I am not in favour of…

I am not in favour of creating Special Economic Zones as described in this legislation. While some projects may get built faster the total benefit to Ontario will be considerably less than the same projects built in line with existing environmental guidelines and input from local municipal residents.

Environmental: The environmental degradation resulting from project built quickly in special economic zones will spread to other areas outside the zone. Environmental damage cannot easily be contained in a zone. Furthermore expediting the project may mean that we do not even know what environmental degradation will result from a specific project. The results may be far worse than we expect.

Local input: The idea that a provincial government can override local municipal concerns represents a danger to all residents of the province. While there may be circumstances where this may be justified, there must be more controls over when and where these overrides can occur. Frankly, the provincial government does not a good reputation in this area. Allowing special economic zones as described is likely to result in situation similar to the recent "Greenbelt scandal". I would prefer to see a more balanced approach where local interests are balanced with provincial interests.