Dear Mr. Petersen, I do not…

Dear Mr. Petersen,

I do not support Bill 66. More specifically I do not support section 10, and think that the Open For Business planning tool is atrocious.

My concerns are as follows:

1. The Bill itself does not identify under which circumstances a municipality would be granted use of the tool.

2. When in use, this tool lacks any and all forms of transparency.

3. If put into use, this tool can undermine lesgislation such as the Clean Water Act, Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, Greenbelt Act, Lake Simcoe Protection Act, Great Lakes Protection Act.

It is dispicable that this government has suggested a tool to override these pieces of legislation. Legislation that have been enacted to protect us from ourselves, that have been enacted to ensure that we have clean, safe water to drink, and protected greenspces to support this for generations to come, that have been enacted through transparent public process, that have been enacted because of grave mistakes of the past such as the Walkerton Water Tragedy.

4. The planning tool can destroy lands set aside in the Greenbelt and Oak Ridges Moraine. This land is our greenspace, it’s our local agriculture, it’s our lungs, it’s our clean drinking water. When it is gone it is gone.

5. Open For Business zoning by-laws will assist in the creation of haphazard communities, ones that lack comprehensive planning to ensure sustainability. In addition, municipalities undergo a public process in the development of official plans and zoning. We decide as a residents of our communities how and where they are to be developed. This should NOT be left up to backroom deals and certainly NOT left to Legislated ‘back room’ deals of an Open for business by law.

Now is the time for progressive policies and legislation that support the health and well being of our citizens and the environment, over business interest.

I recommend that the Ford government scrap Bill 66 in its entirety and specifically section 10.