While most Ontarians…

While most Ontarians recognize the current crisis in housing affordability and welcome the government's attempts at ameliorating the current state of affairs I wonder if the remedies proposed in the Homes for Everyone Act, 2022 are not at cross purposes and contradictory.

Specifically, I refer to the proposed changes to the Planning Act: changes to subsection 34 (10.12) and changes to subsections 17 (40.1) to (40.1.3).

Subsection 34 (10.12) proscribes a schedule for the return of fees if a municipality fails to render a decision on a plan within a set period of time. This seems consistent with the goal of the act by forcing municipalities, by financial penalty, to make decisions quickly and thereby allowing homes to be built quicker.

However, subsection 17 (40.1) to (40.1.3) grants the minister the ability to suspend the ability to appeal to the Tribunal if a decision is not made by the minister within 120 days. This authority seems to be at cross purpose to the goal of the act. This suspension period can be made for an indeterminate period of time and would seem to only slow down the building of new homes.

These contradictory elements in the act makes me doubtful of its efficacy in solving the extant housing crisis.