[IPSM] [tmt_support] Toronto Star: Canada Post accused of meddling in native politics after it refuses to distribute leaflet on asphalt plant

[stef at tao.ca]

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
From:    "TMT Support" <support.tmt at gmail.com>
Date:    Thu, November 27, 2008 8:14 am
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Post office takes a flyer:
Canada Post accused of meddling in native politics after it refuses to
distribute leaflet on asphalt plant

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/544386

November 27, 2008
Joanna Smith
Ottawa Bureau
Toronto Star

OTTAWA–Canada Post is being accused of meddling in native politics for
seeking approval from its head office before allowing a flyer to
circulate in a Mohawk community in eastern Ontario.

Andrew Martin, 31, said his wife went to the post office in
Shannonville, Ont., yesterday morning with the goal of paying $96 to
have a flyer he printed distributed to about 800 mailboxes in the
neighbouring Mohawk territory of Tyendinaga.

Martin said his wife was told the flyer was too controversial and
Canada Post would not deliver it. The couple is Mohawk.

On one side of the flyer was a reprint of a letter from Health Canada
sent to the band council about a local asphalt plant in Tyendinaga
that Martin complained had been spewing acrid smoke that hurts the
eyes and throat.

"We viewed video footage of thick white smoke billowing out of the
asphalt plant blowing across the parking lot over the buildings and
across the street through Shannonville," environmental health officer
Sandra Green wrote in a Nov. 5 letter to the band council.

Green recommended the council give the environment ministry the
technical specifications on the plant's operation, and that in the
meantime it should cease running.

The other side of the flyer describes the chemical makeup of plume
emitted from asphalt plants in general. It also links the plant –
owned by Build All Contractors – to the Tyendinaga chief of police.
Company owner Tom Maracle and Chief Ron Maracle are brothers.

Tom Maracle did not respond to a request for comment.

Martin said when he called the post office to find out why the flyer
was refused, he was told the Tyendinaga police had advised postal
workers not to send out any more unsolicited mail from the community
without approval from Ottawa.

Ron Maracle acknowledged an officer had contacted the post office
regarding an investigation but flatly denied any attempt to stop mail
from being delivered.

The post office in Deseronto, which Martin had been told to call when
he raised the issue with the Shannonville location, would not comment
and referred all questions to the corporate security department at
Canada Post.

Roberto D'Onofrio, of Canada Post's corporate security department,
confirmed the Tyendinaga police had been in touch with him but could
not comment.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Canada Post Blocks Health Canada Advisory to First Nations Community

(Wednesday, November 26, 2008) On Nov. 5th 2008, Health Canada issued
an advisory to the Chief and Council of the Mohawks of the Bay of
Quinte, regarding an open pit asphalt plant located near the western
boundary of the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.

The plant is operated by the Build-All Construction company.
Highlighting concerns that emissions generated from asphalt processing
and other burning activities can have a serious impact on human and
environmental health both on and off reserve, Health Canada strongly
recommended that these activities cease pending a full assessment of
the site.

When MBQ failed to respond to Health Canada's concerns or notify the
community, a local resident attempted to circulate a copy of the
Health Canada advisory through the Shannonville office of Canada Post
this morning.

A Canada Post employee told him that they would not circulate the
advisory as the Post Office had been visited by the Tyendinaga Police
Service and advised by the police that circulating the flyer would be
too controversial.

It should not matter that the Build-All asphalt plant is operated by
the brother of Tyendinaga's Chief of Police.  People have a right to
be informed about companies and activities that could have adverse
effects on their health and the environment.


- 30 -

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Background Information:

TYENDINAGA: HEALTH CANADA ISSUES ENVIRONMENTAL ALERT:

Letter to Tyendinaga Mohawk Band Council "strongly recommends"
immediate closure of asphalt processing plant as "imperative to the
health of residents."

In a letter dated November 5, 2008, addressed to the Chief and Council
of Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Health Canada has issued a scathing
report outlining the impacts of open air burning practices at the
Build All asphalt plant located on old Highway 2.

After receiving complaints from residents and workers in the area of
breathing difficulties, nose bleeds, nausea, burning eyes and throats,
Health Canada has called on Chief and Council to stop the operations
"to ensure the health of local residents and the surrounding
environment."

The letter goes on to state, " There are a few concerns with the
operation of this asphalt plant, firstly open burning exposing
residents on and off reserve to smoke from the asphalt plant processes
and activities.  Secondly, the emissions generated from asphalt
processing and other activities involving burning can have a serious
impact on human and environmental health."

Plume emitted from hot mix asphalt plants generally contain steam,
fine particulate generated by crushing rock used in the asphalt,
metals, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides,
polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and smaller organic compounds such
as phenol, benzene and toluene.  The PAHs and other organic compounds
can condense on the particulate and travel significant distances.

Repeated exposure to these materials can be associated with short and
long-term health effects, including several types of cancer.

When asked what the police could do regarding Build All operations,
Chief of Police Ron Maracle publicly stated, "This is my brother's
business and I certainly wont let you shut him down."