NANTICOKE—It’s been over 1,300 days since February 14, 2022 when Haldimand County first learned of Empire Communities’ plan to build a large-scale industrial and residential development on 4,200 acres of land they purchased from Stelco.
Now, the divisive issue could be coming to a ballot box near you in the municipal election in October 2026 – if Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley has her way.
Bentley put forth a draft motion that was discussed and carried by Council at the September 16, 2025 meeting. The motion asks for Council support to place a question on the 2026 ballot regarding “municipal support of the Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) in Haldimand County to expedite development projects.”
It directs County staff to report back on the process, legislative requirements, and timelines necessary to include the question on the 2026 municipal election ballot, in accordance with the Municipal Elections Act.
Councillor Shirton asked the mayor to explain how such a referendum might impact the MZO, currently in the hands of the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure awaiting a decision.
Bentley responded, “Under the provincial policy statement, it states that the Province will not be supporting the MZOs that are not supported by the municipalities. That was the latest change in the provincial policy statement.… If that were to come back in 2026 and if the population who are voting tick off the box, then we have a concrete answer.”
Not mentioned by Bentley, the Province currently has two intake thresholds for an MZO, as previously reported in The Press and listed in Ontario’s zoning order framework: an MZO must have either municipal government support, or it must deliver on a provincial priority to be considered by the Minister.
While Haldimand could withdraw its support of the currently submitted MZO request, Empire would retain the option of submitting the request based solely on how the proposed community could deliver provincial priorities.
Councillor John Metcalfe suggested that there may be other rural municipalities dealing with a similar issue in the province, and there may be strength to be found in uniting with them on a delegation at the next Rural Ontario Municipalities Association (ROMA) conference, taking place January 18-20, 2026.
Interim County CAO Mark Merritt concurred. “It would probably be better to have other support from other municipalities in doing so. If we do it ourselves, it’s one voice, but if you’ve got multiple voices that may be a better avenue when looking into that.”
County Clerk Chad Curtis suggested formulating a notice of motion to circulate to other municipalities and “see if there are other like-minded municipalities that are dealing with MZOs and would like to support it.”
Councillor Dan Lawrence asked for clarification on how vague or specific the potential ballot question might be, noting that in addition to large-scale developments like Nanticoke, MZOs can also be used to push forward development on items like long-term care facilities, schools, hospitals, and hospices.
“Maybe it needs to be specific. I’m asking for staff to bring back the report on just requirements and timelines and such. We can get into the nitty gritty perhaps during that report,” replied Bentley.
Councillor Patrick O’Neill said he wouldn’t support the motion.
“It has nothing to do with the MZO,” he said. “We have no precedence for referendums in Haldimand County. I think this is a wrong place to start for setting that precedent. I just think the precedence in itself doesn’t warrant a report.”
Councillor Brad Adams, whose motion to rescind MZO support was defeated in a vote last month, said, “This is something that’s so important that it needs to be addressed by the County, by the people. It’s too expensive to run it through a referendum on its own without the election.”
O’Neill argued that instead of focusing on the MZO, Council should focus on accomplishing the term priorities they set out in 2022.
“You could look at some of the priorities that we have, for instance traffic control, speeding, things like that which are a huge issue for us.… Would you support paying more taxes to have our own enforcement crew here? You could start coming up with questions that speak more directly to the Council priorities, let alone one issue,” said O’Neill. “We could just start doing referendums on everything at the end of the day.”
Adams rejected the notion, calling the MZO a unique situation.
“This is one that clearly captured the public’s interest, the media’s attention, and our interest very passionately,” said Adams. “It’s about the only issue I can ever see being on a referendum.… I’m for this.”
The motion was carried with a 4-2 vote.
County staff will report back to Council with a report on the matter at an upcoming meeting.
The Press will provide further details as they emerge.
