Elliot Lake: The Disaster That is a Window

While Elliot Lake mourns the loss of two of its loved ones the finger pointing is starting. Over the course of the next year, or two, or three, there will be a public inquiry into what went wrong.

What went wrong in Elliot Lake is the same as what is wrong in just about every level of management in Ontario’s public sector. As horrible as this disaster is it is also a window into the operation side of our Provincial government.In typical fashion the inquiry will find the cause of this disaster and then, in typical fashion, the results of the inquiry will be put into a fancy folder and then filed.

No names will be named and no departments will be singled out. There will be statements made that we have to improve the way things are done and that action will be taken, blah, blah, blah. Right.

The investigation will show that the delays to bring in required equipment and rescue teams were due to “internal challenges”. If there was any genuine interest in fixing the problems then those “internal challenges” would be fully exposed and those responsible would be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Sadly, as usual, nothing will happen and nobody will be held accountable. After all we don’t want to hurt the feelings of some middle manager and face a grievance from their union. Perhaps that will be followed by a ruling from The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario who will decide that those who failed to do their job had their rights violated and should be compensated financially.

We can forecast these results because our current Ontario government has no spine. When your focus is constantly on getting re-elected as opposed to running a Province then you don’t have the courage to do what is right.

The handling of this disaster is a window into the management skills of those in a position of authority in this Province. Sadly, once again, we see that critical management skills are seriously lacking and the consequences can be terrible. It is long overdue to make sure that those in management positions are qualified and capable to do the job. Clearly this was not the case in Elliot Lake.

Fix the core problem of having people in place with proper management skills and the investment in training will pay for itself many times over. This is what The Parkdale Party would do.