• Protecting Water and Farmland in Simcoe County

No fairness without consultation

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In Waste
Jul 14th, 2010
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Townships need to be kept informed
Orangeville Citizen June 26 2010
ALTHOUGH WE ACKNOWLEDGE that higher levels of government need to have a measure of control over most things for the common good, we are less than impressed by Queen’s Park’s apparent lack of respect for governments at the township level.
We have witnessed two glaring examples of disrespect within as many years.
First, it was the issuance of a renewal watertaking permit for Fern Brook in Amaranth, in which the township had concerns and had been seeking to have its concerns addressed.
Despite the concerns, the province issued the permit without so much as a murmur to the township council. This newspaper knew of the permit before the township did.
Now there’s the Certificate of Approval for the spreading of human sewage sludge on a farm in Melancthon. The province was aware of the township’s bylaw banning sludge (or biosolids if you prefer) but appears to have simply disregarded it.
The C of A was issued, and the township learned of it after the fact.
We have sometimes been critical of the powers vested in the Ontario Municipal Board as it frequently over-rules local planning decisions.
However, the OMB does not do so without conducting hearings, and its reasoning for whatever decision it makes is invariably outlined clearly. In that sense, there is a measure of fairness to everyone on all sides of the issues.
There is no fairness when a provincial ministry takes any action affecting any municipality without first consulting fully with the municipal government.
We would call on the provincial legislature and Cabinet to instruct the ministries to deal with municipalities in a spirit of openness and co-operation. Otherwise, we might as well dissolve local councils and turn municipal control over to the ministries.

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