• Home »
  • Canada »
  • Midland given 5,500 reasons to rethink recycling plant next to Martyrs' Shrine
hand and heart

The recent post office troubles have impacted our regular fundraising efforts. Please consider supporting the Register and Catholic journalism by using one of the methods below:

  • Donate online
  • Donate by e-transfer to accounting@catholicregister.org
  • Donate by telephone: 416-934-3410 ext. 406 or toll-free 1-855-441-4077 ext. 406
Protesters walked from Martyrs' Shrine to Midland Town Hall to deliver boxes containing over 5,500 letters to Mayor Gord McKay.
Protesters walked from Martyrs' Shrine to Midland Town Hall to deliver boxes containing over 5,500 letters to Mayor Gord McKay. Photo courtesy of Jesuit Fathers of English Canada

Midland given 5,500 reasons to rethink recycling plant next to Martyrs' Shrine

By 
  • December 1, 2011

MIDLAND, ONT. - Midland Town Council has 5,500 letters to read and ponder before its Dec. 7 meeting, at which it is scheduled to look again at its decision to green light an outdoor waste recycling business next door to the Martyrs' Shrine and Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons.

Forty protesters walked through falling snow Nov. 30 from Martyrs' Shrine to Midland Town Hall to deliver boxes containing at least 5,500 letters to Mayor Gord McKay. It was the last day for written submissions before the Dec. 7 council meeting.

The letters came from local Midland residents, Toronto parishes that make annual pilgrimages to the shrine and from as far away as the Vatican.

Midland Town Council quietly approved a zoning change in April to allow Recycling Specialties Inc. to use land on the Wye River adjacent to both Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons and Martyrs' Shrine for uses that would include the sorting and reshipment of scrap metal, receiving truckloads of cardboard and plastic for resale into the recycling market and other recycling related uses.

More than 200 people have joined a Facebook group called "Protect the Martyrs' Shrine/Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons." Petitions against the industrial recycling operation are circulating in Toronto parishes.

The shrine and the provincial park, which contains the remains of Canadian martyrs St. Jean de Brebeuf and St. Gabriel Lalemant, have objected to the noise and visual impact of the operation.

Letters from local Midland residents, Toronto parishes and from as far away as the Vatican were presented to the Mayor Gord McKay.

Letters from local Midland residents, Toronto parishes and from as far away as the Vatican were presented to the Mayor Gord McKay.

- Photo courtesy of Jesuit Fathers of English Canada

More in this category: « New evangelization top concern for Canadian bishops Durocher installed as Gatineau's archbishop »

Please support The Catholic Register

Unlike many media companies, The Catholic Register has never charged readers for access to the news and information on our website. We want to keep our award-winning journalism as widely available as possible. But we need your help.

For more than 125 years, The Register has been a trusted source of faith-based journalism. By making even a small donation you help ensure our future as an important voice in the Catholic Church. If you support the mission of Catholic journalism, please donate today. Thank you.

DONATE