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“There are so many things we are protesting today,” said Rob Simpson.
He is the chair of Dresden CARED, a group to formed to oppose the proposed York1 landfill just outside of the Dresden.
Simpson was part of province-wide Fight Ford Protest on Saturday in front of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Steve Pinsonneault’s Wallaceburg office. There was a chair with the MPPs name on it. “I don’t think he is going to come. I emailed him,” said Simpson.
Events were held across the province, including Sarnia, to oppose everything from environmental regulation rollbacks, to changes to OSAP to the recent move to stop Freedom of Information requests to cabinet ministers and the Premier..
The group was vocal about Bill 5, which included a clause which removed a planned full Environmental Assessment of the former Dresden dump pushing the York1 project forward.
Simpson recently sent an email to Ford reminding him of his promise that if the people of Dresden didn’t want the landfill, it was not going to happen.
“How loud do we have to tell you, we don’t want it,” said Simpson. “I am asking you, as a Conservative, please, shut that dump down, get rid of Bill 5.”
Simpson had other concerns pointing to the proposed changes to the Freedom of Information Act which would exclude records held by the premier, cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants and their political staff from being disclosed under the legislation.
“You are hiding crimes, that is the only reason,” Simpson charged.
“They have to understand they are working for us,” said Simpson about the Progressive Conservative government.
“It started with the dump. It is so much more and it’s got to stop,” said Simpson about his opposition to the Ford government. Simpson is now 71 years old and has been following politics since he was in high school. He pointed to the gutting of the province’s education and health care systems as other areas of concern.
Simpson’s primary concern is the York1 landfill project. He lives along the river is concerned with the health of the fish in the Sydenham River where there is spawning grounds.
Simpson also pointed to his fear of methane gas under the former dump and the community of Dresden.
“If they break the shell that will spark and that will kill everybody in Dresden,” said Simpson. “Wheatley will be a minor firecracker, so yeah we got to protect people.” A hydrogen sulphide and methane gas explosion levelled two buildings in downtown Wheatley on Aug. 21, 2021, which injured 20 people. The gas was traced to an abandoned well drilled before 1900.
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