I oppose the proposed…

I oppose the proposed expansion of powers that the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing is seeking.

These are the principal reasons.

1) The consultation is coming too late.

This consultation is happening after the government passed Bill 197 the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020 that enables the Minister to address site plan matters and apply inclusionary zoning as part of a zoning order. The government legislated these expanded powers without consultation. To now undertake a consultation on a further expansion of these powers, and to ask the public how these powers ought to be used, is disingenuous. Why would you have legislated these expanded powers if you didn’t know how you were going to use them?

2) Whereas there were only 3 MZOs issued in the past 15 years, the Ministry has issued at least 38 MZOs overriding municipal planning processes and suppressing community voice in these projects.

3) The government speaks about using these expanded powers to build affordable housing, but the lack of affordable housing is caused by government funding cuts over the past 25 years. Without a plan with specific targets for affordable housing and without a commitment of funding to build affordable housing, the rhetoric around affordable housing is a hollow justification for these expanded powers.

4) The government is seeking to expand its powers to include all site planning details. Site planning is currently the jurisdiction of municipalities, which have the site-specific knowledge to manage traffic, walkways, lighting, waste facilities, landscaping and exterior design. Without this local knowledge, the province will make mistakes that will cost communities and Ontario taxpayers.

For these reasons, I am writing to express my opposition to the expanded powers that the Minister of is seeking.

Respectfully yours,