Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, after years of negotiations and after an agreement was reached, the Ontario Liberal government supported by Liberals from across the aisle turned their back on the Rouge Valley.
On the advice of radical environmentalist Jim Robb, the Liberals have endorsed a plan for the Rouge Valley that would evict farmers from class 1 farmland that has been farmed for over 400 years.
Jim Robb has called local farmers “ecologically insensitive industrial farmers”. He has called them millionaires who stand in the way of these lands being reforested. He has been a vocal opponent of our farmers and has been supported by Liberals both here and at Queen's Park every step of the way.
The House will recall that it was the Trudeau government in the 1970s that seized these lands from farmers and evicted them, while only returning some of them to one-year leases on their very same properties.
Our plan would guarantee farming remains in the Rouge Valley and our farmers would be treated with respect and provided the security they need to make investments in their land. At the same time, the entire Rouge Valley would be protected for generations to come.
We will not turn our back on the Rouge Valley. I call on the Liberals to our support farmers in that area