By Lee Griffi
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Region of Waterloo released a report on the destruction of a soon-to-be-harvested corn crop in Wilmot Township but answers to what exactly happened aren’t a part of it.
The 160-acre parcel of land was sold to the region by a landowner and there was outrage from politicians, farmers and the community at large after the plot was plowed over by hired hands from outside the region. It is the only farm to date that has sold in the area of land the region is looking to purchase for a shovel-ready development in the future.
A diplomatic but dissatisfied Wilmot Mayor Natasha Salonen said her attention is now on the next region meeting, right at Gazette press time on Wednesday of this week.
“I am pleased council unanimously passed a motion to get staff to create the report. It was a huge issue when we saw corn destroyed. In terms of the report itself, I’m not going to share much, beyond I have many questions that will be coming when we discuss this at council on Wednesday. I hope to get more answers and advocate on behalf of my community on this particular issue.”
Salonen, who tabled the motion roughly one month ago, added she isn’t the only one dissatisfied.
“After the motion was passed, everyone was waiting for the report to come back and now I have heard from many people who have a lot of questions and concerns about the lack of information in it.”
Among those raising a red flag is the grass-roots group, Fight for Farmland. It put out a damning press release condemning the region for another instance of a lack of transparency.
“(We are) calling on regional council to reject (the report), citing significant inaccuracies, environmental concerns, omissions of important financial information and a lack of transparency surrounding the Region of Waterloo's Wilmot land assembly process,” said the release.
Spokesperson Alfred Lowrick said there is no way elected officials can accept it.
“(They) must not accept this flawed report. The inaccuracies and omissions are too significant and approving it will set a dangerous precedent for mismanagement and environmental harm.”
Lowrick and the group are demanding an immediate halt to further actions on the land assembly and a complete re-evaluation of the project.
“This is a clear violation of both environmental and ethical principles. The people of Wilmot Township are not a willing host for this reckless development and thousands of citizens have made their concerns very clear,” Lowrick added.
The group is hoping the region will halt the land assembly until ongoing investigations by the auditor general, the Ontario ombudsman and the information and privacy commissioner have been completed.
Fight for Farmland offered six key points in its release, including a complete omission of financial expenditures and costs of what it called unnecessary crop destruction.
“(The report) completely ignored the significant financial cost of the destruction of the bountiful corn crop and the fact that someone thought that the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars destroying food was a good use of scarce taxpayer dollars – even after local farmers approached by the region recommended against it and refused to take on the job,” stated the release.
It also pointed to misleading claims on job creation and economic impact.
“The report paints an overly optimistic picture of job creation, claiming that the development will generate thousands of well-paying jobs. However, without an identified end-user, it is impossible to predict how many jobs will materialize. Claims of thousands of jobs and associated economic benefits lack credibility, especially in light of automation trends in industrial sites.”
The release also claimed a violation of the region’s climate commitments, the destruction of local agriculture and the fact they said there are better sites in the region for a mega-development. The final point in the release points to a continued lack of transparency and public consultation.
“The region has refused to release any reports or technical studies, including those related to water, sewage, transportation, rail and environmental impacts. Freedom of Information requests for these documents were denied, fueling suspicions that these studies were never conducted.”
The Gazette will have a full report following the Region of Waterloo meeting in next week’s paper.
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