MPP French calls out Ford for refusing to add Carruthers Creek Headwaters to Greenbelt

QUEEN’S PARK – Jennifer French, NDP MPP for Oshawa, is calling out Doug Ford for refusing to protect Carruthers Creek Headwaters after he refused to agree to add it to Ontario’s Greenbelt during question period on Monday.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has committed to preventing flooding in Ajax by adding Carruthers Creek’s Headwaters to the Greenbelt if she’s elected in 2022.

“The Ford Conservatives are refusing to listen to the people of Durham who are calling for the protection of Carruthers Creek Headwaters,” French said. “I was proud to stand with Andrea Horwath and councillors from the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, Regional Councillor Dies, EANAP, and many community and environmental voices at Carruthers Marsh, in Ajax. Those folks all know that if we allow the Carruthers Headwaters to be paved over, we will see Durham homes flooded again and again.

“Rod Phillips, the MPP for Ajax, broke his promise to get this done. And today, Doug Ford’s ministers brushed off our questions, and refused to make any commitments.”

Building on the Carruthers Creek Headwaters will increase downstream flooding in Ajax an average of 77 per cent, as high as 113 per cent in one region, according to the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority watershed study. Despite the dangerous flooding threat, the previous Liberal government chose to exclude the Carruthers Creek Headwaters from the Greenbelt. In 2018, Rod Phillips promised to change that – but even during his tenure as Minister of Environment from 2018 to 2019, he didn’t do it.

“The Ontario NDP has committed to protecting the Carruthers Creek Headwaters when we form government. However, it needs to be protected now. Doug Ford should commit to adding the Carruthers Creek Headwaters to the Greenbelt today,” said French.