Bill 66 - An Act to restore…

Bill 66 - An Act to restore Ontario's competitiveness by amending or repealing certain Acts - is an astonishingly undemocratic piece of proposed legislation that further demonstrates the current Ontario Government's' full-on attack on the environment. This proposed means of dealing with what the Government describes as "red tape" is reckless, even ominous. It further illustrates the current Government's unwillingness to seriously address the need for environmental & climate controls, or land use and existing potable water threat issues, and provides proof that the people of Ontario are not Mr. Ford's primary concern. This Act speaks to poor governance and partisan politics - not the health and well-being of current and future generations of Ontario residents.

Schedule 10 of this Bill - the proposed Open-for-Business Planning By-Law - offers a Municipality the option to enact a planning by-law without public consultation or approval, & undermines the Clean Water Act, the Great Lakes protection Act, the Greenbelt Act, & the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act among other legislation that set vital legal requirements to safeguard land and water in Ontario.

Further, it threatens farm lands, wetlands, & woodlands across the province by making it possible for a Municipality to avoid protections detailed in the Greenbelt Act, Clean Water Act, for examples, as well as the Provincial Policy Statement included under the Planning Act.

Bill 66 is disingenuous. Ontario has always been open for business. We live in a Province where job numbers have been growing since before the current Government assumed power and unemployment statistics have remained low. This proposed Bill 66 is all-about uncontrolled urban development, industrial bias, and the wanton destruction of legislation created to provide protections for citizens of Ontario. It threatens people's health, wildlife existence and well-being - through the repeal of the Toxic Reductions Act, for example, and leaves residents of the Province without recourse to question or appeal. This is dangerous and, if Bill 66 is enacted, will prove both economically and politically costly given existing environmental and potable water threats facing residents in Ontario.

We live in a democratic Province in a wonderful Country and tumultuous world that requires sure-handed, informed and proactive leadership in any and all matters that may negatively impact citizens, including climate change, environmental challenges, threats to potable water supply and quality, and agricultural land security. De-regulation will accomplish nothing good.

Bill 66 must be stopped.