Vote Rhonda Jubenville to support the Dresden Dump!
FOR URGENT RELEASE: CHATHAM-KENT, ONTARIO
In the grand tradition of political betrayals, some are orchestrated in smoke filled backrooms. Others, it turns out, happen over an endless parade of bacon wrapped filet mignon while the rest of the town is left completely in the dark.
For seven critical months, Dresden was blissfully unaware that a massive dump was quietly making its way to our doorstep. Honest folks were just trying to go about their daily lives. Meanwhile, our elected representative was apparently too busy digesting to sound the alarm.
On June 20, 2023, Councillor Rhonda Jubenville sat down at a private table at Chatham’s Churrascaria Brazilian Steakhouse with a representative from York1. The purpose of the meeting, allegedly, was to discuss the future of the dormant Dresden landfill. What actually happened was a masterclass in how to completely screw over your constituents while enjoying unlimited trips to the salad bar.
When you elect a municipal official, you are essentially appointing a lookout to stand on the town wall. When corporate conglomerates march toward the gates with plans to truck in thousands of tonnes of GTA garbage, the lookout is supposed to ring the bell. Instead, our lookout was reportedly handed a vague assurance of a pretty small scale operation, took a bite of garlic sirloin, and decided that was good enough.
The true tragedy is not just the sheer gullibility required to look a wealthy waste management company in the eye and believe they just want to run a cute, boutique little garbage pile. The tragedy is the theft of time.
By keeping that dinner and the looming reality of York1 under wraps until the news finally broke in early 2024, the town was robbed of its most valuable asset. That asset was a head start. Those seven months of silence were the crucial runway Dresden needed to lawyer up, mobilize, and hit the ground running before the bureaucratic red tape was already being tied into a neat little bow for the province.
Jubenville’s defense is that she did not realize the gravity or size of the proposed expansion. Let us be incredibly clear here. Ignorance is not a valid excuse. It is a glaring admission of absolute incompetence. A competent councillor understands that their fundamental job is to ask the tough questions their constituents would want asked. If a corporate suit says they are keeping things small, a functioning representative asks for the exact daily tonnage. They ask about the number of transport trucks barreling down local roads. They ask about the environmental impact. They do not just smile, pass the chimichurri sauce, and take a corporation at their word. Failing to interrogate a massive company is a complete dereliction of duty.
Her excuse is the political equivalent of ignoring a five alarm fire because the arsonist promised it was just a small campfire. Even if we take the excuse at face value, the incompetence is staggering. It should not take a PhD to figure out that when an out of town corporation asks for a private, quiet table to discuss a landfill, they are not there to talk about recycling a few cardboard boxes.
In the end, that quiet dinner in Chatham will go down as the most expensive meal in North Kent history. The bill was not paid that night. It was handed directly to the residents of Dresden, who are now forced to work double time to make up for the months their representative spent sleeping on the job.
Next time, maybe we should stipulate that all meetings with waste management executives be held in the middle of town. At the very least, if we are going to get sold down the river, we deserve to watch it happen.
Thanks councillor Rhonda Jubenville! You've really done a stellar job.