In the last decade I have…

In the last decade I have lived in both Hamilton and Sudbury, two cities supported by industrial complexes that helped Ontario to thrive economically and provided sustainable jobs for the community. Both communities continue to grapple with what it means to be a sustainable industrial city, one that supports business while also protecting the biodiversity, drinking water, and quality of life for their citizens. Sudbury's legacy in particular is a stark warning of what can happen when the economic viability of an industry takes precedence over the protection of air, lakes, lands, and human health. We were once a beacon of pollution; barren, black, and devoid of vegetation, and it was only through collaborative intervention by municipal stakeholders and provincial emissions regulators that Sudbury's environmental prospects began to turn around. We're still grappling with the environmental impacts of our predecessors, I don't want this to be the same legacy that we leave for future Ontarians. This legislation undermines what we've learned from the Sudbury experience; that regulations to protect drinking water, wildlife, greenspace and human health are integral to making a community "livable". Sudbury would not attract and retain families and a talented workforce if provincial regulation hadn't made sure that the city was worth living in.

I am in opposition to policies that undermine and circumvent the critical protections that Ontarians depend upon for healthy communities, such as the Planning Act, the Greenbelt Act, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, the Great Lakes Protection Act, the Lake Simcoe Protection Act, the Clean Water Act and more. It is critical that bylaws that intersect with these protections are visible to the public, open for public appeal, and need to fall in line with provincial and municipal official plans. I do not support legislation that directly undermines the safety, health, and environmental quality of the province that I call home.