[All] Fw: Using Provincial Legislation to Stop Dufferin Mega Quarry

[Louisette Lanteigne]

Word from Melancthon with interesting twist. The Provincial gov't has the power to stop the Quarry right after the election if they so choose. Details are below. 
Lulu____________________________________________________

To Opponents of the Dufferin County Mega 
Quarry
 
Provincial legislature Has Power To Kill Mega 
Quarry Promptly Following Provincial Election 
 
It is important to realize that following the 
provincial election, the Ontario government will have the power to promptly kill 
the proposed Dufferin County Mega-Quary. This can both promptly stop the scheme, 
prevent a protracted and possibly biased hearing process and the expenditure of 
thousands of dollars on legal and  witnesses fees. From our 
experience with Dump Site 41 it can also stop the use of biased testimony from 
"experts" who are highly paid to come up with elaborative and expensive 
deceptions. One of the key engineering companies that attempted to justify the 
nonsense of Dump Site 41 proponents that  it is ok to 
bury  garbage above the purest water in the world is also being paid 
to justify the Highland monstrosity. 
 
Frequently provincial legislators and candidates 
for this office pretend not to be aware of the great powers the Ontario 
legislature has to protect the environment. To refresh them of their collective 
powers, it is helpful to cite examples of where the provincial legislature has 
passed site specific legislation to protect lands from despoiltation. 

 
One example where the legislature acted was against 
a proposal to turn a quarry in Acton into a garbage dump. It was defeated by a 
concerted effort by members of a Halton Region environmental group, Protect Our 
Water Resources, (POWER). The group carefully lobbied all the members of the 
legislature in the early 1990s (it was a NDP government) for persuasive reasons 
to outlaw the dump. 
 
Another example is the Adams Lake Mine Act. This 
was one of the first laws that the newly elected Liberal government passed in 
2004. The Adams Lake proposal was a scheme to dump garbage in a lake, which was 
defended by numerous experts and was actually approved by the environmental 
assessement process. 
 
The Adams Lake Mine Act was extensively debated in 
the Ontario legislature. Conservatives opposed the bill. Despite their 
opposition it was passed by a vote of 63 to 18 on June 17th, 2004. It also 
amended the Environmental Protection  Act to prevent the use of any 
lake in Ontario of one hectare or more in size as a garbage dump. 
 
The act states that"No person shall dispose of 
waste at the Adams Mine Site." It then goes on to revoke various approvals that 
the company obtained in the past under different Ontario laws. These are the 
Environmental Assessement Act, Environmental Protection Act and the Ontario 
Water Resources Act. 
 
The Adams Lake Mine Act  also prohibits 
any application to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against its provisions. 
This has prevented any appeals, although the companies behind the dump proposal 
have attempted ( so far in vain) to get the federal government to give them 
compensation through the NAFTA agreement. Note that this is now seven years 
after the Adams Lake Mine Act was passed and they have not been able to get one 
cent in compensation above the amount specified in the provincial legislation 

 
Legislation to kill the Dufferin Mega Quarry can 
prohibit  new quarries from a specific area of land. There are two which 
would be quite appropriate. One of the Honeywood Silt Loam soil complex area, 
which is the best land in Canada to grow potatoes on. Another is the Anabel 
Acquifer, the "Highland" area at the top of Southern Ontario and the source of 
so much of our precious drinking water. 
 
Danny Beaton, (Mohawk Six Nations, Turtle Clan)- 
Receiver  of the Aboriginal Achievement Award for the Environment, 2010 
 
 
Dr. John Bacher (PhD) Researcher, Preservation of 
Agricultural Lands Society 
 
 
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