Who is the real Estill?

Dear Editor:

In the past, we in Guelph and Puslinch have been proud of local businessman Jim Estill, especially for his work in 2015 supporting Syrian refugees fleeing the disastrous results of dictatorial Middle East governments. 

So recently it came as quite a surprise when Jim applied to the provincial government for what are essentially dictatorial powers (a Ministerial Zoning Order [MZO]) to move an industrial proposal of his forward, clearly against the will of our community and our local government and in an area outside of provincial jurisdiction.

This is the same Jim Estill who in 2023 stated with respect to this proposal, that “he did not want to be somewhere he was not wanted,” a rather different position than that of this 2026 Jim Estill seeking an MZO. 

We would appreciate the real Jim Estill standing up in 2026 and not just standing up to identify himself but standing up for the democratic principles that are the foundation of our Ontario, nurturing not just our communities but every Ontario individual including the 69 Syrian, now-Canadian families he stewarded back in 2015.

John McNie,
Puslinch