I believe that the MZO…

I believe that the MZO process is too dictatorial for a Canadian or Ontario government to use as it cuts out the true public consultation that is meaningful exchange between the public or residents of an area and the government body, especially the local municipality. It may speed up the process, but it is undemocratic for a country and province like ours. Elected officials are representing residents and the residents should have their say in a meaningful way, not just checking off the box that the consultation was done. In Stratford, the MZO was supposed voted on during an "in-camera meeting", not an open council meeting, so the public was not informed for some time afterwards and disagreed, protesting the process, the decision, the industrial company and the MZO. The number of MZO's issued in the recent year are showing a system taking advantage of the situation of the pandemic under the guise of helping the economy's recovery. This is no time to expedite the process, when the public has other more urgent personal things to attend to so they can survive and therefore I feel the system is taking advantage of the situation. The Planning Act has public consultation included BEFORE any decision to go ahead with any project rather than after the fact when it has no real weight on the decision at that time. The MZO is also being issued for Greenbelt and protected wetlands that should not be. Wetlands can not be moved successfully and need to be left alone. The stewardship of the land is sacred and should be protected and not scooped up for development by greedy developers or by government ministries wanting to please the developers. The land is a long-term asset to the country and province and should be treated as such. Rules and regulations were put in place to help preserve the wetlands and have some green areas for fauna habitat, so they don't invade the housing areas. These regulations should not be changed on a whim for development to be made on these types of land areas. The highly increased use of this instrument should be discontinued and only used where an official plan is not in effective and including public consultation beforehand with the local authorities. This in not acceptance in a democratic society.