1972
Ralph Nader spoke to a crowd of 1,400 at the University of Waterloo in October. He promoted the creation of a cross-linked system of autonomous consumer groups across the continent and envisioned students as the most likely people to form and support such groups.
Barbara Lamb is reported in the Chevron as opening the first meeting of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) at the University of Waterloo later that month with about ninety students attending. Organizers planned to acquire signatures of over 50 % of the student body on a petition adding a $3.00 refundable yearly student fee.
1973
The petition drive continued into February. President of the Federation of Students (FEDS) Andrew Telegdi, sent a memo to the Board of Governors stressing FEDS support for the OPIRG petition, citing overwhelming popularity in polls. By summer the Board had approved OPIRG’s proposal. OPIRG was incorporated as a non-profit, non-share, non-capital charitable corporation in September. OPIRG’s first research projects responded to the “serious housing crisis” on campus. OPIRG also launched a weekly price survey of K-W food stores published in the K-W Record.
1974
OPIRG hired its first co-op students in January and opened the Kitchener-Waterloo Consumer Complaints Centre in February in downtown Kitchener. The Record discontinued OPIRG’s weekly Retail Food Price Survey, allegedly at the behest of retailers. Engineering students with OPIRG developed a new bikeway plan with the City of Waterloo, and appeared in court with other environmental groups over the proposed bridge over the Elora Gorge.
In October, the OPIRG Board set up structures for research and action projects, noting the need for ad hoc volunteer projects, social research and social action programs. The November referendum at McMaster University for the creation of an OPIRG chapter was successful, meaning OPIRG was now truly a network.
The success of a new grant put the Consumer Complaints Centre in greater action and Director Shannon Doherty urged the Chamber of Commerce to set up a permanent Better Business Bureau.
1975
OPIRG joined with the K-W Human Rights Caucus and Kitchener House to protest the Kitchener jail facilities. The OPIRG Jail Report, prepared after extensive interviews of inmates, guards and officials, and study of comparable jail facilities, sparked wide publicity and reaction from the correctional system. A handbook on consumer education, research and action was begun. The Weston's Paper, an in depth study of the George Weston conglomerate was published by OPIRG in a tabloid format and presented as a brief to the Federal Commission on Corporate Concentration.
Trent University in Peterborough held a referendum on having an OPIRG chapter and became the third chapter. OPIRG-Waterloo staff and Board members assisted the new Trent OPIRG in setting up and gave two presentations on the food industry.
1976
Research project initiated on mercury poisoning in north-western Ontario affecting native people in reserves near Dryden. Quicksilver and Slow Death would be published in September as a result, in collaboration with Treaty 9 natives and later presented to the Ontario government.
In March, Ralph Nader visited Guelph and London to support the formation of OPIRG chapters. Later that week, Guelph students voted "yes" in a referendum to start OPIRG-Guelph.
By fall, pressure from the K-W Chamber of Commerce forced the Consumer Action Centre to lose funding and close permanently. OPIRG-Waterloo and the Waterloo Regional Rape Crisis Centre co-sponsored a discussion session about rape on campus, leading to the Federation of Students setting up anti-rape patrols at UW.
1977
Western joined the OPIRG provincial network. Freedom of Information Documentation Centre established at OPIRG. Three-day conference, “Science and the Politics of the Environment,” organized by OPIRG-provincial in conjunction with York University. CBC covered the event and media reports were extensive. At Waterloo, “An Evening on Northern Development” sponsored by OPIRG-Waterloo, featured speakers from Treaty 9, films and an open discussion. OPIRG-Waterloo submitted a brief to the Hartt Royal Commission on Northern Development challenging that transnational corporations can promote or maintain socially and economically stable communities.
1978
Latin American events came to the fore on campus as OPIRG-Waterloo co-sponsored an evening with the K-W Chilean Support Group on poet-singer Victor Jara. “Ten Days for World Development” hosted a week of events co-sponsored with OPIRG on food issues, and “Ontario North Today” was the focus of two presentations. Fall projects included work for the People's Food Commission, research on asbestos in the workplace and health care issues, and the creation of the Critical Issues lecture series.
University of Ottawa and University of Windsor joined OPIRG after successful referendums, widening the provincial network. “Science and the Public,” a week of seminars and films on the relationship between scientific decision-making and the role of public participation was sponsored by OPIRG-Waterloo and the Federation of Students.
1979
The OPIRG-Waterloo Board withdrew its financial support and affiliation with the OPIRG network in disagreement with the move towards “community activism and a role as animator” and de-centering research. On May 1 1979 the group’s name was officially changed from OPIRG-Waterloo to WPIRG.
Events included: Wallace Clement, author of Canadian Corporate Elite, on “Uneven Development: Canada and the World System”; Henry Aubin, author of City For Sale, on “Who Really Owns Canada”; the Northern Native Rights Campaign was assisted in local events, publicizing native peoples’ claims to northern land; skills workshops on corporate research, investigative journalism, and public speaking; and Brown Bag Seminars, a series of weekly presentations by University of Waterloo faculty and staff. Research proposals covered food self-sufficiency, corporate profiles, issue kits, a pollution map, and research on unemployment.