Today's K-W Record story written by Terry Pender is titled "Water permits under scrutiny as Waterloo Region faces growth freeze". It seems as if our right wing, pro business, anti environment, Conservative provincial government, just like Mike Harris so long ago, have bought themselves an environmental crisis. Do we all remember the Walkerton Water Crisis which made thousands sick and actually killed several people ? Just as importantly do we remember what was generally acknowledged as a major cause of that crisis? Mike and the Conservative government of the day dramatically cut back on Ministry of the Environment inspection and enforcement activities all to save money. This second rate inspection and enforcement was also on display here in Elmira with M.O.E. failures at Uniroyal Chemical and Varnicolor Chemical.
O.K. so we have seen some pretty lacklustre regional performance of late however now we are reminded of some of our provincial government's stupid moves over the last five years including allegedly cutting red tape around water taking permits. These permits for golf courses, gravel pits and other industrial uses used to require environmental assessments, public notices, hearings and even indigenous consultation. No longer needed according to Premier Doug Ford . We are advised by reporter, Mr. Pender, that these water taking permits can each use more than 55,000 gallons of water a day. At first glance I felt that 55,000 gallons a day wasn't a big deal until I reread the statement. The statement suggests that each permit can use more than 55,000 gallons a day. So how many permits have been issued since Dougie and the (red tape) slashers went to town? That's kind of important don't you think?
As recently as April 2024 the commissioner of planning and development wrote a report to our regional politicians telling them not to build on or near the recharge areas of the Waterloo Moraine . His report was in response "...to the provincial government's expansion of development boundaries in southwest Kitchener. He warned the expansion could spark a development freeze because it could threaten groundwater supplies by paving over the places where rainwater and snowmelt refill the aquifers."
And here we are today. Yes I will thank both regional and provincial governments for their incompetence but lest we forget our regional councillors include a whole lot of mayors and other municipal politicians. None of these buggers have done their jobs properly on the water file. Maybe a major political massacre is due this fall at the polls unless Dougie and the (red tape) slashers decide to due some serious spring cleaning of old, dusty and useless bags of wind called politicians.
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