Thank you for the…

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on Ontario Bill 98, the Building Homes and Improving Infrastructure Act.

Ontario's cookie-cutter approach to block municipalities from taking action to ensure sustainable and green development is reprehensible and concerning. It removes the power of cities to require environmental standards and reduce emissions through their planning process. The result could be as extreme as banning municipalities from requiring trees on residential properties.

As a senior on a limited income and no vehicle, it's particularly upsetting to learn that Bill 98 will limit the power of municipalities to set their own transit fares, which could limit municipal transit fare programs. In Kingston, where I live, City Council recently passed a Motion to explore the feasibility of free transit for all. I support free transit, not only to remove the economic barrier to public transportation, but also because, by eliminating fares, cities would encourage more people to choose buses over personal vehicles, directly cutting carbon dioxide and other pollutants. A single person switching from driving to public transit can reduce their annual carbon emissions by up to 4,800 pounds -- equivalent to the carbon sequestration of 100 trees. Furthermore, free transit discourages car ownership, particularly among low-income residents, who with the onset of the U.S. war on Iran, are facing cost-prohibitive prices for gas. Free transit would also support denser, more walkable communities that require fewer car trips.

Bill 98 requires that municipalities limit their Official Plan designations to only 12 options, which it prescribes, restricting the ability of municipalities to include Official Plan chapter and section headings that address challenges or opportunities peculiar to their circumstances.

Bill 98 removes the power of cities to require any standard to protect the environment and reduce emissions through the planning process. Many Ontario cities have introduced standards because the provincial building code does not. But emissions are likely to substantially increase as the province demands faster construction at the expense of energy efficiency.

In Kingston, where I live, the City has tied green standards to financial incentives to encourage builders and private developers to construct buildings that strive for net-zero emissions.

The result of Bill 98 will be that existing buildings will have to be retrofitted to be climate resilient and lower carbon emissions, a much more expensive prospect than building sustainably from the outset. The costs of doing so will rest primarily on taxpayers, not the provincial government.

If Ontario were truly concerned about building homes and improving infrastructure, Bill 98 would introduce regulations like no more "natural" gas hook-ups and a heat pump in every new build. Bill 98 instead will mean that developers cannot be held accountable and cities will have to foot the bill for what they don't do to address climate change and reduce carbon emissions.