Georgina to province: Cancel Upper York Sewage Solutions project

Georgina council votes unanimously to outright cancel the UYSS

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 1, 2020

While the region is still waiting for a decision on the Upper York Sewage Solutions (UYSS) project, Georgina is taking an official stance on the $715-million sewage treatment plant.

Georgina voted "no" on the project that will see about 47 litres of water dumped into the Lake Simcoe watershed on a daily basis.

The proposed water treatment facility, located in East Gwillimbury, will allow for water and wastewater servicing of more than 150,000 new homes in East Gwillimbury, Newmarket and Aurora.

Recently, Georgina council voted unanimously to outright cancel the UYSS.

“We never had a position unanimously opposing new facilities discharging into Lake Simcoe,” said regional councillor Rob Grossi, who's been against the project from the beginning and initiated the vote at council. “This puts us on record.”

In the spring of 2019, council endorsed a resolution stating it “shares the concerns” expressed by Georgina Island First Nation. The motion is neither officially for or against the project, of which the region has spent about $100 million thus far on environmental assessments and studies.

There’s a fundamental difference between cancelling and opposing the project, said Ward 3 Coun. Dave Neeson.

“We needed to take a stronger position while also recognizing the (other) issues that exist,” Neeson said.

The motion also sheds light on:

• Provincially legislated growth targets for Newmarket, Aurora and East Gwillimbury, who would benefit from the most from the UYSS project;

• A need to update technology at existing water treatment facilities found in the Lake Simcoe watershed; and

• the town’s solidarity with the Chippewas of Georgina Island, who officially opposed the project several years ago.

There is also a laundry list of demands of the province, recognizing the time and money already spent on the UYSS, from finding a non-Lake Simcoe alternative to accommodate growth and ending the use of sewage lagoons in East Gwillimbury to reimbursing the region’s taxpayer-funded investment and ensuring that the Chippewas of Georgina Island have clean drinking water, as they have been under a boil water advisory for a number of years.

Clean drinking water is part of the federal government’s move toward truth and reconciliation, Neeson said.

“Thus far, these realities failed to provide our close friends with what they have a fundamental right to,” he added. “Water is life. And we need to act in solidarity.”

The town is adding oomph to land acknowledgement statements made at each council meeting, said Chippewas of Georgina Island Chief Donna Big Canoe.

“With all the land acknowledgments being stated by municipalities, it’s good to see that these are not just words and that action is actually being taken to support First Nations,” said Big Canoe.

“We’ve been challenging this project for many years and have not received adequate responses to our concerns. We are very appreciative that we are not challenging this project on our own.”

This motion comes on the heels of a closed session meeting held at regional council over the summer, discussing an update from the UYSS environmental assessment process.

The region’s report, under the title "UYSS Environmental Assessment Update -- instruction to be applied to negotiations and information supplied in confidence," has many questioning if "an alternative is already being negotiated,” Neeson added.