Buying A Pig In A Poke

For those not familiar with the term:
Definition: buy something without seeing it; buying something without knowing its inherent quality
Explanation: Used when talking about the negative aspects of not properly looking into something before buying it
Examples: You shouldn`t buy a house without thoroughly inspecting it. It is like buying a pig in a poke. - I don't know what I bought it, I just like to buy a pig in a poke every once in a while.

But it appears that is how we are spending $220 million. What is Mayor Miller and the landfill owners trying to hide?

Stonewalled at landfill gate, councillors still want details
Karen Stintz and Denzil Minnan-Wong take a wasted trip to Green Lane, seeking fine print in Toronto's hush-hush deal
March 02, 2007
Donovan Vincent
CITY HALL BUREAU

They drove 2 1/2 hours to get a first-hand look at the $220 million Green Lane landfill Toronto is buying. But when Councillors Karen Stintz and Denzil Minnan-Wong got there, dumpsite officials turned them away.

"We met with officials at the landfill. We asked for a tour and permission to look at the site and we were flatly refused," a frustrated Minnan-Wong said yesterday via cellphone as he, Stintz and their staff drove back to Toronto in a snowstorm.

The councillors have led the charge to elicit a detailed briefing from Toronto city hall staff about the purchase – including a petition they and a dozen other councillors signed.

The petition was handed to staff in Mayor David Miller's office but has so far been met with "dead silence," the two say.

Refusing to be stymied, Stintz and Minnan-Wong drove to Green Lane, near St. Thomas, to collect some information themselves.

"I think it's highly irregular that representatives of the City of Toronto should not be allowed to view and investigate a landfill we're spending hundreds of millions on. That's wrong," Minnan-Wong added.

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