The Open For Business…

The Open For Business Planning By-Law represents the PC government's breaking of its election promise to protect the Greenbelt. Giving municipalities the opportunity to enact legislation without any public notice, public consultation process, or possibility of appeal that allows developers to ignore regulations including those outlined in the Clean Water Act, the Great Lakes Protection Act, the Lake Simcoe Protection Act, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act poses a threat to our health and well-being, to our ability to produce our own food, to the viability of the agriculture industry, to safe drinking water, to good air quality, and to our ability to survive the extreme weather conditions that are becoming more prevalent. There is considerable data showing how business, growth and development do not need to come at the expense of our drinking water, our clean air, or our protected natural areas.

Allowing municipalities to rubber stamp development--without any public consultation process--that doesn't fit with the province's transportation plans, growth plans, and municipal Official Plans, and without an examination of the design and technical aspects of a proposed development to ensure it is attractive and compatible with the surrounding area and infrastructure and contributes to the economic, social and environmental vitality of the municipality, sets the province up for development that will prove costly to municipalities and to the quality of life of their residents, while setting precedents that will facilitate further development that negatively impacts municipalities and their residents. Official plans, developed in consultation with residents, ensure development contributes positively to the fabric of the municipality by ensuring adequate greenspace, appropriate public infrastructure, preservation of heritage properties, and provision of housing. It is not useless "red tape": If development has a negative impact on the fabric of a municipality, it will make the area less attractive to business and potential employees.

The Clean Water Act was put in place after the tragedy in Walkerton, Ontario where seven people died from e-coli poisoning -- and people there are still feeling its effects. The regulation requires land use planning decisions to protect drinking water safety and the health of the people of Ontario. 80% of Ontarians get our drinking water from the Great Lakes. Bill 66 threatens the health of the Great Lakes and safety of our drinking water by allowing developers to ignore the various protections currently in place that help protect the health of some of the planet's most important bodies of fresh water.

The Greenbelt protects Ontario farmland, forests, and nature. It provides habitat for wildlife and productive farmland that supports rural jobs, and a strong agricultural business sector. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, severe weather such as floods, wildfires, droughts and ice storms caused $4.9 billion in insurable damage in 2016. The costs in the first six months of this year alone is $350 per household. These costs would increase considerably if these spaces were lost to residential development. The Greenbelt and Ontario’s natural heritage are our strongest assets for growing food, preventing flooding, ensuring Ontarians have clean drinking water and providing habitat for wildlife – ecological services that amount to an estimated $2.6 billion per year, according to a recent study. The Oak Ridges Moraine is similarly important.