Premier Doug Ford, I am…

Premier Doug Ford,

I am deeply concerned about the impact Bill 66 will have on the safety of our water, on the integrity of our local agriculture community, on the health of our green spaces, and on the sustainability of our communities.

Schedule 10 of Bill 66 overrides protections for the health and well-being of Ontario's citizens, including those established under the Lake Simcoe Protection Act, the Clean Water Act, the Greenbelt Act, the Great Lakes Protection Act, the Oak Ridges Moraine Act, and the Places to Grow Act. Protecting Lake Simcoe is not red tape!!

It seems that what happened during the Mike Harris years has been mostly forgotten, the financial gutting of the environmental ministries, education and health, and the lack of oversight, transparency and accountability, as well as public input.
And now Premier Ford, you are repeating the same behavior as your predecessor and calling it Ontario’s Government for the People! This government is being run totally undemocratic and not at all about engaging and protecting the taxpayers or our precious environment, but in supporting the wealthy land developers and big business corporate sector.

Do you want to repeat the Mike Harris Red Tape Commission which caused the deaths of 7 people in 1999? There will surely be more Walkertons and much worse if Bill 66 gets passed!

Colin Perkel tells it in his book, Well of Lies, “the Conservative government of Premier Mike Harris, with its pro-business approach and antipathy towards red tape, had made it abundantly clear that aggressive enforcement and prosecutions would not be the order of the day. Besides, the government’s severe downsizing of the ministry had effectively hobbled its ability to police environmental violations.”
For the full story, here’s a link to the e-book version of Well of Lies:
www.amazon.ca/Well-Lies-Walkerton-Water-Tragedy-ebook/dp/B01IZTCFQY/ref…

It seems there’s a cycle to these things. Lessons learned in the aftermath of tragedy are forgotten and we’re now galloping full-tilt down the sorry path of regulatory gaps, inadequate oversight and monitoring, and responsibilities downloaded to entities unwilling or unable to discharge them. Simplistic solutions and glib reassurances are rewarded. It’s all too chillingly familiar for those of us who remember Walkerton.

Schedule 10 of Bill 66 must be stopped!