Christmas Market benefits Forks of the Credit Preservation Group

Stopping a proposed blasting quarry is a top priority for group

By Zachary Roman

Caledon residents could shop for the holidays with a purpose last weekend.

On November 26 and 27, the Forks of the Credit Preservation Group (FCPG) hosted its second annual Christmas market at the Alton Legion in Alton.

Chris Boyd, a director on the board of FCPG, explained the group rented out the Legion for their market. Vendors then paid FCPG for a spot at the market to sell their goods. Money raised by FCPG from the vendors, and by market attendees who bought baked goods and hot chocolate made by FCPG supporters, will be used to fund the FCPG's ongoing efforts to preserve the ecological integrity of Caledon.

“We're just a small group of people that are fighting the same fight and this is how we try and raise money,” said Boyd. “I'm not a conglomerate, I don't have billions of dollars.”

Joanne Morant, owner of Threads and Thrums, was one of the vendors at the market. She found out about the market through her daughter-in-law, who works in the Town of Caledon's tourism department.

Morant, who lives in Guelph, said it was her second year at the market and she loves coming to it. She said it's an added bonus that the market supports the FCPG because her family is opposed to anything that changes the natural landscape for the worse.

Boyd said a main priority for the FCPG right now is stopping a proposed blasting quarry in an 800-acre area south of Alton.

The quarry is being proposed by St. Marys Cement, which is owned by Brazilian conglomerate Votorantim Cimentos. 

Boyd explained the proposed quarry would be below the water table. This, in turn, means the quarry would require constant dewatering and the sending of discharged water into the nearby credit river.

“This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site,” said Boyd. “And they just want to destroy it for money.”

In October, the FCPG met with Caledon Council requesting an Interim Control Bylaw be passed to delay any gravel pit or quarry applications until the Town can create stronger regulations.

“How can you approve a blasting quarry when you have no rules about blasting quarries?” asked Boyd.

David Sylvester of the Forks of the Credit Preservation Group presented at the meeting, showing that out of the top aggregate-producing municipalities in Ontario, Caledon's aggregate policies are the weakest. 

On October 18, Caledon Council passed an interim control bylaw to “prohibit Gravel Pits or Quarries on all lands identified on Schedule B to Staff Report 2022-0448, excluding those lands within MX Extractive Industrial Zones under Zoning By-law 2006-50, as amended, for a period of one year.” (Staff reports and Town bylaws are available on the Town's website)

There are a number of concerns Boyd and the FCPG have with the planned blasting quarry South of Alton, such as the destruction of prime agricultural land; an increase in truck traffic along Alton's Main Street and Charleston Sideroad (Peel Regional Road 24); harmful dust and vibrations from blasting; a decrease in water quality; and possibility of wells drying up.

With Caledon set to grow to 300,000 people by 2050, Boyd asked how we can feed all those people if all of our farmland gets turned into gravel pits and quarries.

“The bottom line is there has to be some rules… we don't have to (build a quarry), they just want to because they can make a lot of money doing it,” said Boyd. “If you watch any dystopian science fiction movie… we've paved everything over… what people don't realize is we're slowly doing it.”

Boyd said he's optimistic about support from Caledon's new Mayor and Council, and said Mayor Annette Groves stopped by the Christmas Market.