New bill aims to give cities a voice in deciding location of landfills

If a new landfill site was proposed for your neighbourhood, your community would have no say in whether the project goes ahead.

A new private members bill aims to change that.

Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman introduced a private members bill at Queen's Park on Thursday to give cities and towns a voice in deciding the locations of future landfill sites.

"Municipalities get to decide which street will be their main street and where they're going to put their commercial shops, and where they're going to put their industrial park," Hardeman told CBC Radio's Afternoon Drive.

"But they don't have any input into where they're going to put a landfill site. That, to me, doesn't make any sense," he said.

Developers don't have to listen

Hardeman said developers looking to build a landfill site are obligated to consult with a municipality and its local government, but the developer doesn't have to listen to the city's recommendations. 

"With this bill, it means that [with] every application going to the minister, the proponent must have a resolution from a local council or First Nations band, or the minister is not allowed to approve it."

The bill comes after an 18 million tonne waste landfill site was proposed in the community of Zorra Township.

"Any community outside the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area is a potential site for future mega dumps like Zorra is facing," said Zorra Township councillor Marcus Ryan in a release.

"Currently, there's nothing we can do about it. We have to change that."

Hardeman's bill must go through a second and third reading before it can be enacted into law.