[All] Backgrounder on Greenbelt purchase

[Lanteigne]

Hi folks 
Metrus and Geranium are two development firms who I have heard of a lot in 2012-2013. Metrus is owned by the DeGasperis family who allegedly "borrowed $100M from CIBC to cover the purchase" of a Greenbelt parcel in 2021 at 21% interest. 
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-sales-of-greenbelt-land-raise-questions-for-ford/
Metrus were the same folks digging up the Oakville Moraine. They've got a bad reputation for this kind of thing. They were named in an online book called Oak Ridge Moraine Battles. 
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Oak_Ridges_Moraine_Battles.html?id=BY6BAAAAQBAJ 
I have personal correspondences and contacts from indigenous and non Indigenous folks who can give testimony on their concerns of Metrus and Geranium going back to 2012. The Storm Coalition wrote of them often and I knew the lady who challenged them at the Ontario Municipal Board. There is also an alleged sexual issue  involving a municipal official in York Region and a Metrus rep that created conflicts of interest. 
Nathalie Helferty, a herpetologist told me she asked Fred De Gasperis of Metrus to not build on the Casa lands at Bethesda and Bayview Avenue in Oak Ridges Moraine where the endangered Jefferson Salamanders were confirmed. I still have that letter.
In 2012 the North Gwillimbury Forest Alliance were voicing concerns of secret deals with Metrus to build the 1,073-home Maple Lakes Estates subdivision in 1 of 10 of the largest forested areas in the Lake Simcoe Watershed. 
 https://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/1419915-york-metrus-strike-secret-deal-/
Talk of secret deals is also linked to the plans for Hwy 413. 
https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2021/04/03/ford-friends-with-benefits-an-inside-look-at-the-money-power-and-influence-behind-the-push-to-build-highway-413.html
For many years I have tracked the exploitation of Moraines and forests for the sake of exploiting trees and aggregates to offset development costs. Whereas a quarry pit requires a permit there is no laws stopping a land owner from levelling hummocky hills to exploit aggregate sales. Even though I went through the Ontario Municipal Board to secure proper pre-development data for the West Side Lands it didn’t stop Activa from dramatic land augmentations of cut and fill activities before they placed the mini piezometer in Clair Creek’s fishery. https://www.waterloochronicle.ca/news-story/5887955-an-expensive-lesson/
 Here is a video of what happened. Lack of Fisheries Enforcement Oct. 2nd 2009 West Side Lands 
  
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Lack of Fisheries Enforcement Oct. 2nd 2009 West Side Lands
 
By Louisette Lanteigne
 

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And with Enbridge Line 10 pipeline installation in Flamborough off Governor’s road I saw the same damn thing. At the NEB hearing Enbridge promised low impact underground drilling to install the replacement high pressure oil pipeline to avoid disruption of habitat for confirmed Jefferson Salamanders and other endangered species along the route including Brown Bats etc. What I witnessed during the pipeline installation was a complete clear cut and dramatic regrading of the hydro corridor the entire width of the Hydro Corridor. There were water taking trucks and multiple new wells to relocate all the water they ran into. Video is here:
Enbridge Line 10 October 18, 2017 
  
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Enbridge Line 10 October 18, 2017
 
By Louisette Lanteigne
 

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The work was done by SNC Lavalin. Enbridge denied it to me in writing, but I have proof it was SNC Lavalin and I notified regulators about all this. They hauled away the gravel and I saw water tanker trucks at the site. My view: they were looting the land itself.
Nothing of the current Greenbelt issue surprises me at all. I have been witnessing the hypocracy and lack of regard for compliance to water policies and best practices for over 20 years. I have never stopped blowing this whistle.   
Louisette Lanteigne 
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
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