Of all the BIA controversies in Ontario, this one is currently the hottest, and it's been hot for quite some time.

Almost as if it were created as a test-tube case for demonstrating the inherent folly of BIAs, the BIA in Clarkson, a business community in Mississauga, has helped illustrate virtually every point that was warned against in Freedom Party's original BIA Warning brochure (copies available upon request by contacting us at e-mail).

More than that, the delivery of our original brochure to the businesses in the Clarkson BIA has evidently struck some raw nerves --- and produced some highly volatile, though predictable, results. At the centre of the controversy (apart from the principles already outlined) lies the integrity of the BIA's board of management itself.

Though our original BIA brochure dealt primarily with the principle underlying BIAs (i.e., forced association) and offered few specifics, the manner in which the controlling interests of the Clarkson BIA's board of management reacted to its content would seem to indicate that they saw themselves being quite accurately --- and unflatteringly --- portrayed. All, that is, except for the BIA's own vice-president, Pat Pleich.

We first met Pat Pleich (owner of the Barn Antiques in the business community of Clarkson) early in 1987 when we learned of her commitment to rid her business area of its BIA, a task she had been taking on for several years. It was in February of 1987 when Freedom Party conducted its first mail-drop to her business community: our BIA Waming brochure.

Since then, a great deal has transpired.

Using every tactic of intimidation and misinformation available to them, those who have an interest in continuing the Clarkson BIA have managed, so far, to prevent the BIA from being disbanded. Ironically, Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion has blamed the whole Clarkson BIA controversy squarely on the shoulders of Freedom Party (as stated in the article in this issue), and while we would certainly love to be in a position to take all the credit in this regard, it just isn't so. No doubt, McCallion is having difficulty accepting the fact that any individual could possibly have created such a political outcry and protest against the power of her municipality.

Clearly the credit belongs to Pat Pleich, who almost single-handedly has taken on the combined clout of the Clarkson BIA's board of management, several municipal councillors (Mississauga), federal politicians, and a corrupt, unethical law itself. It takes a great deal of courage and conviction to challenge such apparently unsurmountable odds.

With the objective of abolishing Clarkson's BIA, Pleich has set out on a campaign that has found her collecting petition signatures, producing and distributing her own newsletters to all the BIA's members, and generally trying every legitimate and open way (i.e., voluntarily) to collect the support necessary to accomplish her goal. With the help of Freedom Party's William Frampton (Regional Vice-president, Metro Region), her campaign eventually got the attention of much of the media (see reproduced press clippings in this issue) when together they distributed Freedom Party's first BIA Alert! newsletter to the Clarkson business community last spring.

Citing various "irregularities" and the lack of ability of any of the BIA's "members" to have any meaningful input, the BIA Alert! (copies available upon request by contacting e-mail) forced the issue into the open when Clarkson BIA president Ted Biss called for a special general meeting on June 14, 1988 "to clear the air". Unfortunately, the meeting turned into chaos, and the air was more clouded than ever.

Ultimately, the controversy was dumped right on the lap of Mississauga's mayor Hazel McCallion. Her continued defence of the BIA in full light of its shortcomings caused Pleich to respond: "We have given you, Mayor McCallion and council, a licence to steal from us... if you can't see your way clear to finally tell the truth about the Clarkson BIA, then you, Hazel McCallion and councillor (Pat) Mullin, should resign your positions. If you continue to cover this much up in Clarkson, I can imagine what you are hiding with the millions of dollars spent all over Mississauga."

Many of the issues and details behind the Clarkson controversy are covered in the reprinted press clippings accompanying this article, but the matter is far from resolved. Watch for further developments in future issues of Freedom Flyer!

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Page last updated on April 28, 2002