I am writing to express my…

I am writing to express my deep opposition to the proposed removal of Environmental Assessment (EA) requirements for the York1 Waste Disposal Site project. This move is not only irresponsible — it is dangerous.

Environmental laws exist for a reason. They are not optional, and they are not obstacles to development — they are safeguards meant to protect the very resources that keep us alive: clean drinking water, fertile farmland, air quality, and the health of our communities. If a project is large enough to have potential environmental impacts, it must be subject to proper scrutiny, regardless of who is behind it.

Why do we have these laws if powerful corporations can be excused from following them? Small businesses, family farms, and municipalities are required to jump through hoops to comply with provincial regulations, often at great personal and financial cost. Meanwhile, large companies are increasingly given exemptions — leaving the public to bear the environmental, health, and financial consequences down the road. This is not fair, and it is not responsible governance.

Ontario’s Environmental Assessment process was built to ensure that development happens with care, with science, and with accountability. Bypassing it for something as potentially harmful as a waste disposal site undermines the entire system. It sends the message that profit matters more than people, and that shortcuts are acceptable — even when the risks involve contamination of groundwater or irreversible damage to farmland that feeds Ontarians.

We are talking about protecting some of the most important land in the province — our Greenbelt, our agricultural zones, and our drinking water aquifers. These are not infinite resources. Once they are polluted or paved over, there is no going back.

I urge you: do not remove these critical environmental protections. Hold all projects, no matter who is behind them, to the same high standard. The future of Ontario’s land, water, and people depends on it.