Editor,
Both a large corporation (General Motors) which operated on Ontario Street in St. Catharines, Ontario, and the local City Council have been caught in a corrupt and dangerous plot to develop residential lands: at all costs.
We MUST learn that corporations show no accountability to ‘the people’. They care and operate to make profits and money for their stockholders. They have close to zero care on how they make these profits and will protect these profits at all costs.
On point, TC Energy’s proposed Pumped Storage Project in Meaford threatens irreversible harm to both the Niagara Escarpment (a UN-designated World Biosphere Reserve) and the freshwater resource of Georgian Bay. TC Energy’s proposed pumped storage project should not be rejected just based on the environmental threats, but also on likely contamination of the site, the long-term damage to the area’s tourism economies and even local farming. I keep driving home that this is NOT something that Southern Georgian Bay or all of Ontario need EVER! As I have mentioned many times before, TCE simply does not care what the environmental, local economies or Georgian Bay costs are! They take typical corporate action: ‘win at all costs’. I would urge all Meaford residents that care about COMMUNITY check out what is now happening in St. Catharines, Ontario: here is a simple comparison you should compare to what happened there and what is happening here!
– St. Catharine’s then mayor Walter Sindzik aggressively supported a residential development on GM lands despite knowledge of extreme chemical pollution. Then rather than sharing the information they kept silent.
– In 2022, Meaford’s mayor and council immediately gave conditional approval to a TC Energy proposed pump storage project on the Niagara Escarpment DND lands pending environmental review before sharing information with local residents but obviously having discussions with TCE.
– In St. Catharines GM did their own sanctioned investigations with regards to land pollutants in 2010-2012. They claimed minor chemical pollutants did exist, but the lands were safe for a residential project!
– In Meaford, various levels of governments are allowing TCE to perform their own environmental assessments of the DND lands! This is simply dangerous if we expect honest assessments to be shared with all concerned. Note I would certainly trust our council but certainly not TCE!
– In St. Catharines a two-year freedom of information investigation by The Pointer resulted in the release of the documents this week, after City officials and GM fought to keep them from the public for two years! A subterranean swamp of chemicals and heavy metals was present next to homes, businesses and a major waterway in the heart of the city on these very GM lands!
– Here in Meaford it is common sense that dictates to cancel this Pumped Storage Project put forward by TCE before their environmental assessments are completed (at taxpayer’s expense). Their results they share will be questionable.
As a resident I am suggesting a full investigation of how this project has progressed: it smells of corruption and disinformation and must be stopped: a massive and archaic Pumped Storage operation on our Escarpment is the LAST thing that Georgian Bay and all of Ontario need!
Pat Maloney, Meaford
