Thursday July 21: mega-quarry protest in Toronto
Stop the mega-quarry open-pit mine now!!!
WHEN: 12pm July 21 2011
WHEN: JULY 21 2011 TIME: 12 P.M.
WHERE: QUEEN’S PARK – South Lawn
77 Wellesley Street West, Toronto, Ontario
For the purpose of asking Ministers, The Honourable John Wilkinson & The Honourable
Dalton McGuinty, to STOP THE MEGA QUARRY / OPEN-PIT LIMESTONE MINE; to support the farmers of
Dufferin County; and to conduct a full ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT regarding the application from
Highland Companies applied for in Melancthon Township Ontario;
I am honoured to be asked by the farmers of Melancthon/Mulmur Townships to join them in
their struggle to protect the waters and farmlands from the proposed Mega Quarry by the Highland
Companies, which is privately backed by a Boston multi-billion dollar hedge fund. As a
native/indigenous man of the Turtle Clan Mohawk Nation I have had a chance to listen to many
community citizens of Dufferin County to learn of the concerns to the threat to farmland and clean
water supply.
Since hearing the concerns of farmers and citizens I have had a chance to view the
document and research by the DAVID SUZUKI FOUNDATION. Also, taking into consideration, the
location of this Mega Quarry is near the headwaters of SEVEN major river heads, being: The Grand
River, Pine, Nottawasaga, Saugeen, Noisy, Boyne, and the Mad River. Beneath these rivers lay the
pure flowing aquifers that are the drinking sources to surrounding towns and cities for more than a
million people and natural wildlife. Second to the issue of fresh water supply is the quality of prime,
produce-growing soil available to the farmers of the area.
The quarry is so negative it would permanently alter the headwaters of the rivers, within
which many species depend upon, eg.: fox, coyote, wolf, beaver, lynx, rabbit, deer, ducks, geese,
turkey, pike, pickerel, trout, salmon, turtles, salamanders, snakes, and many others who thrive & rely
upon these rivers and we, as human beings, are their voice and protectors.
It is obvious to many that the quarry would create dust and wasteland in a well-established &
historical, rural farmland setting. It will poison the waters not only for us, but also our children and
our children’s children for generations to come. Therefore, we must think of protecting ours and their
future. Our elders say we must think Seven Generations.
The proposed open-pit mine is to extract the underlying limestone for foreign export. To
achieve this, the pit will be over twenty stories in depth, with the possibility of futuristic expansions
into 7500+ acres, becoming the largest open-pit limestone mine in Canada, destroying life & the
waters flowing into all of Southern Ontario.
Will the Ontario government allow such a monster to rape and kill life as we know it? As a
native environmentalist I urge the Assembly of First Nations and Chiefs of Ontario to get involved
in this struggle now and demand a stop to the development of this and all mega projects on the
farmlands of Ontario and its water supply!
Leave a Reply