Canada Nixes Plan to Bring Extra Michigan Vaccines to Border Tunnel

Canada Nixes Plan to Bring Extra Michigan Vaccines to Border Tunnel

The Canadian government has blocked an Ontario mayor’s plan to vaccinate residents in a tunnel on the U.S. border, using some of Michigan’s surplus, soon-to-expire Covid-19 vaccine doses, the mayor said.

It was an ambitious idea: Since Canadian officials wouldn’t allow U.S. vaccines into the country, American pharmacists would come to the edge of the U.S. border inside the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, which connects Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, and jab the vaccine into the arms of Canadians on the other side.

The plan, which was reported by The Detroit Free Press, was the brainchild of Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor. He said in an interview on Thursday that medical professionals in Detroit had told him they were tossing extra vaccines into landfills as the demand for the shots in the United States slowed.

Michigan has scrapped nearly 150,000 unused vaccine doses since December, said Lynn Sutfin, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. In addition to looming expiration dates, she said, doses were also discarded because of broken syringes or vials.

‘Pandora’s box:’ Environmental groups wary of policy that would allow moving wetlands in Hamilton

The Hamilton Conservation Authority is contemplating a controversial policy that would allow wetlands to be relocated to make way for development, and some local groups are wary.

Lynda Lukasik, executive director of Environment Hamilton, said she has “very mixed feelings” about the prospect of a biodiversity offsetting policy. Such a policy would mean developers could remove some natural features to build on the space, and replace those features elsewhere.

“It kind of feels like they’re opening a bit of a Pandora’s box,” she said.

In its online posting, the HCA says biodiversity offsetting “should always be a last resort.”

A lengthy discussion paper accompanies its call for feedback from the public, which it will accept until July 31.

Concerns for Ancaster wetland proposal

Don McLean, head of advocacy group Citizens at City Hall (CATCH), says “shifting” around natural features isn’t the way to go.

“Wetlands are where they are because nature put them there, and the idea of putting them somewhere else is order to allow development is a bad idea,” he said.

Among his concerns: that the policy might revive a proposal to relocate a wetland and stream segment in the headwaters of Ancaster Creek. A developer proposed building warehouses and a parking lot in the area and moving the wetland elsewhere.

The idea sparked environment groups and the public to speak out in opposition, and the HCA board rejected that proposal in June. That’s when there was no policy or guidelines related to offsetting in place.

The Hamilton Conservation Authority board recently rejected a proposal to pave over 140 Garner Rd. E. in order to construct warehouses. (Google Maps)

But prior to that vote in November 2020, the board had directed staff to explore this policy.

“If you change the policy, then you can open things up again,” McLean said.

No-go areas will include provincially-significant wetlands

Lukasik also pointed to the connection.

“Those are important ecosystems that play critical roles, especially in the headwater areas of watersheds,” she said. “To think that you could easily replicate that somewhere else, I think, is human folly.”

Though the policy is in its initial stages, Scott Peck, HCA director of watershed, planning and engineering, said “no-go areas” would include provincially significant wetlands.

But the Ancaster property at 140 Garner Rd. E. is not one of those, he said. It’s referred to as a “locally significant” wetland.

“If there was an offsetting policy in place and somebody came wanting to do something with that wetland on that property, we would consider it under the policy framework of the day,” Peck said.

Thundering Waters controversy

Biodiversity offsetting policies have been developed by the Toronto Region Conservation Authority, Credit Valley Conservation and the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority.

But similar moves have drawn criticism in nearby Niagara.

A group of environmentalists and Indigenous activists camped out to protest a planned development in the Thundering Waters Forest in 2017. The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority planned to launch a biodiversity offsetting pilot project for the lands. (Owen Bjorgan)

In 2015, the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) planned to launch a pilot project on biodiversity offsetting for lands by Thundering Waters Golf Club that were part of a $1.4-billion housing development.

Protestors camped out on the lands, and allegations of corruption and mismanagement at the NPCA — which now has a reworked board — led to scrutiny by Ontario’s auditor general.

Among the auditor general’s 2018 report findings, Bonnie Lysyk said the NPCA hadn’t studied the ecosystem “to determine if it contained unique features that cannot be replaced.”

Peck acknowledged that an offsetting policy would likely draw comments “from across the spectrum,” from those seeing benefits to those seeing it as a “slippery slope.”

‘Premised on destruction’

Anne Bell, director of conservation and education at Ontario Nature, called offsetting “risky” and questioned what the thresholds would be for ensuring it’s used as a last resort.

“It’s a trade off that’s premised on destruction,” she said. “You destroy something, and then you do your best to compensate for that loss.”

While the conservation authority lists achieving a “net gain” among its guiding principles, it also says offset areas will need to be equal in size and quality as the original. Developers have to make up for any impacts.

Policy could be protective move

While the feature might be recreated elsewhere, she said people around the destroyed environment will lose out. She wonders how consideration for climate change and landscape resilience, wildlife habitats and corridors, and consultation with Indigenous communities will fit into the policy.

But she also noted the provincial government’s ministerial zoning orders (MZO) have given it the ability to override local zoning rules. A strong policy at the ready, she said, would help.

“If we are going to lose things, then better that we can actually require compensation to the actual scale and actual standards,” she said.

In its online post, the HCA says MZOs can allow the Ontario government to make the decision to offset.

But in that case, a compensation agreement would be made through the HCA permit process — and that would have to follow the offsetting policy.

Lukasik agreed that it was a “catch 22” and that she has additional questions.

A summary of feedback and a draft policy is expected at a board meeting in the fall.

Victoria police investigating Canada Day stabbing

VICTORIA – Victoria police are investigating a reported stabbing Thursday night.

Investigators say the stabbing occurred just before 11 p.m. in the 900-block of Pandora Avenue.

The victim attended police headquarters to report the stabbing and seek first aid.

Paramedics transported the man to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police attended Pandora Avenue and learned the perpetrator is believed to be a white man, approximately 20 years old, standing 5’8” tall, according to police.

The attacker is described as having blond hair and was reportedly wearing a brown sweater and a green hat.

Police continue to investigate the assault and are asking anyone with information to contact VicPD at 250-995-7654 or Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-8477.