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  • Jim Cuddy Concert - Aug. 5, 2018

    In support of our partner  C.O.R.E.

    The 12th Annual Fundraising Concert at Lyric Pond

    cuddy-2018-240x300

    Full details.

  • Greenbelt Harvest Picnic - Aug. 27, 28, 2016

      Join in the festival. We'll be there!

    greenbelt-harvest

    harvest picnic

    Location: Christie Lake, Dundas Ontario

    Purpose: raise awareness of the importance of the Greenbelt harvest, local farmers, art, the outdoors and the eat-local movement

    Full details and tickets.

    An outdoor concert featuring Jim Cuddy Band, Jann Arden, Gordon Lightfoot, Cowboy Junkies and many more.

    There is also a line-up of artists, farmers, food vendors, organizations and seminars

  • Are you on the voters list?

    Check here: https://www3.elections.on.ca/internetapp/aiotl.aspx

    Do you have other questions such as:
    Where do I vote?
    Find my candidates
    Find my electoral district
    Find my returning office
    Advance poll locations
    ID needed to vote

    Get answers at: 

    http://www.wemakevotingeasy.ca/

     

     

     

  • Dufferin-Caledon All Candidates Meeting - May 27 & 29

    May 27, 2014 - Westside Secondary School, 300 Alder St., Orangeville

    May 29, 2014 - Glenbrook Elementary School, 300 Fiddle Park Lane, Shelburne

    Time: 7:00 - 9:00 PM

    This is your opportunity to meet the the candidates and discuss the issues that mean the most to you. Ask them to protect farmland and source water regions.

  • Jim Cuddy Concert at Lyric Pond - July 12, 2014

    Conserve Our Rural Environment (CORE)

    Presents:

    Concert at Lyric Pond

    In support of challenging inappropriate land use in Mulmur and Melancthon

    When: Saturday, July 12, 2014

    cuddy-2014-web

    Click on image for full details and enlarged image.

    Join Jim Cuddy and Friends

    • Special Guest Star Juno award winner, Justin Rutledge

    Performances by:

    • Jim Cuddy
    • Basil Donavan
    • Joel Anderson
    • Anne Lindsay
    • Colin Cripps
    • The Romney Getty Band

    Fabulous Buffet Saturday, July 12 begins at 6 PM
    Tickets
    Ages 5 – 10    $25.00
    Ages 11-20    $75.00
    Ages 21 and over   $200.00
    Kids 4 and under free

    Reserve by email: norm@informationpackaging.ca

    Make cheques payable to CORE and mail to:
    Norm MacEachern
    One Banigan Drive
    Toronto, ON M4H 1G3

    Hosts:
    Melody & Bill Duron
    Honeywood

    A map will be included with your tickets.

     

  • ARA review, legislation awaited anxiously

    On my way to visit Carl Cosack at his Peace Valley Ranch last Monday, I took a few moments to grab a photo of a crumbling barn on the farm where my sister Elsie and her husband, Eric, had toiled and lived from their marriage until their retirement.

    I had fond memories of the place and of times I had spent visiting and, from time to time, lending a hand with various tasks.

    Eric was both industrious and innovative. He seized onto potatoes at some point when the potato chip industry was fully emerging, especially with the Hostess plant at Cambridge or somewhere, but moved on to beef, then sold an entire herd and moved on to dairy.

    He and my sister prospered – the two large silos and remains of a milk house at the old farm are evidence of that – but Eric spent too much time under the sun cultivating the fields, got skin cancer that spread, and he succumbed a few years after retirement.

    The new owners of the farm took a different approach to agriculture. I know nothing about their history, but the residence, an imposing two-storey century brick house, was occupied by tenants when it burned to the ground a few years ago.

    This column is not meant to be about my relatives or about their farm, except to the extent to state that everything they accomplished was dependent upon the fertility of the land, no matter how one might view their ability to care for it.

    My reason for being up in the area was to discuss, among other things, the progress of NDACT’s Food and Water First campaign.

    The visit was timely, as the campaign has to do with the preservation of fertile, Class 1 and better, farmland plus the source of water that not only keeps the fields fertile but is essential to the health of a growing population. You need both the land and the water to grow food.

    The campaign, which, according to Carl, has involved the placing of thousands of signs, coincides more or less with the imminent release of the all-party committee report on the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA) review. Carl says he believes the report will be fair. But he admits that the next hurdle will be getting the required changes passed into law. NDACT has been meeting with MPPs and with ministers and ministry officials, and getting good responses, Carl says, yet one must be a realist and keep in mind that professional lobbyists for the multi-billiondollar aggregate industry must also be active.

    NDACT was founded to combat the threat of a huge open-pit limestone quarry that would have excavated a couple of thousand acres and gone deeper than anyone would have expected.

    NDACT was not lulled to sleep by the withdrawal of the application for the quarry. The association has continued to work and watch, and Food and Water First is another step in its awareness efforts.

    Engineer Garry Hunter, you will recall, identified numerous underground streams in the area that would have been mined. Photographer Donna Wells snapped the above-ground streams and rivers fed by those underground.

    NDACT’s various campaigns, supported by events such as Foodstock, for which a host of chefs deserve credit, have been responsible for the protection of those essential streams along with the area’s special crops acreages.

    Now, unless the critical ARA changes along with a revision of the Provincial Policy Statement with respect to farmland, happen, the quarry application might well be renewed and possibly approved.

    Proponent Highland Companies has so far made no moves that would indicate its intention to revive the application but, instead, has advanced its farming operations and remained as a positive community presence.

    Let us hope that the ARA changes get past the legislature so that the land and the water in the area under discussion remain as they are.

     

    By Wes Keller

    Published in the "Orangeville Banner", May 30, 2013

  • Message From the Chair - Call to Action May 27, 2013

    Call to Action - ARA Report is Being Written Today

     

    There are only a few times in a lifetime that we, as people part of a greater society, can truly drive positive, non-partisan positive change for all of us, and those generations following.

     

    That time is now, today, with the ARA Review Report being written. Thousands of people have worked towards this goal, the need for this is dramatically highlighted by the Highland Companies Mega Quarry application in Melancthon Township. All political parties at Queens Park, plus the Green Party have strongly supported the call to finish the job that was started with the provincial wide hearings last year.

     

    Write today to the MPP's listed below, and copy your own MPP, ask them to write meaningful changes into their report, respecting the "Food and Water First" sentiment expressed by so many of the deputations presented to them during the public hearings.

     

    At no other time have we had the chance to impress on those we elect to truly listen to the people of this province. Make your voice heard today, and ask your friends and family to do the same. PLEASE!!!

     

    Carl Cosack

    NDACT Chair

    We encourage you to contact the MPPs on the Committee! Below is a sample letter and the e-mail addresses for the members. As always, please add your own thoughts/expertise to your letters. And start hitting the SEND button!

    Bas Balkissoon, Chairman    bbalkissoon.mpp@liberal.ola.org

    Donna Cansfield                 dcansfield.mpp@liberal.ola.org

    Rick Bartolucci                    rbartolucci.mpp@liberal.ola.org

    Sarah Campbell                  scampbell-qp@ndp.on.ca

    Mike Colle                           mcolle.mpp@liberal.ola.org

    Rosario Marchese               rmarchese-qp@ndp.on.ca

    Laurie Scott                         laurie.scott@pc.ola.org

    Todd Smith                          todd.smith@pc.ola.org

    Jeff Yurek                            jeff.yurek@pc.ola.org 

     To the members of the Standing Committee on General Government: 

       I understand you will begin writing the Committee's report on the review of the Aggregate Resources Act beginning this Monday, May 27th. This important process was launched in the fall of 2011, followed by public hearings one year ago. The review of the ARA was ordered in the midst of the controversy over the proposed Highland mega quarry. As you'll recall, the proposed mega quarry would have destroyed 2,300-acres of the rarest agricultural land in Ontario and impacted the water resources for up to one million people downstream in perpetuity. It was because of the mega quarry that the review of the outdated ARA was ordered by the Ontario government.

      As you write your report, I would like to remind you of the key suggestions made by the agricultural stakeholders and farmers who appeared before you last year. They all stressed that under the ARA, Ontario's prime farmland is at risk. This strategic and perpetual resource is vital to our $33-billion agri-food sector, our economy and our food security, yet it is unprotected. As well, the Highland application revealed that Ontario's source water regions are also vulnerable under the current ARA. Highland intended to pump 600-million-litres of water from the mega quarry every day, forever. As one of the farmers stated at the public hearings: It's time to put food and water first. 

      Therefore, I urge you to include protection for prime farmland and source water regions in your report on the ARA review. Tens of thousands of Ontarians are engaged in this issue. They look forward to seeing their views on the preservation of prime farmland and water resources reflected in the Committee's findings. 

    Sincerely,

     

  • Call to Action - ARA Report Writing Begins May 27, 2013

    Call To Action! 

     The Standing Committee on General Government starts writing its report on the review of the Aggregate Resources Act today, May 27th! The MPPs will be incorporating the suggestions presented at last spring's public hearings into the ARA. These include the calls made by agricultural stakeholders to protect prime farmland and source water regions. 

     

    We encourage you to contact the MPPs on the Committee! Below is a sample letter and the e-mail addresses for the members. As always, please add your own thoughts/expertise to your letters. And start hitting the SEND button!

    Bas Balkissoon, Chairman   bbalkissoon.mpp@liberal.ola.org

    Donna Cansfield                dcansfield.mpp@liberal.ola.org

    Rick Bartolucci                   rbartolucci.mpp@liberal.ola.org

    Sarah Campbell                 scampbell-qp@ndp.on.ca

    Mike Colle                          mcolle.mpp@liberal.ola.org

    Rosario Marchese              rmarchese-qp@ndp.on.ca

    Laurie Scott                        laurie.scott@pc.ola.org

    Todd Smith                         todd.smith@pc.ola.org

    Jeff Yurek                           jeff.yurek@pc.ola.org 

     

     To the members of the Standing Committee on General Government: 

     

       I understand you will begin writing the Committee's report on the review of the Aggregate Resources Act beginning this Monday, May 27th. This important process was launched in the fall of 2011, followed by public hearings one year ago. The review of the ARA was ordered in the midst of the controversy over the proposed Highland mega quarry. As you'll recall, the proposed mega quarry would have destroyed 2,300-acres of the rarest agricultural land in Ontario and impacted the water resources for up to one million people downstream in perpetuity. It was because of the mega quarry that the review of the outdated ARA was ordered by the Ontario government.

     

      As you write your report, I would like to remind you of the key suggestions made by the agricultural stakeholders and farmers who appeared before you last year. They all stressed that under the ARA, Ontario's prime farmland is at risk. This strategic and perpetual resource is vital to our $33-billion agri-food sector, our economy and our food security, yet it is unprotected. As well, the Highland application revealed that Ontario's source water regions are also vulnerable under the current ARA. Highland intended to pump 600-million-litres of water from the mega quarry every day, forever. As one of the farmers stated at the public hearings: It's time to put food and water first. 

     

      Therefore, I urge you to include protection for prime farmland and source water regions in your report on the ARA review. Tens of thousands of Ontarians are engaged in this issue. They look forward to seeing their views on the preservation of prime farmland and water resources reflected in the Committee's findings. 

     Sincerely,

     

    Another version that was "tweaked" by one of our supporters.

    Feel free to use either version.

    To the members of the Standing Committee on General Government: 

       I understand you will begin writing the Committee's report on the review of the Aggregate Resources Act beginning this Monday, May 27th. This important process was launched in the fall of 2011, followed by public hearings one year ago. The review of the ARA was ordered in the midst of the controversy over the proposed Highland mega quarry. As you'll recall, the proposed mega quarry would have destroyed 2,300-acres of the best agricultural land in Ontario for ever and impacted the water resources for up to one million people downstream in perpetuity. It was because of the mega quarry that the review of the existing but outdated ARA was ordered by the Ontario government.

     

      Please remember the key suggestions made by the agricultural stakeholders, farmers and other landowners and residents along with a host of others who appeared before you last year. Without exception they stressed that under the existing ARA, Ontario's prime farmland is, and will remain at risk. This strategic and perpetual resource is vital to our $33-billion agri-food sector, our economy and our food security, yet it is unprotected. 

     

    In addition, the Highland application revealed that Ontario's source water regions are also vulnerable under the current ARA. Highland declared it intended to pump 600-million-litres of water from the mega quarry every day, forever. As a clear reminder one of the farmers stated at the public hearings: It's time to put food and water first, it is the highest and best use of this precious land.

     

      Therefore, I urge you to include protection for prime farmland and source water regions in your report on the ARA review. Tens of thousands of Ontarians are engaged in this issue. They look forward to seeing their views on the preservation of prime farmland and water resources reflected in the Committee's findings. 

     

    Sincerely,

     

     
  • Council of Canadians Regional Meeting in Mulmur - May 25, 2013

    Council of Canadians are holding their regional meeting at Unicamp, Mulmur on May 25, 2103

    Attendees:

    • Activists from the 17 Regional Chapters of Council of Canadians
    • Their Executive Director and staff
    • Carl Cosack, NDACT Chair

    Agenda:

    • There will be a session on communities fighting back against unwanted industrial development.
    • Carl Cosack will speak about the Melancthon Mega Quarry Proposal and our battle.
  • Food Security: An Interactive Panel Discussion

     Date: Thursday, May 16, 2013

    Time: Doors open at 6:30 pm

    Event: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

    Location: Danforth Mennonite Church
    2174 Danforth Ave (1.5 blocks from Woodbine Station), Toronto

    Join Matthew Kellway MPP Beaches-East York and special guests:

    • Wayne Roberts -food policy analyst and writer
    • Donna Tranquada - writer and broadcaster - active in Artists Against the MegaQuarry and with Food & Water First
    • Carl Cosack - chair of NDACT and Food & Water First
    • Malcolm Allen- MP Welland, NDP Agriculture Critic
    • Patrick Tohill - WSPA Canada

    for an interactive panel discussion. 

    Click here for more details.

    https://www.facebook.com/matthewkellway

    http://matthewkellway.ndp.ca/events

  • Food & Water First at Patagonia, Toronto

    bv-sh-thumb

    Many thanks to the Food & Water First team for a great event at Patagonia on Saturday May 11, 2013! Volunteers Blaine and Shirley are all smiles in the  photo as they spread the news about protecting prime farmland and water resources. New pledges and new supporters add up to another successful day for the campaign. Special thanks to our friends at Patagonia on King St. West for, once again, standing with us! 

  • 98th annual Graduate Exhibition OCAD University - May 2-5, 2013

    ONTARIO COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN

    100 McCaul St., Toronto, Ontario

    98th Annual Graduate Exhibition

    The class of 2013, an eclectic mix of more than 550 graduating students working in twelve undergraduate programs, present their final thesis work to an audience of more than 26,000 guests.

    Some of these students produced No Mega Quarry Posters

    OPENING NIGHT: Thursday, May 2, 6:30 to 11 p.m. Friday, May 3, 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

    Saturday, May 4, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

    Sunday, May 5, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

    Location: 100 McCaul St.,Toronto, Ontario,416-977-6000

    For full details, please go to: http://apache.ocad.ca/events_calendar/eventdetail.php?id=4402

  • Aware-Simcoe F&WF Public Meeting - May 4, 2013

    aware-logo




     

     

     

    FOOD AND WATER FIRST

    Join Aware - Simcoe  for a

    Public Meeting

     

    at Alliston’s Circle Theatre, 19 Victoria St. E., Tecumseth, ON

    Saturday May 4th 9:30 – 12:00

                                                                                                                                                   

    Refreshments and baked goodies provided – bring a friend!

     

    We defeated the Mega Quarry…for the time being….but there’s nothing saying it can’t happen again 100 times over!

    Now we need to change the Ontario Aggregates Act to protect our Clean Water and Prime Farmland.

    Come learn, listen and find out what you can do!

     

    Speakers:

    • Carl Cosak, Chair, North Dufferin Agricultural Taskforce (NDACT)
    • Shirley Boxem, Secretary, NDACT
    • Bernard Pope, Ontario Farmland Preservation
    • Dale Goldhawk, AM 740 Radio
    • M/C: Donna Tranquada, writer and former CBC host

    With special acknowledgements to the

    Saugeen, Cape and Crocker First Nation

  • Pantagonia Toronto's Food Expo and Market - May 11, 2013

    Date: May 11, 2013

    Time: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM

    Location: Pantagonia, 500 King St. W., Toronto

    On Saturday May 11th, join Patagonia Toronto and special friends to celebrate Toronto-based producers and organizations that are putting local food on the map in our city.

    They will be sharing the talents, tastes and visions of an eclectic crew of movers and shakers in the local food scene.

    Taste the freshness of the season with samples from Belmonte Raw, Chocosol, Maizal Quesadilla Cafe and Yorktown Pies, try natural, food-based skin care from Karmalicious and learn about the inventive programs being run in our city by Fresh City Farms, Not Far From the Tree and Food and Water First.

     

    NDACT will have a Food & Water First table at this event.

    Click here for more details.

  • Calling on Bird Enthusiasts - NDACT Needs Your Help

    Since, summer is almost here, and bird presence is increasing, we need your help in spotting the bird species that are found in the proposed quarry area.

    Please travel around the quarry application sitebetween now and July 15, 2012 and take inventory of what you see...written down, dated and witnessed.

    We have had some good response from supporters so far but any more sitings would be welcome. We will start posting the sitings soon.

     Please contact info@ndact.com, with your findings.

     

    The reason for this call to action is to identify the diversity that is present in Melancthon, with a focus on the Bobolink and the Barn Swallow, others to join this list. The more species of all ecological life we can identify, the better. It will help to put together a collage of images for presentations to various Ministries and decision makers.

    Thank you for engaging and helping to spread the word.

    Carl Cosack, NDACT Chair

     

    (Please note that by clicking on quarry application site, here and above,  a map of the site area indicating road names is shown.)

     

     

  • ARA - Letters Asking for Traveling Hearings

    Letters to House Leaders encouraging them to allow the ARA hearings to extend across the province.

    Because of privacy issues, we have not posted letters submitted by private individuals.

     

    From Mike Schreiner, Leader of the Green Party, submitted May 16, 2012

    I strongly urge you to grant the SCGG’s request to travel and to seek further public consultation in regard to the ARA review.
    I also encourage you to expand the scope of the ARA review to include policies, legislation and regulations that affect aggregates. Infrastructure investments, land use planning, waste diversion policies, and environmental protections are just a few of the ways in which government policies affect demand for and use of aggregates.

    Read full letter.

     

  • ARA Hearing - Carl Cosack Receives Ovation

    "It was the first time in the 12 hours of hearings that applause broke out after a presentation. It certainly served notice to the MPPs on the committee that the fight to stop the proposed mega quarry is vigorous and vocal."

    D.T.

    The following is Carl's presentation, Day 4 of the ARA Review Hearing, Wednesday May 16, 2012

    (more about the ARA Hearings)

    (notes and government transcripts of Hearings)

     

    NDACT Chair Carl Cosack

    Presentation before the Standing Committee on General Government

    Hearings to review the Aggregate Resources Act

    May 16, 2012

     

    Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. My name is Carl Cosack and I am the chair of the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce, or NDACT.

     Thank you for giving me the time to speak today and to share our thoughts on the review of the Aggregate Resources Act.

    NDACT was formed three years ago when the larger North Dufferin community learned about the Highland Companies plans for a massive quarry in the potato fields of Melancthon, just 90 minutes northwest of Queen’s Park. We have several hundred members and thousands of supporters actively engaged in the effort to save the land and its water. My comments today will address Agriculture and Water issues only.

    While these hearings are not about the proposed Highland Companies mega quarry, it is because of the mega quarry application that we are here today. The application for the largest quarry in Canadian history in the midst of a 15,000-acre plateau of farmland hashighlighted the ongoing conflict between aggregate and agriculture. This committee has the unique opportunity to bridge those conflicts because really, aggregate operators and agriculture have much in common. We all use aggregate, we all raise children, we all eat food and we all need clean, fresh water. Non-partisan thinking will develop better policies for a better Ontario.

    Representatives from the aggregate industry argue that Ontario must maintain a “close to market” approach when it comes to aggregate. That approach is part of the PPS. The PPS is a policy, not law, and it is within your mandate to improve those policies that are not working for the people of this province. In southern Ontario, “Close to Market” means “too close to prime farmland”, the very land that is extremely rare, highly productive and a major factor in the province’s economy. “Close to market” policy should not be restricted to the aggregate industry.

    Close to market” is equally important to the food producing sector of our economy.

    You already know that a mere point-five percent of Canada is made of up Class 1 agricultural land. This is the finest soil in which to grow our food. Of that point-five percent, more than half of it is right here in southern Ontario. In fact, the farmland at the centre of the mega quarry controversy is Class 1 soil known as Honeywood Silt Loam. It exists nowhere else in Ontario in this contiguous manner.

  • Call to Action - Ask House Leaders to Agree to Traveling Hearings

    Please send this quick e-mail asking for an Aggregate Resources Act Review Roadshow!

    ACTION ITEM: Please contact the following MPPs/staff members and give them a bit of a push. Cut & paste the following:

    The House Leaders have not yet agreed to the Standing Committee on General Government's (SCGG) request to travel in regard to the Aggregate Resource Act (ARA) Review. I am a Resident and Taxpayer of Ontario. I would like to see the SCGG visit communities that are or will be impacted by aggregate operations. I would also like to see the SCGG accept and consider further public input beyond the last scheduled ARA Review hearing tomorrow. Please answer "Yes" to the SCGG's travel request.

    Thank you.

    Send To: gbisson@ndp.on.ca; jmilloy.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org; john.yakabuski@pc.ola.org
    CC: tamara_pomanski@ontla.ola.org; meghan_stenson@ontla.ola.org; dorazietti.mpp@liberal.ola.org; sylvia.jones@pc.ola.org

  • Make Orangeville Shine 2012 - May 5, 2012

    rotarywheelSponsored by Rotary International and Tim Horton's

    Date: May 5, 2012

    Time: 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon

    Location: Rotary Park, Orangeville

    NDACT will have a booth at this event.

    For more details, please go to: 

    http://www.orangeville-rotary.easyfocus.com/shine.html

  • No Rural Public Hearings for Aggregate Review - Call to Action

    Aggregate Resources Act Review Begins Monday May 7, 2012

    They don’t mine too much aggregate in Toronto, but that’s where the provincial government’s review of the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA) will be exclusively held.

    As a result, Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones has expressed her outrage that the Liberal and NDP members of the Standing Committee on General Government reviewing the ARA have opted to set up shop in The Big Smoke, and set aside four days for public participation.

    I’m concerned that municipalities, industry representatives and residents most familiar with aggregates, residing in communities where aggregate extraction occurs, will be left out of the process,” Jones said in a news release. “We have an obligation to hear from the experts and they don’t live in Toronto.”

    Read the entire article.

    Posted in the "Orangeville Banner", May 4, 2012

    Hearing dates: May 7, 2012, May 9, 2012, May 14, 2012 & May 16, 2012.

    Agendas for hearing dates.

    Why the rush? Not much warning and little time allowed for public participation.

  • Protect Source Water - We Need Your Help

    In Solidarity with Wellington Water Watchers, We Need Your Help

    Wellington Water Watchers is a volunteer organization which has been working steadily for 5 years now on protecting source water.

    Nestlé & Hillsburgh water – What’s Up?

    hillsburgh-landfillNestlé Waters Canada is currently asking the province of Ontario for a 10-year extension to its existing 5-year permit to take up to 1.1 million litres of water per day from its rural Hillsburgh farm property.

    • This water is trucked 24/7 in 38,000-litre tankers along our sideroads and highways to Nestlé’s Aberfoyle bottling plant, 50 kilometres away.
    • It’s subsequently ozonated and injected into hundreds of millions of plastic bottles made from oil and trucked long distances to distribution centres and final markets.
    • At least half the empty bottles – tens of millions each year from the Hillsburgh permit alone - end up in our landfills and incinerators, or as litter.
    • Bottled water is several hundred times more expensive than tap water.
    • Nestlé pays the Ministry of Environment (MOE) $3.71 per million litres.

     

    Nestlé gets Hillsburgh water at an absurdly low price from the province. The Town of Erin receives an annual grant from Nestlé - but it’s pocket change from the world’s largest food and beverage corporation. They get 24/7 truck noise, road wear-and-tear, toxic diesel fumes, and lower property values along the route. All Ontarians get too many tonnes of plastic garbage, and the world gets a lot more of what it least needs – climate-changing carbon emissions.

     

    Ontario's water-taking permit process is deeply flawed

    Wellington Water Watchers and the Council of Canadians have submitted a Request for Review to the Ministry of Environment challenging them to honour their own Statement of Environmental Values as they relate to bottled water permits.

    Short Points

    Wellington Water Watchers opposes this application because:

    • The amount of groundwater in our Grand River watershed is not known. Allowing large-volume water taking is like writing blank cheques on a bank account with an unknown balance.
    • Water is too valuable a resource to be given away – and that’s virtually what our province does by charging Nestlé and others a mere $3.71 for every million litres taken.
    • In 2010, Nestlé paid just $2,238 for over 600 million litres of water taken from Mill Creek in Aberfoyle. This works out to about .0000004 cents per litre, a far cry from the true value of such a priceless resource.
    • Environmental harm being done. The millions of litres taken weekly are put into single-use, disposable plastic bottles. The industry claims 60% of these bottles are recycled but that still means hundreds of millions every year become litter, or trash in our landfills. WWW (Wellington Water Watchers) call this a permit to pollute.
    • There are no water conservation measures built into this renewal permit. The volume of water taken should be decreased annually to encourage water conservation. This is one of the principles of Ontario’s new Water Opportunities Act.
    • The applicant has asked for an unprecedented 10-year water-taking permit. Yet WWW have no idea how drought or climate change will affect Guelph’s water supply in years to come. At most, any new permit should be issued for three years or less.
    • Much of the water when bottled leaves the Grand River watershed. Justice Dennis O’Connor’s report on the Walkerton tragedy recommended that water be managed on a watershed basis. Nestlé and others should be required to use glass, deposit-bearing bottles that are sold only within the Grand River watershed.

    See full details.

    How Can You Help Protect Source Water?

    Submit your objections within 30 days (up until May 20, 2012) to the Ontario Minister of the Environment. See Nestle EBR submission.

    Copy and past form and points of objection and instructions for online and offline submissions can be found at: http://www.wellingtonwaterwatchers.ca/home/the-issues/hillsburgh/

    Deadline for comments is May 20, 2012