'Shocked and disappointed': Stouffville councillor on abrupt Bill 66 change

Province backs down on open-for-business tool allowing development on Greenbelt

Yorkregion.com
January 30, 2019
Lisa Queen

When Whitchurch-Stouffville Coun. Hugo Kroon saw a series of tweets from Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark abruptly abandoning a proposed controversial development policy, he checked to make sure they were coming from a legitimate account.

When he realized they were, his heart sank, although he hopes the province will find another way to help municipalities in desperate need of the business development the now-kiboshed provincial proposal would have permitted.

“We got screwed, but I don’t think it’s permanent,” Kroon said.

In three tweets sent out Jan. 23, Clark said his government is backing down on a section of its proposed Bill 66, the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act.

The open-for-business section would have allowed municipalities to seek permission to bypass several laws meant to protect the Greenbelt and the Oak Ridges Moraine if they could prove new businesses would create at least 50 jobs in communities with populations less than 250,000 and at least 100 jobs in larger municipalities.

While Clark insisted the tool would never have been approved at the expense of the Greenbelt or put water quality and public safety at risk, he said the government is pulling the plug on the plan after listening to concerns raised by MPPs, municipalities and stakeholders.

Environmentalists are thrilled.

“We saved the Greenbelt, Lake Simcoe and the Oak Ridges Moraine,” York Region’s North Gwillimbury Forest Alliance chair, Jack Gibbons, said.

Environmental Defence called the government’s about-face a “major victory” for thousands of residents who fought the plan.

But Kroon said he was “shocked and disappointed” when he read Clark’s tweets.

While the town never had any intention of declaring open season on Greenbelt development, council had quickly thrown its support behind the open-for-business tool as a way of attracting businesses along Highway 404 in Gormley.

With Whitchurch-Stouffville homeowners paying 95 cents of every local property tax dollar, the town needs to grow its industrial and commercial base to ease the burden residents shoulder paying for services, councillors argued.

“Everyone knows Gormley and the entire 404 corridor is our future,” Kroon said in December.

Not only does the government’s decision to kill the open-for-business tool jeopardize the town’s financial future, it also puts Whitchurch-Stouffville at a disadvantage as the province launches a review of municipal governments, Kroon said.

As the town tries to negotiate for its best interests in the face of possible amalgamations, an unhealthy tax base will prevent it from working from a position of strength, Kroon said.

“I think it will compromise our position in the upcoming regional governance review,” he said.

“We are assuming the province is going to make some changes. If Whitchurch-Stouffville doesn’t have a reasonable commercial assessment, we’ll have nothing to bring to the table when it comes to potential redistribution or amalgamation.”

Kroon is confident the province will find another way for municipalities to attract businesses.

“I believe the provincial government understands municipalities have to be self-sufficient and that means giving them more opportunities for commercial development,” he said. “I believe common sense will prevail and they’ll give us something.”