Oct. 11, 2023

by Emma Paling at the Breach

Ford PCs took $60K from donors linked to company pushing giant gravel mine

Major construction firm’s executive donated thousands to Ford government, benefitted from PC’s rollback of environmental laws

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives received $60,000 from executives and lobbyists of a major construction firm proposing a controversial gravel mine, which has benefitted from the Ford government’s rollback of environmental laws, an investigation by The Breach has found. 

Thomas Cavanagh Construction is pushing to build the mine, which would be the size of 95 football fields and extract up to 1 million tonnes of gravel a year, on ecologically-sensitive land in Lanark Highlands in eastern Ontario.

Community residents say the Highland Line Pit project, which would be very close to wetlands and a lake, could poison their drinking water, damage carbon-absorbing marshes, and create noise and air pollution. 

The company also clear-cut most of the site before completing its environmental assessment, which residents said “made a mockery” of the process.

The firm is now awaiting a final decision from the Ministry of Natural Resources to be granted a license to dig beneath aquifers on the land. 

Two of the most influential lobbyists in Ontario, Chris Froggatt and Dan Mader, registered to lobby ministers on Cavanagh’s behalf, including Minister of Natural Resources Graydon Smith. Froggatt registered three months before Cavanagh applied for that license and Mader registered one month before. 

Both men have deep ties to the PCs, with Froggatt serving as an advisor on Ford’s 2022 election campaign. 

In an email to The Breach, Froggatt said he and Mader are lobbying the government about another Cavanagh project but not about the Highland Line Pit.

This wetland behind a home in Lanark Highlands, Ont. backs onto the proposed site of Thomas Cavanagh Construction’s Highland Line Pit, which is across the road. Credit: Trecia Jones

NDP MPP Joel Harden said the donations put the government in a conflict of interest. 

“I feel like I’ve seen this movie before,” said Harden, citing the Greenbelt scandal and the changes Ford’s government made to urban boundaries. 

“The public has good reason to fear that these decisions are being made to enrich speculators and private interests that have close ties to the government,” he said of the legislative changes that affect projects like the Highland Line Pit.

Since 2019, the Ford government has removed some environmental assessments for projects near wetlands, scrapped mitigation requirements for developments that threaten endangered species and passed legislation that overrides municipal bylaws that limit digging beneath aquifers.

Two hundred and fifty kilometres northeast of the Greenbelt, The Breach’s reporting identifies yet another politically-connected developer who appears to be seeking favourable treatment by the Ford government. 

The Greenbelt scandal saw Ford’s government remove protections from 7,400 acres of land. The lands had previously been bought by private developers who would’ve seen $8 billion in property value increases thanks to the policy. After weeks of public outcry and the resignations of two ministers, however, Ford said he was sorry and backtracked. The government is now facing a criminal investigation into its conduct.

“Our lands are under threat the same way the Greenbelt lands were,” said Carolee Mason, a retired teacher who lives close to the proposed site.

Cavanagh executives, lobbyists have given $60,000 to PCs

Thomas Cavanagh Construction is a family company and one of the most successful heavy contracting businesses in eastern Ontario. Its current president Jeff Cavanagh is the son of founder Thomas “Tommy” Cavanagh.

When Thomas Cavanagh died in 2019, both Pierre Poilievre and then-Ottawa mayor Jim Watson went to his funeral.

Donors named Jeff Cavanagh or Jeffrey Cavanagh have poured $9,044 into PC campaigns since 2018, Elections Ontario records show. Before corporate donations were banned, the firm also gave more than $29,000 to the Ontario Liberals between 2014 and 2016 when they were in power.

A spokesperson for the construction company provided a written statement but did not directly answer a specific question about Cavanagh’s donations.

“Thomas Cavanagh Construction Limited, through its commitment to sustainable construction, is adhering to the rigorous approvals process set out by the various levels of government to be licensed for mineral extraction operations at the site,” spokesperson Mikaela Watts said. “These aggregates would be used to continue to build vibrant communities in the area.”

Cavanagh Developments has also been employing powerful lobbyists with deep ties—personal, professional and financial—to the PCs. 

Froggatt has been described as a member of Ford’s inner circle and the premier himself says he goes to Froggatt for advice. Froggatt has donated$24,571 to the PCs since 2014, Elections Ontario records show.

Mader worked for the PCs for 20 years, including on Ford’s 2018 campaign to become premier. He’s given $27,204 to PC campaigns since 2014.

Froggatt and Mader are registered to lobby multiple cabinet ministers, including the premier and the minister of natural resources, whose department has the final say on Cavanagh’s application to dig beneath the water table. 

In an email, Froggatt said he hadn’t heard of the Highland Line Pit until The Breach sent questions about it. He said that he and Mader are only lobbying ministers about endangered species rules related to another Cavanagh development in a different eastern Ontario township.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford visits a construction site in a photo posted Friday. Credit: Ford Nation/Facebook

A spokesperson for Premier Ford did not respond to a request for comment. 

A spokesperson for Minister Smith provided information about the application process but did not answer specific questions about whether the government is biased towards developers. 

Cavanagh will provide reports to “showcase that the intended operation will effectively mitigate impacts on the environment,” press secretary Melissa Candelaria said by email.

A Thomas Cavanagh Construction quarry is seen in a company photo. Credit: Thomas Cavanagh Construction

Cavanagh is also a member of a major aggregate industry lobby group. The Ontario Stone, Sand & Gravel Association pays three Queen’s Park lobbyists whose names also match Elections Ontario records for contributors who’ve given thousands of dollars to the PCs. 

In addition to a provincial license, Cavanagh is seeking amendments to the Township of Lanark Highland’s official plan and zoning bylaws. The township’s chief councillor, Peter McLaren, also appears to have received $1,000 in campaign funding from a donor associated with Cavanagh.

McLaren did not respond to a request for comment.

Highland Line Pit would transform the area

The Highland Line Pit mine would operate 24 hours a day and extract up to 1 million tonnes of gravel per year—more than the combined production of four other gravel mines in the area. It would also create as many as 30 truck trips an hour down the quiet country road.

Mason, the retired teacher, said it was hard to even conceive of the change this would bring to the area. “It’s just astounding,” she said.

To oppose the project, residents have formed an advocacy group, Friends of Lanark Highlands, which hosts fundraisers at a local maple syrup farm right next to the site. 

But they say the deck is stacked against them. For starters, Cavanagh contractors clear-cut most of the site in 2020 before starting their environmental assessment months later. 

“It makes a mockery of the studies,” said Angela Wheeler, whose family owns the maple syrup farm bordering Cavanagh’s site. “They finished the logging and just weeks later started the study. So it wasn’t a coincidence.”

The Highland Line Pit site is seen in a photo take by drone after it was clear-cut. Supplied by: Angela Wheeler

Now that the trees are gone, both Mason and the Wheeler family say the company’s findings—such as that there are no threatened turtle species on site—are dubious.

Cavanagh’s statement did not address questions about why the site was clear-cut and how that would’ve affected the study.

Ford government legislation enabled projects like this

Even if more endangered and threatened species had been found, Ford government legislation passed in 2019 already made it easier for developers to destroy their habitats. 

Cavanagh’s study acknowledged that endangered Black Ash trees are on site but said the province suspended protections for those trees just last year.

Another piece of PC legislation, passed in 2022, limited the role of local conservation authorities in such situations. Previously, the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority would’ve done an independent review of Cavanagh’s environmental studies, general manager Sally McIntyre told The Breach. Now, the township must rely on the study Cavanagh paid for or hire its own consultants.

Finally, another law passed in 2019 took away the power of municipalities to limit digging beneath aquifers.

At the time, an association of 444 municipalities warned that the policy could lead to tainted drinking water. 

Mason believes the PCs have created an unfair environment biased in developers’ favour.

“It’s discouraging to know they have an effective lobby,” she said, “when citizen groups have lost their voices and conservation authorities have been silenced.”

Complete story with pictures at the Breach