To Whom It May Concern:…

To Whom It May Concern:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on ERO posting 025-0391. Please see attached an electronic submission from the City of Burlington. Below are the key points extracted from the submission, c/o of City's Community Planning Department.

In principle, the City does not support legislative changes that would allow the Province to unilaterally suspend municipal regulations, environmental protections, and labour laws without scrutiny from the public through the legislative process, and without consulting with key parties like municipalities and Indigenous groups.

At this time, it is difficult to provide any specific comments on the proposed Special Economic Zones Act. The information available at this time suggests that there will be future regulations relating to criteria, designation of special economic zones and designated proponents and projects. The approach of providing scant information for comment makes it difficult for municipalities to participate meaningfully in consultation.

There are a number of questions that the City has with respect to the development of the details of this future tool, and the City is looking forward to future engagements with the Province on these matters.

- What will qualify as a strategically important economic activity?
- What will qualify as a priority project?
- What will qualify a proponent as a trusted partner?
- How might designated special economic zones be established? Given that a special economic zone will likely be located in a political geography (or in some cases multiple) how will those impacted municipalities be engaged?
- How will the criteria be established for each of the elements outlined? Will there be engagement with the local municipality in developing criteria?
- How will the criteria, process and implementation of this new tool consider the recommendations from the Performance Audit: Minister’s Zoning Orders prepared by the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario in 2024?

We look forward to continued collaboration on Bill 5, and please feel free to contact us should there be any follow-up questions or information required.

Best,

Jayson Doll
Corporate Strategic Lead, Government Relations
Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)
jayson.doll@burlington.ca