To: Ministry of Municipal…

To: Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Comment Re: ERO 019-8273

Get It Done Act, 2024 – Amending the Official Plan Adjustments Act, 2023

In this omnibus Bill 162 is language that will require some Ontario municipalities to allow developments on previously protected farmland, forests, river valleys and wetlands.

First, the Bill is confusing; it is vague; the maps are hard to access. This means that this Bill is not clear and transparent for Ontarians. Clarity and transparency should be a requirement of all legislation.

Second, almost all of Steve Clark’s forced boundary expansions in Waterloo and Halton have been re-instated and even more added. Some of these boundary expansions are in water-sensitive areas, for example, around Kitchener. These are alarming changes that are being made without expert planning and environmental assessment.

Third, these are not expansions that were asked for and there was no input from planners or public or Indigenous consultation. Yet they add up to thousands of acres of additional sprawl.

Fourth, these boundary expansions are unnecessary for housing. It has been made abundantly clear by now that there is enough land already set aside in municipal official plans for housing development. There is ample serviced or service-ready land within municipal urban boundaries across the province. Over 2 million homes can be built on this land set aside for development.

There is no need to pave over any more prime farmland and natural areas. Ontarians have made it clear that they want our farmland and green spaces protected from unnecessary sprawl.

We need our farmland.

And we need to protect our critical groundwater resources from any more impermeable asphalt and built landscapes.

Ontarians must ensure for future generations that prime agricultural land and soils, along with the forests and wetlands that provide important habitat for wildlife and species at risk, remain protected, forever.