East Ferris Mayor calls on MNR to stop changes to aggregate resources act

The mayor of East Ferris, Bill Vrebosch, is upset over the Ministry of Natural Resources recent changes to the aggregate resources act.

Vrebosch spoke to the issue during a public meeting Monday night in Powassan and the full text of his address is contained below.

********************

I want to let you know that even though I am representing East Ferris Twp., I am also here to represent the Association of Municipalities Executive Board, known as AMO. I sit as the Chair of the Rural Caucus and , the Zone 9 Representative for the Rural Ontario Municipal Association known as ROMA. Zone 9 encompasses the area from basically Gravenhurst to Moosonee and over to the Manitoba border.

- My presentation to you tonight will try to address the surprise announcement by the Ministry of Natural Resources, that they have amended the Aggregates Act Designation to now include Northern Ontario.

- This change in designation threatens the economic and business sectors of all of Northern Ontario with new fees and fencing costs.

- There was no consultation or impact study done by the Ministry .

- Lack of consultation and surprise are an accepted tactic used for the implementation of this act because the Ministry feels that hoards of pits and quarries would be opened so to beat the date of July 1/07

- I think that the ministry does not have enough respect for our municipalities. We are very aware of what is happening in our municipalities and I don’t think this would have been allowed to happen. My township, East Ferris has had GIS computer programs in our Planning Department for years. We can plug in any property and tell you the history and any recent changes at the push of a button.

*** The questions by the Ministry official, Mr. Stuart Thacher during the evening , such as, "Do you have Zonning By-laws and Regulatory By-laws up here?”, and "What is an unorganized municipality?” totally underscores my thoughts that the Ministry hasn’t got a clue about Northern Ontario.

*** Another question posed by me was regarding the number of new inspectors that are going to be hired in order to police this amended change. The answer was 13. That means 13 salaries, and the related expenses such as vehicles, travel etc.

*** THE QUESTIONS QUOTED WERE QUESTIONS ASKED BY MR. THATCHER DURING THE QUESTION PERIOD

I was amazed at the statement in the Almaguin News that , “this is the regulation, and it can’t be changed by you or me or the minister, or anyone else in government.”

Let me remind the MNR Reps that they had better remember that we still live in a democratic society and that the politicians work for us. I for one would not want to be the politician who carried this message to the public during the upcoming Provincial election.

The other statement that caught my immediate attention was the one that said, “The Minister of Natural Resources, David Ramsay, met with the Association of Municipalities (AMO), in 2005 and 2006, and was told that AMO was in favour of the designation." I have with me tonight a copy of a letter from AMO past president, Roger Anderson that will clarify the errors of this statement. I brought copies with me tonight.

I can guarantee you that AMO has not shirked it’s municipal duty to it’s members by putting their stamp on this legislation change . AMO would have requested a social and economic impact study be done on the effects in Northern Ontario before it ever commented.

At no time has AMO offered or taken a position on the extension of the Aggregates Act Designation.
AMO’s only position has been related to the License Fee Structure under the old Regulation 244/97 and this was only on the fee structure requested by Southern Ontario Municipalities who are facing very legitimate road damage and other related costs.

AMO never received any analysis on the social or economic impacts regarding the extension of the designation into Northern Ontario area.

If Minister Ramsay and his staff did some in-house, or secret analysis, or did consult with some municipalities or operators,, then why didn’t they share it with us. AMO’s position is that the Ministry should have shared this information .

continued

********************