Dresden locals, First Nations take landfill fight to Queen's Park
The chair of a local advocacy group says the community feels betrayed by the decision to cancel an environmental assessment for the landfill just north of Dresden, a small rural farming community in southwestern Ontario.
Stefan Premdas, the head of the group, questioned how the project got singled out in a controversial omnibus bill introduced by Premier Doug Ford's government.
The Liberals have asked the integrity commissioner to look into whether the government gave the project preferential treatment because it's backed by lucrative Progressive Conservative donors.
Ford says he doesn't know the developer and didn't look at who owned the project.
He says Ontario sends about 40 per cent of its waste to the United States and President Donald Trump could turn it away if trade disputes were to escalate.
'It takes one phone call from President Trump to say cut us off, and then what do we do? We have to be prepared. It's an existing site, we need to expand it,' Ford told reporters on Tuesday.
York1, the company behind the project, is seeking to revive a small dormant landfill and expand it to service waste from across the province.
Municipal officials have suggested the company is relying on outdated approvals, granted decades ago, to try to bypass a full environmental assessment of a project that would turn an area less than a kilometre north of Dresden into one of Ontario's busiest waste sites.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Details of the developers' donations and lobbying efforts were first reported by The Trillium, a Queen's Park-based news outlet, and were cited by the Liberals in their letter to the integrity commissioner.
The Trillium reported that executives at the companies and their family members had donated about $200,000 to the PCs since 2018.
The Canadian Press has corroborated some of those political contributions recorded in a public Elections Ontario database.
Under the developer's proposal, a small landfill dating back to the 1960s that holds 40,000 cubic metres could expand to a total of 1.6 million cubic metres, enough to fill almost 650 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Officials have said the company also wants to establish waste processing stations to receive up to 6,000 tonnes of waste per day, even though existing permits for the property dating back to 1998 only allow for a tiny fraction of that amount.
Locals fear any leaching from the landfill could be disastrous for the area waterways and endangered species, and balk at the site's proximity to homes and schools.
The property is also surrounded by prime agricultural land and the water around the site streams into the Sydenham River, home to some endangered species, including the spiny softshell turtle.
An environmental assessment would have had to consider alternative designs or locations for the project.
Chief Leela Thomas of Walpole Island First Nation, whose reserve is just downstream of the project, says the government's backtracking not only threatens local biodiversity, but violates 'the spirit and intent' of Ontario's commitment to environmental protections.
'What message is the government sending when it is willing to trade away clean water, community safety, and climate resilience for the convenience of avoiding proper review and consent?' she said.
The province initially announced in March 2024 it would pursue an environmental assessment for the project, citing community concerns. Shortly after that, the premier called a byelection in the local riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, where the successful PC candidate Steve Pinsonneault campaigned against the expansion.
Winnipeg Jets Game Days
On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.
Then, in a surprise move, the government proposed to cancel that assessment as part of the omnibus Bill 5 introduced last month.
Pinsonneault's office has not responded to a request for comment.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles claimed the government never intended to keep its promise to Dresden residents.
'This government will always promise anything and everything during an election, and then they turn around and break their promise,' she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
11 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
EDITORIAL: Stick a fork in ‘Elbows Up'
Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised about $1.2 billion in loan guarantees, grants and contributions for Canadian sawmills. Photo by Darren Makowichuk / DARREN MAKOWICHUK/Postmedia 'Elbows Up' hasn't been Prime Minister Mark Carney's approach to dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump on tariffs ever since he won the April election and it's time to consign the phrase to the dustbin of history. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account While Carney advocated dollar-for-dollar tariffs against the U.S. during the Liberal leadership race, he quickly jettisoned the idea on becoming prime minister. That was logical given that Canada would lose a dollar-for-dollar trade war because the U.S. economy is ten times the size of ours. A Leger/Postmedia poll released last week found public support for the 'Elbows Up' approach to trade relations with the U.S. — that the Liberals originally promoted — has plummeted. Six months ago, it was at 73%. Now it's down to 45%, close to a statistical tie with 41% who say Canadian negotiators should take a more measured approach and focus on getting a deal with Trump, even if it means some tariffs on Canadian goods remain. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That's similar to Carney's path on the issue — posing initially as a trade warrior who would meet Trump dollar-for-dollar on the field of battle and get a deal eliminating all the Trump tariffs. That was always a double-edged sword because Canadian counter-tariffs on imported U.S. goods are paid by Canadians in higher consumer prices. Carney's position has changed significantly since then. First, his government removed counter-tariffs it had initially imposed on many imported American goods that Canadian companies needed to continue operating. He scrapped the Liberals' digital services tax within days of Trump demanding it. Then he lowered expectations, saying a deal with Trump could include some U.S. tariffs. Carney also put out the word that Canada's position was that no deal with the U.S. was better than a bad deal. What it all means is that some of the tariffs Trump has already imposed on us could become permanent, leading up to renegotiating the entire Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade that comes up for renewal next year. Trump agreed to that deal during his first term, praising it at the time as 'the fairest, most balanced, and beneficial trade agreement we have ever signed into law … the best agreement we've ever made.' Crime Toronto & GTA Toronto Blue Jays Canada Sunshine Girls
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
Can the ZEV mandate survive political pressure and industry objections?
Social Sharing With the federal carbon tax dead and gone, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has found a new target among the Liberal government's climate policies — the electric vehicle availability standard, otherwise known as the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate. "We will legalize, into the future, your right to drive a gas or diesel-powered truck or car by repealing the Liberal EV mandate," Poilievre said last week, while restating his desire to see a number of Liberal policies repealed. In a Conservative fundraising email in June, Poilievre's deputy leader, Melissa Lantsman, put the issue in even more bracing terms, writing that the "radical Liberals" were planning to make gas-powered vehicles "illegal" and "force" people to buy "expensive" EVs. Appealing to supporters in rural areas — where EVs might be less practical at the moment — Lantsman added that "Liberals in Ottawa and in busy downtown cores think they know better than you." On Thursday, Poilievre announced that Conservatives would be launching a " nationwide campaign" to stop the mandate. The Conservative leader is smart enough to know he is pushing against a policy that is already under pressure. But that may set up the ZEV mandate as a test of the ability of Mark Carney's government to defend and meaningfully advance climate policy — a test Justin Trudeau's government arguably failed on the carbon tax. Whether or not the Charter can be read to give Canadians the "right" to own an internal-combustion engine, it's not quite the case that gas-powered vehicles will be made illegal. More specifically, the ZEV mandate establishes a series of escalating light-duty vehicle sales targets for auto manufacturers and importers, starting at 20 per cent in 2026 and reaching 100 per cent in 2035. Companies have some flexibility if they are unable or unwilling to meet the annual target — they can buy credits from other sellers or invest in charging infrastructure. The debate over EV policy Advocates of action to fight climate change have supported mandates as a way to guarantee a predictable supply of EVs and accelerate adoption — British Columbia and Quebec have each had ZEV mandates for several years. But North American automakers have bristled at the prospect of additional regulation and would prefer to stick with less-prescriptive regulations aimed at emissions from passenger vehicles. Though those "tailpipe" standards have typically been harmonized with the United States and the Trump administration is currently intent on repealing its regulations. Automakers have called on Carney's government to change or scrap the mandate. Against the backdrop of a trade war, the government seems willing to hear them out — Industry Minister Mélanie Joly told the Globe and Mail in July that the government was working with industry to "find what would be that right level." WATCH | Automakers want EV mandate removed: Automakers push Ottawa to drop EV mandates 1 month ago In arguing against the mandate, the auto industry also now points to a recent slump in EV sales in Canada. But auto executives themselves have said the recent slump is a " direct response" to changes in the rebates offered by federal and provincial governments. The federal government's EV incentive ended in January, Quebec's incentive was temporarily paused in February and British Columbia halted its rebate program in May. The Carney government has said it's working on a new rebate, but that promise might be pushing prospective buyers to wait. Joanna Kyriazis, director of public affairs at Clean Energy Canada, says the Liberal government should broadly stay the course with its mandate, but there are compromises it could make. The Liberals could, for instance, build in additional flexabilities or adjust some of the near-term targets. It could even adjust the ultimate target of 2035. "If this idea of a 100 per cent sales target is really polarizing and really scary to Canadians, then bring it down to 95 per cent — show that there's room for the niche applications or niche situations where in 10 years EVs still might not work," Kyriazis says, though adding that she thinks the technology will have advanced enough by then that such an allowance won't be necessary. Such changes might have the effect of watering down the initial policy without deviating from the larger goal — significantly increasing the use of non-gas-powered vehicles for the sake of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. "[The current sales targets are] in line with where the rest of the world is going," Kyriazis argues. "North America is on a little detour right now, but in the rest of the world, EV sales keep on rising." Worldwide, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids accounted for 22 per cent of all new car sales in 2024, according to data from the International Energy Agency. In Canada, according to the IEA, EVs accounted for 17 per cent of all sales (Statistics Canada says it was 14 per cent). In the U.K. — where a Conservative government introduced a ZEV mandate in 2024, which was then amended by a Labour government — EVs accounted for 28 per cent of all new cars sold last year. In France, they accounted for 24 per cent. "If you look at jurisdictions that have high levels of EV adoption, it's because they have put in place the conditions to create strong consumer demand. So you have incentives … and you have a much more effective charging infrastructure rollout," says Brian Kingston, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, which represents Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. Beyond the question of which type of regulations make more sense, that argument might make the case for governments putting even more money toward building charging infrastructure, alongside reintroducing rebates for consumers. The politics of EVs In the meantime, there will be a political fight — and it will apparently be waged in terms of a culture war. In a video posted in June, Poilievre said the mandate was not about reducing emissions, but about "imposing elite ideology on the common people." The last time a federal climate policy came under this much concentrated pressure, the carbon tax suffered from both the surging inflation that followed the pandemic and the falling popularity of the prime minister who introduced it. The Trudeau government then undercut its own policy with a carve-out aimed at voters in one region of the country. Appearing before a Senate committee not long after the Trudeau government made that move, Mark Carney said that "if something is going to be changed, then something at least as good is put in its place. Ideally, if you're going to change something, you put in place something better that still has that credibility and predictability that has the power that drives investment." That stated principle might hang over whatever the Carney government is considering now. Ultimately — for Carney and Poilievre, for Canadians in urban and rural communities — there is the unforgiving math of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. Canada is currently aiming to reduce its total national emissions by at least 40 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. The federal government is further aiming to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The transportation sector accounted for 156.6 megatonnes of emissions in 2023 — 22.6 per cent of Canada's total emissions. Specifically, passenger cars and light trucks for 91.5 megatonnes — 13.2 per cent of the national total.
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘The same country': Canada often seen as extension of U.S., Indo-Pacific experts say
OTTAWA – Ottawa's Indo-Pacific strategy has yet to give Canada adequate visibility or distinguish it from the U.S. in the region, experts have told researchers commissioned by the federal government. The Liberals launched the strategy in late 2022 to make Canada a partner of choice for some of the fastest-growing economies on the planet. In releasing the strategy, Ottawa acknowledged that it is perceived locally as having engaged only intermittently in the region over the decades. More than two years later, a report commissioned by Global Affairs Canada says regional experts see Canada as 'a strategic but secondary player aligned with U.S. geopolitical priorities' that is 'often perceived as an extension of U.S. foreign policy rather than an independent global actor.' Global Affairs Canada hired Ipsos to write the report after the firm surveyed 45 experts between March and May on how the strategy was being perceived in five countries: Australia, South Korea, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. GAC paid roughly $199,976, including taxes, for the research, which took place in local languages and sought feedback through an invitation letter on GAC letterhead. The exercise is meant to inform the strategy's five-year evaluation in 2027. The report says that Canada lacks a strong brand in the region. 'If we go down the street today (and) we ask people whether Canada and America are the same country, they probably won't be able to tell the difference,' one regional expert in Indonesia told Ipsos. Ipsos went over the strategy's five stated objectives: security, expanding trade and resilient supply chains, sustainability, people-to-people ties, and Canadian engagement. The survey says Canada enjoys 'a predominantly positive image' in the five countries, as a commodity-exporting country with strong democratic principles. Experts in South Korea and India told Ipsos Canada has historically been seen as an attractive place to study or live, 'and this continues to remain somewhat true.' Expensive cities and strict visa requirements have undermined this reputation, the report says. 'While negative impressions were minimal, some experts in India mentioned diplomatic tensions over the Khalistan movement,' the report says, referring to Sikh separatism, adding 'they were of the view that the situation has not significantly marred Canada's overall reputation in the country.' Respondents in Australia cited Canada's continued extraction of climate-warming fossil fuels as a source of concern, while a South Korean expert said Canada's CANDU nuclear reactors produce too much radioactive waste. According to someone researchers quoted as 'a key respondent from South Korea,' Canada is 'slow-moving and resistant to change.' Another Korean expert told Ipsos Canada lacks prominent manufacturers and suggested 'the best-known Canadian product is probably ice wine.' Despite Canadian officials citing the decades-long footprint in the region of Canadian companies such as Manulife — which has offered insurance services in the Philippines since 1901 — the reported noted 'limited awareness of Canadian brands in the Philippines.' An expert in Australia told Ipsos that Canada is 'just not on our radar screen at all … like almost people have forgotten about it.' A Korean expert said 'the Canadian embassy has seemed comparatively passive' compared to Australian and New Zealand counterparts. The report warns Canada's 'limited on-the-ground visibility' makes it less likely to be seen as a partner of choice in the region. 'Several experts pointed to Canada's lack of strategic communication, limited embassy presence, and minimal economic and military footprint in the region as factors hindering its engagement with the region,' the report says. As for the strategy itself, experts quoted in the report recommended a publicity campaign — most of them said they'd never heard of the strategy before. Many suggested the strategy document was 'a starting point for enhanced regional involvement,' while some said it echoed what other countries already outlined in their own strategies. 'Some experts noted that the strategy relied heavily on widely accepted diplomatic principles without clearly articulating Canada's unique impact,' the report notes. 'The (Indo-Pacific strategy) is seen as well-intentioned but somewhat generic, echoing similar frameworks already introduced by others. At worst, the (strategy) risks being seen as 'preachy' or as being of limited relevance.' The researchers did find support for Canada playing a more prominent role, particularly 'as a bridge-builder among competing powers.' The report says most of the region is undertaking a 'delicate balancing' act in response to the growing rivalry between Washington and Beijing. 'Some regional experts saw an opportunity for Canada to evolve its positioning and demonstrate greater strategic independence from the U.S.,' the report says. 'There was an expectation for Canada to build on its legacy as a principled and constructive partner while balancing humility with ambition that matches the resources and capabilities at its disposal.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. The report says there is 'significant room for growth' in security collaboration on things like cybersecurity, and in investments in regional think tanks. Canada should 'consider joining' a security partnership with Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. known as the Quad, the report says. In trade, the report finds a deep desire for 'joint ventures to provide opportunities for innovation,' particularly in areas that will improve the lives of the average citizen, such as 'critical minerals, clean energy, agri-food, and digital technologies.' Ottawa this week named a high commissioner for Fiji, 32 months after promising to open a full diplomatic mission in the Polynesian country. 'While the exact timing of the high commissioner's arrival in Fiji is to be determined, Global Affairs Canada has started to deploy diplomatic staff in preparation for the opening of a full diplomatic mission,' said department spokeswoman Clémence Grevey. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2025.
