Minister Zoning Orders (MZOs) have traditionally been used by the provincial government in emergencies, or to quickly advance a major initiative of provincial significance. However, In just over a year, Minister Steve Clark has issued over 33 new MZOs, which is many more than the past government did during their entire 15 years in office.  In 2020, 14 MZOs were issued for Residential/mixed commercial residential projects, and another 6 for Industrial projects. Currently, Steve Clark is partnering with the City of Pickering and Durham Live developments. Clark is planning to issue an MZO for warehouse development in Lower Duffin's Creek Coastal Wetlands. This area was designated provincially significant by the Ministry of Natural Resources in 2005. Now the government wants to pave over our wetlands so we can have another warehouse, which will only cause more damage to other environments in the Durham area. Wetlands such as these provide critical benefits to communities including flood mitigation, water filtration and groundwater recharge. Not to mention the several endangered and non-endangered species which live in this area.

Please support Pine Ridge Secondary School's Social Justice Committee in stopping the destruction of our provincially significant wetlands.