Minister of National Defence David J. McGuinty rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on May 7, 2026. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby
The federal government has rejected calls from some residents in southern Ontario to find other spots to set up planned Arctic over-the-horizon radar installations in order to preserve farmland.
Parliament received a flurry of petitions in recent months criticizing National Defence for buying up plots of quality farmland near Barrie, Ont., for the new radar system, and calling on Ottawa to register the land under an agricultural trust.
