DAN CEARNS The Standard
SCUGOG: The Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation (MSIFN) are celebrating a recent announcement regarding the Pickering airport lands.
Recently, the federal government announced, they are abandoning plans to use lands which had been allocated in Pickering to build a new airport.
“The Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation (MSIFN) is pleased to see progress towards the protection of this area which is of great ecological and cultural importance. The region’s natural and agricultural lands are disappearing at an alarming rate. The Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation has long had legitimate concerns about constructing a major airport on prime farmland, located next to the Rouge National Urban Park. This land is a precious resource which can never be replaced. We have been fighting to protect this and the surrounding area for decades, including multiple judicial processes. The most recent of which resulted in the recognition by federal and provincial governments that our treaty rights are constitutionally protected,” a statement from the MSIFN read. “Today we are pleased to see progress with the transfer of these lands to Parks Canada’s jurisdiction.”
Chief Kelly LaRocca discussed what is next in the process, in her statement.
“We look forward to meaningful consultation with Parks Canada, on ecological protections and enhancements for lands in the Duffins Creek watershed,” she said. “This includes approaches to co-management of these lands and a First Nation Guardian program.”
Chief LaRocca also praised the decision, as marking “the beginning of a productive path forward with Parks Canada, on how we can together ensure the land, water and our treaty rights are respected and protected.”
The government of Canada expropriated the lands in 1972 and the project has been an ongoing process since then.
“Our Government has determined, a new airport is not the best use of the federal Pickering Lands. We will soon begin public consultations to determine future uses, taking into account the region’s greatest needs,” Anita Anand, the federal Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, wrote in a statement.
In her statement, Pickering-Uxbridge MP, Jennifer O’Connell said, she was “thrilled to announce, an airport will not be built on the Pickering Lands.”
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