On July 22, 2019 the…

On July 22, 2019 the provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing announced proposed changes to the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) to help increase the supply of housing, support jobs and reduce barriers and costs in the land use planning system. This document is in response to your call for the view from the public on the following questions:

1. Do the proposed policies effectively support goals related to increasing housing supply, creating and maintaining jobs, and red tape reduction while continuing to protect the environment, farmland, and public health and safety?

Smaller municipalities impose roadblocks for implementing a progressive land use planning system. The mentality for a small town is to resist change. They have a NIMBY attitude and fiercely attack any application to increase housing, transportation or employment growth in their towns. There is no need for all this bureaucracy - it is wasteful – the big picture for implementing an effective housing or employment lands strategy is lost, a policy to amalgamate smaller municipalities will eliminate roadblocks and red tape is needed. Example, the Region of Niagara has 12 municipalities with 136 politicians governing a population of 400,000 residents, that is more politicians than Toronto and Hamilton combined – they have delay after delay to implement expansion for mixed-use communities and infrastructure to provide for low-income earners, seniors or first time home buyers. The Region of Niagara is trying to meet the growth requirements mandated by the province but the lower tier municipalities blindly fight expansion at every step. Immediate amalgamation of second tier municipalities into a single region (or into other neighbouring cities, e.g. Grimsby into Hamilton) would remedy the narrow minded approach.

2. Do the proposed policies strike the right balance? Why or why not?

The proposed policy changes are good but still face opposition from implementation by municipalities – policies must be strongly mandated by the province to increase the supply of available developable land to alleviate the dire housing crisis that affects all communities in the province.

Through the approval of Bill 139 (PDS 26-2018), several changes were made to Section 17 of the Planning Act with regards to appeals for Official Plans and Official Plan Amendments. Specifically, Subsection 17 (36.5) states that there will be no appeals with respect to a decision on new Official Plans or Official Plan Amendments that are brought forward under Section 26 of the Planning Act as they will be subject to the approval authority of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. As such, no appeals can be brought forward for Regional Official Plan Amendments. E.g., Major Transit Station Areas means the area including and around any existing or planned higher order transit station or stop within a settlement area; or the area including and around a major bus depot in an urban core. Major transit station areas generally are defined as the area within an approximate 500 to 800 meter radius of a transit station, representing about a 10-minute walk.

The Region of Niagara was mandated to include this provision in their Official Plan by the province but the Town of Grimsby asked for a delay in its implementation (although a GO Train Station for Grimsby has been approved). Expansions are forced to leap-frog to less than ideal situated communities that do not have the infrastructure, transportation corridors or serviceable employment lands. The result is increased cost for servicing land and increased commuting times; the extra costs make housing and the cost of living less affordable. The proposed policies by the province are good but need to be mandated and strictly enforced. 

3. How do these policies take into consideration the views of Ontario communities?

The majority has a genuine want for Ontario communities to have affordable housing for all and also for land use planning that includes an appropriate mixed use and for transportation and employment needs.

Unfortunately there is a noisy minority of NIMBY residents who feel entitled to suppress the basic human right to affordable housing or transportation. They have no concern for the future growth needs or mandated population projections by the province. Within smaller towns that have few voters, like those within the Niagara Region, it is easier to get NIMBY minded councils from the second tier municipalities elected because they use social media and misinformation to sway voters – they have this misguided concern that change is bad.

This is noted by the Ontario Human Rights Commission on “Human rights and not-in-my-back-yard (NIMBY)”:

NIMBY opposition to affordable housing development was a major human rights issue raised by consultees, including both tenant advocates and housing providers. People should not have to ask permission from anyone, including prospective neighbours, before moving in just because of stereotypes relating to grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code (Code). Concerns about affordable housing projects should be legitimately anchored in planning issues rather than stereotypical assumptions about the people who will be housed.

The Commission heard that discriminatory NIMBY opposition delays or discourages affordable housing development, increases its costs and diverts public funds to costly appeals to the Ontario Municipal Board, when these funds could instead be used to create more affordable and supportive housing. It may cause housing providers to feel they need to make compromises to get affordable housing built, even when these compromises undermine the dignity or well-being of their residents. For example, the Commission heard that housing providers may be asked to install windows that cannot be opened by tenants, or that are frosted so that tenants cannot look at their neighbours. In some cases, people are exposed to harassment throughout the planning process, and end up feeling unwelcome once they move into their new neighbourhood for reasons relating to grounds listed in the Code.

NIMBY opposition to affordable housing projects can violate the Code when it results in changes to existing planning processes, barriers to access to housing or exposes proposed residents to discriminatory comment or conduct. For example, claims of discrimination could arise if a municipality requires additional public meetings or amendments to the planning process solely because the intended residents of a proposed housing project are people with addictions, youth or older people, lone parents, in receipt of social assistance, or people with disabilities including mental illnesses. When planning policies or practices are directed towards, or disproportionately affect, people because of Code grounds, they may be seen to violate the Code.

The barriers created by NIMBY opposition cannot be overcome by any one stakeholder in isolation. The committed involvement of housing providers, municipalities and other levels of government is necessary to eliminate these kinds of barriers to creating new and affordable housing. The Commission is calling for development of a provincial strategy to address and prevent discriminatory NIMBY opposition to affordable housing development.

4. Are there any other policy changes that are needed to support key priorities for housing, job creation, and streamlining of development approvals?

Projects that are "owned" by the larger upper tier governments move forward more progressively when compared to the projects "owned" by the lower-tier levels which get tied up and seem to go nowhere.
When there are many uncoordinated councils governing in a region it leads to terrible inefficiencies when making strategic development plans - they do not have their views aligned to the big picture to meet growth needs.
Poor decisions in not moving forward to develop housing, employment lands, transportation and infrastructure has resulted in eroding the tax base which has resulted in increased taxes and house prices at a disproportionate level when compared to other more progressive regions. It is time to make changes to make things right.
A remedy to this problem is a policy to immediately amalgamate small lower tier municipalities into a new large city or other surrounding cities. Furthermore, the Land Planning Appeal Tribunal or LPAT (formerly the OMB) must be focused on the needs for affordable housing by permitting housing providers to allow construction of multi-use mixed housing and employment lands.

5. Are there other tools that are needed to help implement the proposed policies?

Mandate changes to the Planning Act and LPAT to supersede roadblocks to effective big picture development to meet the housing, transportation and employment projections in a cost-effective manner:

a) Mandate updates to the building codes and by-laws to allow higher densities. Large investments are incurred to service and provide infrastructure for land to accommodate small buildings in the end. The result from low density developments is increases to the per-unit cost for homes and businesses; there is a need to fast-track housing and business starts with higher densities.

b) Layers of bureaucracy, outdated zoning, and complex policies and procedures have created barriers to the efficient operation of the housing market over the past decades. These barriers are not in line with the reality of today’s rapidly changing population and land use needs. The PPS does address these issues but must be strictly mandated.

c) Suppress funding to municipalities that do not meet the growth projections mandated by the province.

d) Development within defined Major Transit Station Areas is critical for future growth and must be mandated as top priority in development plans. This includes provisions for appropriate high density housing, transportation and employment lands. The urban boundaries must be expanded to include Major Transit Station Areas if they are not already included, property in other areas of the municipality can be exchanged to accommodate. Expanded urban boundary provides planners with a supply of “shovel-ready” land and big picture options to provide effective and affordable land use. There are too many unsystematic partial-measure projects because there are no lands available within the urban boundary.

e) Housing providers should be given incentive to fast track mixed use (including rental units) and affordable housing by not being subjected to costly appeals and obstruction tactics.

f) Implement a provincial strategy using all stakeholders including housing providers, municipalities and other levels of government to prevent discriminatory NIMBY opposition to new and affordable housing growth.

g) When a municipality schedules meetings, the agendas are sometimes only published on their web site on the day of the meeting. The timing for publishing the agenda is dictated in by-laws that each municipality writes. For those with such short notice it is difficult for the public to know the council discussions regarding developments in their community and allows for municipalities to pass motions without pubic consultation or rebuttal. There should be an overriding provincial policy that mandates council agendas be published at least 48 hours prior to any meeting. Modifications to the agenda within the 48 hour period must be noted in a history section of the agenda that shows the date, time and reason (with name) for the change.

h) At the present time smaller municipalities have no public transit options.

i) Reliance on cars remains strong within smaller communities like those second tier municipalities in Niagara and many other towns within Ontario. Future growth in travel demand—especially those outside peak times and between local municipalities are poorly served by existing transit service. There is a need for the province to make it a directive to and assist communities to provide inter-municipal transportation that is publicly funded.

j) Many, especially in smaller communities feel the housing crisis is an issue only in larger cities like Toronto and the GTA. In reality the problem exists in even the smallest communities in Ontario. The problem is only getting worse, action is needed. An a very sad example of the gravity of the many housing crisis situations reported can be found in local newspapers across the province, St. Catherines as an example below:

Nowhere to go for St. Catharines’ homeless.

Out of Heat ends Saturday, but Out of the Cold won’t begin until November.
News August 26, 2019 at 06:16 PM by Allan Benner - The St. Catharines Standard

As the Out of the Heat program winds down for the season, the hundreds of people who have relied on the service during the summer months will have nowhere to go until Out of the Cold starts Nov. 1.

Many of them will have no choice but to pitch tents in parks and remote areas of the city, once the Out of the Heat program ends for the season on Saturday, said program board member Maria Bonadio.

"A lot of people are looking for tents to kind of hunker down until Out of the Cold starts," she said. "They're looking for sleeping bags and tents."

In the meantime, however, she said a program is being launched that may help fill the gap in service for a growing homeless population.

Bonadio said the 45 volunteers who ran the Out of the Heat program at St. George's Anglican Church in July and August helped provide resources, meals and a relatively comfortable, safe place to stay to almost twice the number of people who used the program in its inaugural season last year.

In July alone, 249 individuals spent their nights staying with the program for a total of 1,327 stays. That's almost on par with the total number of people who used the program throughout the entire 2018 season.

"We have provided many, many people with food and shelter and comfort and resources throughout the two months. The volunteers were just phenomenal," Bonadio said.

Some nights, volunteers said they were so busy they had to turn people away when the number of visitors exceeded fire code regulations. But even then, the excess visitors were invited to stay in the church courtyard where volunteers could at least offer them a blanket and something to eat, she said.

"Where are they going to go? There's a great need. We need another permanent shelter."

Rev. William DeGuire isn't about to wait until the Out of the Cold program relaunches to help the people he refers to as his "street family."

DeGuire has started a program called Working the Streets that includes teams of outreach workers who will search for homeless people and offer them the help they need as the nights grow longer and colder in coming months.

The program, run out of an office at 211 Queenston St. that DeGuire spent the past two months renovating, will offer resources as well as extensive training for volunteer outreach workers.

While DeGuire said the initiative may help fill the gap between the two shelter programs, he said he was driven by his faith and inspired by the plight of people living in remote parts of the city.

"The inspiration really for me is getting to the guys that are out in the bush and out along the railway tracks and to get them into emergency shelters. That's my first goal," he said. "It's to meet them right where they are at and build up relationships."

He said he began working towards developing the program about three years ago, hoping to reach out to people who for various reasons will not seek assistance at homeless shelters.

DeGuire said each of the volunteers will undergo training to work with people in need in a professional manner, before working in the community to provide warm clothing, sleeping bags, tents, toiletries and other items, as well as freshly prepared hot meals.

He said training is a vital part of the program.

"A lot of people know the word empathy, but you really have to know in your heart what it is," said DeGuire, who has been an outreach worker since 1995.

He is appealing for donations, particularly warm women's clothing. He can be reached via email at goodnewsworship@live.ca.

Meanwhile, St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens has met with residents, church and volunteer groups as well as organizations such as Start Me Up Niagara to discuss concerns about growing problems in the community.

"It's really heartbreaking to hear that people could have no place to go," she said.

"Right now, it's echoing across the city of St. Catharines that … the numbers are rising for homeless people, while donations are decreasing. Listening to all the groups, I'm hearing the same thing … We have to come up with a constructive plan."

Bonadio called DeGuire's initiative encouraging, knowing she will have an opportunity to continue helping people in need.

Still, she said saying goodbye to the people helped during the summer will be "bittersweet."

"It's going to be sad. We've connected with the clients and they've connected with us."

k) NIMBY municipal politicians are using the Conservation Authority to carry out is core conservation mission. As an example, some smaller municipalities are now appointing crony citizens to the board.

"In a special report she released on NPCA operations last year, Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk raised concerns that a board dominated by municipal politicians may lead to conflicts of interests when it comes to a Conservation Authority carrying out its core conservation mission."

As an example of the concerns raised by the Ontario Auditor General noted above, we see the following outcome for the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority with 12 municipalities, already having more politicians than Toronto and Hamilton combined - the direction is now to pack crony appointees to further restrict housing. They want to increase the number of Niagara members on the board from 12 to 27! Such a large number could make the board, which now has 12 members from Niagara, four from Hamilton and two from Haldimand (compared to 12 from Niagara, two from Hamilton and one from Haldimand during the last four year term), would be less manageable or more unwieldy with that many individuals seated around the table.

The remedy for this situation is to amalgamate the Niagara Region and to eliminate appointments to the Conservation Authority board. Make the NPCA board a composition of reasonably sized and fair number of members that represent housing providers, tenants and conservationists to make transparent decisions that will adhere to projected population and growth needs.