Hundreds show support for Wilmot Township landowners at town hall with Ontario NDP leader, local politicians

Hundreds of people sporting signs of support for landowners in Wilmot Township who are being asked to sell their land to the Region of Waterloo attended a town hall Friday evening. 

NDP Leader Marit Stiles was in the township all day — first leading a press conference calling for transparency and accountability. 

Stiles later hosted the town hall meeting at the Wilmot Recreation Complex. 

The room reached capacity before the start of the meeting, forcing many attendees to watch the livestream from outside.

Stewart Snyder, a long-time dairy farmer in the area, is one of the landowners who has been approached by the Region of Waterloo with a notice explaining his land is needed. He said the town hall was a sign of the support he and other farmers have from the community and politicians.

"It gives us all a good feeling that we've got the other political parties involved because we're very comfortable saying that we've got the provincial government in, we've got the federal government all involved in this stuff," he told CBC News at the meeting.

"Everybody behind the scenes [are] not admitting to anything, saying they don't know anything about it. Day by day we're finding out who really does know stuff about it."

In March, 12 landowners were told the region plans to purchase their land. In total, the region is pursuing more than 300 hectares of land near the intersection of  Nafziger Road and Bleams Road, south of New Hamburg for an undisclosed industrial project.

If the approached landowners refuse to sell, the region says their land will be expropriated.

The Region of Waterloo has said it needs the land and that it's partnering with Wilmot Township "on land readiness to create shovel-ready sites to attract economic investments and create jobs."

"Land assembly is underway to create shovel-ready sites for large-scale economic investments to further support Waterloo Region's economic vitality as it grows to one million residents by 2050," the region said in a written statement.

Wilmot Township officials did not respond to requests for comment from CBC News althought the township has confirmed councillors signed non-disclosure agreements about the project.

"From day one since we got our offers, we've had no further communication from them," Snyder said.

After speaking to people in the room, Stiles went outside to answer questions with the attendees unable to get inside.