Stratford city council asks province to rescind controversial glass factory MZO

Stratford city council has voted to formally ask the province to rescind a controversial minister's zoning order (MZO) that critics charge subverted local democracy when itcleared legal hurdles for a Chinese glassmaker to build a $400-million factory.

The nine to two vote happened Monday night, a month after Xinyi Canada announced it would suspend its float glass manufacturing facility proposal on the city's southern rim.

When the company suspended its plans for the facility in February, it issued a sharprebuke of both Stratford city hall for its delays and grassroots opposition groups for their "overt hostility."

Xinyi's proposalto build afloat glass manufacturing facility would have made Stratford the heart of its North American glass manufacturing operations and would have meant hundreds of jobs for the community.

However, distaste for the kinds of tactics used by city and provincial politicians to fast-track the factory's construction and concerns over potential greenhouse gas emissions from the plant, ultimatelysoured public support of the project.

Council voted Monday to ask to province to revoke the MZO, which would allow the city to rezone the land for other potential projects. As it stands, the land cannot be used for anything else.