Submission to: The Premier…

Submission to: The Premier of Ontario, The Minister of Municipal Affairs, The Ontario Cabinet and The Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO)

Subject: Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) Proposal and Review
(also officially known as ERO case file # 019-0279)

It has come to my attention that the Government of Ontario intends to weaken protections for climate, farmland, nature and watersheds to fast track uninhibited development across the province. With the goal of increasing housing supply and reducing barriers and costs for development, the government is destroying the basic values of Ontario’s primary land use policy known as the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS). Developed over years of experience and learning, the PPS sets basic goals, principles, standards and values to guide municipal planning and community development.

Proposed changes will allow aggregates extraction to trump existing protections for farmlands, wetlands, woodlands and wildlife habitat, including habitat for threatened and endangered species. It would also require our municipalities to expedite development and abandon many good land-use planning practices. This weakened PPS land use protection will prompt more urban sprawl into rural lands that provide land and water for our food and nature.

The proposed terms and conditions in the new PPS for aggregates extraction (section 2.5.2.2) are very worrisome. As such, the new PPS as proposed would now permit pits and quarries in all significant natural features currently protected under the current PPS: i.e., provincially significant wetlands (except in southern Ontario), provincially significant farmlands, woodlands, valley lands and wildlife habitat, significant Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest, fish habitat and the habitat of threatened and endangered species.

Ontario cannot let these proposed changes slip under the radar. The sustainable benefits of our natural heritage and rural landscape should not be sacrificed to the private interests of aggregates and developers. We must continue to save and protect Ontario’s climate, farmlands, forests, nature and watersheds for their renewable health giving, economic and sustainable rural benefits.

I am writing to express my strong opposition to changes to the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) that would undermine protections for significant and at-risk wildlife and habitats and fast-track development. Specifically, I would request the following:

• Remove section 2.5.2.2 that would allow aggregates extraction to trump the protections for significant farmlands, wetlands, woodlands and habitat for nature (including species at risk) as this would simply undermine or destroy the intent to protect.

• Retain existing requirements for compact development, constraining urban sprawl, more efficient use of infrastructure and specific policies to achieve urban intensification and redevelopment targets (such as sections 1.1.3.6, 1.1.3.7 a and b, and 1.6.7.2).

Any amendments to the PPS must be evaluated against the urgent need to respond effectively to climate change and biodiversity loss, two of the greatest challenges of our time along with sustainability of our farmlands and protection of our watersheds.

I have read the detailed PPS submission to the Ford Government and the ERO from Ontario Nature (with other signatories) and completely agree with their comments and recommendations for improvements to the proposed PPS. There is strong need to either retain or strengthen the content of the PPS standards and values rather than weaken or destroy its benefits to Ontario.

Ontario must carefully plan for land use decisions wisely to protect ourselves and future generations from land use catastrophe.

Respectfully submitted,

Century farm owner, Professional biologist, Retired OPS executive, Managed forest owner, Greenbelt resident & Ontario citizen with B.Sc (biology) and P.Ag (retired)

Date: October 21, 2019