The MPP for Kitchener Centre, Aislinn Clancy, has written to Ontario’s Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, requesting a pause on new industrial and commercial water-taking permits.
This letter follows the region’s recent halt on development as it addresses ongoing water supply issues in the Mannheim Service Area, which includes Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Wilmot and more.
Clancy, who is also the deputy leader of the Green Party of Ontario, mentioned that her constituents are very worried about the area’s water capacity situation.
“The impact is widespread, whether you’re somebody living in Shingletown watching wells and ponds dry up, or you’re somebody in the construction sector or the development sector,” said Clancy.
“We care a lot, and it’s important that we get the Ford government to be good partners because they’re way up in Toronto and they don’t care about climate change and they don’t care about long-term water-demand management. It’s up to us. That’s what people want from me.”
In Clancy’s letter, she provides examples of water-taking permit applications in Waterloo Region that could heavily stress aquifers.
A major concern for Clancy is the Hallman Pit, a gravel pit on Witmer Road. The owners have applied for a permit that would allow them to extract up to 9.7 million litres of water per day from aquifers in Wilmot Township.
North of Cambridge, Glen Christie Quarry’s owners have had their application for water taking under review since 2024. They aim to take 23.6 million litres of water per day-enough for around 10,000 residents-according to Citizens for Safe Ground Water.
“At the provincial level, they think of everything as red tape. We know that some good planning is important,” said Clancy.
“Seventy per cent of Canada was in drought conditions last year. We’ve heard from local farmers that they never had to irrigate in the past and now they have to. This is our food sovereignty; this is the future of our water.”
Looking ahead, Clancy hopes that the province can collaborate with regional government on creating a sustainable plan for permits.
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