Dear Editor,
At the May 26 Meaford Council meeting, councillors received an update from the Pumped Storage Advisory Committee (PSAC) and debated a motion for independent water testing related to TC Energy’s proposed pumped storage project. For those who didn’t tune in, there were some critical—and troubling—takeaways.
First, let’s be clear about PSAC’s role. This committee is not evaluating whether TC Energy’s project is necessary, nor is it assessing its overall merits or risks. Its mandate is narrowly focused on how the project might affect the municipality if it moves forward. That’s it. So if you’re hoping PSAC will stop the project, don’t hold your breath. It’s up to all of us—residents, citizens, and community leaders—to raise our voices and act.
Among the most serious risks flagged by PSAC so far is the potential for public health impacts if contaminated soil at the proposed site—an active military training base—is disturbed. This could lead to contamination of Georgian Bay and local wells, threatening drinking water, swimming, and fishing for thousands of area residents. To address this, PSAC put forward a motion to hire an independent consultant to monitor for potential contamination and assess the impacts on local water quality. Yet instead of rallying around this vital safeguard, Council spent more time quibbling over the makeup of the PSAC committee and critiquing the motion for not explicitly stating that TC Energy should foot the bill. Meanwhile, the urgent need to protect Georgian Bay and Meaford’s water supply was kicked down the road.
While the discussion set off many alarm bells, what was even more concerning was what wasn’t discussed. Although Bill 5 came up earlier in the meeting, not one councillor raised the looming threat: Bill 5 could eliminate the requirement for environmental assessments, including water testing, for this project altogether. It’s a glaring omission in a discussion about a high-risk, large-scale infrastructure project that threatens devastating impacts to area residents and the environment. And it’s not as if they didn’t know. Save Georgian Bay submitted a letter in advance of the meeting outlining the dangers of Bill 5 and its potential to dismantle environmental protections, fast-track projects like TC Energy’s pumped storage proposal and allowing them to proceed without proper review or accountability. Yet that letter was excluded from the meeting agenda and correspondence list. Why? Was it an oversight—or a deliberate attempt to silence public concern?
The pattern is becoming hard to ignore: while TC Energy and the Ford government fast-track this project behind closed doors, our local council appears unprepared and outmatched. We deserve better. We deserve proactive leadership—not a municipal government that’s fumbling while the stakes couldn’t be higher. Meaford Council is floundering—unable or unwilling to grasp the scale of what’s at stake. They need to step up and get us out of this bad deal before it’s too late.
Sincerely,
Kellie Haslam on behalf of Save Georgian Bay
