The controversy over trying to buy 700 acres of farmland in Wilmot Township pales in comparison with the Premier Doug Ford government’s grab of 6,400 acres, also within the Waterloo Region.
All kinds of urban hand-wringing is going on about the loss of 700 acres of farmland near New Hamburg.
Nothing is being said about the 6,800 acres.
In both cases, the decisions have been made in direct violation of Waterloo Region and local municipal councils' official plans.
Those plans were only adopted after extensive rounds of consultations.
Some policies, such as firm Kitchener and Waterloo City boundaries, have withstood the test of decades of developer pressure for urban sprawl.
But the Ford government simply swept that all aside.
And I think it also stands behind the Wilmot Township land purchase.
The Waterloo Region, as recently as the last round of annual budgeting, confessed that it does not have money available to buy land of sufficient size to meet industrialists’ demand.
It said a number of shoppers have asked over the last several years, but nothing is available to suit their needs.
So the Waterloo Region, and certainly not Wilmot Township, have nowhere close to the amount of money needed to buy the 700 acres in Wilmot Township. It seems obvious that it’s the Ford government.
So the outrage over the loss of farmland ought to be focussed squarely on the Ontario Progressive Conservatives.
One final observation.
The Wilmot Township land is owned or rented by active farmers.
The 6,400 acres added around the city boundaries is owned by developers, although also rented to farmers.
None of these developers is losing a family home or being forced out of a neighbourhood. The Wilmot Township farmers are facing that prospect.
Will the Wilmot Township farm production be missed? Nope.
Will the farmers.be missed. Without a doubt!
But life changes.
