MPPs decry lack of consultation by Cambridge and province for warehouse MZO

Several opposition MPPs, including Cambridge MPP Belinda Karahalios and Green Party of Ontario Leader Mike Schreiner, are calling for public consultations to be done on a ministerial zoning order endorsed by Cambridge city council earlier this year.  

In a statement Tuesday, Karahalios said there is "widespread opposition" to the ministerial zoning order — or MZO — that would allow a 100,000 square meter warehouse to be built in the area of Cambridge known as Blair, just south of Highway 401.

Karahalios, who helped form the New Blue Party after she was removed from the Progressive Conservative caucus in July 2020, wrote that she's called on Ontario's Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark and Cambridge Mayor Kathryn McGarry "to ensure that concerns are heeded and precautions are taken."

"Minister Clark stated early on that his expectation was that the municipality, 'has completed their own due diligence, including with local communities who will be impacted by the requested MZO, before a request is sent for my consideration,'" Karahalios' statement said.

"Clearly that did not happen in the beginning, and moving ahead, it looks like consultation is not top of mind for anyone — locally or in Toronto — who has a say in this process."

Six Nations officials not consulted

Karahalios made the comments after it was revealed officials in Six Nations of the Grand River may not have been properly consulted on the warehouse development. 

The land falls within the Haldimand Tract, which includes 10 kilometres on either side of the Grand River. It was granted to Six Nations of the Grand River in 1784 for allying with the British in the American Revolution. 

While we think we've been disrespected in this process, it's pretty clear the Six Nations of the Grand River have been disrespected for more than 150 years- Alan Van Norman, co-chair, Blair Engaged

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council, the traditional government of the Six Nations, made a call earlier this year for a moratorium on development of the area.

Two letters are expected to be sent to Cambridge mayor and council on Tuesday.

One is from Blair Engaged, a citizen's group formed to bring awareness to the project. The second letter is from Six Nations lands and resources director Lonny Bomberry.

Both letters are critical of the lack of consultation done by the city.

"While we think we've been disrespected in this process, it's pretty clear the Six Nations of the Grand River have been disrespected for more than 150 years," said Alan Van Norman, co-chair of Blair Engaged. 

Bomberry's letter was initially sent to David Donnelly, the lawyer representing the Blair Engaged group.

In that letter, Bomberry wrote that the city's planning department wouldn't meet with the Six Nations of the Grand River consultation and accommodation process team.

He also said he eventually set up a meeting with the developers but received answers he called "very vague" or "in some cases misleading and not helpful in allaying our concerns about the environmental impacts of this proposed project." 

MZO a 'critical tool,' province says

A MZO allows the provincial minister of municipal affairs to bypass local planning rules to spur development.

The province says on its website that an MZO is a "critical tool that can be used to support and expedite the delivery of government priorities, including transit-oriented communities, affordable housing, long-term care homes and strategic economic recovery projects by removing potential barriers and delays."

Conrad Spezowka, a spokesperson for the Ontario government, wrote in an email to CBC Hamilton that the province issued the Cambridge MZO at the request of the city to "get shovels in the ground faster for a warehouse distribution centre, helping create up to 1,400 jobs and support the city's ongoing response to COVID-19."

Spezowka also said Minister Clark "had previously sent a letter to the municipality encouraging meaningful engagement with local communities who may be impacted by the requested MZO."

But the use of MZOs has been controversial. The province has been criticized for pushing through projects in Toronto. There was also concern about an Amazon warehouse proposed to be built on a wetland in Pickering which has since been cancelled, as well as a case in Stratford where the city approved, then asked the province to rescind, an MZO for a proposed glass company to build a factory in the city.

The group Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition said in August is had concerns about an MZO that would allow for urban sprawl, nearly double the size of the town of Innisfil and lower water quality in Lake Simcoe.

On April 6, Cambridge city councillors voted 9-0 to endorse the MZO for the warehouse to be built by Broccolini Real Estate Group. It has not been made public what company will use the warehouse.

After outcry from the community, a month later city councillors voted unanimously in favour of making public consultations mandatory when MZOs are proposed in the city.

'Meaningful consultation' needed: Schreiner

In a statement Tuesday, Schreiner said the province must move to revoke the MZO.

"Instead of fulfilling their duty to consult with First Nations, Premier [Doug] Ford and Minister Clark would rather side with what is expected to be an Amazon warehouse," Schreiner wrote. 

"I'm calling on Doug Ford to revoke the MZO for the suspected Amazon warehouse in Cambridge until the government engages the Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council in proper and meaningful consultation."

In a joint letter, four NDP MPPs, including two from Waterloo region, wrote an open letter to Clark with their concerns about the project.

"The Ontario government's own lawyers acknowledged that the failure to consult  First Nations prior to issuing an MZO in Pickering faced a high risk of not fulfilling its  consultation obligations. To move forward once again with an MZO that is possibly  unconstitutional is irresponsible, and disrespectful," said the letter signed by Jeff Burch of Niagara Centre and the NDP's critic of municpal affairs, Sandy Shaw of Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas, Catherine Fife of Waterloo and Laura Mae Lindo of Kitchener.

"Until the duty to consult has been met, this MZO is troubling, and inappropriately stepping on the rights of First Nations, treaty holders and community members."

Donnelly told CBC News if the city doesn't hold a public consultation or reverse the MZO, it's a "slap in the face" to locals and Six Nations.

"A failure to hold a public meeting to discuss the MZO would be a blatant act of hypocrisy for anyone who reads that Indigenous territory land acknowledgement at the beginning of every council meeting," he said.