandate a bunch of new equipment that the business doesn’t need and can ill afford.
[…]
When MOE officers Whiting and Hutt arrived, they were confronted by an enthusiastic but peaceful crowd that blocked their entry to the premises. Hutt spoke to the Thompsons and told them that under the Environmental Protection Act he had the right to enter the property and conduct an inspection of the facility.
[…]
After considerable discussion Hutt said: “I know I haven’t got a chance in Hell of getting into this building today.”
h/t Louise
Actually Coach this is Kate’s personal blog which she shares with the rest of us, our right to post comments here are at her pleasure. You don’t have a right to troll blogs, nor do I.
McChimpy’s army of evil flying monkeys continue to systemically ruin, rob and harass private operators and land owners. The idea is to get them assimilated into one of the government commodity regulatory marketing syndicates (where the profits are skimmed as “operating/member fees”) – or ruin them with regulatory fines and closures.
This is one reason I wish Randy Hillier had become the OPC leader. McGuinty heads a province which has become a klepto-nomic syndicate not unlike the corrupt machine that runs Chicago/Illinois.