I am providing my comments…

I am providing my comments on the proposed PPS from a perspective of a lifelong involvement with land use planning in the province of Ontario. I am now a retired professional planner with the OPPI and I am a registered planner with CIP.

The proposal before us is ill-conceived and does not represent a comprehensive policy statement that should be reflective of ALL the provincial interests as outlined in section 2 of the ON Planning Act; most notably, the provisions of working towards a sustainable and resilient place known as Ontario is being downplayed with the proposed Policy Statement. This is clearly illustrated in the visioning section of the proposal – instead of planners working to create communities within a resilient and healthy environment, planners are now to work towards creating ‘complete communities’ - defined as places such as mixed use neighbourhoods where people can comfortably live.

Draft policy 2.1.6 removes the concept of planning for “healthy, liveable and safe communities.” In addition, the holistic approach to planning healthy places that “avoid development and land use patterns which may cause environmental or public health and safety concerns” is proposed to be removed. To put the final ‘nail in the coffin’ for a healthy and resilient environmental base for both human and natural communities, the proposed PPS removes the visioning requirement in “promoting development patterns that conserve biodiversity”. All in all, this is reflective of a damning short-sighted land development housing speculation agenda that does not represent the best long term public interests for ON.

The position paper put together by the Alliance for a Liveable Ontario (see attached) reflects my perspective on the PPS rewrite proposal. I am particularly concerned with the developer focused agenda in terms of planning for development (no comprehensive settlement and watershed plans required, only developer allowed appeals to municipal planning decisions); additional provisions for carving up prime agricultural areas with scattered privately serviced housing.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment. I am of the overall view that this ‘request for comment’ is really only amounting to a possible public relations public engagement exercise without real meaning. I make this statement based on a small clause in the implementation section of the proposed PPS whereby the Province does not need to abide by the provisions of the PPS where the provincial government ‘believes’ they have an all knowing better understanding of how things should work (primarily now with only with a short-sighted economic agenda lens), i.e., Proposed Policy 6.1.4 - “When implementing this Policy Statement, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing may make decisions that take into account other considerations to balance government priorities”.

I would suggest that the government abandon the 2024 PPS rewrite as it moves the Province backward in achieving a prosperous and livable place for all.