Letters of Support Guidelines & Information
Evidence has shown that a personal letter, testimonial, or letter of support, has a very significant impact. A signed group form-letter is probably not even looked at. What might be included?
Most effective would be to address a letter to each separately, however that would be a time-consuming effort. If you have the time to do this, I would be most appreciative. I plan to send a separate letter addressed to each one individually.
Next best would be to send a letter to the head of each level of government, Township (mayor), Regional (chair), Provincial (premier), with a copy to all the others at that government level (eg. For the township, original letter addressed to the mayor, with copies to all the counsellors and the Township planners, etc.
Next best would be to send a letter addressed to the Mayor, with a copy to all of the township counsellors and staff as well as all of the other politicians on the list.
Below is a list of the politicians we have on file, along with their email addresses. This list is not all-inclusive and if anyone knows of others deserving of being on this list, please let us know. We stress the importance of the hierarchy of the different levels of government on this list. Most important by far are the municipal/township representatives which involve the mayor, the counselors, and the planning staff of Woolwich Township.
If the township votes against the applications for zone change and an aggregate licence, the battle is over, but not necessarily the war! That would be a major success for our group, because the aggregate company would then have to apply/appeal to LPAT, formerly called the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), which involves expensive lawyers and a court arrangement where this board will then make a decision on the basis of the evidence. Hence my dwelling on the whole business of “justice,” which is regrettably rarely favorable to “the small guy!”
Township of Woolwich Mayor:
Sandy Shantz- mayor@woolwich.ca
Township of Woolwich counselors:
Ward 1: Scott McMillan- smcmillan@woolwich.ca
Ward 1: Patrick Merlihan- pmerlihan@woolwich.ca
Ward 2: Fred Redekop- fredekop@woolwich.ca
Ward 3: Larry Shantz- lshantz@woolwich.ca
Ward 3: Murray Martin- mmartin@woolwich.ca
Township of Woolwich Planners:
Jeremy Vink- jvink@woolwich.ca
David Brenneman- dbrenneman@woolwich.ca
Mark Pomponi- mpomponi@woolwich.ca
Region of Waterloo Chair:
Karen Redman- kredman@regionofwaterloo.ca
Region of Waterloo Planners:
David Welwood- DWelwood@regionofwaterloo.ca
Province of Ontario:
Premier: Doug Ford- premier@ontario.ca
Hon. John Yakabuski (Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke)
Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. john.yakabuski@pc.ola.org
Hon. Jeff Yurek (Elgin-Middlesex-London)
Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks jeff.yurek@pc.ola.org
Steve Clark (grants the MZOs) Minister of Municipal Affairs steve.clark@pc.ola.org
MPP: Mike Harris- mike.harrisco@pc.ola.org
MPP: Amy Fee (Kitchener South–Hespeler) amy.fee@pc.ola.org
MPP: Catherine Fife (Waterloo) cfife-qp@ndp.on.ca
MPP: Belinda C. Karahalios (Cambridge) bkarahalios@ola.org
MPP: Laura Mae Lindo (Kitchener Centre) LLindo-QP@ndp.on.ca
MPP: Mike Schreiner, (Guelph) Green Party mschreiner@ola.org
Journalists:
These 3 journalists have all covered the Shantz Station Gravel Pit and other gravel pit controversies:
Steve Kannon, Woolwich Observer: skannon@woolwichobserver.com
Brent Davis, The Record: bdavis@therecord.com
Leah Gerber, The Record: lgerber@therecord.com
- A personal testimonial indicating how the clinic has helped you (or someone you know or are close to), or had a positive influence on your health and well-being.
- Your opinion that the clinic should continue to thrive in the future, in the most natural and stress-free environment possible, for not only the present patients but also those of the future.
- The 43 year track record of the clinic with well over 50,000 patients having benefited.
- In a gentle way remind the politicians that they are elected by the people and paid from the public purse, and hence the right to health, well-being and happiness of citizens should not be forfeited at the expense of corporate profit.
- Being overly confrontational may not be in the best interest of our effort.
- Anything you can think of to make your letter somewhat original.
Most effective would be to address a letter to each separately, however that would be a time-consuming effort. If you have the time to do this, I would be most appreciative. I plan to send a separate letter addressed to each one individually.
Next best would be to send a letter to the head of each level of government, Township (mayor), Regional (chair), Provincial (premier), with a copy to all the others at that government level (eg. For the township, original letter addressed to the mayor, with copies to all the counsellors and the Township planners, etc.
Next best would be to send a letter addressed to the Mayor, with a copy to all of the township counsellors and staff as well as all of the other politicians on the list.
Below is a list of the politicians we have on file, along with their email addresses. This list is not all-inclusive and if anyone knows of others deserving of being on this list, please let us know. We stress the importance of the hierarchy of the different levels of government on this list. Most important by far are the municipal/township representatives which involve the mayor, the counselors, and the planning staff of Woolwich Township.
If the township votes against the applications for zone change and an aggregate licence, the battle is over, but not necessarily the war! That would be a major success for our group, because the aggregate company would then have to apply/appeal to LPAT, formerly called the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), which involves expensive lawyers and a court arrangement where this board will then make a decision on the basis of the evidence. Hence my dwelling on the whole business of “justice,” which is regrettably rarely favorable to “the small guy!”
Township of Woolwich Mayor:
Sandy Shantz- mayor@woolwich.ca
Township of Woolwich counselors:
Ward 1: Scott McMillan- smcmillan@woolwich.ca
Ward 1: Patrick Merlihan- pmerlihan@woolwich.ca
Ward 2: Fred Redekop- fredekop@woolwich.ca
Ward 3: Larry Shantz- lshantz@woolwich.ca
Ward 3: Murray Martin- mmartin@woolwich.ca
Township of Woolwich Planners:
Jeremy Vink- jvink@woolwich.ca
David Brenneman- dbrenneman@woolwich.ca
Mark Pomponi- mpomponi@woolwich.ca
Region of Waterloo Chair:
Karen Redman- kredman@regionofwaterloo.ca
Region of Waterloo Planners:
David Welwood- DWelwood@regionofwaterloo.ca
Province of Ontario:
Premier: Doug Ford- premier@ontario.ca
Hon. John Yakabuski (Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke)
Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. john.yakabuski@pc.ola.org
Hon. Jeff Yurek (Elgin-Middlesex-London)
Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks jeff.yurek@pc.ola.org
Steve Clark (grants the MZOs) Minister of Municipal Affairs steve.clark@pc.ola.org
MPP: Mike Harris- mike.harrisco@pc.ola.org
MPP: Amy Fee (Kitchener South–Hespeler) amy.fee@pc.ola.org
MPP: Catherine Fife (Waterloo) cfife-qp@ndp.on.ca
MPP: Belinda C. Karahalios (Cambridge) bkarahalios@ola.org
MPP: Laura Mae Lindo (Kitchener Centre) LLindo-QP@ndp.on.ca
MPP: Mike Schreiner, (Guelph) Green Party mschreiner@ola.org
Journalists:
These 3 journalists have all covered the Shantz Station Gravel Pit and other gravel pit controversies:
Steve Kannon, Woolwich Observer: skannon@woolwichobserver.com
Brent Davis, The Record: bdavis@therecord.com
Leah Gerber, The Record: lgerber@therecord.com