Whether I live in downtown…

Whether I live in downtown Toronto or a small town in the province I want the local municipality to have more, not less, input in to how development occurs. Decisions should involve local councils and their constituents as those are the people that will live with the results of the decisions.

There is no need to give the provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing additional powers. The Minister and their office should be capable of reaching consensus with the municipality rather than forcing its views.

I would rather see the ministry focus its efforts on collaborating with municipalities to reach decisions than changing laws to give it more power and the ability to ignore the municipalities' concerns.

It is admirable that "The Ministry is interested in hearing feedback as to whether the legislative changes made in this regard by Bill 197, the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020 should be expanded, repealed or otherwise adjusted. " but it is more important that The Ministry listen and respond to the feedback of its constituents and not large financially driven development organizations. My feedback is that the legislative changes mentioned should be repealed, not expanded.

"The enhanced authority allows the Minister to: make amendments to Minister’s Zoning Orders that use any of these enhanced authorities without first giving public notice." It is, in my view, undemocratic and wrong to make amendments to authorities without giving public notice and not respecting and addressing public concerns.

Thank you for your consideration.