Dear Editor:
On July 29 Premier Doug Ford, speaking on Milton Now 101.3 FM radio station about the Reid quarry in Campbellville, declared, “I am not in favour of that. I believe in governing for the people. And when the people don’t want something you don’t do it. It’s very simple. I know the mayor he doesn’t want it, no one wants it. I don’t want it.”
A similar situation has been evolving in Centre Wellington for the past five years, namely the attempt by a foreign water bottler to obtain a permit to take 1.6 million litres of water daily from the Middlebrook well on the edge of Elora.
During these five years the community has steadfastly fought this incursion and township council has passed a resolution that “the Township of Centre Wellington is not a willing host community to any new commercial water bottling operations or the taking of water for that purpose under any circumstances.” The mayor, on many occasions, has repeated this statement publicly.
The actions of the community forced the previous provincial government to take heed of the random issuing of new permits to take water and place a moratorium on the practice. Mr. Ford’s government, when it took power, extended the moratorium so that studies could be concluded.
These studies have determined that Centre Wellington is at “significant risk” of not having sufficient water to meet future population estimates and the municipality’s own Water Supply Master Plan has determined that up to four new municipal wells will be required to meet demands.
The government plans to end the moratorium on Oct. 1. New policies will be announced soon.
The foreign water bottler, Nestlé Waters Canada has since stated that it is selling all of its Canadian spring water holdings, including Middlebrook, to Canadian-owned Ice River Springs.
If the premier truly believes in what he said in Milton in July, surely he must recognize that the rights of the people of Centre Wellington are as legitimate as those of the people of Milton. For five long years the people of Centre Wellington have made their thoughts widely known. They do not want the Middlebrook well to be pumped for water bottling purposes.
To reiterate from Mr. Ford’s Milton statement, “When the people don’t want something you don’t do it.”
Mike Shackleford,
Belwood