Close the Loopholes

Tell Ontario to Close the Loopholes For Developers and Put our Farmland and Rare Wetland First!

In 2012, the province issued a “Special Rule” to permit ONE community in Ontario – Midhurst – to bypass good planning policies and allow huge subdivisions on some of the best farmland in Canada. This is a gross abuse of the democratic process – one that needs to be corrected.

As Margaret Atwood said,
“This (case) is not the prototypical tree-hugger versus the capitalist. This is the prototypical ratepayer against some people who did some pretty secretive things to them behind their backs that they’re going to have to pay for.”

The Wynne government constantly talks up ‘smart growth’, ‘farmland preservation’ and being an ‘open and transparent’ government. Now is the time for them to show they mean business to the people of Midhurst and everyone else who believes that the security of our farmland, water and wetlands should trump corporate greed.

With the Midhurst Secondary Plan stopped, we can develop our community sustainably: for the environment, our major economic sector – agriculture, and our wallets. Making the government uphold its own rules and revoke the special loophole JUST for Midhurst will ensure that:

• Almost 2000 acres of some of the best farmland in Canada remains farmland – this is land that feeds Ontario
• An internationally important and fragile wetland, home to many rare, sensitive and endangered species, will not be inundated with the waste of unnecessary sprawl
• Due process and transparency still mean something in our democracy
• The aquifer which supplies tens of thousands of Ontarians with drinking water is spared unnecessary stress – parched California is a stark lesson on what happens when freshwater resources are mismanaged
• Our small township. already $25 million in debt for infrastructure, can avoid the crippling expense of maintaining and operating over $100 million dollars worth of new roads, water mains and a wastewater treatment plant – taxpayers shouldn’t have to be on the hook for corporate profit and backroom deals.

Help us remind the government that the rules they put in place should have stopped this plan. Tell them it’s their job to enforce those rules for the greater good. Tell them you want an Ontario that has a healthy environment, local farms and strong communities – there is no room for a raze and pave mentality. Future generations deserve better than this.