1. In the face of…

1. In the face of unprecedented and accelerating biodiversity loss and the ever-worsening climate crisis, it is vital for the well-being of all Ontarians that your government do its utmost to protect the farmland, wetlands, forests, rivers and other natural areas that sustain us. As Ontario’s Housing Affordability Task Force explained in its 2022 report, we DO NOT need to sacrifice environmental protection to address the housing crisis. That’s because “a shortage of land isn’t the cause of the problem.” (p.10) There is a vast supply of land already open for development within existing municipal settlement boundaries. Indeed, it is irresponsible and arrogant to ignore these environmental protection imperatives in the interest of financial profit for the few.

2. Replacement of the Provincial Policy Statement, which provides strong protections for Ontario’s farmland and natural heritage with a new planning policy instrument that would remove or streamline existing policies to facilitate development, sets the stage for interference with the autonomy of municipalities to establish planning that benefits and protects the local citizenry. Local conservation authorities have the expertise to assess and monitor the health of flood plains, water supplies and ecosystems. This crucial role of the CAs needs to be reinforced and respected, NOT decimated!

3. Creation of a natural heritage offsetting policy that could lead to widespread and extremely risky trade-offs, where existing natural areas are sacrificed on the highly questionable premise that they can be recreated or restored elsewhere. Greasing the wheels of destruction would be a “pay to pave” natural heritage compensation fund, which would allow developers to destroy wetlands, woodlands and other wildlife habitats as long as they pay into the fund. This is folly and not supported by environmental science. Once gone, these sensitive habitats and ecosystems, centuries in the making, will NOT be able to be restored or recreated. Again, this policy is dangerous to Ontarians.