I want to register my strong…

I want to register my strong opposition to Bill 66 Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, 2018.

The Bill undermines or destroys many years of improving regulations that protect our health and the environment on which the rest of our society and economy depends.

I note below the many threats to our community.

Most egregious is Schedule 10 Open for Business regulation that allows a municipality to request planning approval from the Minister, overriding Official Plans, Source Water Protection and Greenbelt, without any public notice or recourse to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.

This completely undermines our democracy.

Threats posed by Bill 66
• It threatens drinking water across Ontario. Open-for-business by-laws would override policies in approved source protection plans intended to protect existing and future sources of municipal drinking water from threats such as landfills, sewage systems and improper handling of fuel, manure and pesticides.

• It threatens wetlands, woodlands and habitat for species at risk across Ontario. Open-for-business by-laws would circumvent protections for these important habitats and species set out in the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) under the Planning Act.

• It threatens farmland across Ontario. Open-for-business by-laws would bypass agricultural protections set out, for example, in the PPS. This could lead to more urban sprawl.

• It threatens two million acres of natural areas and farmland across the Greenbelt. Open-for-business by-laws would override protections for natural heritage and farmland set out in the Greenbelt Plan and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan.

• It threatens fresh water and the ecological health of the Lake Simcoe watershed. Open-for-business bylaws would trump requirements set out in the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan.

• It would undermine efforts to make Ontario communities more liveable, sustainable and resilient. Open-for-business by-laws would override PPS policies supporting active transportation, affordable housing, green infrastructure and climate resiliency.

• It would compromise transparency and public engagement. Contrary to current legal requirements (Planning Act, Clean Water Act), the by-laws could be passed without any prior public notice, behind closed doors.
• It would leave citizens without recourse. Community members would not be able to appeal open-for-business by-laws to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.