Well-known waste entrepreneur and businessman Gordon McGuinty will soon appear on this website with his own blog, in which we've invited him to expound on various topics including (of course) waste management and environmental issues, and also other matters of interest to himself and readers.
Always a lively and engaging speaker, McGuinty is also the recently published author of the book "Trashed: How Political Garbage Made the United States Canada's Largest Dump" about his 14-year odyssey attempting to build the Adams Mine landfill project.
An entrepreneur for over 30 years, Gordon McGuinty was responsible for the Rail Cycle North consortium, which included some of North America's largest rail and waste corporations and was awarded the largest waste management contract in Canada.
For 14 years, McGuinty was the force behind the Adams Mine landfill project as a solution to Ontario's garbage disposal crisis.
Today, when he's not speaking to interested audiences, he divides his time between his residence in the mountains of Alberta and his office in Ontario.
Please find Gordon McGuinty's biography below, and watch for an announcement in this space about the official debut of this interesting new blog.
Biography
Gordon McGuinty has amassed over thirty years of experience in the ownership and management of companies in civil engineering construction, aggregate manufacturing and the acquisition of mining properties including the development of one of Canada's largest waste management facilities in a former open pit mine.
At the age of 18, Mr. McGuinty assumed his first supervisory position. By 21, he was responsible for a multi-million dollar road construction project in Ontario for Standard Industries, a subsidiary of Lafarge.
He incorporated his own company at the age of 25 and has led, and been part of, various projects in a variety of industries through to the present day.
In 1989 Mr. McGuinty, with other associates, purchased the Adams Mine -- a former iron ore mine in Kirkland Lake, Ontario owned by Dofasco of Hamilton.
Over the next 14 years, Mr. McGuinty -- as President and CEO of Notre Development Corporation -- was responsible for all aspects of landfill development, including public consultation, engineering studies, government approvals and financial due diligence.
Mr. McGuinty formed, and led, a consortium called Rail Cycle North (RCN) that responded to a Request for Proposals for a waste disposal contract for the Greater Toronto Area. RCN was successful and was awarded a 20-year contract.
Rail Cycle North included some of North America's most prominent corporations. Canada's largest railway, Canadian National; North America's largest waste management company, Waste Management and Miller Waste Systems of Toronto were all part of the development team.
The Adams Mine was a major environmental project with international implications and Mr. McGuinty was the driving force and public spokesperson for the project.
The project generated controversy and, in the end, the Government of Ontario passed legislation in 2004 to stop the site from being developed.
Most recently, Mr. McGuinty has led the investigation of two separate groups into examining the feasibility of using open pit mines for green energy generation using the pump storage method. The Adams Mine and the Steep Rock iron ore mine, near Atikokan, demonstrated the potential to produce 90 MW and 500 MW of power respectively.
Currently, Mr. McGuinty is a resident of Canmore, Alberta and retains his office in Ontario. He has been investigating various opportunities and projects in both eastern and western Canada through his private company, McGuinty Resources Inc.
In other interests, Mr. McGuinty was a former ski racer and coach in Canada and was one of the founding members, and first President, of the Canadian Ski Coaches Federation.
In later years his interest in athletes included coaching AAA minor hockey. Mr. McGuinty is an excellent golfer, competes in amateur tournaments when he has time and is currently finishing his term on the Board of Directors of the North Bay Golf and Country Club where he has recently completed a plan for a million dollar redevelopment of the course facilities.