“Mess-acre” of trash bins captured by homeowner

A resident of Upper Canada Drive, Ron Rimer, took the inset pictures recently and sent them to Jack Lakey, columnist for the Toronto Star. Mr. Rimer was astounded at the “mess-acre” as he called it of garbage bins on his street after the regular pickup. Upper Canada is near Bayview Ave. running east off from near Yonge Street. Mr. Rimer said he found the bins in the middle of the street.  Mr. Lakey’s makes the point in his Fixer column that this is an area served by CUPE sanitation workers employed by the City. He contrasts the chaos here with the neat and tidy wake (typically) of the privatized workers from the Green For Life (GFL) company which collects the refuse west of Yonge Street.  Lakey says what many know: sloppy work by unionized employees is not helpful to their job security. Many people in South Bayview can certainly testify to the way garbage bins get thrown into the middle of driveways. In fairness, of course, no one saw exactly what happened to the bins on Upper Canada. But what is clear is that the management of  GFL sends its employees to school about this matter. They expect, and they usually get, a neat arrangement of bins placed back where they came from. It doesn’t seem too difficult. The possibility of private garbage collection east of Yonge Street will be a campaign issue this year. It will be an important question for all candidates as to how they will proceed if elected.