RE: EBR Registry # 013-4239…

RE: EBR Registry # 013-4239 for input on the proposed New Regulation under the Planning Act for the open-for-business planning tool.

Thank you for the opportunity to submit feedback on the proposed New Regulation under the Planning Act for the open-for-business planning tool.
The name: Competitiveness act
We all know to be a good competitor, one must be fit and to be fit, one must be in good health, well equipped / protected and need to be able to train.
Section 10 of the proposed bill is asking for more farmland to be paved over. This is like asking a hockey team to play with a shorter stick in a smaller rink (less productive land) and with no helmet (gamble with the natural environment) in order for the team to be more competitive.
Only five per cent of Ontario's land mass is suitable and available for agriculture but a 100% of Canadians expect to be fed every day.
Loosing food sovereignty and growing more and more dependent on imports and foreign Nations to feed us, makes us not very competitive, it makes us dependent and at the mercy of foreign policy makers and foreign corporations.
As an active farmer on the outskirts of a major city, growing food for consumers across Ontario, I am very concerned with every acre of productive land paved over. As a member of the policy advisory committee member of the Ontario Farmland Trust (OFT), a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to protect and preserve Ontario farmlands and associated agricultural, natural, and cultural features of the countryside, I do see opportunities for more healthy growth.
Ontario’s agri-food sector is a major economic engine for the province. In terms of job creation and economic growth, a 2018 report confirmed that the agri-food sector contributes over $39 billion to Ontario’s GDP and employs more than 820,000 Ontarians in the supply chain [1]. Compared with the $20 Billion of the Ontario Auto sector. The agri-food sector contribution is overwhelmingly significant in rural areas, where roughly 12% of the GDP and 10% of rural jobs are attributed to the farm sector [2]. Ontario is also positioned favourably to attract agricultural and manufacturing investment because it is a global leader in the agri-food industry and houses one of the largest agri-food hubs in North America. This, in turn, generates growth in employment and GDP.
OFT believes that the proposed open-for-business planning by-law (OFB-ZBL) places the agri-food sector and its substantial economic benefits at an unacceptable level of risk. As such, OFT recommends that the proposed Open-For-Business Planning Tool and related New Regulation be rejected.
The following section outlines some of the proposed OFB-ZBL’s threats to the farm sector and suggests alternative actions to improve the province’s business environment while attracting agri-food investment.
Threats to the Farm Sector
The proposed Open-For-Business Planning By-Law could open up for development farmland that is either currently protected (e.g. through the Greenbelt Plan) or is outside of projected municipal growth areas. This negatively impacts the farm sector in a number of ways.
Farmland is vital to farmers and communities. It is vital to food production. It is vital to every single Ontario residents. It sustains us all by providing healthy food and clean water and should be afforded the respect it is owed.
The proposed OFB-ZBL:
• Threatens to pave over and permanently destroy productive farmland. Protecting Ontario’s farmland is absolutely critical for the success of the farm and agri-food sectors. The loss of this land to non-agricultural uses is irreversible and negatively impacts Ontario’s economy, food security, and agri-food investment potential.
• Introduces conflicting land uses adjacent to land used for agricultural purposes. This disadvantages both producers and those on adjacent properties and ultimately makes it more difficult for farmers to continue running financially sustainable farm businesses and can create conflict with neighbors.
• Places water quality at an unacceptable level of risk. Agricultural properties rely on clean ground water for drinking, livestock, and irrigation water. Bypassing water protection policies using the OFB-ZBL endangers the safety of rural Ontarians with potentially significant health and economic impacts.
Actions to Improve Ontario’s Business Environment
We all need growth, but unhealthy, uncontrolled growth is called cancer.
A path for new and innovative growth must be fostered. Luckily, Ontario’s planners don’t need to engage the armed forces to fight for more land the way land constricted Countries have to do. All we need to do in Ontario is think innovative and get out of our Status quo comfort zone.

Bill 66 offers an opportunity to introduce new ideas at a time where most cities face overcrowding. Ontario is blessed like very few Countries on this planet, with a huge landmass. Because 5% of Ontario’s landmass was suitable for Agriculture, this is where people mainly settled and industries sprung up from what these settlers produced and needed to have produced for them. But in modern days, business needs to stop fixating on GTHA.

Zoning and partnership proposal for an Ontario Economic and Population Growth Plan

• Grow Ontario and ease the pressure on the GTA by building Satellite villages and towns on land not suitable for growing food.
• An innovative growth plan, based on interacting micro economy principals, should include amendments to the building code to allow construction more easily for off grid homes, tiny homes, homes with alternative, recycled material content, multiple generation dwellings, mixed zoning areas, home businesses and more.
• Partner Ontario Municipalities: Every municipality in south Ontario projected or wishing to grow (10% for example) on population needs to partner with one or more municipalities in an area where there is no agricultural land suitable for farming at any scale due to climate or soil conditions. Then the 2 partners develop together existing and new infrastructure to the needs of citizens wishing to live in these satellite center while the partner municipalities share resources and taxes.
• The satellite settlements are micro economies with their own shops, schools, baker, butcher, hairdressers, recycling, composting facility, central heating system from renewable sources and a micro grid electricity from renewable sources and much more.

While the OFT is opposed to the proposed Open-for-business zoning by-law we all acknowledge that there are other actions that can be taken to improve the business environment in the Province, beside the above mentioned micro economies in Satellite Settlements and attract investment in the agri-food sector, including:
• Coordinating the actions of provincial ministries so they work as a team to facilitate appropriate development
• Adopting an online ‘single portal’ approach to planning applications, approvals, and communications between government agencies and applicants
• Providing greater recognition and promotion of the agri-food sector as an economic engine in the province
• Promoting job creation and investment opportunities that recognize and support agricultural business potential in rural areas. Farmland is rural employment land and employment in one sector should not place jobs at risk in another, which is the current reality of Section 10 given the risks it will create for agricultural viability.
• Creating land-use certainty by using existing planning or policy tools to permanently protect critical Ag-sector resources and identifying areas clearly not suitable for food production due to lack of soil or poor climate conditions.