HANSARD

November 19, 2009

BILL 32 SECOND READING
WASTE DISPOSAL SITE 41

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: I'm pleased to rise today to support Bill 32, the Waste Disposal Site 41 in the Township of Tiny Act, 2008, introduced by my colleague the member from Simcoe North. I want to commend the member from Simcoe North for his efforts on this issue and for his tireless work on behalf of his constituents.

I also want to recognize all of the many members of the community who have worked on this issue for many years and put in countless volunteer hours. I want to commend them for their dedication. I know that earlier today, many of them demonstrated that dedication by holding a rally in support of this bill on the front lawn in the pouring rain. I want to thank them for their commitment and for coming to Queen's Park to take part in that process.

I can relate to them. I actually got into politics opposing a landfill site like site 41. My first time here in this chamber was sitting up in the gallery, where these members are now sitting, invited as a guest of Mel Swart, who was the former member from Thorold, because we were opposed to the landfill site going into what would now be called my backyard.

For our site, we had the longest hearing-it was a consolidated hearing board-the Ministry of the Environment and the Ontario Municipal Board-59 days of hearings with this joint board, and at the end of the 59 days, the decision came out that the site was not to be built. The county had not proven that it would be a sufficient site. The provincial government then decided that because of the process that was in place, the landfill site should go ahead.

The reason I tell this story is not related to my landfill site; it is to illustrate that the system is not infallible. It illustrates the reason the licence on site 41 needs to be revoked, so that if someone in the future came along and decided they wanted to put a dump on that site, they couldn't skip any steps or sneak it in the back door on the old licence.

The municipality proposed a site, put forward all the evidence and decided not to proceed with it. That should tell us something about the safety of locating a site there. In fact, in 2004, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, Mr. Gord Miller, stated in his annual report that a review on the approval of site 41 should be undertaken. When the Environmental Commissioner has expressed concern and the municipality has said no, I think it just makes sense that we don't let the old licence and the old assessment stand.

Again, I want to commend my colleague from Simcoe North for bringing forward this important bill and the many people in the gallery for their work to protect the environment of their community.