There is nothing to do with …

There is nothing to do with "restoring competitiveness" in the this bill at all. This is purely about de-regulating any and all development in the province. This bill bypasses virtually every environmental regulation in the province, which as a result, bypasses virtually every value citizens of Ontario hold dear with respect to the environment, in turn threatening our health, farmland, and natural spaces. For example

- The Greenbelt in place to protect valuable and productive farmland from development, so that it can continue contributing to Ontario's agriculture and grown-in-province food that we all enjoy. Ontario has some of the most productive farmland in Canada but is also losing it faster than anywhere else in the country. How is making it more vulnerable supposed to benefit the province? What happens if this happens everywhere? Without any kind of limit on development of agricultural land there's a very good possibility that we could lose our most valuable farmland. Not to mention arable land is being lost all over the world, so we would be absolutely insane to let such a valuable resource not be conserved. Bill 66 would completely undermine our ability to preserve the resource and all the social AND ECONOMIC values it generates

- Drinking water protections would be bypassed, which would threaten the health of many Ontario residents. We have these in place to prevent contaminants that are difficult to treat in facilities from entering watersheds that we depend on for drinking water. Increased risk of contamination puts many communities health at risk and puts an even greater burden on our healthcare system. This could counteract any economic benefits accrued from development

- Communities value ecological features and green space, as well as the biodiversity contained within. Bill 66 would allow for protected areas to be opened up to development, threatening many species within the province. Once destroyed, these places and spaces will not be able to be replaced, and it threatens communities access to green space and nature areas. The government however sees no value in opportunities for outdoor recreation, nature appreciation, and the value of species to the ecosystem, and instead would rather see more unsustainable development be places haphazardly on the landscape. Elimination of habitat for species threatens many more of Ontario's species at risk blindly. There are plenty of reasonable places for development, there is no need to place them on habitat of species a risk that are important for their ecosystems, and valued by the people of Ontario. It also fails to consider the necessity of natural spaces for providing services to humans such as pollination, pest control, and keeping watersheds contaminant free at no cost to taxpayers.

The government seems to see considering these when planning development as "inefficiencies". What reasonable government considers the values of its citizens as "inefficiencies"? Certainly not one that truly represents the people it governs. Therefore, I urge the government to reconsider bill 66 which will not improve Ontario in any substantial way. we already have robust policies to encourage the kind of business we want to grow in our economy, whilst also protect the ecological, cultural, and economic features on the landscape that we value. Instead, such a bill would only serve to benefit business, and not the people of Ontario, and would decrease our quality of life.