For immediate release
May 15, 2025
QUEEN’S PARK – How can the people of Haldimand-Norfolk be assured a fair and transparent process at Nanticoke when they are witnessing the Premier’s broken promise to the people of Dresden? That’s the question MPP Bobbi Ann Brady asked yesterday in Question Period.
“The Premier should start today in earning back trust – how will the Premier assure my constituents their voices are heard on the MZO when they see what he has done to another community?”
One year ago, the Premier told the people of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex he had their back and now he has turned his back on these same people. Initially, the Premier had promised an environmental assessment (EA) on the landfill site and that is now a broken promise given the exemption for an EA specifically referencing Dresden in Bill 5.
Brady’s concerns stem from Bill 5 giving the Premier and his cabinet unprecedented power over the province, plus the ability to exempt individuals and corporations from provincial and municipal laws and bypass consultation with Indigenous groups. She is also concerned with the Special Economic Zones in Bill 5.
“The Minister of the Environment Monday said the Dresden landfill site will still be subject to an environmental approval…Why is it in the bill then?” asked Brady. “I feel for the people of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex who feel they were duped by this Premier – and I feel terribly for the member opposite who is wedged between his community and his leader – this issue will continue to stink far beyond the next election.”
After the minister who fielded the question failed to name the partners, Brady connected the dots by reminding her colleagues that two key owners of the Dresden site property also control Empire Communities.
“Empire Communities has built over 10,000 homes in Ontario and its partners have generously donated to the PC Party over the past number of years, so you can all imagine the anxiety in my riding that an MZO will be another curried favour.”
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For more information, contact MPP Bobbi Ann Brady at [email protected] or 519-428-0446