AT first blush this act…

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013-4125

Comment ID

19943

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AT first blush this act appears reasonable. In reality it is not.
The passing of a Open for Business Zoning By-laws could have a dramatic impact on what Ontarions in general exppected that the preservation of farmland, and necessary protections for groundwater to guarantee the health of people in Ontario would be maintained.
Firstly it will impact already shrinking farmland as well as encouraging sprawl which by the way cost a municipality more than it gains in Taxes. Further it will impact on ground / drinking water as water aquifers do not respect municipal boundaries but rather geographic boundaries. In other words a decision by one municipality can impact downstream municipalities. This would be without any consultation and the downstream (or down aquifer) municipalities or even citizens within the enacting municipality would have no notice until the ground water was contaminated.
Futher the clean Water act was enacted to prevent the deaths that occured in Walkerton. Does the threshold of 50 or 100 jobs as spelled out in the bill justify the risks and damage to decades worth of protection on areas and systems that were designated after scientific study.
Bill 66 has no basis in science and instead relies on the hope the proposed bylaws will not impact precious and irreplaceable resources that our communities rely on.