I find the government's…

I find the government's proposal to create Bill 66, Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, both troubling and suspicious.

To say that this announcement was a surprise would be an understatement. With employment at an all time high, the one issue that Ontario does not seem to have is a lack of competitiveness. The problems that it does have are high food prices, a lack of affordable housing and a widening of the gap between the rich and the poor.

The new government decided that Ontario was awash in red tape and this was hindering us from reaching our full potential. And so, the government in its great wisdom decided that it needed to "relax" existing protective environmental legislation to promote business interests.

In other words the government feels that business should take precedence over the safety and well-being of its citizens. It obviously believes that such legislation as the Clean Water Act, the Great Lakes Water Act, the Greenbelt Act, the Oak Ridges Moraine Act, the Places to Grow Act or the Lake Simcoe Protection Act are trivialities that should be ignored in 2019.

What is really shocking is the fact that the Provincial government proposes to have the municipalities do the "heavy lifting" to bring about these changes. It will be their task to ignore all environmental protection as they award local developers, who promise the creation of new jobs, an open door policy. The Provincial government will simply provide the automatic rubber stamp of approval.

What is so troublesome is that a municipality can then agree to a new development in secret, with no public input or discussion. Once done, and the Minister has applied his rubber stamp, there is no recourse. It cannot be appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT). It will be a fait accompli; the approval will be final. The municipality will then make the decision known to the public within 30 days in any manner it sees fit.

Now, one has to ask the obvious question: Who gains by the enacting of Bill 66? It definitely is not the people of Ontario! The individuals who stand to gain immensely are the speculators, particularly those that purchased land many years ago which subsequently became designated environmentally protected. They have been sitting on this land with no hope of ever developing it, at least until now. These rich and powerful speculators potentially just got a whole lot richer!

Of course, the key to developing any of this land lies with individual municipal councillors for it will be them who will make the decision to by-pass the current environmental protection statutes. I foresee each of them having a very busy lunch schedule in the coming months.

Contrary to what Premier Ford said prior to the recent election, he is prepared to decimate the Greenbelt and allow new development on environmentally protected land. He has misled the people of Ontario. His explanations ring hollow and the perception is that he is bending to the will of a small but powerful lobby. Shame on him and shame on his government for proposing Bill 66.

What I don't think Mister Ford has yet given thought to is the fact the people of Ontario are simply not going to allow him to pursue this course of action.