‘It would effectively destroy it’: Chatham-Kent mayor urges Queen’s Park to stop Dresden landfill reboot

Chatham-Kent’s mayor took photos, stats, and a warning to Queen’s Park and said the Dresden Landfill will destroy the community. CTV Windsor’s Travis Fortnum ex

Chatham-Kent’s mayor is calling on the Ford government to rethink legislation that could fast-track a major landfill project near Dresden — warning it could devastate the town.

Mayor Darrin Canniff was at Queen’s Park Thursday, speaking before the Standing Committee on the Interior, urging MPPs to remove a section of Bill 5 — legislation that would strip away a promised environmental assessment for a long-dormant dump site on Irish School Road.

He said the problem isn’t just about the process — it’s about proximity.

“The main concern is that it’s just too close,” Caniff told CTV News Windsor Friday.

“We can’t have a dump that is within less than a kilometre of the downtown of Dresden,” Canniff said.

“When I stand on [the landfill property], I look over and there’s the ‘Welcome to Dresden’ sign.”

If Bill 5 passes committee and clears a final vote, it would allow the site — inactive for decades — to be revived and expanded, with plans to receive up to 365,000 tonnes of demolition debris annually.

Canniff warns that could undo years of growth and momentum in Dresden, a town of 3,000 people.

“It would effectively destroy it,” he said.

“They’re home to the Dresden Night Market that they have twice a year — they bring over 10,000 people to that. And they call themselves Christmas Town, all that would disappear.”

“I’ve yet to talk to a single person that does [support it],” he added.

“You’ll never get more support against something than we have right now.”

Instead of reviving a dump just steps from a small-town core, Canniff wants the province to work with existing landfill operators to find better solutions.

“The best decision to me is to look at all the existing landfills — who have all the truck routes in place, that have all the environmental assessments in place — and expand on existing sites,” he said.

Local MPP says he’s opposed — but powerless

While Canniff has been publicly opposed from the start, Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Steve Pinsonneault remained quiet until last week, when he posted a video to social media saying he too opposes the project.

“I personally spoke to the premier and the ministers and told them the concerns of this landfill and I told them how I opposed it,” Pinsonneault said in the video.

“No matter how I vote, it’s not going to change the outcome.”

Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Mines, Stephen Lecce, was asked Thursday about that video and Pinsonneault’s place in the debate.

“I think his voice is important and it will be heard,” Lecce said.

“This is personal to him. He’s lived there his whole life, his kids are there. And so his advocacy is going to be important.”

Canniff said while he appreciated being heard by the committee, the real test is still ahead.

“We had about nine or 10 MPPs and they all listened,” he said.

“The purpose of the meeting to me is… let’s try and find the optimal solution.”

The Standing Committee on the Interior will continue its review of Bill 5 on Monday, with written submissions accepted until 6 p.m. that evening.

A final vote on the legislation could come as early as next month.