Tales of a Missing Mayor & Musings on Sunrise

On August 10th, Toronto suffered its worst disaster since the SARS outbreak back in 2003. The Sunrise Propane facility located on Murray road just south of CFB Downsview exploded, killing two people and forcing thousands out of their homes. Nearly two weeks later and some people still are not allowed back. Toronto fire and police did an admirable job in controlling the blaze but questions still linger as to whether the bureaucrats handled the disaster properly and if it could have been prevented in the first place. First of all, I agree that the location of the Sunrise facility was a highly inappropriate place. As you can see from the map (the propane facility is centred), a large residential area was right across the street from Sunrise. It's also not far from an active runway, since I presume that Bombardier still uses it for moving their planes. Furthermore, the satellite image, according to Toronto media outlets, shows Sunrise storing more propane on site than they should have. It is worth noting that Google's satellite information for the GTA is a couple of years old so we don't know how much was being stored at the facility at the time of the blast. Reports have also come out that the company was engaging in illegal and dangerous truck to truck transfers of propane and had be warned by the TSSA in 2006 to cease and desist that action. However, there is substantial evidence that points to the practice being continued. Though the cause of the blast has not been identified yet, there are strong rumors that seem to suggest that a truck-to-truck transfer was going on at the time of the explosion. Despite this though, there was a plan on the table that would have seen the facility be allowed to further expand (significantly) the amount of propane that was being stored on Murray Rd. An additional problem, which the media hasn't brought up, is asbestos. As you probably know, asbestos is a mineral fiber that is used as a fire retardant. The problem is that it's highly carcinogenic if it gets into the lungs. When the facility exploded, it sent asbestos into the air, littering the nearby neighbourhood. This is one of the main reasons why some people are still not being allowed back home. In the United States, asbestos has been banned so it begs the question, why was it being used at the Sunrise facility?

In my opinion, the Sunrise incident represents an all too common problem with municipal zoning laws that allow certain things to move into inappropriate areas. A propane tank at a gas station is one thing but a propane facility as large as the one on Murray Rd should never have been allowed in a residential area. However, I can think of several other cases like this. For example, I know of a large natural gas depot in Mississauga that is right next door to not one, but two schools. I won't mention the name and location for legal reasons but they know who they are. The facility is at least as large as the Sunrise one and is located in a densely populated residential area. I'm not saying that this one is prone to blow too but it makes you think. It's always a possibility. The question is why the TSSA was not conducting more inspections of these facilities when they found that Sunrise had been conducting illegal operations. Don't start doing these inspections now after the fact. They should have been doing them all along. Your're dealing with a highly explosive fuel here, and a lot of it to boot. When the TSSA caught Sunrise preforming an illegal activity in 2006, all they did was send them a sternly worded letter. Their excuse for not doing anything further? Well, some people just won't obey the laws no matter what you do. Really? So if a guy keeps robbing banks, we should stop arresting him because he doesn't want to obey the law? I've heard some doozies over the years but this takes the cake as the stupidest excuse I've heard. Since our family construction business deals with the provincial bureaucracy on an almost daily basis, I can attest that this attitude is very typical. Obviously the TSSA needs some reforms to make it more potent in dealing with infractions. Illegal transfers should have resulted in an automatic shutdown of the plant back in 2006 until they could prove they cleaned up their act. That did not happen. If the TSSA did have the power to do that, then it's a failure of bureaucracy and heads need to roll to prevent this from happening again.


The second part of this story has to deal with how the City of Toronto dealt with the disaster. The local media has been praising Deputy Mayor Shelly Caroll for her actions during the blast, which is hardly deserved. Caroll had told Downsview residents that they could return to their homes without first consulting police. This points to a major communications issue between the city and emergency services. Then we had the city councilor tell a constituent to "shut up" during a press rally. That is the height of unprofessional behaviour. I don't care if you're under stress. Someone in that position should be able to maintain composure and if they can't, then they are in the wrong line of work. The grievances of the constituents were legitimate. She decided to hold her own public meeting just because she didn't like the guy holding the other one. How old are is she? Five?

Then there was the tale of the missing mayor. For over a week following the blast, Toronto Mayor David Miller was nowhere to be seen. Where was he? Miller was in BC enjoying a little Miller time with his family. It was his daughter's 13th birthday so he says. In all fairness, the mayor briefly interrupted his vacation to check things out back here but returned to BC very soon after. However, Miller was not there for the clean up, or the investigation, or to attend the funeral of a firefighter, or even to rally the public. When it comes to mayoral legacies, Miller is certainly not going to be remembered as a Hazel or Giuliani. While being mayor has numerous official duties, the job also entails acting as a rallying figure in good times and bad. Family is very important but Miller still has obligations back in Toronto that simply cannot be shaken off. I'm sure his daughter, at 13, would be old enough to understand that her dad has an important job. I'm sure his family would be understanding and the time could have been made up later. However, Miller chose to go AWOL and left Caroll and his other cronies holding the bag. It shows weak leadership, which is hypocritical coming from a man who promised to clean up city hall, broom in hand. Of course, Miller did find time to end his vacation for a photo op celebrating the opening of a new film studio in the city. This is terribly poor leadership on Millers part. If he cannot be there to support the city in its worst disaster in five years, he should not be mayor.