As an environmental activist, Ron Plain made a lasting impact, his friends say.
As an environmental activist, Ron Plain made a lasting impact, his friends say.
The Aamjiwnaang man, who helped form the First Nation’s environment committee, stop the construction of an ethanol plant near the First Nation’s borders, fought court battles with the province in a bid for greater environmental protection and spoke out about the effects of pollution from Chemical Valley plants, died July 4.
He was 60.
Plain, a “jack of all trades,” knew how to protest and was always a gentleman, said Ada Lockridge, a fellow Aamjiwnaang First Nation member and environmental justice advocate. Her friend, she said, was “never lost for words” and was known for his love of travel and his love for family. One of his defining traits, Lockridge added, was his refusal to back down when fighting for a cause.
“We weren’t scared of anybody,” she said, recalling a court case, though unsuccessful, that urged the province to better regulate industrial air pollution and a Charter challenge claiming Chemical Valley pollution was violating their human rights.
“I’m really going to miss that guy,” Lockridge said. “He loved his community.”
Osgoode Hall environmental law professor Dayna Scott credited Plain and Lockridge with being at the forefront of connecting health and chronic air pollution exposure in Canada.
“I really kind of credited (Plain) with helping me to make those kinds of connections myself in terms of understanding the dynamics, the way pollution flows towards the most marginalized,” she said.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley called Plain “quite a warrior on environmental issues.”
Sometimes the lessons were painful but necessary, Bradley said.
A spokesperson during a rail spur blockade in Sarnia during Idle No More protests in late 2012 and early 2013, and a former medical supplies business operator, Plain was also remembered for his humour.
“He would love to tell stories,” Lockridge said. “A joker.”
He was fun and thoughtful, agreed Jim Brophy, founder and former executive director of the Occupational Health Clinic for Ontario Workers in Sarnia.
“Before he spoke he would go silent, and then he would think about what he was going to say,” said Brophy, noting Plain and Lockridge were both involved in documenting anomalies in local birth rates that studies have suggested were linked to chemical exposure.
A community health survey of more than 400 Aamjiwnaang residents found the birth ratio of boys to girls fell about 60 per cent between 1998 and 2003.
“(Plain) very much and Ada put the Aamjiwnaang story front and center nationally as examples of environmental racism, where communities of color are expected to tolerate conditions that other communities, predominantly white communities, would never accept,” Brophy said.
Plain, a father of three, was tireless in his fight until health issues, including cancer, took their toll, Lockridge said.
A visitation at Smith Funeral Home in Sarnia is slated for July 12 from 10:30 am to 11:30 am, followed by a celebration of life service at noon.