This entire bill is damaging…

This entire bill is damaging in many ways:

1. The legislation will weaken wetland protection, gut conservation authority powers, and impinge on the GTA Greenbelt will cause environmental harm
2. The legislation overrules more than a year of City staff and community work on a new Official Plan for Ottawa. Addition of new area within the urban boundary will cause more sprawl, more GHG emissions and create additional expense that will need to be borne by all ratepayers.
3. The legislation overrides the principle that growth should pay for growth. Exiting communities will pay for sprawl that no-one wants.
4. Weakening of parkland and community benefit requirements associated with new developments will lead to lower quality of life for all residents.
5. Heritage protection in Ontario was weak and has been further weakened. Gutting of the heritage register is unconscionable.
6. It is questionable that the legislation will achieve its purported goal: making housing more affordable.

In short this legislation will lead to more sprawl, more environmental degradation. uglier environments, reduction of greenspace and environmental benefits, and the loss of irreplaceable heritage structures and landscapes, all for the benefit of a handful of land speculators and developers. Furthermore, the bill was cynically introduced at a time of transition at the municipal level and was never spoken of in the recent provincial election. Public consultations will not be held in most of the Province. Shame!