Campaign Update!

Hello everyone!

Websites, canvassing, and meetings oh my! The month of October has proved to be a great month for the Hamilton GNC campaign. To keep everyone in the loop, here are some of the things we have done and are working on at the moment:

New Website
As you can probably notice, a new website has been created for the campaign. The website hosts a lot of great information concerning the steel industry, health impacts from steel industry, what you as citizens can do, and much more! I invite you to take a look around and send us a message if there is anything you would like to see added.

Video Testimonials From the Neighbours
As part of the website development, we have also been asking community members to give testimonials to tell us their stories, experiences, and concerns they have living alongside ArcleorMittal-Dofasco. We are currently waiting for our website to become video-compatible, so keep a look out! In the mean time, if you would like us to create a video so you can voice your concerns, please email kstiel@enviornmenthamilton.org

Meetings, Meetings, Meetings!
To ensure a successful campaign, we aim to educate ourselves as much as we can on the issues pertaining to the steel industry and AMD. Here’s a small sample of the meetings we attended/hosted:

Ministry of the Environment 3rd Party Consultants – Oct 13/09
As part of applying for the Alternative Standards process, the MOE called in 3rd party consultants to determine the current state of the facility and to make suggestions as to where improvements can be made. The findings for this report will be out in December and this will be a great tool in learning how AMD can clean up its act! We’ll keep you posted!

Toronto GNC
Our partners in crime! The Toronto Good Neighbour Campaign has chosen to target Fleetwood Fine Furniture and ask them to clean up their act when it comes to exposing the community to harmful chemicals. This meeting looked at how the two campaigns can work together to create a healthier Ontario.

Occupational Health Clinic for Ontario Workers (OHCOW)
To try to gain more information as to how AMD affects its workers and the community, we met with OHCOW this past week. Unfortunately no specific data could be provided, but they were helpful in providing us with a lot of great resources and information links.

Canvass Time
Next week our second round of canvassing will begin! This past summer we embarked into four main areas: the Beach Blvd strip, the Dalhousie Ave to Cluny Ave area, the Woodleigh Ave to Kenilworth Ave area, and the Kenilworth Ave to Cope Street area. The residents we surveyed in these areas provided us with a great deal of information concerning their experiences and allowed us to hear their concerns as well.

Next week’s canvass will focus on revisiting the houses we weren’t able to reach this summer. We aim to not only allow the residents the opportunity to voice their concerns, but we aim to educate on the campaign and how everyone can get involved.

IF ANYONE IS AVAILABLE TO HELP CANVASS WITHIN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS, PLEASE EMAIL kstiel@environmenthamilton.org

Cheers everyone!
Katie