I do not support the…

I do not support the proposed introduction of a new regulation under the Planning Act for an open-for-business planning tool.

The tool puts the interests of a very, very few people ahead of everyone else, namely developers and builders, which Statistics Canada table 14-10-0023-01 suggests is only 9 per cent of the total Ontario population.

For the remaining 91% of the population,
* we risk losing our natural and built heritage (Bill 66 removes the protection of the Planning Act and Provincial Policy Statement which says "Significant built heritage resources and significant cultural heritage landscapes SHALL be conserved."
* we risk contamination of our drinking water leading to sickness, even death, as happened in Walkerton (Bill 66 removes the protection of the Clean Water Act and Great Lakes Protection Acts)
* we risk losing farmland and the ability to feed ourselves sustainably (Bill 66 removes the protection of the Places to Grow Act and Growth Plans, e.g. Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horsehoe).
* we lose our rights as citizens to participate in community building in our own communities. (Bill 66 throws out all the years of work we have put into developing our municipal Official Plan. It says "open-for-business" development proposals don't have to comply with our Official Plan.)

Worst of all, we can't even reason with or discuss developers' plans with them, in an "open for business" bylaw environment. (Bill 66 removes the necessity to publicize and get comments on proposed developments.)
And we can't appeal to outside experts to help with aspects of the proposal that concern us. (Bill 66 removes the right to appeal to the Local Planning Appeals Tribunal.)

Why are my interests, my physical and mental health, and especially my democracy, so unimportant?
Why don't I matter to the government?

-- one of the 91% of the population who stand not to profit, but may well be harmed, by the "open for business" bylaw proposed in Bill 66, Schedule 10