Is it a bullying tactic ahead of farmland expropriation to create 770-acre site?

What is being described as the “brutal destruction” of an entire corn crop in Wilmot Township in Waterloo Region, just before it could be properly harvested, has area farmers up in arms.

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Kevin Thompson, vice-chair of the Grand River Environmental Network, contends this has taken place for no reason other than to try to intimidate surrounding farmers who keep refusing to sell their land to the Region for what he calls a mega-industrial land assembly.

“…It is horrifying to see the entire approach the Region of Waterloo has taken to this mega-industrial land assembly,” he told Ontario Farmer. “Right from the brutal threats of expropriation back in March to the lack of information, not a single public meeting (except for a media conference a week ago), all being completely contrary to all previous planning that saw this thriving prime agricultural area more than 25-km distant from our urban cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, formerly, it impacts some of the most protected farmland in the province,” Thompson said.

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Attempts to reach Waterloo Region CEO Bruce Lauckner for comment were unsuccessful but in a statement on the Region’s website, just a week before the corn field was cut down, it states that “detailed on-site technical analysis will soon begin in Wilmot, as the Region of Waterloo’s initiative to assemble shovel-ready land to secure a generational investment progress. The Region has now successfully purchased nearly one third (1/3) of the 770-acre site. This represents a significant milestone in enabling the creation of a shovel-ready site for future investment from a major employer. The Region continues to work closely with landowners to negotiate fair and equitable agreements for the purchase of land. As some agreements are now finalized, on-site investigations will begin, including further technical analysis and environmental work, to complement previous due diligence.”

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Still Thompson alleges that citizens, “have no information about what use this land could have, who it is for, who is funding all this, what it will cost taxpayers, nor the implications for all surrounding farms and other farms in Waterloo, Perth and Oxford Counties.”

Specific to the July 24 and 25 destruction of the 160 acres of corn decimated south of New Hamburg on land sold to the Region, a joint media release from Fight for Farmland Group spokesperson Alfred Lourick and Thompson’s environmental group states that at $5 per bushel the lost corn revenue would be $160,000 or enough corn to produce 1.5-million boxes of 600 g Corn Flakes cereal.

“It’s baffling that given the tremendous budgetary pressures facing the Region and the extremely tough expenditure choices that Regional Council had to make this year that Chair Karen Redman would make the decision to spend so many thousands of taxpayer dollars destroying a crop so close to harvest, ” the release continues.

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Lourick states in the same release: “This knee-jerk reaction and bullying tactic by the Region, boasting about a single farm purchase within the 770-acre site, is unacceptable.”

The Region has publicly stated it has purchased almost one third of the lands but Thompson said while some older people have sold lands to the Region for the industrial site project, 80% of farmers are steadfastly opposed to the project on lands that he described as on prime agricultural including one of the largest cabbage producers in the province, plus a host of cash crop farms.

“The Region has publicly stated its intention to complete the land assembly as soon as possible despite still having only acquired a fraction of the lands and facing considerable public opposition. We urge citizens to keep speaking up for the protection of our farmland, water, food, and environment and see this massive industrial development moved to other locations with far fewer negative impacts,” the release states.

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Officials of the Region, meanwhile, say the industrial parcel it is putting together is needed for economic and job growth for the future.

“Over the last several years, Waterloo Region has lost potential investment opportunities from major employers because we did not have shovel-ready land for development that would be attractive to a large-scale employer,” the Region’s site statement explained. It goes on to list why these particular 770 acres are so suitable for the project, including adjacent transportation, hydro, water and sewage infrastructure, and that it is a “large, continuous area” near a skilled workforce.

Despite this explanation, the farmers and environmental groups in the area continue to oppose the project with over 3,000 lawn signs across the region stating this along with thousands of signatures on an on-line petition.

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