Puslinch councillor Susan Fielding says recent comments by Guelph MPP Liz Sandals were “a real slap in the face” to everyone who has put up with repeated delays for the Highway 6 bypass around Morriston.
Fielding said she was “hurt” after reading an April 13 Guelph Mercury article in which Sandals called the bypass process “very, very complicated” and suggested advocates need to be patient and not expect construction to be “instantaneous.”
Fielding stated the township has heard very little News on the project since the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) held a public information meeting over a year ago in Carlisle on the preferred 12-kilometre, four-lane bypass around Morriston.
The project wasn’t included in the provincial budget in March; nor was it on the list of 43 highways and bridge improvements included in the government’s $139-million economic stimulus infrastructure spending.
Over 15 months ago, the Ministry of the Environment approved an environmental assessment for the bypass, which has now been in the works for over 30 years.
“As we all know, nothing in this process has been instantaneous,” Fielding told council last week.
She said a recent statement of support in the legislature by Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott was encouraging, but Sandals’ remarks were puzzling.
“It’s almost beyond belief,” Fielding said of Sandals’ inference that proponents for the bypass have been impatient.
Councillor Dick Visser said he finds it “distressing” that Sandals, also the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Transportation, appears to have such little input on the Highway 6 bypass.
“I don’t understand how someone so close to the minister can’t push this project ahead,” Visser said.
Mayor Brad Whitcombe replied, “Perhaps the next meeting should be with the minister and not the parliamentary assistant.”
He was referring to a recent meeting with Sandals during February’s Rural Ontario Municipalities Association (ROMA) conference in Toronto.
When councillor Don McKay suggested meeting with Sandals again to express council’s displeasure with her comments in the Mercury, Visser disagreed.
“I don’t think she’s tuned into this thing,” he said sternly, noting Sandals gave the township only 10 minutes at the ROMA meeting. “What the hell’s the sense in meeting with her again?”
Whitcombe said Puslinch council has been very patient and respectful despite decades’ worth of delays. He wondered if Sandals’ comments befit someone in her position.
“At the very least, the parliamentary assistant to the minister should be objective,” Whitcombe said.
He added at some point the township will have to discuss the matter with Sandals again to “ensure she’s fulfilling her role and being objective and not just being a critic.”
Sandals said on Tuesday she would not comment on Whitcombe’s remarks.
“I’m not going to get into a ‘he said, she said’ thing – that’s just not helpful,” she said.
When told of Puslinch council’s reaction to her suggestion that bypass advocates were impatient, Sandals said her comments were more directed at Arnott, who has brought the matter up a number of times in the legislature.
“I was somewhat reacting to some of Mr. Arnott’s comments,” she explained. “I guess I was getting frustrated with those sorts of comments.”
Last week Arnott said in the legislature both he and Puslinch officials “are sick and tired of this government’s continued excuses for delay.”
He continued, “The parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Transportation is in a privileged position to help move this project forward.
“We need her active advocacy for this project, which will benefit the city of Guelph every bit as much as it benefits the County of Wellington.”
Sandals stressed she sympathizes with Puslinch councillors, especially considering the township was once part of her own riding.
“I understand totally why council’s frustrated with the length of the process,” she said. “But this is not the only [MTO] project that’s frustratingly slow.”
The MPP noted accusations that she is not fighting for the Highway 6 bypass are untrue.
“I can assure you, I do keep identifying that these projects do need to get done,” she said.
On the topic of another meeting with Puslinch officials, Sandals said she doesn’t think anything significant has changed since the ROMA meeting, which she noted also included MTO?technical staff.
She told the Advertiser that often, when an environmental assessment is approved, people don’t understand exactly what that means.
“In essence, you’ve got approval of a map,” she said.
From there, Sandals explained, government officials have to tweak the route, acquire property and complete a “value engineering study” and detailed design work, all while ensuring what’s technically feasible is also environmentally responsible.
“No one is going to schedule construction until [that work] is done,” she replied when pressed for a timeline for the bypass. “The reality is the work … takes time.”
She also noted the current recession means the bypass is subject to the availability of funds in the annual provincial budget.
