Dear Editor,
Opposition to TC Energy’s $7 billion pumped storage scheme in Meaford got another boost last week when councillors of the Township of Tiny objected to the plan.
Five other municipalities – from Meaford’s eastern neighbour, the Town of Blue Mountains, all the way around the south end of Georgian Bay up the eastern shore to Parry Sound and beyond, have passed motions against the project. They have cited the risk of contamination of Georgian Bay, their source of drinking water, and rulings by Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator that the project makes no economic sense for Ontario electricity customers.
Tiny Townhsip’s councillors, attending their regular meeting of committee of the whole, noted that the water of Georgian Bay doesn’t respect municipal boundaries but is common to all and that currents move the water from one place to another. Following the meeting, Tiny’s deputy mayor, Sean Miskimins, observed that “we all border on that same environment, ecosystem and watershed.”
It seems other communities are making the point that Meaford’s council alone can’t give its so-called conditional approval to a project that will affect the water quality for tens of thousands of people around the shore of Georgian Bay.
It’s time Council realized it has a greater responsibility to its neighbours, as well as generations to come, than its own short-sighted focus on municipal benefits.
Clair Balfour, Meaford
