Last week I visited farmers in Wilmot township and learned about how the government tried to hoodwink them. After the Premier ordered land to be assembled for industrial use and non-disclosure agreements were signed by local officials, the region of Waterloo made offers to farmers in Wilmot township north of Bleams Road. One such offer was $4.3 million for 85 acres, or about $51,000 an acre. I have a photo of the written offer. Subsequently, a neighbouring farmer had his land appraised as if it were unserviced, industrial land. Valued at $680,000 an acre—more than 10 times what was offered by the region of Waterloo.

This attempt to swindle farmers and buy their land for a song through an opaque process reminds me of the great $8-billion greenbelt giveaway that spawned the ongoing RCMP criminal investigation.

When will it stop? When will this government care about farmers and preserving our remaining prime agricultural land, and care about transparency instead of looking for places to refill its gravy train?