Adams Mine 25
25th Anniversary
January 12 - February 20
Art Activism
“Great protests are great works of art.”
-attributed to Diego Rivera
Whether Diego Rivera actually said these words is uncertain, but the idea behind them remains true, as demonstrated by the Adams Mine movement. Over the course of this long-running campaign, art played a vital role in communicating the opposition’s message to the public, often using humour and a relatable, down-to-earth style. Protest art can challenge authority in ways that words alone cannot.
Key artists in the Adams Mine movement included Dean Dubois (Haileybury), John Huggins (Timmins), Sue Gamble (Kirkland Lake), Karl Chevrier (Timiskaming First Nation), and the a shop class from Timiskaming District Secondary School led by Alex Melaschenko who created Mel the Moose. Ranging from sculpture to political cartoons to paintings, these artists used visual language to poke fun at the dump developers, to explain the dubious science behind the project, to document key events, and to warn the public about the potential for an ecological disaster should the deal go through. The strategic use of art and the visceral response it created in viewers, helped ensure the success of the movement.
Dump-Land by John Huggins
Artistic Resistance
“The Adams Mine project was driven by big money, backroom lobbyists, and a militant right-wing government. But despite holding all the cards, they still lost. They were beaten by an army of volunteers who out-researched, out-organized, and out-strategized them”
-Charlie Angus, Unlikely Radicals
Adams Mine is a former open-pit iron ore operation in Boston Township, Timiskaming District, Ontario, about 11 km south of Kirkland Lake. The site was developed in the early 1960s, with production beginning in 1964 under the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation and later Dofasco. Mining ceased in 1990 when economically recoverable ore was exhausted, leaving the region with significant job losses and economic decline. The mine spans over 4,000 acres and contains multiple pits, some extending more than 180 m below the water table; many are now flooded.
Following closure, the property became central to a long-running proposal by Metropolitan Toronto and then Notre Development to repurposed the deep pits as a municipal landfill for the City of Toronto by shipping the waste 700 km north by rail. The trash would be deposited into the mine’s fractured bedrock pits and contained using a hydraulic containment system instead of conventional liners. Supporters argued the project could stimulate local employment and economic activity, but critics voiced serious environmental concerns, especially regarding groundwater contamination and the stability of pit walls.
Critics of the project ranged from farmers to miners to retirees to representatives of several First Nations. Most were not politicians or scientists but they put in the time and effort to understand the science, environmental, and social concerns. As Charlie Angus writes in his book Unlikely Radicals: The Story of the Adams Mine Dump War, "the most important lesson of the Adams Mine was that ordinary people have the capacity to accomplish extraordinary things for the common good."
Notably these extraordinary things, more often than not, were fuelled by artistic and creative endeavours. The resourcefulness and tenacity of the Adams Mine protesters are what set them apart and made this the most successful activist movement in Canadian history. In 2004, the Ontario Legislature passed the Adams Mine Lake Act, which prohibits waste disposal at the site and revoked all related permits, effectively ending the landfill proposal. However, the site remains privately owned and continues to be the subject of legal and compensation disputes linked to the revoked approvals.
Mel the Moose – a giant metal moose sculpture filled with garbage – was a
symbol of this resilience, it said “we will not stand idly by and watch you
destroy our home, we will fight back.” What is more artistic than wheeling
a community sculpture into Parliament?
Civil disobedience comes at a cost, a personal cost. The braveness of those
involved, truly, is understated. They were willing to risk their livelihoods
or more, to make sure Adams Mine never became a dump site.
Humour as a form of art, allowed this movement to surpass all of the
professional PR of Toronto Metro Works. With this perfect blend of
coarseness, humour, and love, a small team of community members, which later grew too large to ignore, brought down the big business’s plan to dump 20 million tons of garbage into a northern mine, and would effectively destroy our drinking water, and livelihood. Moving forward, we must not forget the tremendous feats possible when communities come together.
Mel the Moose in front of Parliament
Essay by Andrew Little
Adams Mine Research Assistant
When we think of activism, we don’t often think about the culture, or even art involved in its making. But if we take a step back, we might find that culture and art are at its core.
The Adams Mine decade-long battle against environmental pollution is a fantastic testament to Northern Ontario’s wit, ingenuity, willpower and sheer strength. Through the unforgiving landscape of the north, ‘northerners’ have been made sharp and innovative. Through the rough land, the Anti Adams Mine Campaign acted as a love story between northern people and the land they inhabit.
If not for this intervention, Adams Mine, and the fate of the north would have been tainted. A clever way these ‘unlikely radicals’ fought against Metropolitan Toronto Work’s press was through their own artistic skills. Dean Dubois (an illustrator) among others, created many illustrations poking fun at Metro’s absurd ideas, some portraying rats dancing with children, or even large garbage train cars infested with rats and overflowing with needles.
Northern Ontario’s distinct culture, founded in hard times, brought together the north’s English, French and Indigenous communities, in activism, humour, and the love of our home. The ability of these groups to come together showed how necessary it was to put a stop to the landfill proposal.
Music played a key role, as it allowed for a pure expression that transcended boundaries of location and economic status. Charlie Angus and the Grievous Angels were at the center of this protest music scene for Adams Mine, that continued to bring people together, and broke down social barriers between English, French, Indigenous, Protestant, Catholic, Ontarians and Québecois.
Timeline
1989
1990
1992
1995
1996
1996
1997
1998
1998
1998
Adams Mine listed as possible landfill for Metro Toronto.
Metro Toronto selects Adams Mine as a preferred site, and makes financial deal with neighbouring municipalities.
Province introduces legislation requiring Metro Toronto to deal with solid waste within Greater Toronto Area.
Metro Toronto conducts eight month investigation of the Adams Mine as a possible landfill. Metro Toronto rejects the Adams Mine project on financial and environmental grounds at its December council meeting.
Notre Development announces they will pursue the Adams Mine as a "private sector proposal" and begins preparing for environmental assessment.
Conservative government makes drastic changes to Environmental Assessment Act, dropping requirement to consider need and alternatives to landfill projects and giving government ability to narrow assessments and impose severe time limits.
Notre amends request for land fill approval; project no longer includes recycling or rail transportation, and is for only one of the three pits originally identified.
Fast-tracked environmental assessment hearing is announced. The hearing is restricted to one technical question (on the landfill design and its ability to control and contain leachate escape to the local groundwater); the entire EA must be completed within three months.
Hearing panel releases decision on June 19. The three person panel issues a split decision, with two members concluding that more tests are required and that the final decision should be made by a Ministry employee; the third member dissented, concluding that the project should be rejected because of environmental and engineering concerns; the Board delegates the decision to a bureaucrat in the Ministry of the Environment.
Adams Mine Intervention Coalition, a coalition of farmers organizations, environmental groups and residents associations, appeals the decision to Cabinet on the grounds that the Board failed to make a decision, Cabinet ignores appeal and approves the Adams Mine, before the conditions set by the Hearing Panel are met.
1998
1999
1999
2000
2000
2000
2000
2000
Adams Mine Intervention Coalition launches judicial review in the Ontario Courts in September, asking the court to review the decision of the EA Panel and of the Ontario Cabinet.
Ministry of the Environment releases draft certificate of approval for the Adams Mine in March, before the court case is heard.
Court case is heard and dismissed on July 13; the Court decided that the Minister could make his decision without the EA Board having fulfilled their mandate.
Works and Emergency Services report in February to the Works Committee of Toronto City Council on the five qualifying respondents to the request for proposals; the proposals were described as being average in comparison to each other based on Toronto's criteria.
Works and Emergency Services report in June to a joint meeting of the Policy and Finance and the Works Committees of the Toronto City Council, recommending that the Keele Valley landfill be extended, and that Toronto contract with the Windsor-Essex and Greenlane landfills in southwestern Ontario and Onyx's landfill in Michigan for solid waste disposal; 50 presentations are made in opposition to the Adams Mine, and 4000 letters received expressing opposition to the project; the Committees requested additional information, and deferred making a decision on which option to recommend to Council.
Works and Emergency Services report in July to a joint meeting of the Policy and Finance and the Works Committees of the Toronto City Council, identifying a combination of the Adams Mine and the site owned by Republic in Michigan as an alternative to their June recommendation; the committees recommend to the Toronto City Council that staff be directed to proceed to final contract negotiations with the Rail Cycle North consortium and Republic.
Toronto City Council meets August 1-3, considers recommendations from the Policy and Finance and the Works Committees to proceed to final contract negotiations with Rail Cycle North and Republic.
Works Committee recommends final contract to council (scheduled for September), Council to ratify final contract (scheduled for October).
“This Adam is mine Mother Earth”
Mother Earth is sad nothing to smile about,
she give us all this richness and we make money from her
then we put it all back we put it in holes we made in her
we dump it in the lands and the ocean,
The syringe is the health we are leaving her “EMPTY”...
The hook in the world represents the greed we have
for our wallets.
Her hands are not carved to detail because she is sick.
The handcuffs represents that every time we protest to stop
taking from her, and let her heal.
-Karl Chevrier
Karl's poem accompanies a sculpture included in the exhibition. He made it c. 2000 during the protests.
Tree trunks, globe and mixed media
Photos from the Adamsmine.com archived website
