AUDIO – DESCRIPTION:
Radio show “Voices” profiles the ongoing dispute between Marc Emery (who, in 1984, would co-found Freedom Party of Ontario) and west London’s business community (and Mayor Al Gleeson) over the imposition of a new tax on business owners in west London. It is reported that Emery will not pay a new Business Improvement Area (BIA) tax, and could face court action if he does not pay. Marc Emery describes who was motivated to ask for the tax and why. He explains that businesses should be free to spend their own money advertising as they see fit, rather than being forced to pay into a pool that will be used to promote the downtown (which, he explains, will not work). Jack Blair, president of the Downtown Business Improvement Association says that those who oppose the tax simply do not understand the benefits of what it will achieve. Mayor Al Gleeson is heard stating that the tax is a legal by-law and that the city will seek enforcement through the courts against a person who does not pay it. He criticizes the validity of Emery’s petition (which he is circulating among other store owners in the area) and says that Emery should spend his efforts supporting the BIA, rather than opposing it.
Audio Details:
Radio program: Voices
Reporter: Helen Pierce
Interviewees: Marc Emery, Jack Blair, Mayor Al Gleeson
Aired: May, 1980 (estimated; certainly after May 14, and before August 10, 1980)
Radio Station: CKSL 1410 AM (London)
Recorded: May 18, 1980 (according to Lloyd Walker’s notes)
Duration: 11 minutes, 41 seconds
File Format: MP3
File Size: 28 MB
URL – https://freedomparty.on.ca/archive/audio/1980-05-xx.2.voices-radio.emery-refuses-to-pay-bia-tax-circulates-petition.mayor-threatens-collection.tape-22.mp3