Amazon Canada has decided not to build a giant warehouse on the protected Duffins Creek wetland in Pickering, Ontario, a suburb just outside of Toronto.
In a deal with Premier Doug Ford’s provincial government, Amazon considered placing its largest retail warehouse in Canada on the wetland. The warehouse was poised to take up an estimated four million square feet of space.
After CBC News broke a story on March 10th outlining the real estate battle surrounding the wetland property, Amazon publicly backed away from the project. According to CBC News, another plot of nearby land that’s currently a golf course could be utilized for the Amazon warehouse instead.
That said, since Amazon pulled out of the project and not the provincial government, there’s speculation the protected wetlands will still be used for another company’s warehouse facility.
Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner recently tweeted that Ford should “wake up” and “revoke this MZO,” which stands for ministerial zoning order.
Even Amazon recognizes it is wrong to build a warehouse on provincially significant wetlands. Now it’s time for Ford to wake up, revoke this MZO and commit to protecting the Lower Duffins Creek wetland. #onpoli https://t.co/GSYtNPyTI7
— Mike Schreiner (@MikeSchreiner) March 12, 2021
In other Amazon-related news, Peel Public Health recently ordered the company to shut down its Brampton facility and have workers self-isolate for 14 days starting at 12:01am ET on March 13th.
Source: CBC News