Candidates address controversial development
Niagara Falls provincial riding candidates weighed in on this week’s city council meeting where local politicians approved moving forward the controversial Riverfront Community development proposal around Thundering Waters.
The issue came up during Wednesday night’s YourTV Niagara debate that featured four of the candidates running in the June 7 election.
“If you ever wanted to see democracy in action and be proud of our citizens, (Tuesday) night at Niagara Falls city council and the Save Thundering Waters crew were fantastic,” said Green party candidate Karen Fraser.
“They stood up for themselves and the forest. There was such a broad accompaniment of citizens from all walks of life — all standing for the same issue.”
Tuesday night’s more than four-hour public meeting and debate featured 29 public speakers — 25 opposed to the development, with four in support as well as the applicant.
The proposal, backed by a Chinese investment firm called GR (CAN) Investment Co. Ltd., calls for commercial and resi-
dential development on 120 acres of land west of Marineland and adjacent to Thundering Waters Golf Club.
Tuesday’s discussion surrounded the first phase of what’s planned to be a $1.5-billion mixed-use development.
The entire property is 484 acres. About half can’t be developed because it is provincially significant wetland.
Critics believe the development anywhere around the wetlands will destroy a rich ecosystem, while supporters believe the development would be an economic boon to the city.
Liberal candidate Dean Demizio said he and Fraser attended the council meeting, but he didn’t see Progressive Conservative candidate Chuck McShane or incumbent NDP MPP Wayne Gates.
“I went just to find out what was going on, to get a feel for the people, to listen to the people,” said Demizio.
“At the end of the day, I understand the council side of it, I understand the people’s side of it. But the bottom line is this, I took the initiative to go out there and get involved, to get educated on the details and see what’s going on.”
The discussion followed a question to the candidates about what they and their party would do, if elected, to ensure the protection of the Greenbelt, and how they plan to balance conservation with the need to attract new development and industry to the region.
“This is the difference between a Greenbelt and a Smart Places to Grow — the Greenbelt, all our infrastructure is straight through there,” said McShane.
“Nobody has even thought about putting up infrastructure to where the Smart Places to Grow is, in the southern part of Ontario. That’s where we’re supposed to grow things, not in the Greenbelt. But we don’t have the infrastructure. We need to put the infrastructure there so that we can actually bring lands that people can actually build on and have affordable housing.”
Fraser said the Greenbelt needs protection, especially because “every city along the Greenbelt always puts in policies or requests — ‘well, we’ll just take this little bit,’ and the next city says, ‘well, we’ll just take this little bit.’ The public and the MPPs have to work very hard to make sure that Greenbelt stays as it is. We have to make sure that urban sprawl doesn’t overlap with the Greenbelt, and each city should be concentrating on infill, instead of urban sprawl.”
Demizio said the Liberal government has put in place policies to protect the Greenbelt.
“As a matter of fact, our Liberal government is going to expand the Greenbelt, to make sure that it’s there for future generations,” he said.
Gates said the NDP will “stop and reverse the loss of provincially significant wetlands.”
He said the PCs can’t be trusted on the environment, pointing to Doug Ford’s comments that he had discussions with builders to develop some of the province’s protected Greenbelt.
Ford then revered the plan, saying he heard from people asking him not to touch the Greenbelt, so if elected premier this spring a Tory government would maintain the Greenbelt in its entirety.
“He listened to the people, he talked to people and he said no, that’s what the people said,” McShane said about Ford.
“I give him credit for doing that, actually listen to the people and say, ‘OK, that’s what we’re going to do.”
Both Gates and Demizio said Ford only changed his mind because he got caught on video stating his original intent.