I am opposed to Bill 66. The…

I am opposed to Bill 66. The Ontario Government claims it will just eliminate red tape but it will pose significant risks for the health and well-being of Ontarians by allowing large corporate interests to ignore important regulations in the Clean Water Act, the Great Lakes Protection Act and the Toxics Reduction Act, as well as open up the Greenbelt for development. These are regulations that are meant to protect us and our environment, and in some cases to save lives.

Here are just a few things at risk:

- Clean drinking water. Bill 66 would let corporations ignore protections like the Clean Water Act -- which was put in place after the tragedy in Walkerton where seven people died and thousands made sick from E. coli poisoning. The bill puts real lives in danger with the threat of drinking water contamination.

- Ontario’s Greenbelt. Those 2 million acres of tranquil, protected nature — that grow our food, provide habitat for endangered species, and hiking trails for nature walks — would be opened up for major industrial development and urban sprawl. This will endanger the water supply of many large municipalities such as Toronto. Sprawl will encourage more cars on the road, more gridlock and more pollution.

- The Great Lakes — which house one fifth of the world’s freshwater and supply Ontarians with 80% of our drinking water, would be threatened with harmful pollutants, toxic chemicals, and greater wetlands loss, making them less swimmable, drinkable, and fishable.

- Child-care protections: Bill 66 changes the number of babies — children under the age of 2 — that can be cared for by a single adult in an unlicensed home-based daycare from two to three. The existing regulation came into effect in 2015, after children died in unlicensed daycares. Removing barriers to more daycare spots is a worthy goal, but not if it sacrifices the safety of small children.

Contrary to its claims, Bill 66 is not about just addressing administrative excess or paperwork. It is eliminating or exempting companies from rules that were put in place to save lives — rules about about labour regulation, child protection, clean water safeguards, even the greenbelt legislation the provincial Progressive Conservatives promised on the campaign trail they would protect “in its entirety.”

Bill 66 should be scrapped, and the government should hold an open discussion in the Ontario Legislature, with non-profit and advocacy groups working for better health and social conditions in the province, and with the people on Ontario on how to achieve its aims for a better life for all residents of Ontario.