EANAP

In the 2018 provincial election, incumbent and current MPP for Ajax publicly stated his support for adding the headwaters of the Carruther's Creek to the Ontario Greenbelt. To date, no work has been done to take action on this election promise. Now this headwaters are being threatened with development.

 

Please feel free to personalize this letter when you send it - personalized letter are more often flagged by constituent staff! Please email it to:

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rod.phillipsco@pc.ola.org

peter.bethlenfalvyco@pc.ola.org

minister.mah@ontario.ca

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If your MPP is not included above, please also copy them on your email. You can find contact information for all Ontario MPPs on this website.

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Letter Template

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Dear MPP Philips, MPP Bethlenfalvy and Minister Clark,

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I am writing to you today with an urgent request for your help in protecting our drinking water. In 2018, the incumbent and successful MPP for Ajax, Rod Philips, argued that the headwaters of Carruthers Creek should be added to the protected and environmentally sensitive lands of the Ontario Greenbelt. As of today, nearly three and a half years later, your government has not followed through on this commitment to Ajax residents, and as a result, the neighbourhoods within this watershed, and the drinking water of for all Lake Ontario communities is now facing a serious threat.

 

At an August 30th special council meeting at the City of Pickering, their council unanimously approved a development proposal for a hospital located at Salem Road and Highway 407 as part of Lakeridge Health’s site selection process for a new hospital in Durham Region. This proposed site sits directly on the headwaters of Carruthers Creek.

 

Let me be clear, I am in favour of a new hospital to serve Durham’s residents, but there are better sites for this hospital, both in Pickering as well as in Whitby and Oshawa.

 

By pushing for this proposal, the City of Pickering is also pushing for:

• increasing the loss of prime agricultural land as designated by Durham Region’s Official Plan;

• worsening water quality in the creek itself and degrading the resiliency of attached ecosystems; threatening the habitat of the endangered Redside Dace – a fish almost entirely extinct in the Great Lakes;

• increasing flooding and erosion by up to 77% with impacts to be paid by residents of the Town of Ajax (through insurance costs from flood damage and town infrastructure needed to mitigate flooding).

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​These impacts are unacceptable! 

 

Building on the headwaters of Carruthers Creek would be an environmental disaster as well as a financial disaster for the Town of Ajax and its residents and I urgently ask for your help to protect our town and communities by following through on your party's commitment expressed during the 2018 election. Please urge the government to publicly express their intention to add these lands to the Greenbelt immediately!

 

I look forward to your response to this matter. Sincerely,

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NAME

CITY + POSTAL CODE