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Friday November 29, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday November 29, 2019

‘We can’t take that back’: Eisenberger on keeping Hamilton sewage spill details secret

March 28, 2009

Mayor Fred Eisenberger is standing by Hamilton city council’s decision not to disclose publicly the full magnitude of a massive sewage spill for nearly a year.

“The incident happened already,” Eisenberger said Tuesday. “The material, whatever was there, had already gone into the system. We couldn’t get it back.”

The mayor spoke to The Spectator for the first time about the estimated 24-billion-litre sewage leak into Chedoke Creek, which flows into Cootes Paradise, after returning home from an economic development trip in India.

Last week, The Spectator reported that city officials had kept secret not only the volume of the raw sewage spill, but also its four-and-a-half-year duration.

July 16, 2014

Leaked confidential reports from January and September show the spill was attributed to a holding tank gate left partly open from January 2014 to July 2018. The reports also pointed to a second gate failure on the same tank.

Outside legal advice recommended city officials keep the information secret due to potential regulatory fines amid a provincial investigation.

On Tuesday, Eisenberger, who noted his plane landed at 5:30 a.m., defended the approach, saying public health informed residents of a sewage spill at Chedoke Creek in July 2018.

February 21, 2007

Floatable material was sucked up, warning signs were posted, and E. coli levels eventually returned to what they were before the sewage leak, he said.

But the volume of the contamination and duration of the leak weren’t shared with the public, Eisenberger acknowledged.

“Because it was still under investigation. The legal advice that we received at the time was, ‘Do not disclose the full amount; there are potential legal issues that come out of that; there are potential other claims that could be made.’”

Public works spokesperson Jasmine Graham said Tuesday the city has paid environmental lawyer Rosalind Cooper $67,393.55 for her services as of October.

September 19, 2018

Eisenberger said the advice of the Toronto-based lawyer, who has many years of experience in the field, is still worth following.

“I’m not prepared to second guess it,” he said. “I understand the furor that’s out there. I get it. There’s always that tug between full disclosure and legal ramifications, and we have that happen in many instances that we deal with.”

Though the city conducted an initial surface water cleanup in July 2018 — at a cost of about $56,000 — material would have sunk to the bottom. The confidential reports noted dredging could cost $2 million. (Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Wednesday May 17, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 17, 2017

Disney hack: Ransom demanded for stolen film

Disney CEO Bob Iger told ABC employees about the demand at a town hall meeting on Monday, The Hollywood Reporter said.

He did not name the film, but Deadline reports that it is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

Mr Iger said Disney is refusing to pay, and that the studio is working with federal investigators.

He added that the hackers had demanded the ransom in bitcoin and that they would release the film online in a series of 20-minute chunks unless it was paid.

It is not the first film studio to be threatened with online leaks.

Last month, a group of hackers uploaded the fifth season of Orange is the New Black after Netflix refused to pay a ransom.

Dead Men Tell No Tales is the fifth instalment of the Pirates franchise and will see Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow return to the ocean alongside Geoffrey Rush and Orlando Bloom.

It is due to be released in cinemas in the US on 26 May.

Mark James, security specialist at IT security company ESET, said: “Anything that has a value will always be a potential victim of theft, either digital or physical. If someone has it and someone wants it then in theory there’s a market for it.” (Source: BBC)

 

Wednesday August 5, 2015

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday August 5, 2015 Kathleen Wynne urges voters to turf Harper government Voters should turf Prime Minister Stephen Harper for showing Ontario Òblatant disrespect,Ó Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne urged Sunday in one of her strongest attacks yet on the federal Conservatives. Wynne accused the Harper administration of naked partisanship over refusals to smooth a path for her Ontario Retirement Pension Plan and for not doing more to help develop the rich Ring of Fire mineral deposit in northwestern Ontario. She zeroed in on the pension plan, noting HarperÕs government allows the Canada Revenue Agency to provide services to provincial pension plans in Quebec and Saskatchewan. ÒFor him to then turn around and say, ÔYeah, well, we have agreement with other provinces through the CRA and weÕre not going to do that for youÕ É itÕs blatant disrespect for the people of Ontario,Ó Wynne said. ÒThat has to stop.Ó The federal government has joined business groups like the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce in saying the premiums that employers would have to pay under WynneÕs pension plan would put jobs in peril. ÒNo matter what the prime minister thinks about the ORPP, he may not be worried about people in Ontario who are anxious about their retirement, but I am,Ó Wynne said. Her push for enhancements to the Canada Pension Plan to boost retirement incomes was brushed aside by Ottawa, prompting her to launch the Ontario plan in 2017. The province wants the CRA to do back-office administration for the pension plan, cutting down on costs and unnecessary duplication. (Source: Toronto Star) http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/08/02/kathleen-wynne-urges-voters-to-turf-harper-government.html Ontario, Canada, Kathleen Wynne, Justin Trudeau, Stephen Harper, fire, attack, election 2015, campaign, criticism, diplomacy

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday August 5, 2015

Kathleen Wynne urges voters to turf Harper government

Voters should turf Prime Minister Stephen Harper for showing Ontario “blatant disrespect,” Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne urged Sunday in one of her strongest attacks yet on the federal Conservatives.

Thursday January 22, 2015Wynne accused the Harper administration of naked partisanship over refusals to smooth a path for her Ontario Retirement Pension Plan and for not doing more to help develop the rich Ring of Fire mineral deposit in northwestern Ontario.

She zeroed in on the pension plan, noting Harper’s government allows the Canada Revenue Agency to provide services to provincial pension plans in Quebec and Saskatchewan.

Tuesday November 25, 2014“For him to then turn around and say, ‘Yeah, well, we have agreement with other provinces through the CRA and we’re not going to do that for you’ … it’s blatant disrespect for the people of Ontario,” Wynne said. “That has to stop.”

The federal government has joined business groups like the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce in saying the premiums that employers would have to pay under Wynne’s pension plan would put jobs in peril.

Wednesday February 15, 2005“No matter what the prime minister thinks about the ORPP, he may not be worried about people in Ontario who are anxious about their retirement, but I am,” Wynne said.

Her push for enhancements to the Canada Pension Plan to boost retirement incomes was brushed aside by Ottawa, prompting her to launch the Ontario plan in 2017. The province wants the CRA to do back-office administration for the pension plan, cutting down on costs and unnecessary duplication. (Source: Toronto Star)