I strongly oppose the…

I strongly oppose the Schedule 3 changes proposed to our Planning Act. This Planning Act is policy for good reason and should not simply be sidestepped when convenient. This attempt at strengthening the recently and frequently abused Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO) power is 2 steps backwards. An absence of enforced compliance with our most basic and fundamental planning principles outside of the greenbelt is frankly ridiculous. Moreover, I fail to understand how a bill can be passed that is retroactive and forgives past violation. If the planning act was violated in the past then it was violated and no amount of future changes will alter that fact...... For the sake of our democracy and transparency, MZO's should be subject to scrutiny and legal challenge.

The government claims that zoning orders can be used to protect a provincial interest (e.g., to protect an environmentally sensitive feature by prohibiting uses). However, the instances of this occurring are negligible compared to the number of times MZOs have been used to allow development on protected land. Ontario has enough problems with flooding, leave our wetlands and protected areas alone! I enjoy hiking and paddling in these areas. They are part of what makes our province great. To irreversibly destroy them is shortsighted and does not benefit the majority of Ontarians, nor will it help "restart the economy". It is a free pass for foreign investors to exploit us for their own gain.