Keep your own trash, Ingersoll mayor tells Toronto

Ingersoll Mayor Ted Comiskey suggests Torontonians dump their garbage in Christie Pits.

Thestar.com
March 2, 2016
By David Rider

The mayor of a southwestern Ontario town known for cheddar cheese has some sharp words for Toronto - keep your garbage to yourself.

Ted Comiskey, mayor of Ingersoll, told the public works committee Toronto’s long-term waste strategy should not include burying trash in a proposed landfill in a quarry near his town. Toronto’s current landfill, Green Lane near London, is expected to be full by 2029.

A city staff update suggests Green Lane’s life could be extended by increased waste diversion and new technologies to deal with trash, but the timelines mean the city shouldn’t rule out continued burying.

“Every landfill liner leaks,” Comiskey said Tuesday.

“I am not prepared to put the drinking water of my citizens, my neighbours at risk because Toronto, despite all other suggestions in the (waste strategy report) appendix, wants to keep the burying option open.

“This quarry (in Zorra Township) is 800 metres from a subdivision in the town of Ingersoll. We are not a willing host.”

Comiskey noted that, during the 2009 Toronto civic workers’ strike, Christie Pits park near Bloor and Bathurst Sts. was converted into a temporary landfill. If Toronto wants to bury garbage, make it permanent, he quipped.

“The neighbours probably wouldn’t take as long this time to adjust to the stench, the noise, the traffic, the rodents and the vermin,” he said, adding that burying waste in his “backyard” is just as preposterous an idea.

Comiskey concluded by inviting councillors to the Canterbury Folk Festival in July to see his town and “where you want to put your garbage.”

After the presentation Councillor Anthony Perruzza asked Comiskey: “What are your best cheeses out there?”

“It’s come to this, has it?” the Ingersoll mayor said, laughing but adding the town is best know for cheddars.

Public works chair Jaye Robinson took a more serious tone, saying Comiskey should appear in an ad to convince Torontonians to divert more waste from landfill, adding: “Thank you very much and we heard you loud and clear.”

Toronto’s final long-term waste strategy will go to public works in June and city council in July.