Cheers, caution greet Ontario's reversal on Bill 66

Activists, environmentalists are celebrating

YorkRegion.com
Jan 25, 2019
Kim Zarzour

Activists and environmentalists say they are celebrating, but not letting down their guard, after the unexpected news Wednesday that the controversial Section 10 of Ontario’s proposed Bill 66 has been scrapped.

A groundswell of opposition erupted over the province’s proposed “Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act” allowing municipalities to bypass building restrictions – and, critics said, putting the 1.8-million acre Greenbelt and valuable farmland at risk.

In a late-afternoon tweet Jan. 23, Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, announced “our Government for the People has listened to the concerns raised by MPPs, municipalities and stakeholders… and will not proceed with Schedule 10 of the Bill”.

The province insisted the use of this tool would never be approved at the expense of the Greenbelt or other provincial interests like water quality or public health and safety.

But many did not believe it and lobby groups quickly mobilized, while some municipalities, including Aurora, Vaughan and Georgina in York Region, spoke out against the plan.

Clark’s Jan. 23 announcement took many by surprise: environmental groups were still delivering lawn signs in the hours before Clark’s Twitter announcement and, in the days leading up to the reversal, MPPs continued to flog the idea, saying, for example in one letter from Richmond Hill MPP Daisy Wai, the province heard “loud and clear from municipalities and job creators” it was needed because “there is too much red tape.”

In her Jan. 18 letter, Wai said her party was clear it would protect the Greenbelt, but also defended the bill as “a package of regulatory and legislative changes that target unnecessary, duplicative and outdated regulations that do nothing to protect the environment, health or safety.”

Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition was one of the groups to strongly oppose the bill, along with “countless citizens, community and environmental organizations, farmers’ federations, municipalities, labour representatives and planning associations."

“The message to the government is clear: our water and environment is a shared heritage and should not be sacrificed to benefit a few,” the coalition said in a statement, thanking municipal politicians who showed leadership on the issue, including the councils of Bradford West Gwillimbury, Brock, Georgina, Aurora and the Mayor of Barrie.

Jack Gibbons, chair of the North Gwillimbury Forest Alliance, was also in a celebratory mood.

“We are very pleased that Caroline Mulroney and Doug Ford have decided to keep their promises to protect the Greenbelt in its entirety. We are now confident that they will reject the DG Group’s request for permission to build a 1,073-unit subdivision on Greenbelt farmlands between Deer Park and Boyers Roads in the Town of Georgina.”

But the jubilation was tempered with words of warning.

“We’re celebrating this huge win for people, and we hope you are too,” LeadNow.ca, which gathered more than 22,000 names on an anti-Bill 66 petition, said in a message to supporters. “But we also know that we have to be clear eyed about this victory — and remain on guard. If there’s one thing we know, it’s that Doug Ford doesn’t like to back down. And the cashed-up developers who stood to profit will no doubt be calling up their high-powered lobbyists to try and reverse this decision.”

“We are not going to take the province’s word for it because of their behaviour in the spring, when they reversed twice on the Greenbelt, and because they are continuing to mislead the public” about the true implications of Bill 66, said Tim Gray, director of Environmental Defence.

The Growth Plan changes announced by the province last week also remain a concern, Gray said, as they open the door to further urban sprawl and take Ontario planning back to the 1970s.

Brenda Hogg, former regional councillor in Richmond Hill and one of the initiators of Greenbelt protection, said she will continue to be concerned “with the determination of a very wealthy and powerful lobby group driven by new real estate development across the GTHA."

“The new premier has four years of experience in municipal government and he is under a lot of pressure to concede to the real estate industry,” she said. “The real estate industry first tried to open our environmental laws with a promise of more affordable housing. Then they changed the argument to a need for employment lands. Neither argument is valid. We have the land already zoned and serviced. It’s ready for development now.”

“We must remain vigilant and ensure the government does not attempt to do the same in another manner and/or through other legislative means,” said Richmond Hill Coun. Karen Cilevitz.

In Richmond Hill, where a motion by Coun. David West to examine the bill was dismissed by a majority on council last month, people took to social media reminding residents to stay engaged.

“This situation has also activated many in Richmond Hill to pay closer attention to the shenanigans in council and hold our councillors accountable when they do not represent the best interests of the community,” said Joel Clements.

Richmond Hill Coun. Tom Muench defended the bill, saying it would give more control to municipalities in terms of planning and environmental protection.

West’s motion was defeated because it was “too narrow”, he said, and only focused on the environmental aspect of the bill without giving the rest of council much opportunity to deliberate on it.

“I did not believe at any time that the province was removing the intent of what we are doing in terms of the environment.

“I would like the province to keep Schedule 10, but I would like them to expand the directives to make it clear that, unless otherwise changed through certain process, hat they are going to protect the environment.”