I find it cynical in the…

I find it cynical in the extreme to use our urgent need for affordable housing and the 'missing middle' types of residences as the vehicle by which to enrich property developers and land speculators. There is NO need for the Province to be micromanaging municipalities to 'expedite' the building of new residences, whether those destined to be owned or those that will be rented. The Province rightfully provided targets for expected growth and ought to have provited guidance re: safeguarding contryside lines, greenspaces, rarmland, wetlands and groundwater filtration areas. But the Province provided none of that sort of guidance, choosing inside to insist upon low density targets in an effort to drive municipalities toward massive urban sprawl. When municipalities creatively and effectively met the long term planning goals while protecting our local environments and managing growth in ways to that are mindful of costs to taxpayers and as well as of inclusion, quality of life, sustainable public transportation options etc, this Government decided we'd done it wrrong, because developers were dismayed there'd be little if any new urban sprawl: that's the only reason we have this flurry of bills, laws and new regulations. It is absolutely appalling that this Government is undermining and gutting the Conservation Authorities, which have served the Ontario and local municipalities well for more than 50 years. It's heinous that this Government has gone back on its promise to not touch the GreenBelt and, equally despicable, to be using this Act and associated regulations to remove the authority of duly elected officials to protect our countryside lines, our greenspaces and absolutely essential farmland and natural groundwater filtration areas. Ontario only uses 13% of the aggregate mined now - where the rest of it goes is anyone's guess and the Province hasn't cared up to now. The Province only cares that land speculators can grab farmland and ruin it, polluting our precious groundwater, all in an effort to accrue personal wealth at the expense of local communities. It is outrageous that the Province seeks to remove the authorities of duly elected local officials not to protect the environment or to build on local transit systems, etc as is claimed in these regulations, but is doing so to aggressively and extensively increase urban sprawl, which is directly opposite to the laudable objectives claimed (objectives, I might add that our local plans actually achieve). It's infuriating that the Province is seeking to limit the constitutional right of citizens to be consulted, to comment on, to appeal decisions on land use that will directly impact our local environment, our capacity to feed ourselves into the future, that threatens our groundwater, that adds billions to our local property taxes while violating our rights to be consulted and and to safeguard our environment. To be crystal clear, regardless of the spurious rationales offered, I absolutely oppose everything in this Act and the glib recommendations which protect the rights of land speculators and wealthy developers while adding literally nothing in terms of affordable new housing, or addressing the 'missing middle' (which our local plans already do). I oppose everything here that takes authority and autonomy away from duly elected local governments and our world renowned, scientifically based Conservation Authorities. I vehemently oppose the wholy unnecessary expansion of aggregate mining across the province. I absolutely oppose the attempts to rob us of our Charter rights to be consulted, and to appeal decisions that adveesely impact us locally, most especially when such harm is being done solely to increase private profits.