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PRESS CLIPPINGS
Council may hear from foes of Wal-Mart
STEPHANIE MACLELLAN
GUELPH (Mar 22, 2006)
Wal-Mart opponents haven't been able to present their concerns to city
council since they started fighting a city zoning bylaw on religious grounds
last month, but at least one councillor wants to change that.
Councillor Maggie Laidlaw gave notice at Monday night's council meeting she
will move to have council hear the group's case through written submissions
and delegations. She wants her motion to be heard at the April 3 council
meeting, she said.
"Nobody's ever been able to present to council on this (court challenge),
either for or against," she said after the meeting.
Wal-Mart opponents are going to court to strike down a city bylaw allowing
the commercial development at the corner of Woodlawn Road and Woolwich
Street, next to the Ignatius Jesuit Centre.
The multi-faith group is arguing commercial development on the site would be
a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The group is arguing the
store will disturb the serenity of the religious retreat.
Laidlaw said she expects the city to defend its bylaw in court but council
should still hear from the group.
She said a city lawyer will have to argue that the Wal-Mart opponents are
insincere in their beliefs, or that the location of the retail store is
insignificant to their beliefs. "We're going to have to pretty much
denigrate these religious groups, and I think council needs to know that,"
she said.
City clerk Lois Giles said after the meeting the city solicitor will have to
examine the motion before staff can respond.
Giles said last week the city can't discuss the case at a public council
meeting because it is before the courts.
Laidlaw dismissed that argument, saying any information the speakers would
share at a council meeting they would have already disclosed in court or
through the media.
"All these documents that they're going to present to the clerk are public
information," she said. "They're in a public domain already."
Bill Hulet, a representative of the multi-faith group, said he expected to
speak at Monday's council meeting and was told he couldn't, but he hopes
he'll get another chance.
"I think there's a great deal of misunderstanding among city council and
perhaps the public in general about what the court case is about," he said.
For instance, he thinks people assume anti-development activists are behind
the case.
"That's definitely not true," he said. "There are a lot of very mainstream
religious leaders involved in this."
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