Burlington, Ont., council asks province to reject contentious Nelson quarry expansion proposal
CBC
If elected officials in Burlington, Ont., have their way, a quarry's contentious plan to expand its open pit within the Niagara Escarpment will not go ahead.
Burlington councillors and mayor unanimously passed a sharply worded motion this past week requesting the province deny Nelson Aggregates' proposal to add nearly 80 hectares to its Mount Nemo quarry's extraction area — a similar pitch that was rejected in 2012.
The decision on May 21 comes after years of protest by local environmental groups.
"We are very happy to see the mayor and council unanimously pick up the torch from previous councils and staff," said Roger Goulet, director of Protecting Escarpment Rural Land, in a statement.
The motion, put forward by Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and seconded by Coun. Rory Nisan, raises concerns about the local environmental impact in an ecologically sensitive area. The quarry is on protected Greenbelt land and a UNESCO biosphere reserve and near the Mount Nemo Conservation Area, the motion says.
"On this one off, [the province] could make a really big change for the environment and greenbelt," Nisan told council.
The Halton Region, City of Burlington, Ministry of Natural Resources and local environmental groups and conservation authorities "identified key concerns," says the motion.
These concerns include that the quarry expansion would:
Nelson Aggregates have also not planned how it will restore the area after its done mining, says the motion.
The city will also ask the province to add more environmental protections to the Mount Nemo Plateau.
Nelson Aggregates will continue to pursue the expansion at the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), where a hearing is scheduled next March, said spokesperson Kevin Powers in a statement.
If the city has a strong case for the quarry not to expand, it should let the process play out at the independent tribunal rather than "request political interference from the province," Powers said.
But Nison said if the province dismisses the application and the city can avoid an OLT hearing, it would save taxpayers thousands of dollars in legal fees.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry will not made the decision and will leave it up to the OLT, it told CBC Hamilton in a statement Friday.
Municipal councils across Essex County and in Chatham-Kent and Sarnia have spent this year’s budget season trying to keep tax increases manageable while battling inflation and soaring policing costs and weighing the immediate cost of repairing aging infrastructure against the long-term cost of holding off.
Construction on Marda Loop’s main streets project may have quieted down, but redevelopment work continues at several locations along 34th Avenue. This time, the focus is on preserving the street’s history.
As both the provincial and federal governments hone in on mining opportunities in northern Ontario, supporting local industries and building safer highways are top of mind for regional leaders this year.
Tucked inside Toronto’s leafy, quiet and private residential neighbourhoods are facades that tell the story of another time in the city’s urban planning history.
Ontario’s two main opposition parties will try to turn the page on what was a difficult year, with one rebuilding after an underwhelming leadership vote result and another searching for a new person to take the party helm.
This year, two things will happen to Canada's fiscal watchdog: Interim Parliamentary Budget Officer Jason Jacques will be replaced or made permanent, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will publish its review of the office.
As the era of bilateral bad blood between Canada and the U.S. drags on, some snowbirds are facing a choice this January: Go south to warmer climes, or boycott a country that has gone from friend to somewhat of a foe.
RCMP are warning people of slippery conditions on the Trans-Canada Highway after a transport truck slid off the road in the area of Clarenville, N.L.
Sidney Crosby is remembering fellow Nova Scotian Lowell MacDonald, a former NHLer who died Sunday, as an inspiration to his career.
Moncton artist Alan Spinney doesn't usually paint on a five-by-five inch canvas, but he and his wife have started doing that for a new mini-art gallery.
Residents of Pimicikamak Cree Nation are celebrating and relieved now that power and electricity are being restored to the community.
Two people are dead after an early-morning highway collision on New Year’s Day, the Saskatoon Fire Department said Thursday morning.
A small group of Haitian Canadians celebrated the island nation's Independence Day at a B.C. church on Thursday by serving soup that symbolizes freedom.