Our 2011 Newsmaker of the Year
Very much in keeping with the social mood throughout the world, Creemore and area residents insisted on having their voices heard by political leaders and big business in 2011. Motivated by applications for wind turbines within Clearview and the threat of the Highland Companies’ mega quarry in Melancthon Township, this community transformed from peaceable grumblers into active, engaged and outspoken protesters determined to affect change.
In the same year that the Arab spring blossomed and Wall Street was occupied, this neighbourhood planned and engaged in public actions very much in keeping with the rural cultural traditions of the area. From tractor parades to feasts for the masses, local protesters took notes from the success of the Site 41 victory two years ago and through ingenuity, perseverance and resourcefulness, worked to get their message out at the local, national and international level.
The first signs of a year full of protest were raised on April 26 during a mandated public information meeting held by the Highland Companies in Hornings Mills. The multi-national company, backed by a Boston-based hedge fund and proposing a 2,300 acre quarry, was met by hundreds of people, some carrying slogans like “Purity vs. Profit,” “Taters not Craters” and “Stop the Mega Quarry.” From there the movement grew.
Donna Baylis of Dunedin read about the mega quarry after that meeting and it sealed her fate as a protester. “I heard about it and I just knew this was just so wrong,” said Baylis. Her desire to protect the land, water and community lead her into a world she never anticipated being a part of. In the months since, she has committed 40 to 50 hours a week to the cause, both as a member of North Dufferin Agriculture and Community Taskforce (NDACT) and through independent research and letter-writing.
“I’m one of the many making a difference,” she said. “I am just one cog… but you need all of those cogs when you are going up against the government.”
And it is the government she is determined to be heard by. The more she learns, the more concerned she becomes with government and their decision-making. “Ignorance was bliss,” she continued. “I figured I am a Canadian. I recycle. Everything’s good. But now I know better.”
Baylis has pledged the next 10 years to fight the mega quarry and says she now is an activist at heart, who plans on staying engaged in civic actions long after the battle against the Highland proposal has ended. “It is a privilege that I have the education, time and freedom to help make a difference. So I should do it.”
Martha Bull of Mulmur is someone more accustomed to the role of protester. Her first acts of protest took place in the 60s and it was those sit-ins that inspired her action against the mega quarry. As an artist with strong roots in the community, Bull has been inspired by the hills of Mulmur for as long as she can remember. She was highly offended when she heard the Highland reports stated there was no cultural significance to the land slated for the quarry. This spurred the idea of the “paint-in” that took place last July. Along with Carl Cosack, Sandi Wong, Donna Tranquada and others, Bull created an opportunity for artists to gather and “Paint the Beauty of the Hills at Risk.”
Bull feels that artists will play a big role in the fight against the destruction of land as they are able to express a visceral sense of the beauty of the place. She also believed that they have a big stake in this fight because that same inspiring beauty could be lost.
Anti-quarry events continued with a strong country-city connection throughout the summer and fall. In Toronto there were art shows, a Queen’s Park rally and information sessions. Closer to home were a tractor rally and kitchen table meetings. These urban and rural efforts culminated in Foodstock, the biggest gathering ever to be held in Melancthon Township. Organizers say that 28,000 people were out on October 16, carrying plates instead of placards. Superstar chef Michael Stadtlander was a major force behind this event, which was both a protest and a fundraiser. Stadtlander challenged other people in his industry to stand up for the land that grows the food they serve and about 100 different restaurants and caterers took up the idea of the “chef as today’s green warrior,” volunteering their time and resources to serve gourmet offerings in a woodland setting.
While people dined in the woods others were gathered around the stage to see Sarah Harmer and Jim Cuddy, both of whom have taken action against other aggregate projects. They shared the stage with Our Lady Peace front man Jeremy Taggart, members of the Barenaked Ladies and other musical stars. Along with the stars came recognition of the protest, and news of the mega quarry hit national and international media, making the event an unequivocal success.
Meanwhile, in Clearview the ongoing fight over windmills saw the largest public gathering to date. Groups such as WAIT, Preserve Clearview and Wind Concerns Ontario gathered a caravan of hundreds to travel by tractor, car, and on foot in a long, slow parade down County Road 91 to the wpd Canada Fairview Wind Farm public information meeting on July 13.
Among the organizers of the day was Preserve Clearview’s Chuck Magwood. He, along with fellow members Michael Dickinson, Kevin Elwood, Michael Freund, Chris Hoffmann and Doug Caldwell had a victory against wpd in 2010, when they built accessory buildings on their properties making it impossible for the proposed turbines to meet Green Energy Act setback requirements. This rather expensive solution pushed the project away from Magwood’s home, but did not scare the company off completely. Despite his personal victory, Magwood feels wpd has done nothing to alleviate community concerns over wind turbines and continues to fight. “We won the battle,” he said, “but we have not won the war.”
All of the protesters mentioned in this article were quick to point out the efforts of others over their own, and that is in part why it is not one person but the “protester” who has been named the Echo’s newsmaker of the year. 2011 will be remembered (by both the Echo and Time Magazine – we were first surprised, then disappointed, and ultimately honoured that they came to the same conclusion as us!) as the year when not just one person, but the community as a collective, concerned about its future, stood up like those in so many other parts of the world, to insist they be a primary consideration and play an active role in the decisions that will impact the future of our children and grandchildren.
