Arbitrator Robert Armstrong has ruled that the Ontario Blue Box
funding arbitration between municipalities and Stewardship Ontario
is to be held in public:
"This arbitration concerns a significant environmental
protection program for the province of Ontario. It also concerns a
potentially significant amount of taxpayer money. Every
municipality with a population in excess of 5,000 persons is
required to have a blue box program. The program in issue here
involves over 200 cities, towns and other municipalities in the
province...... What is not funded by SO will be paid from the
public purse....
This is not a typical commercial arbitration dispute carried out
pursuant to the Arbitration Act. The crux of the dispute concerns a
government program, and the outcome may have significant
consequences for Ontario taxpayers. Further, this is not a case
where a governmental entity was acting in a private capacity by
entering into a commercial contract. The City of Toronto and
