In an April 11, 2024, press conference in Cambridge, Ontario, Premier Doug Ford said he has asked regions and municipalities across the province to assemble land for potential industrial investment purposes, which appears to include 770 acres of farmland in Wilmot Township, just outside of Kitchener, Ontario, between Nafziger Road, Bleams Road, and Wilmot Centre Road.
The Canadian Independent visited Wilmot Township shortly after Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s press conference back in April 2024 to investigate what is happening and who would be affected by this land grab.
We learned that this land grab would affect precious farmland that amounts to 582 football fields in size, includes six farm owners, and would disrupt or decimate a significant portion of agricultural activities in the area.
Nobody we spoke with at the time could tell us why the region wants the land; the region remains tight-lipped about why they are attempting to take the land and will not say if there is a buyer or not.
We visited Mountainoak Cheese back in April, which is affected by the land grab. They are an award-winning, highly reputable dairy farm and a fair-sized cheese production company that sells a wide range of cheeses locally from its storefront.
Mountainoak Cheese also supplies its products to hundreds of major and independent grocery stores, as well as various other businesses across the province.
They told us they were approached in March 2024 with an offer to buy their land at an unreasonably low price per acre and that the region’s plan was to start levelling the farmland as early as August 2024. At that time, none of the six landowners were willing to sign any agreements, leaving everything in a state of uncertainty.
The Canadian Independent attended the protest at the township council building in Baden, Ontario, to check in with the farmers and get an update.
Today we learned that the region has successfully purchased roughly 20% of the 770 acres from one farm owner, destroyed $160,000 in crops that were almost ready for harvest, and is continuing to pursue the remaining 80% of the land.
We also learned that the farmers have been trying to obtain freedom of information requests about the purpose behind the land grab but have been consistently denied. So it begs the question, what is the region hiding?
The Canadian Independent will continue to monitor this story and bring any updates.
Ontario farmers and concerned citizens protested at the township council building this evening over Waterloo Region's attempt to acquire 770 acres of precious farmland for reasons that remain unclear