Bill 23 will allow developers to profit from the destruction of critical waterways and greenspaces

Unable to deliver its promised instant homes with the magic wands of the original Housing Action Plan and Housing Action Plan 2.0, the Ford government is using Housing Action Plan 3.0 to re-make Ontario as an autocracy, pushing suburban-style development while sacrificing the environment and democracy.

There are three main threads to unravel.

The first consists of massive legislative and regulatory proposals. Bill 23 is yet another omnibus piece of legislation which is 175 pages long and amends 10 acts, being delivered in closure with limited public consultation.

It is buttressed by numerous postings on the Environmental Registry containing further regulatory amendments. Cumulatively, the changes seek to redefine the scope of municipal planning; reduce democratic norms for both public participation in planning and legal recourse through the Ontario Land Tribunal; offer weak support for affordable housing; and seek to prevent the pursuit of green development standards at a time when we need to address the climate crisis by building complete, compact, transit-oriented low-carbon communities.

In addition, and of key interest to the Ontario Headwaters Institute, is that key aspects of watershed management, usually led by Conservation Authorities (CAs) are being gutted for the fourth time in a few years, while betraying the recent trust built up between the Province and its CA working group.

Bill 23 will see: the CA mandate to address the conservation of land revoked; CAs possibly barred from entering into service agreements to help municipalities protect the environment; development allowed on wetlands; the Province able to direct CAs to surrender land, such as conservation areas often donated in perpetuity, for future development; developers allowed to place small streams underground, thereby impacting water quality and natural heritage. It also appears that CA monitoring and their valuable watershed report cards may be banned.

A second thread is the history of undelivered initiatives from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and its accomplices in environmental sabotage. This includes:

• The Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan is still a draft, after more than four years;
• Ontario’s Wetland Strategy has been archived on the government website, also for four years;
• The government was forced to withdraw key aspects of a previous effort, Bill 66, that would have allowed new subdivisions while ignoring both public consultation and the Clean Water Act;
• The government pilfered a private member’s Bill to add parts of the Paris-Galt Moraine to the Greenbelt, then let their Bill languish;
• There has been no decision notice or other action on Growing the Size of the Greenbelt—the only public discussion on land use in Ontario in the last five four years—since consultation ended more than a year ago; and
• There have been at least three efforts to amend the Provincial Policy Statement, with a fourth underway now.

This litany of misdirection signals that either the PC government has no idea what it is doing, does not respect the investment of time by its own staff and the public on its initiatives, and/or is purposely destroying environmental safeguards through the death of a thousand cuts. We think it is all three.

Bill 23 also cripples efforts to ensure Ontario residents have access to affordable housing. Inclusionary zoning has been aggressively opposed by the development lobby, whose patrons do not want to build the type of supply needed by many middle and low-income earners. The obsession with profiting from sprawl, instead, pushes development of large homes into the most critical ecosystems and protected greenspaces across Ontario. (The Bill limits required affordable housing under municipal inclusionary zoning policies to 5 percent of all units; and frees developers from paying mandated infrastructure-related building fees for affordable units, meaning taxpayers will subsidize the costs of projects so builders can maximize their profits; this could hurt the push for affordable housing.)

Finally, there is the unseemly haste of legislative closure and the aggressive rhetoric of a government that has apparently been captured by private interests. The onslaught is being led by a minister who has gone from the usual insults of calling activists NIMBY-ists (Not In My Back Yard), to the dis-information of them being BANANA – Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone.

Let us be clear: no one has ever said BANANA. Certainly not those who favour increased development within existing urban boundaries; nor those seeking more affordable housing.

Further, the OHI and our sister organizations are not NIMBY-ists. We do not express concerns about the Housing Action Plan because we have massive holdings near proposed development, but because watercourses and wetlands are part of the global commons of water. Because society needs to protect regional biodiversity and food security. And because it is imperative to build sustainable, low-carbon communities in an era of the climate, biodiversity, and food security crises.

To date, the OHI is thrilled to see significant sectoral and public responses to Bill 23 and its associated postings on the Environmental Registry. After a short lull to parse hundreds of pages and scores of proposed changes, municipalities, conservation authorities, housing advocates, environmentalists, and those concerned about legal rights are now beginning to offer comments.

They have not been complimentary.

Meanwhile, the public sees through the naked assault on municipal planning, conservation authorities and democracy, for what it is.

And many tell the OHI they abhor the false and misleading claims emanating from the Ford government circa 1980.

Given the disastrous sweep of the current proposals, the undelivered initiatives described above, and his hostile rhetoric, Steve Clark, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, should either withdraw Bill 23 and its aligned initiatives or ensure a lengthy period of public engagement. He should also update his perspective to recognize that the economy, the environment and democracy are inter-dependent; and stop using the former as a cudgel against the latter two.

Andrew McCammon is the Executive Director of the Ontario Headwaters Institute.

COVID-19 is impacting all Canadians. At a time when vital public information is needed by everyone, The Pointer has taken down our paywall on all stories relating to the pandemic and those of public interest to ensure every resident of Brampton and Mississauga has access to the facts. For those who are able, we encourage you to consider a subscription. This will help us report on important public interest issues the community needs to know about now more than ever. You can register for a 30-day free trial HERE. Thereafter, The Pointer will charge $10 a month and you can cancel any time right on the website. Thank you