Advocates for Wilmot farmland take their message to International Plowing Match

Concerned farmers travelled to the International Plowing Match in Lindsay, Ont. to take their message about the proposed Wilmot farmland assembly directly to the provincial government.

“We drove a long way this morning, got up really early, because this is our opportunity to put this message to all of them,” farmer Jenn Pfenning told CTV News.

The proposed land assembly has been an extremely contentious issue in Waterloo Region, veiled in secrecy due to Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) and other confidential protocols.

Last week, regional councillors asked the legal team to look into all agreements in place surrounding the farmland negotiations to find out what they can reveal publicly.

In the past, regional officials have claimed they are following provincial orders to keep the information under wraps.

When frustrated farmers took their concerns directly to Premier Doug Ford during the International Plowing March, a viewer video taken by John Jordan shows the Premier saying, “I don’t know why all the secrecy was going on. I couldn’t figure it out. It was mishandled.”

Ford explained it's up to the Region to assemble land and then get the province involved.

No end user has been lined up for the site, but the Region had said the province wants land available for major industrial projects and the Region has missed out because of it. The Region has indicated it can expropriate the land if needed, but has said it can't discuss private real estate deals.

“The Region is pointing at the province, province is pointing at the Region. Doug made it very clear this was a Regional mishandling. He did throw the region’s councillors and regional chair under the bus,” Alfred Lowrick, representative for the land owners said.

Lowrick said he believes their message has now gotten through to the premier and advocacy group Fight for Farmland will continue opposing the plan for as long as it takes.

Lowrick said there still has not been any notices of expropriation but they're concerned it could happen.

"One offer came through for one of the operators, one of the farmers, which was totally inadequate, and he's already had more from other sources. So, yeah, they're not being truthful," Lowrick said.

When asked, regional officials sent the following statement: “The Region of Waterloo is committed to negotiating fair and equitable deals with land owners. Negotiations are ongoing, and we look forward to providing an update at a later date. Information on the project is available on our website.”

Concerns for the future

For farmers across Ontario, the fight to save the Wilmot farmland is only the latest in a series of concerning moves from multiple governments.

“This has been going on for a long time,” Pfenning explained. “Successive governments have failed to comprehend that if we pave over our farmland and destroy the soil, we will not be able to feed ourselves.”

According to data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture, Ontario lost 319 acres of farmland every day. That number jumped from a 175 acre daily loss reported in the 2016 Census of Agriculture.

“What does that mean?” Pfenning said. “Three-hundred and nineteen acres is hard to wrap your head around for a lot of people. When you look at that as, maybe it’s a small percentage, but when you add up 365 days a year, 5 years, 10 years, how much farmland is going to be left for our children to farm?”

For Pfenning, who lives less than two kilometres away from the proposed site of the land assembly in Wilmot Township, the trend is distressing.

“This is putting our farm under pressure because it’s very difficult to farm when the government doesn’t value what you do.”