York Region mayors fuming over province's plan to strike advisory panel for Upper York sewage plant

Thestar.com
June 16, 2021
Simon Martin

After more than $100 million spent on the environmental assessment and design of the Upper York Sewage Solution (UYSS) and seven years of waiting for a decision from the province, all parties are going to have to wait a little longer.

The province introduced legislation earlier this month to establish an expert advisory panel on the UYSS to provide a recommendation on how to move forward.

“Although we recognize the need to improve infrastructure for the rapidly growing York and Durham regions, many years have passed since the assessment of this project began,” Minister of Environment Conservation and Parks Jeff Yurek said. “This panel, made up of experts from a variety of fields like land use planning and wastewater infrastructure, will consult with key stakeholders and meaningfully engage with Indigenous communities on this matter.”

The decision left York Region politicians fuming and caught the Chippewas of Georgina Island off guard.

Georgina Island environmental co-ordinator Brandon Stiles said Chief Donna Big Canoe was surprised to learn about the expert advisory panel shortly before it was announced by the province.

While they have been asked to participate, Stiles said Georgina Island is waiting for more information and the terms of reference of the panel before deciding if they will participate.

For the Chippewas of Georgina Island, opposition to the proposed sewage plant has always been due to the impact it would have on Lake Simcoe, Stiles said.

The First Nations community is surrounded by Lake Simcoe and the lake is everything to the community, including a source of food and water.

While the province said the delay on a decision on the UYSS was because of its duty to consult with the Chippewas of Georgina Island, Stiles said there hasn’t been what he would call close consultation on the project.

There are questions from Georgina Island on the project that have yet to be answered, he said.

York Region politicians relying on the UYSS for future growth in their municipalities say a decision on the project is long overdue. 

“To say I’m disappointed is an understatement,” East Gwillimbury Mayor Virginia Hackson said. “It’s a very sad day when something this important has gone on hold.”

The project would enable the forecasted growth of an additional 34,500 people in Aurora, 27,000 people in Newmarket and 91,500 people in East Gwillimbury

The lack of decision on the UYSS has a cascading effect on East Gwillimbury planning, Hackson said.

She pointed to the 44-year old sewage lagoons in Holland Landing that have to remain operating until the UYSS is in place.

“They should have been closed years ago.”

As for the expert advisory panel, Hackson didn’t think it was the key to solving the UYSS conundrum.

Newmarket Mayor John Taylor said to further delay a project that has already sat on the minister’s desk for six years doesn’t make sense.

“I personally think it’s an abdication of their responsibility to simply make a decision,” he said. “We believe strongly, we’ve submitted it, we’ve demonstrated why environmentally and engineering and cost-wise that the Upper York is the right option. But frankly if they want to say, ‘We’re overruling you, we’re going south, at least it’s a decision. But to say no decision again after six years of no decision. And you’re the government that introduces legislation that says ‘more homes, more choices,’ you’re the government that says you’re going to cut red tape and you’re the government that says you’re open for business and you’re stopping us from providing and building new homes.”

He said, if nothing is done, Newmarket will stop growing in four to five years.

Not all York Region mayors were upset with the province’s move.

“Establishing a UYSS advisory panel is a positive step as we work collaboratively on a solution,” Georgina Mayor Margaret Quirk said, adding a solution needs to be found expeditiously given how much time has already passed.

Al Duffy understands better than most people the struggle to service northern York Region.

The former Richmond Hill mayor has been working with Queensville Properties since the late 1980s to develop Queensville.

He said there was a push to have a Lake Simcoe solution for servicing because people didn’t want water from the Lake Simcoe Watershed moved to Lake Ontario.

Duffy believes the technology to be used for the UYSS would make it Ontario's most cutting-edge sewage treatment plant.

“They have rights and they care about the quality of the lake,” he said.

When Duffy started on the project he, and his partners, envisioned a complete community featuring a town centre with bustling businesses. 

Thirty years later, they're still waiting for the province to figure out how to deal with the sewage.

What happens to home prices if there is sewage capacity shortage? Newmarket anti-poverty advocate Kristine Carbis is concerned that delaying projects like the UYSS will exacerbate the affordable housing crisis in the region.

“We need affordable housing now and cannot wait who knows how long for them to make a decision,” she said.