I am highly concerned by the…

I am highly concerned by the proposed amendments to the Planning Act that would allow the Minister to make planning decisions that are not consistent with provincial planning policy. This reduces the autonomy of municipalities and makes it more likely that planning decisions will not suit the needs of local communities and municipalities they affect.

The change to make Ministerial Zoning Orders non-regulatory, bypassing the regulatory process, is also deeply concerning. Per the Auditor General's 2024 report, when issuing MZOs between 2019 and 2023 the Minister's Office regularly did not consider infrastructure capacity and servicing, financial impacts, environmental risk, or agricultural planning, leading to foreseeable and significant delays. Given that the Minister's Office has already been abusing MZOs to bypass the municipal planning process that would address these essential issues, I question why removing the regulatory process on MZOs, making it even easier and faster to issue them, would be considered beneficial to Ontario.

What are the qualifications of the Minister (current or future) that justify handing them any of this broad discretion?

We don't need faster decisions in the planning process, we need well-considered decisions that align with provincial planning policy and with municipal policy, in order to build sustainable housing, meet our community needs, protect our environment, and preserve our farmland.

All proposed changes that allow the Minister to override provincial planning policy or the municipal planning process should be removed.

At bare minimum, the "transparent and accountable oversight framework" should be developed in detail before legislative amendments are passed.