Wilmot farmland expropriation protest marched in front of MPP Harris’ office

“Save our farmland,” chanted protesters outside of the MPP’s office in Elmira on May 23.

The issue of farmland expropriation in Wilmot Township was right in front of Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Mike Harris on Thursday afternoon, but Harris had a sign on the door saying the staff at that location were out for the day.

Protest organizers in Wilmot say they’re still waiting for a response as to whether or not the local farmland will be expropriated.

A crowd of 30 to 40 people gathered around 2 p.m. at 63 Arthur St. S. Unit 3. They brought signs and garnered support for their cause as trucks honked passing by.

Organizer Judy Brown said they tried to open a dialogue with Harris last month but received no response after they were asked by his team who would be coming.

“Although the province points at the Region and the Region points at the municipality and so on, we thought it would be good to meet with Mr. Harris, our MPP, to express our concerns to him and have dialogue with him,” she said.

In an email to CityNews570, Harris responded: “I sincerely appreciate Wilmot’s residents’ active engagement and bringing their concerns to my attention. As the matter seemed to fall under the scope of the Region of Waterloo, my staff requested more details. I then responded with the information I had available as MPP and directed the remaining concerns to the Region for their response. I have unequivocally responded to every question the group has raised.”

“I hope the parties can table their concerns with the Region directly and the community can move forward on the matter together,” added Harris.

Brown said people in Wilmot are still open to having that conversation and are protesting to show Harris that they aren’t willing to move.

“Come to Wilmot, come and talk to the farmers who are being affected, come and talk to the citizens who want to dialogue with you. Don’t give us a speech, come and chat with us.”

In a letter to Wilmot residents, Harris called the land assembly in Wilmot a ‘strategic move with immense potential for fostering future economic opportunities in our Region and beyond’.

Harris pointed to the population growth in Waterloo Region and across Southwestern Ontario and said it would be ‘irresponsible to ignore opportunities’ that could create jobs for those living in the area.

“The land being assembled is suitable for a battery assembly plant, but it is also ideal for a wide variety of other uses, including food processing, pharmaceuticals, and the manufacturing of data storage parts,” added Harris.

An online petition shows a large amount of support for the farmers and property owners in Wilmot, with close to 35,000 signatures collected as of Thursday morning.

Brown added that so far, over 2,000 people have purchased support signs off their website.

“Whether we have ten people or a thousand people, we’re representing what I believe is the vast majority of the sentiment in this community, that we are not willing hosts.”

Brown notes they aren’t positive if Harris will even be in his office at that time, but they are certain he will get the message.

Wilmot Township councillors still won’t speak to them about the issue of expropriation because of NDAs signed.

“We are certainly not against industry and jobs, but we would like them to follow their official plan, the Region’s official plan, and this is class A-1 farmland they’re talking about in a small community, who can’t handle what they’re proposing,” said Brown.

More information about the fight for farmland can be found here.