In my book, Slam-Dunking Wal-Mart, I list Guelph, Ontario as a Canadian community that defeated Wal-Mart. It turns out that Wal-Mart’s “itch” to get into Guelph has now stretched over 7 years. Here’s a report of the ups and downs from the Residents for Sustainable Development in Guelph: “On Monday, December 17, 2001, the Guelph City Council gave its loyal subjects an early Christmas present. They reversed a previous council vote which had supported two big box proposals. One was for a development anchored by a 105,000-sq. ft. Wal-Mart; the other was for a 120,000-sq.fit Zellers (a Canadian junior discount store chain which has been battling Wal-Mart head to head since the latter arrived in Canada in 1994.Both proposals required zoning changes. The latest decison is part of an ongoing saga that began in 1995 when Wal-Mart first set its sights on this Ontario, Canada city of 100,000 (now the only one of its size without a Wal-Mart, incidentally). A concerted citizen effort resulted in a council decison in 1997 to turn down both big box proposals. That decision was appeale to the appeals court for council decisions in Ontario, called the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). Through various legal manoeuvres, the developers got the matter sent back to the local council in 1999 for another decision. This time,a new council approved both, ignoring dozens of citizens who again spoke in opposition to the proposals. After more than two years of legal wrangling about Wal-Mart sales figures, the proposals were sent back again for another local council review. Again the citizens turned out in droves and this time we were successful in persuading the new council to revert to its original position in opposition to both proposals. The much-delayed OMB hearing on both proposals is scheduled to begin in February and to last about five months.”
Residents for Sustainable Development in Guelph admit that the process in Ontario has been somewhat confusing. That’s why they’ve put together a book to explain what has happened thus far, and how they stopped Wal-Mart. The book comes with a CD. For more information, go to www.bbc.guelph.org. For a contact person at the local level, contact Ben Bennett at [email protected].
