January 20, 2019 Mr. Ken…

January 20, 2019

Mr. Ken Peterson
Provincial Planning Policy Branch
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
777 Bay St. 13th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5G 2E5

Dear Mr. Peterson
Re: Response to Request for Comments
Bill 66, Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act 2018 (ERO #013-4293)
Proposed Open-for-Business Planning Tool (ERO #013-4126)
New Regulation Under the Planning Act (ERO #013-4239)

The Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance (GHFFA) is a partnership between Regional Municipalities and the Cities of Toronto and Hamilton, the farm community and organizations in the Golden Horseshoe that seek to grow and enhance the food and farming cluster of the region. The Alliance is responsible for the implementation of the Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Action Plan 2021 which identifies pathways for a more integrated and coordinated approach to food and farming in the region.

Since the implementation of the Action Plan, the Alliance has been instrumental in advocating for significant progress at the Provincial and Municipal levels in the development of policy and guidelines in planning for:
On Farm Secondary Uses
Edge Planning
Harmonization of policies regarding agriculture in the Greenbelt, Oak Ridges Morraine Plan, Niagara Escarpment Plan and the Growth Plan
Protection of Prime Agricultural Lands through the implementation of the Agriculture Systems Mapping
Urban Agriculture Initiatives including ongoing input to Rouge National Park
Small Plot Farming
We have held workshops to educate planners and economic developers in the Greater Golden Horseshoe to understand the role that agriculture and food production and processing plays in driving a healthy regional economy.

The Action Plan also addresses Economic Development for growth of the Agri-Food and Food Processing Industries in the Golden Horseshoe. The Alliance has supported:

Food Incubators in Northumberland, Toronto and Niagara College
Taste Your Future Scholarship Program with Food and Beverage Ontario
Development of ConnectOn – a data management program for Economic Development
Recognition of Canada 150 Farm Families Across the Golden Horseshoe
Serving Up Local – a project to promote local food in Long Term Care facilities
Serving Up Local 2 – 3 year research project with the University of Guelph

Our collaborative approach to advance our shared objectives, projects and relationships between business, municipalities and provincial ministries helps each stakeholder understand and respond to the needs of the agriculture and food sector.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing circulation proposal for Bill 66 and the associated tools and proposed legislation. The GHFFA has an ongoing interest in this process.

Stable Governance provides Stable futures

Bill 66 – Section 10 could have some grave consequences for progress that has been made to protect the finite supply of prime agricultural land in Ontario. While the implementation of the Greenbelt in 2005 was seen to be a boon for some farmers and a lost opportunity for others depending where the line landed, over time, the policies of the Greenbelt have reduced fragmentation of agricultural lands over 1.8 million acres of farmland and provided certainty for the farmers that wish to reinvest in their operations. Farmers require long term stability in their operations to help transition their farm businesses to the next generation of farmers. Extreme swings in policy from one government to the next creates uncertainty and instability to these Greater Golden Horseshoe operations.

The lands in Southern Ontario provide the citizens of Ontario with food, fibre and fuel as well as environmental and ecological goods and services. These lands must be protected for the long term through consistent, harmonized Provincial Policies. Allowing municipalities to create a patchwork of “exemptions” through this proposed bylaw will fragment further and diminish the best agriculture land in Canada.

Protection of Land, Air and Water

As stewards of the land, farmers have shown their support of the protection of water resources, air quality and protection of high-quality agricultural lands. The Growth Plan states that a balanced approach to the wise use and management of all resources, including natural heritage, agriculture and water protection will be implemented.

Introduction of Bill 66 would allow “open-for-business planning by-laws” to be passed by municipalities. Our understanding is that the bill would have the effect of exempting applications under the Planning Act from having to be consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (2014). This bylaw would allow the applicant to avoid conforming to important planning, water, agricultural and environmental protections contained in the Clean Water Act 2006, the Greenbelt Act 2005, The Great Lakes Protection Act and the Places to Grow Act and other provincial legislation. The Alliance finds this move to be regressive and suggests that the government already has a tool – Minister’s Zoning Orders - to accomplish the same thing in extreme cases, should it be required.

In addition, the bylaw would permit municipalities to pass an ‘open-for-business” bylaw if certain criteria are met, one of which would be evidence that the proposal would meet a minimum job creation threshold (e.g. 50 jobs for municipalities with a population of less than 250,000 people or 100 jobs for municipalities with a population of more than 250,000 people). The planning tool also states that this tool could be used for “economic growth opportunities” and “prescribed purposes”. These opportunities and purposes have not yet been defined and are to be prescribed at a later date. The building industry is excited about this statement as they feel new housing developments may now be considered under this bylaw. The Alliance feels that housing subdivisions and other non-compatible land uses should not be allowed to come up against prime agricultural lands under this bylaw. The ambiguity that exists in these statements should give pause to all.

Bill 66 proposes to override the need to conform to significant drinking water threat policies which were mandated and approved by the Province in Source Protection Plans under the Clean Water Act. Eliminating the ability to protect water sources will lead to serious degradation of water sources and a threat to public health

Bill 66 would not require new businesses to adhere to the same acts that existing businesses and municipalities would. This will be especially important under the Clean Water Act and other Source Water Protection legislation. Residents, municipalities and conforming businesses should not be expected to pay extra for cleaning up after new industries that are not subject to these regulations in the name of “open for business”.

AgriFood is an Economic Driver for the Province

Sixty-five percent of the agricultural production of Ontario is purchased and processed in Food Processing facilities in Ontario contributing 40 Billion dollars to Ontario’s economy. Over half of those companies and facilities are located in the Golden Horseshoe and provide approximately 65,000 jobs in food processing alone. Diminishing the productive land base in Ontario will mean that ingredient production and jobs will move out of the province.

The Alliance supports the Growth plan targets for intensification of urban municipalities. A variety of housing must be encouraged along with well developed transportation systems. This growth should not come by development on Canada’s best land. Firm urban boundaries are required to encourage growth up and not out. Density makes expensive transportation systems successful tools to mitigate congestion and climate change by keeping cars off the roads and industries located close to major arteries.

The Agriculture System was mapped in 2018 to indicate where the prime agricultural lands were located and the agribusinesses, food processing and service jobs that agri-food network supports. While the development industry is not in support of the Agriculture Systems mapping, the work to identify this precious resource should not be ignored.

Due Process is Important

In our democratic society, the Alliance values public consultation and providing notice in accordance with the Planning Act. Bill 66 creates a hostile atmosphere by limiting input and consultation on large projects in a community. Municipal politicians will be given the opportunity to ignore those who elected them. All decisions are final and cannot be appealed. This is not the way we wish to do business – open or not!

Subsection (6)15 of Schedule 10 seems to provide an opportunity to add “any prescribed provision” to the Act in the future. This statement creates uncertainty that we are not willing to support as any current or future act or policy could arbitrarily be added to the list of exemptions under the “open-for-business” bylaw.

It is unclear how the tool will operate in the context of the current planning framework. Municipalities have approved official plans with identified and designated employment lands based on full servicing. In addition, official plans have identified certain lands, based on public consultation where other community values take precedence to, to identify areas that are not suitable for employment lands. Bill 66 seems to be able to override these approved plans to potentially site new employment opportunities in unsuitable areas. The use of an OFBPBL should be geographically limited to existing designated employment lands with access to full municipal sewer and water services and proximity to 400 series highways and/or other major transportation corridors.

The Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance are opposed to EBR Registry No. 013-4239 New Regulation under the Planning Act for open-for-business planning tool. Should this tool be implemented, years of land use planning to protect agricultural land and the economy will be undone. A short-term gain in a few new businesses will lead to long term negative consequences for agricultural land, clean drinking water and breathable air for the residents of Ontario.

There are other ways that could shorten the time for permitting for new businesses. We feel that implementing concierge services at the municipal level, elimination of duplication of planning approvals at different levels of government and agencies and a “problem solving” attitude will go a long way to expediting appropriate applications for new industries and job creation.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments. You may follow up with Janet Horner, Executive Director, Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance janet@whitfieldfarms.com, should you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

Bill Hodgson
Chair
Golden Horseshoe Food and
Farming Alliance