“The fight to save our environment from Doug Ford is not over. The Ford government is still threatening the environment throughout the province, and rigging the planning system in favour of well-connected developers and PC donors.”
A Brief Foreword Note from Niagara At Large – WILL THUNDERING WATERS FOREST in Niagara Falls, Ontario BE NEXT in Ford’ development-at-any-cost assault on our natural heritage across our province?!!!
News from Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Party
Posted March 15th, 2021 on Niagara At Large
Don’t let Ontario Premier Doug Ford and the worst in the development industry take out places like this – provincially significant wetlands in the Thundering Waters Forest in Niagara Falls, Ontario. What is left of our natural heritage and the health benefits natural spaces offer are worth far more than the narrow-mindedness of far too many in government and a predatory development industry in Ontario..
QUEEN’S PARK – Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is demanding the Ford government immediately revoke the Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) that threatens to destroy the Duffins Creek wetland, and to repeal legislation Doug Ford is using to re-write laws to allow developers to bulldoze over protected areas.
On Friday (march 12th, 2021), Amazon announced it would not build a giant warehouse on the site, and the City of Pickering called for a pause on the development of this wetland. Now the developer says it won’t alter the wetland, but the NDP is looking for province-wide protection.
“The community has stood up against the Ford government’s plans to allow developers to bulldoze over this greenspace and precious wetland. This is a victory for the community, First Nations and for every Ontarian who wants to protect our environment from being paved over by Ford’s developer friends and donors,” said Horwath.
“The Ford government should never have put this wetland at risk in the first place, and they must take action immediately by revoking this MZO threatening the wetland, and removing Schedule 3 that was sneaked into Bill 257 in an attempt to retroactively legitimatize this unlawful backroom deal.”
The Official Opposition NDP is also calling for the oversight of conservation authorities to be restored.
One of the many residents of Waverly Woods in Fort Erie, Niagara. . Do Ford and his pals in the development industry have to pave over this too?
“The fight to save our environment from Doug Ford is not over. The Ford government is still threatening the environment throughout the province, and rigging the planning system in favour of well-connected developers and PC donors. The irresponsible legislation enabling this must be repealed before Ford is able to use these new powers to destroy more of our environment,” said Horwath.
“The NDP is committed to restoring the integrity of the land use planning system, and putting a stop to these backroom deals that threaten the environment.”
A Footnote from Doug Draper at Niagara At Large –
The nonsense that continues coming from Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his Tory government is that we need to gut more of our green spaces for affordable housing.
Really?
This is a false choice Ford and his buddies in one of this province’s most morally- bankrupt industries – the development industry – is now trying to foist on us . We have a choice, according to them, between saving our natural heritage and affordable houseing.
Sorry for the language, but this is bullshit, and it can only come from a development industry in Ontario that is showing itself to have a record of not giving a bloody damn about saving some of our environment for future generations.
For this industry, it is all about the short buck and GREED!
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Doug Draper, veteran environment writer, Niagara At Large
Ontario’s development industry is setting itself up as a threat to the security of current and future generations in this province.
Niagara At Large 
As long as elected ‘enablers’ in Niagara Falls exist, we should be very concerned for our Niagara wetlands. .
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