Queen's Park response

During a visit to Oxford County in March, Ontario Premier Doug Ford hinted that his government supports allowing municipalities to opt out of landfill proposals in their jurisdictions. 'We are not going to stick something in an area that people don't want,' he said. (Cole Burston/Canadian Press) Post image on Pinterest: During a visit to Oxford County in March, Ontario Premier Doug Ford hinted that his government supports allowing municipalities to opt out of landfill proposals in their jurisdictions. 'We are not going to stick something in an area that people don't want,' he said. (Cole Burston/Canadian Press)

During a visit to Oxford County in March, Ontario Premier Doug Ford hinted that his government supports allowing municipalities to opt out of landfill proposals in their jurisdictions. 'We are not going to stick something in an area that people don't want,' he said. (Cole Burston/Canadian Press)

The landfill proposal has created a challenge for the Ford government.

Ontario landfill applications undergo an exhaustive environmental assessment (EA) process with the environment minister eventually having the final say.

Fry said Walker is in the "final stages" of an EA process that started back in 2012. The company is expected to release a draft report before the fall that will include results from 12 different government-mandated studies about the project, looking at everything from traffic to water quality. A consultation period will follow, before a final EA is submitted to the minister, who can accept, refuse, or refer the application to a mediator or a tribunal.

But for Mayor Comiskey, the EA process has a glaring shortfall: It leaves municipalities with no say in the final decision.

Comiskey has led a push to give municipalities the right to approve or turn down any landfill application in their jurisdiction. So far, more than 100 Ontario municipalities have pledged support, with the complete list found on the Demand The Right website.



"It's common sense to say that if you have a municipality that is producing a phenomenal amount of garbage, they shouldn't be able to walk into another municipality and say, 'This is where we're going to bury it,'" said Comiskey. "They have to be responsible for what they produce and what they make. So we demand the right to say yes or no."

Comiskey, who describes himself as a small-c conservative, was encouraged by comments made by Premier Doug Ford during a visit to Oxford Country last March.

Ford was quoted on Heart FM's website as saying: "Who are a bunch of politicians in Queen's Park to tell municipalities how to run their municipality? It is up to them, they have an option, to opt in or opt out. That is up to them, it is not necessarily up to us to overrule a municipality. That is the last thing I would want to do. I don't care if someone says they have 300 or 400 jobs, we are not going to stick something in an area that people don't want."

While in Opposition, Progressive Conservative MPP for Oxford Ernie Hardeman twice launched a private member's bill that would give municipalities the right to turn down a landfill application within their borders.

"Municipalities have a right to decide where the Tim Hortons is built in their community; surely they should have the right to have a say in where a landfill would go,” he said in an interview with CBC News this week.

But during that interview, Hardeman fell short of backing an outright veto for municipalities over landfill applications.

Communities could voice their opposition as part of the tribunal process if an EA reached that stage, he said, and any legislative changes that go further than that are up to the environment minister.

In November, the Ford government released its Made-In-Ontario Environment Plan. On page 44, it promises to give municipalities "a say in landfill citing approvals" and to "enhance municipal say" in the process.

Comiskey says this isn't enough.

“We need the ability to say yes or no. Period," he said.

According to a statement from the office of newly appointed Environment Minister Jeff Yurek, the Ontario government plans to develop a proposal "to give municipalities more say" but it also doesn't mention a full veto.

"The proposal will balance the desire to give the people of Ontario a greater voice in the siting of landfills, while ensuring Ontario has sufficient landfill capacity for the management of our waste," the statement says.

As for Walker's Fry, he says granting municipalities a full veto could pose a problem amid diminishing dump capacities, as the EA process already takes up to 10 years.

A town of 12,000 directly downstream from the proposed landfill, Ingersoll relies on wells for potable water. (Andrew Lupton/CBC) Post image on Pinterest: A town of 12,000 directly downstream from the proposed landfill, Ingersoll relies on wells for potable water. (Andrew Lupton/CBC)