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ce i jrp jlii s al j- jjsci i cvvvvv economist sunfiiibune town newsyjrigffljqy 222000 11th hour for moraine richmond hill not protecting enough province says bymikeadler staff writer it will be one of the largest public meetings in richmond hill history it may also be the most important at 730 pm tomorrow people in the ballroom at the sheraton parkway hotel will see richmond hills council endorse or drop a plan to turn the towns remain ing moraine land urban opposing the plan are the city of toronto the ontario liberals and envi ronmental groups all have done their best to pack the room on hwy 7 and leslie street which was chosen because the councils cham bers nearby proved woefully inadequate jan 12 the last time official plan amendment 200 was discussed the oak ridges moraine is the source of the areas groundwater the towns opa 200 would urbanize it critics say over a crucial area with seven fragile ket tle lakes significant forests and wetlands and the headwaters of rivers flowing south to lake ontario environmental opponents and 465 scientists they polled want 2700 acres 1080 hectares in the 7000acre 2800- hectare amendment area preserved as a kettle lakes park richmond hill planning commis sioner janet babcock said the issue of staff photomike barrett ryan michael of image works signs and marketing secures one of several signs in richmond hill promoting the save the moraine movement the issue of moraine is one facing the entire greater toronto area not just her town richmond hill is simply the focus of the discussion today town staff say urbanizing the moraine can protect environmental fea tures by using the highest standards pos sible yet the province has indicated the town isnt protecting enough and doesnt know enough about groundwater resources a municipal affairs ministry letter released last week stated a comprehen sive water resource study is needed to address concerns from many sources development should only be per mitted if it can be demonstrated that the existing quantity quality and rate of flow into kettle lakes and kettle bogs is repli cated it stated the province also wants a natural 600metrewide corridor through the area as this is the last opportunity for an eastwest connecting link across the moraine babcock said the town is responding to development pressures already 18 applications covering half the subject land going to an ontario municipal board hearing in may babcock also said the town knows developers will fight the towns higher green standards at the omb last week she faced 40 of the top lawyers repre senting landowners she said but worst of all would be for the town to face the omb hearing without opa 200s protective policies for the area babcock maintained just saying no to opa 200 is not going to protect the envi ronment the urban development institute argued its proposals are for smart growth and not a threat to groundwater we too want to provide a legacy that we can all be proud of udi presi dent stephen kaiser said in a letter save the rouge valley system presi dent glenn de baeremaeker called opa 200 a disaster waiting to happen although the town claims it can pro tect 35 per cent of the moraine study of the plans fine print reveals many loop holes for developers to reduce that amount he said in a release arguing lit tle more than 10 per cent of the towns moraine will be protected volunteers sought to revive board from page 1 recently one person has been keep ing the local block parents alive barb rogina has been doing all the work but the situation cant continue macbride said block parents started in london in 1968 the program rapidly expanded across canada over the next five years while a national committee was set up in 1983 block parents is now countrywide with more than 1000 communities as members today there are 500000 policescreened community members the block parent program is the largest volunteeroperated child safety crime prevention program in canada macbride said executive duties include working with schools to promote the association and signing up new members a secre tary and treasurer are also needed anyone interested in helping to save the local block parent association can call 2945868 staff photojoan ransberry marianne macbride the ontario chairperson of block parents promotes the association that could close in stouffville joan ransberry it takes a farmer to know a farmer i was in his company for three minutes before we had a parting of the ways you dont have to be a farmer to hold ontarios top farm post agriculture minister ernie hardeman told me during a brief interview thursday in sutton i dont see it as a detriment or an attribute one way or another hardeman said i couldnt disagree more when ontarios premier decides who gets what when making up the cabinet farmers notice farmers want one of their own to hold the reins of their industry if you doubt this heres a test rent an arena fill it with farmers and have former federal agriculture minister eugene whalen walk in whalen will arrive wearing his trademark green stetson and hell get a standing ovation farmers love whalen for many reasons first and fore most hes one of their own because hes a farmer whalen understands the agricultural industry and most impor tantly he understands the lifestyle maybe whalen didnt fix all things but he knew when and why they were broken york region farmers did extend a warm welcome to hardeman while hes not a farmer hes not too far out of the loop hardeman is not just another tory suit before seeking political office hardeman owned and operated a seed business in oxford county his customer base was made up of farmers the farmers and hardeman got along well the farmers liked him then they like him still and while i may disagree with him and question why he cant do more to help such a critical industry i like him too farming is serious business in the greater toronto area and in york region in particular hardeman knows this there were about 4500 farmers producing more than 585 million in gross farm receipts in 1976 overall gta farms have a higher productivity than do farms in other parts of the province despite the economic importance and vitality of the industry life is not easy down on the farm the future via bility of the industry is threatened due to the rapid loss of prime agricultural land in the past 20 years weve lost more than 150000 acres of prime farm land in the gta meanwhile failure on the part of government to implement agricultural landuse preservation policies could lead to further reduction of the land base if food cant be produced here at home itll be import ed and consequently well feel it at the grocery checkout counter well not only pay much more for our food well kiss the quality of ontariogrown produce goodbye if we dont wake up well see food price hikes like weve never seen before today it cosb about 90 a week to feed a family of four if our foodproducing land continues to disappear and we end up importing food someday well sit around talk ing about the good old days when a tomato tasted like a tomato and when we could feed the family for under 100 a week mm jjj l wwpl ml llvfc 1 wwm 5b8 ma mfsi stqoo 11 1 ivi in a vni- ruraim lake al ohm vwsmi ms i n 0 1 v ul 0 k blmmlmnushd q on ec 1 i unhit imiavt ivibnclny sunday 4 pm 10 pm minimum food ordm s850