Activist was ‘intellectual giant’
Driving force behind Trash the Garbage Plant
Kate Andrus had a razor-sharp intellect, a dogged drive and a deep well of compassion.
And in the unforeseen twilight of her life, she used those qualities to score a major victory against a trash-to-gas plant proposed for northeast Hamilton.
Andrus died on Jan. 16 after a battle with cancer. She was 57.
The lifelong east end resident was the driving force behind the Trash the Garbage Plant campaign.
“Trash the Garbage Plant was one of the many causes she was always pushing for,” said Karl Andrus, one of her three children.
Karl, 37, remembers accompanying his mom on door-to-door canvasses for the NDP.
The printed word was also an important medium.
Under the pen name of Emily Bell, Andrus wrote the “Welfare Diary,” a series of features chronicling her challenges as a single mom raising three kids on social assistance.
They were published in The Spectator and other newspapers and broadcast on CBC Radio.
“We were so poor,” recalled Andrus’s daughter, Lauren, 32, looking at her mom’s features, displayed in frames during a celebration of her life at The Pearl Company on Saturday night.
Despite that, her mother did whatever she could to give her kids a pleasant childhood. “She always made the impossible happen.”
Lauren’s younger brother, Colin, is 30.
Karl said his mom wanted to destigmatize those who rely on social assistance and put a human face on poverty.
“As a small child, I didn’t under- stand as much as I do know.”
Andrus found herself in print again decades later — this time as the face of the Trash the Gas Plant campaign, which has challenged Port Fuels and Material Services Inc.’s $100-million project for Sherman Avenue North.
She’s credited for ferreting out details of the Port Fuels proposal not known to city officials by asking U.K. government officials for information.
Andrus discovered the environmental screening report was based on data from a research f acility in Swindon, England, which was licensed to handle a small fraction of the trash the Hamilton plant would process.
Coun. Matthew Green says the “holes” and “gaps” she found in the proposal ultimately led to the provincial government demanding a more stringent environmental study.
“She was an intellectual giant whose legacy will continue to live on hearts, minds, and advocacy of our city,” Green said.
The Ward 3 councillor expects that process to play out for another two to three years.
Joanna St. Jacques found common ground with Andrus in their opposition to a wave of school closures in Hamilton. “She was a spitfire.” St. Jacques was impressed by her friend’s sharp intellect and ability to understand the complex technical workings of the Port Fuels issue.
“Not only did she grasp it, but she taught it,” she said, noting Andrus wanted others to understand the potential risks of the plant.
She gained confidence as residents in her Crown Point neighbourhood and others rallied around her.
In April, Andrus spoke on the issue at City Hall. Shortly after that, she was diagnosed with cancer.
Even then, weakened by chemo, her mom thought of the campaign, Lauren said.
“That was her first thought: ‘Get out there and put a face on it.’”
Trash the Gas Plant has lost a diligent researcher in Andrus, said Jochen Bezner, who also opposes the plant. But she has left the campaign on solid ground, he said.
“I’m very positive that it will get carried forward.”
Andrus is survived by her children, siblings and many friends.