Region and province in 'lockstep' on Wilmot land purchase, chair 'surprised' by ministers' comments
CBC
Comments by two provincial ministers about how the Region of Waterloo is handling the purchase of lands in Wilmot Township has left the regional chair "surprised" and "confused."
In a joint statement released Thursday morning, Kitchener-Conestoga MPP and Minister of Red Tape Reduction Mike Harris and Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli confirmed the province is providing the region with funding.
But they say beyond that, the province is not involved in the land purchase process.
Harris and Fedeli also said they felt they needed to clarify the province's role in the land purchase "given the region's lack of transparency in its land assembly process."
Regional Chair Karen Redman told CBC News she learned of the ministers' statement via social media and immediately reached out to both of them but has yet to hear back.
"I'm surprised and I'm confused because from the very beginning of this project, we worked in lockstep with the province," Redman said in a phone interview.
The Region of Waterloo wants to buy 770 acres (roughly 311 hectares) in Wilmot for future industrial use. The region has not said what specifically the land would be used for in the future.
According to Redman, from the beginning of the land assembly process, the region requested more flexibility on purchase timelines and the ability to share more information with the community, but was denied that by the province.
"This is where we live, these are our neighbours and this is our community. We wanted to be much more proactive, but we were denied the ability to do that."
Redman adds she understand the necessity of confidentiality when handling land acquisitions but would have hoped to have been able to move forward in a more transparent manner.
"One of the things that was really evident from the beginning was that the timelines provided from the province were very, very tight," Redman explained.
She says some of the timelines were driven by landowners wanting to sell quickly or who had other factors driving their timeline requests.
"We've tried to be respectful. We would go back to the province and say, 'This landowner needs extra time' and accommodate them again so that it's a fair and equitable deal from the land owner's perspective."
WATCH | 'We fund it and we stand away,' Minister Fedeli says of Wilmot land purchase:
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