Comments on Bill 108: More…

Comments on Bill 108: More Homes, More Choice Act (Planning Act and Development Charges)
The Federation of North Toronto Residents Associations is an umbrella group for over 30 residents associations in the area (roughly) bounded by Bloor Street, the Don Valley Parkway, Sheppard Avenue and Bathurst Street.

We request that the process of consideration of Bill 108 be delayed to allow for adequate consultation and development of alternative actions that truly meet the needs of Ontarians. The timeline for Bill 108 is far too aggressive; essential information about proposed regulations is missing. Mistakes will carry extremely high costs for our communities. Municipalities are the engines of our economy, the creators of complete communities, and protectors of vibrant streetscapes.

We strongly support the provision of more affordable housing in the City, not just any “more homes and more choices”. More housing does not necessarily result in affordable housing, just more for developers. More affordable housing is what is missing, is desperately needed, and is missing from this plan.

FoNTRA representatives actively participated in the provincial consultation process earlier this year on developing ways to increase availability of housing and especially affordable housing in urban areas. Bill 108’s draconian changes – the virtual elimination of public participation in planning, speeding development approvals to eliminate the ability of municipalities to carefully consideration of applications in their communities, stripping funding for essential services to support intensification, while lacking any measures for truly affordable housing does not reflect what was discussed at the consultations.

We must avoid repeating past mistakes where development decisions critical to communities being made by non-elected officials (ie an OMB styled LPAT) who do not live there and likely have never even visited them. We need to keep key decision-making local and with accountable, elected representatives. We demand a real LPAT process, not one that replicates the OMB.