SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Ontario Assembly

43rd Parl. 1st Sess.
March 8, 2023 09:00AM
  • Mar/8/23 2:30:00 p.m.
  • Re: Bill 71 

I thank the member from Brantford–Brant for the question. We did support that bill to expedite the development of the battery factory in St. Thomas. The big concern that we have is that governments in Ontario, governments in Alberta—Conservative governments in particular—do not have a good record of enforcing regulations so that mining companies leave the site clean and safe for local communities.

In Alberta, for example, they’ve got 170,000 abandoned oil wells that the taxpayer is now on the hook for cleaning up and sealing. We don’t want the communities to be left with a toxic mess and we don’t want the taxpayers to be left with millions or billions of dollars in cleanup costs. That should be part of the operation. That’s the concern we have.

The government has not created trust in their ability to be stewards of the environment for future generations.

154 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border