Campaign Update: February 26th, 2010

An Upwind/Downwind Success!

Firstly, let me thank everyone who came out to the Upwind/Downwind Conference this past weekend to pick up/sign postcards! It was much appreciated and it gave us a great start to this campaign action. From the booth alone we received 76 signatures (which is great considering the amount of people who attended the conference and that fact that many of them were industry reps).

For those of you who picked up postcards, please remember that there is NO MAILING OPTION. Since we plan to present the postcards to the company collectively, all postcards should be returned to us at Environment Hamilton (1130 Barton Street). Additionally, to make it as easy as possible, we are also offering a postcard pickup. If you would like us to pickup the postcards from you, please do not hesitate to give us a shout!

Didn't get a chance to make it to the event? No problem! Postcards can be picked up from our office, delivered to you if you contact us, or printed from our website.


What Do We Plan To Do With the Postcards Once Signed?

As part of the alternative standards application process, the company is required to submit several documents and hold community meetings to educate the pulbic on their plans of action. As such, on September 17th, 2009, the company held an Open House where they invited community stakeholders to discuss the application and what it would mean for the neighbourhood (for a copy/summary of the presentation, visit: http://www.dofasco.ca/bins/doc.asp?rdc_id=249058 and http://www.dofasco.ca/bins/doc.asp?rdc_id=249057).

Given that the company has reached the final stages in the process, another community meeting should be taking place. As said by the Ministry of Environment back in December, they will organize a community meeting to announce the granting of the standard and answer any questions we as a community may have. This is where the letters, the postcards, and you come in! Given that the company, the Ministry and the community will be in the same room together, this will be a great opportunity to raise our concerns about the standards and voice our demands for healthier air in a shorter timeframe.

The letters were a wonderful in terms of generating personal testiments and stories (which are greatly needed and very powerful in a campaign such as this). The postcards, although not overly personal, will give us that other power we need - the power of numbers. Thus, please help us generate as many signatures as possible! And please remember to return them to us so that we can collectively present them to the company and Ministry.

We will definitely keep everyone updated as to the status of this community meeting. Currently the Ministry is behind and thus a date is yet to be set.