Bill 66 is essentially a…

Bill 66 is essentially a deregulation bill under the guise of promoting business by getting rid of “red tape”. Politicians often use the term “red tape” in a sinister fashion to easily win the minds of citizens. But what we are really losing under this bill is the protection of our clean water, clean air, the Greenbelt, farmland, wildlife, government transparency and the rights of municipalities to plan for their own unique needs.
Bill 66 would allow municipalities to pass “open-for-business planning by-laws” that will have the power to override vital regulations in the Ontario Planning and Development Act, the Clean Water Act, the Great Lakes Protection Act, the Greenbelt Act, the Metrolinx Act and other foundational regulations that the citizens of Ontario have fought hard for over the decades.
When I started to examine the contents of Bill 66 it reminded me of the current Trump administration that gutted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) so that it would take down barriers for elites to drill, mine and strip wherever they want. Likewise here in Ontario only the richest and most privileged will benefit from Bill 66. Once fast money is made, regular citizens will be left with all the problems that come from reckless development.
Bill 66 will promote the kind of business that will destroy natural areas, threaten our local food supply, create gridlock, favour rich land speculators and increase our property taxes.
Bill 66 opens up Ontario’s Greenbelt for factory, retail and residential development, undermines drinking water protection rules and guts rules that help industry reduce the release of toxic chemicals.
The Ford government is abusing its powers. Doug Ford promised in his campaign that the Greenbelt would be untouched by his government. What happened to that promise? Ontario citizens and taxpayers are tired of the rhetoric of smoke and mirrors. Bill 66 exposes the true colours of the Ford government by creating a bill that will ignore many protections we hold dear, only to make the rich even richer and the poor even poorer. If there is any integrity and decency in our political leaders then Bill 66 must not be passed!
This short-sighted push of making money as fast as possible is leading us toward the eventual breakdown of a civil society. Just as deregulation was at the heart of the 2008 global financial crisis, Bill 66 is poised to hurt the taxpayers of Ontario. Bill 66 is reckless and lacks a long-term view for Ontario. Bill 66 must be stopped!