Leamington council hopefuls tour greenhouse, look to 'mend relationship' between residents and growers

During the 2022 municipal election, different communities are focused on different issues.

In Leamington and Kingsville, one of the big ones is the rapidly growing greenhouse sector.

From lighting bylaws to water supply, greenhouse odour, zoning, housing, temporary foreign workers and red tape, municipally elected officials play a key role in regulating the local greenhouse sector.

“I would say it's an election discussion,” said Aaron Coristine, the manager of science, government relations and innovation at the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG). “I would say that certainly there are numerous areas of opportunity.”

On Thursday, Leamington’s Under Sun Acres opened its doors to council and mayoral hopefuls in Leamington.

“Going into the election, let's put our best foot forward, let's connect,” said Coristine. “We're here. We're willing partners. We're at the table, we always will be and we want the same thing. And that’s success for the community.”

Every candidate on the ballot was invited, with about a dozen taking the opportunity to tour the facility, ask questions and get answers about how greenhouses operate and learn more about the challenges they face.

“I think there's a lot of misunderstandings within the community at large about what's happening in this sector and how it operates,” said Derek Friesen, a Leamington council candidate who went on the tour. “I would like to help bring all parties to the table and just have a better dialogue on both sides.”

The greenhouse vegetable industry contributed $1.9 billion to Canada’s GDP in 2021, employing more than 10,000 people and providing more than 27,000 spin-off jobs in the community, according to the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers.

Dave Metcalfe, also a Leamington council candidate, said he’d like to see council find common sense solutions to clear away red tape.

“The economic impact this industry has on this community,” Metcalfe said. “That's really important.”

It’s also a highly regulated industry, the results of which often turning into community flashpoints.

The most recent example is the “Dark Skies Provision,” where night-time grow lighting bylaws were put in place by the town in an effort to reduce evening light pollution while also allowing growers to maximize output.

But some residents still aren’t satisfied and some growers remain equally frustrated with growing amounts of red tape.

Jimmy Simoni is a retired farmer who is running for mayor against incumbent Hilda MacDonald and challenger Cris Biron. Simoni also went on Thursday’s tour and says he’s sympathetic to growers’ concerns.

“There's a severe disconnect between residents and community of Leamington and the greenhouse farmers and I want to mend that connection back again,” Simoni said.

Councillors touring this facility got a behind the scenes peek at new innovations and technologies that allow local operators to compete on the world stage and contribute to the municipality’s energy generation.

“It's that connecting is the collaborating and communicating with the administration of the town with the council and the mayor of the town, again to address concerns before they become a problem,” Coristine said.