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Protestors Stave Off Developers In The Oak Ridges Morraine

 
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Maurice
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 9:50 am    Post subject: Protestors Stave Off Developers In The Oak Ridges Morraine Reply with quote

Protestors Stave Off Land Developers In The Oak Ridges Morraine


By Maurice Ali, Journalist.



Toronto, Ontario - It was just another Saturday morning (October 19,2003) for me, eyeing the wares at a country store; when the constant honking of horns sparked my interest. I asked the owner of the store what all the commotion was about and he told me they were protesting land development into a green space called The Oak Ridges Morraine. (a 160 kilometer ridge of sand and gravel that forms the head waters for over 65 streams and rivers).



Curious, I ran over there with my camera and some flyers I had in the car promoting our website. "You are not from the Toronto Star?" an angry woman asked as I started to take some photos. I stopped the picture taking and explained what organization I belonged to and that I was there to give their cause an extra voice. They were still wary of me, as they explained that they were affiliated with an organization called Environmental Defence Canada (www.edcanada.org) and that some of the papers had been distorting their comments, thus they had to be careful. However, they allowed me to take pictures of the proceedings as long as I did not include any closeups of any of the children there. Also on hand was a politician that supported the movement, who for some reason, did not mind me taking a picture of her. I witnessed one of the rural TV stations setting up, but apart from that, very little media attention. Security guards from the land developer were very visible as the protestors were just outside their sales office. Aspen Ridge officials, the developer, were not available for comment. It was cold and starting to rain, so I finished up my impromptu photo shoot and left. Another futile attempt by concerned citizens, I thought; little did I know what was about to happen.

Ontario was in the process of changing provincial governments and this had a marked impact on that little protest I was at. This issue became political, and when the Liberals came to power and Dalton McGuinty became Premier; things started to change. The Morraine development started having problems; after all, it was the outgoing Conservative government who quietly reneged on a promise not to develop the Morraine. First was a voluntary delay by the builders of two weeks as they negotiated with the newly elected Liberal government. Then a longer delay which resulted in an Ontario Municipal Board hearing that began on November 12, 2003.. If the development is stopped, environmentalists think that an expenditure of 400,000 dollars would be needed to correct any damage done by the developers up to this moment (about the cost of one of their homes). If this comes to pass, then that little protest almost forgotten by main stream press; will have achieved true David vs Goliath stature. The development was a multi-million dollar affair comprising 6,600 homes, and this type of money has considerable influence. However this "grass roots" movement along with the luck of a change of political parties; means this small group of environmentalists may have succeeded in their cause.

I feel fortunate to have been a witness to this event, as it unfolded. I saw only two other press agencies show up after my arrival, and organizations like Canadian Press had to rely on local reporters for their story. This is what we do at Fortress Of Freedom.com; sometimes the little guy really does have a say.
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