At long last

Hastings County moves to seize Jim Sinclair’s assets

Jim Sinclair directs traffic on Main Street in Picton last summer.

More than two years after a judge fined Jim Sinclair nearly $700,000 and sent him to jail for environmental crimes, Hastings County has decided it will now try and collect on the fine.

Sinclair first came to public notice with a grand scheme to restore and redevelop the former Bakelite plant location on the shores of the Bay of Quinte. Sinclair was charged and convicted under the Ontario Water Resources Act of dumping PCB-contaminated soils and draining toxic chemical holding ponds into the bay.

Though Sinclair served his jail time, he ignored requests to pay his fine. He continued to operate a variety of businesses in the region; however, it seemed little effort was made to collect the fine levied against Sinclair.

Then, on a Sunday morning last July, Sinclair appeared with a large excavating hoe and began smashing a hole in a former church on Main St. in Picton. The brick church had stood on this ground for 135 years—but in an instant Sinclair had smashed a gaping wound into the historic landmark. Passersby stood on and watched in horror.

County officials managed to stop him. But it was only a temporary stay. The building now had to come down. There was no going back.

Provincial and municipal officials were forced to monitor the site full time to ensure Sinclair followed regulations, stopping work on the numerous occasions when he didn’t.

Charges are still pending against Sinclair for violations in Picton. But the Times wanted to know whether Hastings County had ever collected on the fine it levied in 2008.

It took a Freedom of Information request but eventually Hastings County Chief Administrative Officer Jim Pine confirmed that, indeed, the fine had never been collected.

He said municipal officials were actively pursuing collection of the fine, but offered no information as to the status of collection efforts.

Late last week Hastings County revealed that it had issued writs of seizure against Sinclair and his various companes in Hastings County, Regions of Niagara, York, Durham and Halton, the cities of Hamilton and Toronto, the municipality of Chatham-Kent, and the counties of Lambton and Simcoe.

Many in the County will wonder if Hastings County had acted sooner would Jim Sinclair have had the tools to destroy the brick church in Picton.