Bill 23 is likely to result…

Bill 23 is likely to result in fewer and more expensive homes and higher costs for services.

• It means less, and possibly no, energy efficient construction.
• It will increase the number of cars on the roads, thus worsening pollution.
• It will dramatically increase property taxes in all municipalities.
• It will enable wholesale destruction of wetland habitats and conservation lands – and expose us
all to a much higher risk of floods and other disasters. It weakens conservation authorities and
limits their ability to maintain their stewardship.
• It waters down or omits entirely required zoning reforms, leaving in place many barriers to the
creation of new, affordable housing.
• The government’s own documents admit only 50,000 of a total 1,500,000 homes would be
created, province-wide.
• It eliminates the coordinated regional planning required to promote efficient use of construction
resources and lands.
• It will cause a great deal of housing construction, and the vast bulk of available residential land, to
be squandered on the most expensive and resource-intensive homes in areas far from jobs,
schools and services.
• It pushes newcomers – and new households – into more urban sprawl with complete car
dependency and away from efficient mass transit solutions.
• It will make it harder for municipalities to retrofit existing car-dependent subdivisions to lower-
cost and lower-emission places to live.
• It will destroy many of the existing “green” building standards that municipalities use to make
new homes that are cheaper for tenants or purchasers to heat and cool – and which are vital to
reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Bill 23 drags Ontario forcefully and dramatically in the wrong direction. This government is disregarding the advice of its own Task Force, along with all the hard-won lessons of the last 70 years.

It will dramatically increase our current housing and environmental crises.

It has been forced into law through a process designed to prevent meaningful consideration of its impacts. There has been no discussion with those affected with total disregard for the time frame that reflects the enormity of the changes. Passing a law with no debate is undemocratic as best and extremely autocratic at worst.

Mr. Ford, you promised in 2018 that you would not touch the Greenbelt. Are you a liar?

Repeal this bill immediately! We do not want unscrupulous developers and undemocratic politicians to destroy our province. We did not vote for this, Mr. Ford!