Hush Hush in Wilmot (pt.4)
Crop destruction, political finger-pointing, and public rallies
We are now approximately six months out from when news first broke about the possible expropriation of 770 acres of Wilmot farmland - so what exactly is happening with the Wilmot Lands? While some additional details have come to light, there are still many unanswered questions. (I have previously written about the Wilmot Lands and the threat of expropriation, the impact on the Countryside Line, and the response from elected officials.)
Since my last update, we know:
There is not a specific customer for the mega-industrial site
The provincial government is funding the Wilmot mega-industrial site
The Region destroyed the corn crop on the farm they have acquired which was just weeks away from harvest
Crops Destroyed
According to this WR Record article, “The region hired farmers from Strathroy to cut down the corn crop on the one farm it has bought, and plow the stalks and cobs into the dirt.” Alfred Lowrick, a spokesperson for Fight for Farmland, said, “For a community that is all about caring for the land and cultivating crops, this is an act of aggression and intimidation.”
Local environmental advocate Kevin Thomason agrees. “It is a reckless waste of taxpayer dollars to see over 160 acres of food being destroyed by equipment brought in from (outside of the region) after all local farmers refused to destroy the crop,” said Thomason.
In response to the destruction of this crop, the Region issued a statement which stated, “on-site investigations are underway as part of the continued due diligence process. Plowing is required to complete various studies, including topographic surveys and archeological assessments, prior to closing on these land purchase transactions.”
Official Plan
Part of the larger discussion about these lands is whether or not the proposed use aligns with the Region’s Official Plan. The Region claims that the Wilmot development plans were included, but others disagree.
Kevin Thomason says that in the entire Official Plan, there is only a single mention of the mega industrial site. “There’s more than 141 mentions of the need for farmland, farmland protection, efforts to control urban sprawl, and things like that. So one versus 140 hardly seems balanced,” Thomason stated.
Alfred Lowrick believes that these plans “run counter to the big-picture planning the region put in place more than 15 years ago where most new housing was supposed to be concentrated in existing neighbourhoods within 800 metes of the LRT, farmland was to be protected and a firm countryside line was drawn around each city and town in the region to stop further urban sprawl.”
WR Record opinion columnist, Luisa D’Amato argues that the light rail system was designed primarily as a planning tool, to draw new development into the centres of cities, not their outskirts. “This plan supported Waterloo Region’s longstanding values to keep urban sprawl to a minimum (however) this sudden, secretive and arbitrary decision to put a huge industrial site on prime farmland, with massive changes for the rural area around it, could not be less aligned with this Waterloo Region principle.”
Expropriation
The concerns around the Wilmot Lands first came to light when several farmers shared that the Region was interested in purchasing their land with the threat of expropriation if needed. Premier Doug Ford noted that his government wants to see large parcels of land assembled to encourage economic development. “I’m all for it, by the way, but there has to be a willing host,” Ford said. However, it seems there are not many ‘willing hosts’ in this process.
In fact, the majority of owners of these properties have said that they are not interested in selling and don’t appreciate the threat of expropriation. Regional Chair Karen Redman says that the goal has never been to expropriate land but felt that they must be transparent from the start that it is technically an option. “Expropriation is one of the tools that is in the kit, when we made an agreement with the province. We have never said we want to expropriate, we want fair and equitable negotiated settlements with all the landowners, but when people ask, is that a possibility, we had to say yes, it is, but it is not our preferred option,” Redman stated.
The recent back and forth between the region and the province has left many confused. Advocate and Vice-Chair of the Grand River Environmental Network, Kevin Thomason said, “Everyone keeps pointing fingers at everyone else and no one’s telling us the truth. Every day we watch this process roll out and be more bungled and go from bad to worse. The need to hit the reset button here is huge.”
And as John Michael McGrath noted, MPP Michael Harris may be motivated to see the concerns in Wilmot settled soon. “If the controversy over land purchases drags on, Harris would be facing opposition specifically from rural landowners (normally a solid Tory constituency) just as the government starts preparing for the rumoured early election call for spring of 2025,” wrote McGrath.
Economic Development
The Region claims that acquisition of these lands is important for the economic development of the area. Chair Redman said that the “region has lost out on billions in investment and thousands of jobs during the past three years because it does not have a big, shovel-ready industrial site.” A single site of at least 500 acres is needed to attract large investments from manufacturing plants.
Vic Fedeli, Minister for Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade claimed, “during the past year, 137 companies located in Ontario creating 12,000 jobs because there were 137 sites ready for them, already put together. If you don’t have an assembled site, it is pretty hard to bring a prospect there.”
While the Region and Province both state that there is no identified partner for these lands, many assume it may be Toyota. “While the Toyota plants in Cambridge and Woodstock produce half of the new vehicles made in Ontario’s auto-sector, and employ 8,750 workers, Toyota has been silent about building an EV battery plant or EV assembly plant in this region.”
The Narwhal says that the farmers opposing the expropriation “don’t object to growth or new economic opportunities in the region. But they say a greater population will require both more jobs and more food. In that balance, they believe the government is prioritizing the wrong thing and in the wrong way.”
Response From Elected Officials
Elected officials at all levels on this issue have largely remained silent. However, that seems to be slowly changing. After the corn was plowed under, Wilmot Councillor Harvir Sidhu stated on Facebook, “The destruction of crop weeks out from harvest is an attack on our community and the values we hold. There is a right and wrong way to do things, this process has been mishandled since day one. Our community deserves an apology.”
At the provincial level, while Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Michael Harris had previously stated that the Region was taking the lead on acquiring this land, Ontario’s Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, Robert Flack has confirmed that the province is supporting the purchase of the land financially. “What this is, is a land assembly for future projects down the road. We’re a growing province that’s grown by over two million people in the last two years. We need to create jobs — we’re doing a great job of that,” Flack says.
Waterloo MPP Catherine Fife (NDP) stated that, “the province can’t claim innocence here, if they’re funding this project. Because without their funding, it wouldn’t be happening. I am dead set against this process and this project until there’s some transparency.” You can learn more about the possible impact of loss of this farmland with this video from MPP Fife.
MPPs Mike Harris and Vic Fedeli released a joint statement declaring that “while the province is supporting the Region of Waterloo with funding to help purchase land, it is the sole responsibility of the region to assemble the site and work collaboratively with all affected communities and stakeholders.” They expressed their disappointment with “the threat of expropriation at the onset of this process” and a “lack of transparency.”
Regional Chair Karen Redman disagrees with this assessment saying that the Region asked to be more transparent and wanted a longer timeline. “We asked for more flexibility and timelines and due diligence for the landowners so we could close deals that they wanted, and were denied. From the start, we requested the ability to share more information with the community and were also denied that,” stated Redman.
Wilmot mayor Natasha Salonen brought forth a motion to Regional Council’s Sustainability, Infrastructure, and Development Committee on August 13th to ensure no more unharvested crops will be plowed over on purchased lands in Wilmot Township. Regional Council passed the motion unanimously.
Mayor Salonen said the crop destruction violated the Region's Strategic Plan and “asked the region to commit to ensuring an assessment be done on any further farms purchased to see if the crop could be harvested.”
Jennifer Pfenning, a Wilmot farmer and former Wilmot Councillor, said more must be done including “an immediate full-stop on this and all boundary expansions.” She also referenced the Region’s Strategic Plan “Growing with Care” and said, “what’s happening in Wilmot really doesn’t fit that title. Not at all.”
A report is expected back at Regional Council within the next month “detailing the events and decisions that led to the destruction of those crops, and if any actions were taken to mitigate the loss.”
Response From the Community
There have been several community rallies on this issue. On August 28th, the largest rally to date was held in front of Regional Headquarters at 150 Frederick St in Kitchener. In addition to speakers, protestors with signs, and volunteers with petitions, this rally included a rare site in downtown Kitchener - dozens of tractors lining Frederick St. Click to see videos of the tractor convoy.
The crowd moved inside as the Regional Council meeting was to begin. An overflow room needed to be opened in order to accommodate the large numbers in attendance (there were also numerous people in attendance in support of saving the local Consumption and Treatment Services site).
Council put the previously scheduled meeting on hold to allow delegates to speak to the Wilmot land assembly. “We hope to hear from council that they’re standing up for their citizens, that they’re hearing us, and that they’re going to abandon this absurd location for a mega site and tell the Premier that we’re going to go about it the way we do things, with proper planning processes, with proper community engagement and proper consultation,” Thomason explained.
I suspect Kevin Thomason’s assessment here is representative of many who are fighting to keep this land as farmland. He says, “Be it the Ontario Science Centre, the Greenbelt, Ontario Place, or numerous other provincial fiascos, this Wilmot Land Assembly seems to fit the provincial pattern of not nearly enough planning, too little knowledge, no public consultation, lots of secret backroom meetings, and lots of very expensive bungling to try to make a bad idea from the onset somehow work.”
I suspect there will still be more to come on this issue so stay tuned.
Thank you for your continued work and investigation of this.
Thanks so much for excellent and much needed reporting, Melissa.