Ford's new More Homes Built…

Ford's new More Homes Built Faster & the City of Toronto's Act Changes of schedules 9 & 1 of Bill 23 poses dire consequences for both urban and rural areas not just on an environmental level but on many levels. I will focus on the environmental consequences these changes will pose. To begin, these acts disguise the real reason for these changes:

1. Canada's deficit is now at 90.2 billion. The government needs people paying into EI, Old Age Security, Tax Dollars, etc. because the Canadian government is in extreme debt.
2. Labour shortage in Canada. Currently there are 1 million jobs not filled in Canada.
3. Federal government plans to increase immigration to 500,000 by 2025.
4. Not enough housing for influx of new & existing Canadians.
5. Aging population and low birth rate in Canada means less inflow of funds to government from Canadian residents.
6. Low percentage of able Canadians currently working at 61.3%

So, how does Doug Ford & John Tory plan to deal with these problem? By disguising this new Housing Act and Bill changes as the Canadian Dream as Doug Ford says 'Everyone's dream is to have a little white picket fence,' but in reality it is just an environmentally destructive way to accumulate more dollars for a broke and fiscally unsound government on all 3 levels. Toronto will become a Cement City and will not have the power to abide by the guidelines of TransformTO. City Council adopted an ambitious strategy December 2021 to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Toronto to net zero by 2040 – 10 years earlier than initially proposed. Toronto’s net zero by 2040 target is one of the most ambitious in North America. However, Toronto is currently behind this goal and will never reach this goal if the new Housing Plans and Bills are passed on the municipal and provincial levels.

In addition, Ford's government has already stripped away most of the TRCA's powers. This new Housing Plan & Bill changes will gut the little power that remains with the TRCA to protect significantly environmental lands. Ford wants to build housing on environmentally protected and significant lands. Ford also wants the TRCA to cough up protected lands for housing. Does this mean I will be able to buy a plot of land for housing in the East Don Parklands, the Rouge or the Humber Parklands? Or, buy a house in a wetland, floodplain, the Greenbelt, provincial park or City park? Tory has always said he is for Green Practises & Standards. When Ford was a City Councillor he voted and supported Green Practises and Standards. What a farce! Neither Ford or Tory care about the environment. They have proven this by wanting to pass this new Housing Plan which will further destroy the environment and accelerate Climate Change.

The proposed legislation includes changes to the province’s 36 conservation authorities (TRCA), which currently manage environmental concerns around future developments. The TRCA would no longer be able to consider factors like pollution and conservation of land when weighing a proposal. The province also wants to look at building homes on some of the protected lands they hold. These proposals demonstrate that the government is moving to gut environmental protections around development.

"Municipalities rely on our comments in the planning process and our removal from this process along with weakened regulations will result in the destruction of forests, wetlands and creeks,” the TRCA said.
They cited their work to enable redevelopment of mixed-use communities in flood-vulnerable areas of the GTA, including the Toronto Waterfront and Lower Don Lands, as well as parts of Brampton, Vaughan, and Markham. “If the government is successful in removing TRCA from these processes, this substantially increases the risk that development decisions will be made that put the lives of Ontarians, their properties, and critical infrastructure at risk, including new housing proposals in flood vulnerable areas,” the TRCA said.

Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner slammed the plan after it was released. “Narrowing the scope of conservation authorities puts people’s property at risk,” Schreiner told reporters. “The bottom line is people, we shouldn’t be building houses in floodplains. That’s kind of obvious. I mean, look what’s happening in the east, Atlantic Canada right now. Look what’s been happening in British Columbia, with people losing property. Conservation Authority rules were brought in for a reason and undermining those protections puts people’s houses, homes at risk.”

Coleman, whose group represents Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities, pointed out that following major flooding in the province in 2017 and 2019, Ontario hired an independent flood commissioner who found that conservation authorities had played an important role in helping to mitigate the flooding, which otherwise might’ve been worse. She said protecting the natural environment in some cases is the easiest way to avert future disasters. “Imagine that you have a property that’s ready for development. Part of it has a wetland on it. At this point in time, there may be situations where it’s appropriate to get rid of that wetland,” Coleman said. “But there also may be times where it’s more appropriate to leave that wetland in place because it does a good job of managing waters that would flow across the site. Basically, it’s the cheapest, most effective and probably most aesthetic way to keep floodwaters controlled on a site.”

The Building More Homes Faster Act, eliminates the ability of municipalities to enforce more stringent energy efficiency standards in new buildings, according to current and former city councillors who developed the rules. “For the last 15-20 years, the city of Toronto has been on a deliberate trajectory to make buildings more and more climate friendly with an ultimate goal of making them net zero. The new provincial legislation effectively kills that work,” said Coun. Gord Perks. Eliminating energy efficiency does not speed up the construction of new buildings, which is the law’s stated intent, and the provincial law nullifies Toronto’s Green Standard, which passed city council unanimously in 2013 — with the vote of then-councillor Doug Ford.

“It’s a disastrously bad idea,” Councillor-elect Dianne Saxe told CP24.com. The newly-elected councillor for Ward 11 University-Rosedale was also the last environmental commissioner for Ontario before the post was abolished by the Ford government in 2019. “Weakening the conservation authorities just as climate change gets worse is a recipe for more flooding, more drought, more water stress, huge cost going forward,” she said. Saxe said that wetlands, for example, are “essential and irreplaceable,” especially as climate change intensifies. “We can see all around the world what climate change is already bringing; it brings more intense storms where you get more water at the time, which means the ability of wetlands to absorb water and release it slowly becomes more and more critical.”

The world is now in a Climate Crisis. Canada is behind on their promises to reduce Green House Gases. Canada lags other countries around the world but states we are Environment Friendly. Tell me how the Canadian government is environment friendly when these changes will allow less community involvement to challenge big development & single in-fill housing, less green space, less funding by developers for infrastructure such as sewers, building non-sustainable housing on wetlands, floodplains and significantly environmental lands, and less sustainable rules, bills & by-laws to follow when constructing new homes in Toronto and other communities in Ontario.

So, why am I giving my time and energy for free, along with others in my community of Bayview Village supporting Green initiatives in the City of Toronto such as the annual Community Clean-up, the City of Toronto Neighbourhood Tree Giveaway, supporting the ban of 2-cycle gas leaf blowers in Toronto, following Green Practises on a daily basis, following Green Practises lawn care, advocating and taking hands-on action to protect our local ravines, wildlife and parks if the City and Province intends to squash all our hard work? Answer me this please?

It's time to put your money where your mouth is John Tory & Doug Ford. You talk the talk but do not walk the walk. Do the right thing and do not pass these horrific changes to the Housing Acts & Bills. Give back the power to the TRCA so they can do the job they were initially deemed to do which is to protect the environment and significantly environmental lands, but also to protect Canadians who will be buying a piece of these non-sustainable new housing projects. These new housing projects will cost more to maintain and may prove hazardous depending on where they are built. No one wants to watch their house sink into a wetland or floodplain and/or experience increased flooding due to the destruction of significantly environmental lands, rivers & creeks both in urban and rural areas in Ontario, not to mention the wildlife, trees, plants, insects, etc. that make these areas their homes.

There is currently a major problem in Canada and around the world with human's infringing on the natural habitat of wildlife. In Canada alone, from polar bears to deer to turtles to maple trees to ferns to monarch butterflies... the list goes on and on and are all vying for a tinnier piece of the pie simply to exist. Please tell me Doug Ford & John Tory when you plan to develop Plans, Bills, By-Laws, etc. to protect those that cannot protect themselves? This is long over-due and your time is running out. What message are you giving your children, your grandchildren? What world do you plan to leave behind for them? A world of destruction or a world where humans and nature can live together in a healthy and prosperous way. I suggest you both take a trip to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador on your dime, not the tax payers, and witness first hand how humans and nature live together without destruction of either's wants or needs.

Well, there you have it. My opinion is crystal clear. Now please tell me what you John Tory & Doug Ford are going to do about it? Hide behind political lies and deception, or manage the money of this country fiscally sound? Generate policies that you can afford without destroying the environment? That would be most welcome. If government funds were managed fiscally sound you would not need to push forward environmentally destructive Housing Plans & Bills to make up for your poor financial planning & distribution of hard earned dollars of everyday Canadians.

Now is the time act. Do the right thing for once. Stop talking the talk and walk the walk. It's not too late, but will be for those who follow us through the generations if you do not use your power in a responsible way.

Yours truly,

A concerned, deflated and devastated Canadian citizen born and bred in Bayview Village who has watched my community, Toronto, Ontario, and the rest of Canada over the last 30-40 years fall into a dismal downward spiral on its way to utter destruction because of ineffective government planning and fiscally unsound management & distribution of government funds. So sad...