W5 Investigates Landfill Site Threatening Vancouver Island Watershed, this Saturday, March 5 on CTV

TORONTO (March 3, 2016) – In 2013, the B.C. government granted the owners of a landfill site located directly uphill from Vancouver Island’s Shawnigan Lake a permit to dump 100,000 tonnes of contaminated soil each year for the next 50 years. Premiering Saturday, March 5 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, CTV GO, and CTVNews.ca, W5 delivers TROUBLE IN PARADISE, an examination into the fight to shut down the watershed dump site upstream of Shawnigan Lake – a lake residents have relied upon for their drinking water for generations. W5 Senior Reporter Victor Malarek investigates why the B.C. government’s Environment Assessment Board awarded the dumping permit when at least nine independent experts testified against the engineering, planning, and wisdom of placing a landfill site uphill from a pristine watershed. W5 reveals documents showing that Michael Harry, then Chief of the nearby Malahat First Nation, one of only two people in support of the landfill, was offered construction services for his reserve in exchange for not opposing the permit application. The documents show that Harry was also paid a consultation fee based on 50 cents per tonne dumped at the site. <<NOTE TO MEDIA: W5 Senior Reporter Victor Malarek is available for interviews. Please email patricia.garcia@bellmedia.ca>> In spite of the community’s broad opposition, vocal public debate, and independent expert opinions disputing a contaminated soil landfill uphill from the town’s drinking water source, Shawnigan Lake residents were stunned when the government ultimately granted a permit to South Island Aggregates (SIA). W5 also reveals documents showing a secret deal to share profits between SIA and the company that conducted the environmental risk assessment. With many more questions as to why the provincial government authorized the 50-year permit for the landfill, W5 pursues B.C.’s Environment Minister Mary Polak for answers. Saturday’s W5 broadcast also features Co-Host Kevin Newman’s investigation into the laws protecting the secrecy of hospital investigations – powerful laws allowing hospitals to apply a cloak of silence in critical patient situations. In HOSPITAL HUSH-UP, W5 examines the case of 33-year-old Pamela Minocha, who died after being admitted to the emergency room at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Toronto after being treated with antibiotics for tooth pain. In the wake of Pamela’s tragic death, 79 communications between the Minocha family and hospital staff, seeking an explanation into Pamela’s treatment or access to her medical records provided no clear answers as to how the otherwise healthy woman suddenly died while in care. Pamela’s brother, Arvin, has waged a determined and lonely campaign to uncover the full story of why a hospital visit ended in Pamela’s death by cardiac arrest. In addition to airing Saturdays at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, W5 also airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. ET and Sundays at 5 p.m. ET on CTV Two, at 1 p.m. ET Sundays on CTV, and at 7 p.m. ET on CTV News Channel. W5 can also be seen on Investigation Discovery on Tuesdays at 11 p.m. ET, and Wednesdays at 12 noon ET; on demand at CTVNews.ca/W5, on the CTV NEWS GO app, the CTV Mobile channel on Bell Mobile TV, and through video on demand partners, such as Bell Fibe TV (visit CTV.ca for local listings).