The following email was forwarded to me and I do appreciate the heads up....my rant will be posted tomorrow.
We have just learned that the Standing Committee on General Government will hold public hearings about the Aggregate Resources Act in Orangeville next Wednesday, June 27th.
As you'll recall we won a significant victory when the Committee voted unanimously to extend the public hearings into the flawed ARA and hit the road. It appears the MPPs are now packing their bags.
Yet, once again, the Committee is giving little notice to those wishing to speak.
The deadline for those who want to make an oral presentation before the MPPs is this Thursday, June 21st by Noon.
The person to e-mail with your request is Tamara Pomanski. Her e-mail is tamara_pomanski@ontla.ola.org Her phone number is 416-325-3515. Collect calls will be accepted.
More info here: http://ontla.on.ca/committee-proceedings/committee-hearings-notices/files_html/ARA%20Review%20Orangeville%20Ad%20English%20-%20Internet.htm
As you'll recall, the Toronto hearings provided a detailed and, at times, disturbing look at how the aggregate industry operates in Ontario.
Self-regulating, self-monitoring, royalties of a mere 11.5-cents a tonne, 7,000 abandoned pits and quarries with little rehabilitation.
As the hearings proceeded and agricultural stakeholders testified, the MPPs learned that just .5 percent of all of Canada is comprised of Class 1 farmland with most of it in southern Ontario, that the agri-food sector contributes $33-billion to the provincial economy each year and the threat posed by below-the-water-table extraction is unacceptable in areas of source drinking water.
The final words spoken by an MPP at the Toronto hearings were "Clearly, there's an urgency to protect prime farmland" from aggregate extraction.
To those able to appear, let us know (info@ndact.com ) and we'll ensure you'll have plenty of support. As you'll note, there's also an opportunity for those who can't testify in person to write the Committee with their concerns about the ARA.
These hearings are taking place because of our efforts to stop the proposed mega quarry. We're the reason the ARA is under review. Let's keep up the pressure. To the keyboards!
Cheers
Donna
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