CSCA appeals to Poilievre regarding municipal dump proposal
The Carlsbad Springs Community Association has issued the open letter below to the Honourable Pierre Poilievre soliciting his assistance in regards to Miller's proposal for a new residential dump conversion in Carleton riding.
Dear Mr. Poilievre,
We are writing to you on behalf of l'Association Communautaire de Carlsbad Springs / Carlsbad Springs Community Association about concerns that our community members have within your new federal riding.
Carlsbad Springs is a rural community on Bear Brook in Osgoode Ward in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It has an active community association that manages its website carlsbadsprings.ca, the community centre at 6020 Piperville Road, and partners with the city and other organizations to represent our community and deliver services to local residents.
The community encompasses the Amazon regional distribution centre on Boundary Road, the future Tewin development, a number of light industrial developments, as well as the site of the future Capital Region Resource Recovery Centre, a joint venture between Miller Waste Systems and Taggart Investments.
The CRRRC is part of the new Carleton federal electoral district and it is in this regard that we are writing today. The site is located at Boundary Rd/Highway 417 and was originally approved as a greenfield waste management facility for recycling and disposal of residual commercial and industrial waste, but the venture has now applied to the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks for permission to become a municipal dump for the storing of residential waste.
The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks considers this application a minor amendment to the current permit, so an Environmental Assessment was not required and no public consultations are scheduled. The only opportunity for the public to comment is by emailing wasteproposalcomments@ontario.ca by April 15, 2024.
The Carlsbad Springs Community Association has decided to reach out after having been flooded with resident concerns like the following:
I saw the following article in the news this weekend and I am sharing for your awareness, but also as a concerned resident of Carlsbad Springs. https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/private-landfill-wants-to-accept-ottawa-s-household-garbage-1.6816343
I am really concerned and worried about having a residential landfill so close to residential homes.
I would be interested to know if the Association plans to look into this.
I also have not seen or heard of any community consultations regarding this.
Our association endeavors at all times to maintain an even handed approach and if possible to mediate between concerned residents and those who support new developments. In order to provide this function, we not only advocate for transparency, as provided in this case, but we also make sure that developers engage our community in a consultative/advisory role. We also have a long standing reputation for making sure our residents’ concerns are heard on the local, provincial and national stages by working with everyone from our local community news providers to the CBC, as in the examples below:
In this case it is the association’s assessment that our community is firmly against the proposed modification to the CRRRC, and that the expectation of consultation has not even been attempted, much less met, by the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks. While we consider it fully under the Ministry’s purview to make decisions as to whether environmental impact assessments are required, we feel that the Ministry is actively trying to circumvent the citizens’ legitimate interests by failing to engage in public consultation on an issue with this much potential for community opposition.
We appeal to you both as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and as riding representative in the House of Commons, on behalf of your prospective Carleton riding constituents. The current situation and its associated circumvention of local popular interests is not what we expect of a Canadian Conservative government, either at the provincial or at the federal level.
The community would appreciate anything that your office can do to prevent the decision on this matter from becoming an exercise in bureaucratic rubber stamping. A Conservative government turning their leader’s riding into a municipal dump would not go far towards reassuring our voters, and Canadians in general, that the Conservative Party is fit to provide reliable governance for Canada.
Best regards,
Adrian Becea Lucie Régimbald Shannon McInnis
President CSCA Vice President CSCA Vice President Communications CSCA
Sue Langlois Denis Labreche Dr. Monica Brewer
Treasurer CSCA Director CSCA Director CSCA