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NEWS: Mother Earth day walk against Melancthon quarry

Photo credit: Chris Halliday, Orangeville Banner

Photo credit: Chris Halliday, Orangeville Banner

The Orangeville Banner reports, “A five-day walk, with native drumming and singing, is planned in protest of The Highland Companies’ proposed 2,316-acre quarry in Melancthon. Organized in large part by environmental activist Danny Beaton of the Mohawk Turtle Clan, the event kicks off on Earth Day (April 22) at Queen’s Park and works its way to a potato farm featured in the quarry plan. ‘The things I learned from my elders told me I had a responsibility to honour Mother Earth and to protect Mother Earth,’ Beaton said. …The protest walk, which will travel through Brampton, Caledon, Orangeville and Shelburne on its way to Melancthon, is designed to increase public awareness of the proposal and convince government officials to put the kibosh on it.”

“The initiative (against the quarry) has the support of at least one political party — the NDP. ‘On the face of it, the quarry looks like a very questionable proposition,’ MPP Peter Tabuns, environment critic, said. ‘Making sure we have clean, uncontaminated water is a very high priority for the NDP. We look at this and we see real potential risk for those headwaters.’”

The Orangeville Citizen also notes that, “(Progressive Conservative) Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones has asked the Minister of Natural Resources (Liberal Linda Jeffrey) to extend the deadline for comments on the Highland Companies quarry application. She said the current deadline of Tuesday, April 26, does not give the Township of Melancthon enough time to prepare a comprehensive submission to the Ministry, as the Township found it difficult to assemble a team of experts to assist them with such a large application. The Township has asked that the deadline be extended for 120 days, to August 26. …During Question Period, the Minister would not commit to an extension, saying ‘groups or individuals have 45 days, or until April 26, to register concerns or objections to the proposal through the environmental website’.”

The Orangeville Citizen reports, “(An open house on the quarry in) Horning Mills (on Tuesday night) saw a turnout of more than 200 people (closer to 400)… Spokespeople for Highland were present to answer any questions that were posed by community members of the issues surrounding the quarry. …The North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce and members of the community opposed to the quarry came bearing signage reading ‘Stop the quarry!’…” Council of Canadians Ontario-Quebec organizer Mark Calzavara was at this meeting, to read his blog on it, please go to http://canadians.org/activistblog/?p=528.

Three additional blogs on this situation can be read at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?s=melancthon.