Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise on behalf of the people of Simcoe—Grey, and more specifically those in Clearview Township.
The Department of National Defence has purchased one farm of roughly 780 acres, to install an over-the-horizon radar system in a phase one. In order to really complete the system, it is going to need phase two. All the residents are extremely concerned. The department needs another up to 3,000 acres to complete it.
Clearview Township and municipalities around it are all opposed to the site's location. We think the department needs to find another spot for it. This is going to change the lives of residents. People are stressed. They do not know if their land is going to be expropriated, and, quite frankly, the public meetings have not been very fruitful.
Petitioners are asking to stop the building of the over-the-horizon radar site on the already purchased property, prevent future acquisition of prime farmland in building an over-the-horizon site and register the previously purchased property with the Ontario Farmland Trust to preserve its agricultural status.