I am deeply disappointed and…

I am deeply disappointed and concerned about this bill be passed mid-consultation and the lack of consultation with Indigenous groups, a clear breach of the duty to consult. I am also concerned that while the current Ontario Government claims that this will help reduce the cost of a home, nowhere does it force developers to reduce purchase price from the savings they will receive from reduced payments to municipalities and conservation authorities. I am also concerned that this will also just result in increased taxes on taxpayers through the municipalities to cover costs of permits and applications. This Bill seems to only benefit developers. It will damage the integrity of our natural systems, critical to our wellbeing, impact food security, and our right to a healthy, clean environment. We will see increased municipal taxes to cover the lost cost.

Ontario’s conservation authorities have a valuable review and commenting role in the development process to ensure public safety and property protection. Working with our municipal partners, we use a variety of tools present in the Conservation Authorities Act and Planning Act to ensure that our communities are well planned, desirable places to live with resilient natural systems that will support the communities into the future.

Conservation authorities offer timely, value-added services for municipalities as well as certainty and predictability through the development review and permitting processes, without lengthening the approvals process.

The current legislation proposes to remove the “Pollution” and “Conservation of Land” tests, which are two of the five tests that are considered by conservation authorities in their review and decision making on permit applications. Natural systems are living systems, and their ability to perform their natural hazard mitigation role is dependent upon the systems remaining alive to perform their function. These tests allow conservation authorities to ensure that the natural systems, such as wetlands, are not adversely impacted by development and site alteration to an extent that they are not able to perform their natural hazard roles over the long-term.