Whether "you believe" the…

Whether "you believe" the government's intention may is "to make it easier for businesses to navigate the complex system of development approvals" helping businesses looking for sites, and meeting certain prescribed provincial criteria to qualify for streamline approvals is exactly what WE DO NOT NEED!! Businesses already have far too much leeway and too many loopholes to circumvent legislation that was designed to protect our environment. Removing that "red tape" is exactly what businesses and developers want to help them circumnavigate legislation that protects our environment from being poisoned by them.

The problem with the "mantra" of "cutting red tape" means that safety precautions we have fought long and hard to institute are subsequently removed. What is actually being cut are labour regulation, child protection, clean water safeguards, even the greenbelt legislation that you, the provincial Progressive Conservatives, promised on the campaign trail you would PROTECT ”IN IT'S ENTIRETY". How can you honour that promise when Premier Doug Ford was caught on tape discussing the exact opposite in a "back room" meeting with his developer friends.

Bill 66 also changes our independent Commissioner of the Environment so we will no longer have a yearly independent report on the government's handling of the environment portfolio. This in no way inspires any confidence in the citizens of Ontario that the Progressive Conservatives have any true desire to protect our environment against the greed of developers who only want to line their own pockets and have no vision for the future well-being of the people who live here.

Letting developers and corporations have a streamlined process to ram through their operations is hardly the way to protect our environment. We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the consequences of continually raping our natural heritage. Once gone, farmland and natural areas are gone forever. We must be vigilant and protect our water and green spaces from further contamination.