Ontario NDP leader addresses controversial land assembly project during Wilmot campaign stop

Ontario’s NDP Leader hits the campaign trail and digs into a contentious issue in Wilmot Township. CTV’s Jeff Pickel reports.

Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles made a campaign stop at a farm in Wilmot Township on Thursday, addressing the controversial plan to turn farmland into an industrial site.

Stiles told supporters the issue is at the top of her priority list.

“Thank you … to all of these wonderful folks behind us who are fighting for farmland, and saying no to expropriation in the province of Ontario,” Stiles said.

The Region of Waterloo has been acquiring properties to turn into a shovel-ready site, working with the provincial government on the plan.

Critics have accused the Region and the provincial government of a secretive process, expressing concern about the loss of farmland, a lack of public meetings or information, and non-disclosure agreements that the Region has said limit what it can disclose.

No end user has been identified for the land.

The Thursday stop was Stiles’ second visit to Wilmot to discuss the issue.

The NDP leader visited a neighbouring farm in April 2024, and an arena where opponents to the plan had gathered.

“I had to give my speech twice because we had to go outside the community centre and have a separate meeting outside,” Stiles said on Thursday, making reference to the April visit.

Some farmers at the Thursday campaign stop said they were happy to see the issue in the spotlight.

“It means it means the world actually,” said Eva Wagler, a local farmer who Stiles also visited in 2024.

Previously, Premier Doug Ford has stated he supports land assembly, but that he didn’t like the way the region’s negotiations took place.

The Ontario PC party shared a statement on Thursday.

“As the Region of Waterloo has noted, not having shovel-ready sites assembled has cost them to lose out on billions in investments and thousands of new jobs over the last three years. Our Ontario PC Team is the only party that will project jobs and bring billions of dollars of new investment in Ontario,” the statement read.

Stiles said the NDP is not against development but believes they can do better.

“So I am absolutely pro-developing housing and developing industry. What I don’t want to see is what’s happening, like what’s happening here to the 770 acres,” Stiles said.

The NDP also used the campaign stop to promise to support for farmers across the province as uncertainty swirls about the impact of tariffs threatened by the U.S.

The party said if they form government, they’ll find more opportunities to trade within Canada and abroad.