Senior-most Liberals Will Be Forced to Face Questioning On Flamborough Quarry
TORONTO, Oct. 29, 2012 /CNW/ – Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and other senior Cabinet Ministers will be subpoenaed and compelled to testify in the judicial review of the Liberal government’s decision to kill the proposed Flamborough Quarry. The judicial review will help determine whether the government acted improperly in cancelling a quarry in the riding of Liberal MPP Ted McMeekin in advance of the 2011 provincial election. St Marys Cement has also filed a NAFTA claim based on the regulatory failure in this case, and is seeking damages of not less than $275 million.
In May, St Marys Cement served a Notice of Application to review the decision by the McGuinty Liberals to issue a Minister’s Zoning Order and a Declaration of Provincial Interest to stop the proposed Flamborough Quarry. The provincial government brought forward a motion to have the application dismissed, a motion that has now been dismissed by the Ontario Divisional Court. The government has appealed this ruling.
Due to a common law principle that protects sitting members from being subpoenaed while the house is in session or on break for holiday, the decision by Dalton McGuinty to prorogue the Legislature presents the first opportunity for the Premier, in addition to Ministers Jim Bradley and Rick Bartolucci, to be forced to testify. The legal process will now be initiated with the full intention of hearing from key decision-makers around this decision to save the seat of a Liberal MPP.
“The Liberals’ decision regarding the proposed Flamborough Quarry is consistent with their approach to the Mississauga and Oakville gas plants, in which they overrode due process in a way that is highly political and threatens important investment into Ontario,” said John Moroz, Vice President and General Manager of St Marys Cement. “Dalton McGuinty’s team chose to interfere with a well-defined aggregate licensing process in advance of the 2011 provincial election in a way that is prejudicial to St Marys Cement. This decision by the Liberal government will prevent the Hamilton-area from achieving much-needed jobs, and may add hundreds of millions of dollars to Ontario’s deficit.”
Despite an exhaustive FOI request by St Marys Cement, the government records that were provided did not contain any scientific evidence that the quarry would compromise the watershed, water quality or quantity, wetlands, or the natural environment or any scientific reason to deny St Marys the right to a fair and impartial hearing on its quarry application.
Liberal MPP Ted McMeekin secured his riding of Ancaster – Dundas – Flamborough – Westdale by about 4,500 votes in the 2011 election, increasing his winning margin by 2.2 percent, compared to the 2007 election, even while McGuinty’s government lost 17 seats and was reduced to a minority.
About St Marys Cement
St Marys Cement is a leading manufacturer of cement and related construction products in Canada and the United States. The company operates two cement plants in Ontario, one in St. Marys, where the company was founded in 1912, and one in Bowmanville. Through its division Canada Building Materials (CBM), it is a major supplier of concrete and aggregates across the Province of Ontario from Ottawa to Windsor, operating over 40 ready-mix concrete plants and 22 aggregate pits and quarries. St Marys Cement Inc. (Canada) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of St Marys VCNA, LLC and is a part of Votorantim Cimentos, an international cement manufacturer based in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
SOURCE: St Marys Cement Inc.
For further information:
For copies of the claims:
Karl Baldauf, 416-848-1429