Mayor says, "Enough is enough."

PORT HOPE - Linda Thompson, Mayor of Port Hope, read the attached statement during a meeting of Council Tuesday evening, addressing issues raised by special interest groups about the quality of life in Port Hope. She also provided Councillors with a list of activities (available on the Municipality's website at www.porthope.ca) undertaken by the Municipality to address local residents' concerns.

Mayor Linda Thompson's April 22, 2008

Statement to Council - Town Hall, Port Hope

Enough is Enough

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Port Hope is a wonderful, vibrant, healthy and safe community. Nothing in my 21 years as a resident of Port Hope and nothing in my 7 years as an elected representative of the people of Port Hope has swayed my conviction on this point.

Yet we hear again and again from a few local and non-local groups that we are all suffering ill effects from our industries in Port Hope. The inaccurate and misleading media event of the Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee (PHCHCC) and the Uranium Medical Research Centre (UMRC) last year regarding "uranium in urine" damaged our community. Health Canada and Dr. Finkelstein, our independent peer reviewer, corrected the errors of the UMRC analysis and confirmed that the results of the testing show that there is no concern for the health of residents of Port Hope.

The UMRC continued to misrepresent the scientific meaning of their test results in a letter to the Federal Minister of Health earlier this year. And again Health Canada has responded that "all of your uranium concentration measurements from people living in Port Hope are consistent with the previous studies by Health Canada and by other groups". And, Health Canada again says that there are no health concerns regarding the uranium in urine tests.

We have had debates in our local press on this issue. Let the latest exchange of views in the press and through e-mails between local resident Dr. Jim Campbell and John Morand of FARE on the PHCHCC uranium in urine debate be the final word on the issue. The facts are clear, and Dr. Campbell has argued them convincingly, as have Health Canada and Dr. Finkelstein. We have no reason to be fearful about our health because we live in Port Hope. I thank Dr. Campbell for so very clearly explaining how the data should be interpreted. I also want to thank the residents of the community who stepped forward on behalf of Port Hope to reassure others that we are a healthy community.

Yes, it is true: Our community has had to deal with contaminated soils, resulting from past practices by industry and government at a time when less was known about radioactivity. Equally true, our local industry has attracted some of the best and brightest people to our community, and our community has prospered and grown thanks to their efforts.

Over the years, we have met the challenges regarding the soils head on. An earlier generation of civic leaders and members of the community isolated the problem and when the Federal government could not find a solution, they developed one. This generation is dealing with the problem once and for all. Port Hope is now recognized internationally as a leader in resolving these types of waste management problems.

The process has been, and continues to be, open and transparent, providing ample opportunity for all to express their views. At all times, we have respected the right of residents to harbour differing views on all issues and to debate them openly and respectfully. We all have an obligation, however, to recognize when debate is concluded and then to move on.

When it comes to the debate over matters raised by the Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee, we need to move on. Despite repeated scientific assurances on the issue, special interest groups like these would like us all to be fearful about our health. Worse, they continue to fuel this fear by repeating unsubstantiated claims, even when those claims have been refuted by respected scientific experts and health authorities.

And when the citizens of Port Hope have been reassured by the experts and are no longer willing to listen to the special interest groups, their tactic is to take their story beyond our community, where people are not generally aware of the facts, or to encourage the media to report their refuted studies.

Regrettably, these groups have had some success outside Port Hope, and the reputation of Port Hope has suffered as a consequence. Our downtown business community reports a distressing turnaround in business growth since the story of "uranium in urine" was reported last November.

We have had to take steps to counter the damage that has been done. We expanded our "Shop Port Hope" marketing campaign to include more local and regional print, radio, television and web based advertising. We distributed over 5,000 brochures through the Capitol Arts Program promoting local events. We are in the process of undertaking a local mail out campaign to encourage residents to bring their family and friends to Port Hope to enjoy all that this community has to offer. And we have hired a firm to help us develop key messages for the Municipality. But more is required.

We now have to monitor news coverage across Canada to ensure that false claims about our community are challenged and corrected. We are developing a strategic approach that includes hiring a communications firm to assist us in addressing negative publicity and expanding our proactive marketing programs. And all this must be done at considerable expense, to help us maintain our deserved reputation as one of the most desirable communities in Ontario to work, live and raise families. I continue to actively pursue senior levels of governments and community partners for substantial financial assistance to get Port Hope's positive message out there.

Enough is enough.

It is time to refocus our energies where they belong: on building and growing Port Hope, the community we want here on the shores of Lake Ontario, rather than fending off the fear mongerers.

Now, I know from experience that some people in the community are unlikely to be deterred by the facts alone. What's next? What will be the next target? The Port Hope Area Initiative? Let's hope not. We need to move forward with the clean-up of Port Hope. If anything, we need to accelerate the pace of the project. We don't want to see it unnecessarily delayed by unsubstantiated allegations and long lists of questions to government that serve only to divert PHAI staff from their work on the CNSC license submission. Such tactics have been used on other projects to delay progress and I am concerned that it is happening on the PHAI with recent long lists of questions being posed through the Auditor General's Office.

We recognize that Port Hope is a very engaged community and it is, of course, good to ask questions. Our projects and programs are improved as a result of dialogue. However, when the answers have been given and the debate has concluded, we need to move on.

Port Hope residents want to move forward. Port Hope residents want to make their community even better. There have been and there continue to be ample opportunities for questions to be asked, answers given and ideas exchanged. But even as the discussion continues, we need to move on so that, at last, we can close the door on the legacy issues in our community.

Enough is enough!