First Nation chief downstream of proposed rural Ontario dump calls out province

The fight over a proposed rural southwestern Ontario landfill is back in the spotlight, and it’s reached the highest levels of provincial politics this week.

Last summer, Dresden-area residents in Chatham-Kent thought they had scored a win. The Conservative government said any move to reopen a long-dormant landfill site would require a full environmental assessment. 

But that may be changing.

In April, the province introduced Bill 5 — the Protect Ontario By Unleashing Our Economy Act. It includes language that would fast-track the project.

That concerns Walpole Island First Nation Chief Leela Thomas, who calls the proposed bill “devastating.”

The reserve is downstream from the dump along the Sydenham River. The property also lies within the traditional territory of the Anishinabek people.

“It seems like our voices don’t matter, especially when it comes to environmental issues and our role as stewards of the land,” Thomas said. 

“It’s not a big ask because we’re protecting people. We’re protecting the land. We’re protecting environment. We’re protecting the livelihood of not only First Nations people, but everyone.”

Thomas says their constitutional rights are being ignored.

“That, to me, is [environmental] racism.”

Thomas says it seems like poor planning on the province’s behalf, when it comes to landfill capacity.

“They knew that there was going to be issues with landfills in the province, and now that there are … with the tariffs they’re using that as a guise to push these landfills through.”

Human rights advocacy group Amnesty International says the province’s change of course on Bill 5 threatens Indigenous rights and erodes environmental protections. 

“The creation of special economic zones where critical provincial laws, including those protecting endangered species, clean water, and consultation with Indigenous nations, may be suspended to fast-track development,” said Ketty Nivyabandi, secretary general with Amnesty International Canada.

“We cannot build up Ontario by bulldozing down the rights of Indigenous nations and the natural environment we all depend on and share.”

Capacity issues and Trump cited by premier

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his government is committed to expanding the landfill site because of capacity issues and current U.S.-Canada relations.

“We’re relying on the U.S. again,” Ford said to reporters Tuesday.

“Here we go again. Forty per cent of all the garbage goes down to the U.S. It takes one phone call from President Trump to … cut us off, and then what do we do? We have to prepare, be prepared.”

Ford says the existing site needs to be expanded.

“I’m not going to rely on President Trump any longer. We have to be responsible for our own garbage. We’re gonna continue building capacity on that. I say we’re gonna shut off the electricity. He says we’re gonna shut off your garbage.”

In a statement to CBC News, the province said the project would still undergo “extensive environmental processes” and remain subject to “strong provincial oversight.”

‘Give me a break’

Opposition leader Marit Stiles of the NDP says the Dresden landfill was something the Ontario Conservatives never actually meant to prevent.

“Give me a break here,” she said Tuesday while speaking at Queen’s Park. 

“We’ve seen it again and again. The legislation that they’ve introduced creates more and more opportunities for the government to make Greenbelt-style corrupt deals to benefit landowners and big corporations and developers, and I think that’s what we’re going to continue to see here.”

Recently, Kingston MPP Ted Hsu asked Ontario’s integrity commissioner to probe an alleged connection between Premier Ford, two of his cabinet members, and a former minister to the proposed Chatham-Kent landfill.

Stiles says she’s unsure if the complaint will meet the standards of an investigation.

“Unfortunately, the integrity commissioner has a very narrow scope.”

Stiles believes the integrity commissioner would like the complaint to be broadened.

“But … just because it doesn’t pass … that smell test, doesn’t mean that it’s right. The premier promised he wasn’t going to let that landfill happen. He broke his promise to people in Dresden.”

What’s at risk

The project site is adjacent to a creek and river — a vital spawning ground and home to more than 80 endangered species, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. 

Thomas says there are a lot of unknowns without having rigorous environmental and health assessments — and not just for her Anishinabek people, but the surrounding communities as well.

“There’s going to be construction and demolition debris that’s going to have asbestos that’s going to be leaked into the drinking water,” said Walpole Island’s chief.

“That river comes down to our communities.”