York Region advocates slam Ontario’s recovery act for ‘fast-tracking’ development

'The shovels might be in the ground before you find out that something very significant is happening in your community,' a lawyer says

Yorkregion.com
July 29, 2020
Sheila Wang

A newly-passed omnibus bill that was promulgated to jump-start economic growth in Ontario has stirred up environmental advocates across York Region, who worry it would “tear up” environmental protections and lead to “faster” development.

Bill 197, or the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, which passed into law on July 21, amends numerous pieces of legislation, from the Environmental Assessment Act to the Planning Act, with a view to simplifying regulatory processes in a multitude of areas, including infrastructure projects, building and housing.

“This is so outrageous and offensive to me,” said Debbie Gordon, a Georgina resident who has been involved in environmental issues for 25 years. “It’s all being changed very quickly, and it’s been changed without public consultation.”

Gordon said the government took advantage of the pandemic to ram through the bill in a matter of days, which would turn away decades of “science and citizen advocacy” and have a significantly negative impact on the local communities.

Several local environmentalists raised grave concerns over the possible impact on the environment, as the bill eliminates the overarching requirement for an environmental assessment (EA) before any project begins.

EA is a decision-making process undertaken under the Environmental Assessment Act that promotes good environmental planning by predicting the potential environmental effects of proposed initiatives.

“Currently, all projects are required to go through an environmental assessment. Now, with this bill, they’re not forced to do so on a regular basis; it’s going to be at the discretion of the cabinet,” said Marta Ecsedi, a civil engineer.

The 31-year Richmond Hill resident said the legislation would likely speed up residential development, regardless of its impact on the environment in the city, where a number of contentious highrise proposals are already under consideration.

Richmond Hill environmental activist Liz Couture also sounded the alarm, warning that the bill would propel further urban sprawl in the city.

“I think that there will be continued development (in Richmond Hill), up higher and higher, while at the same time continued resident opposition to that development (exists),” Couture, organizer of the Global Warming Drawdown Richmond Hill Group, wrote in an email on July 21.

The new bill will make it more difficult for the residents to fight against development or infrastructure projects in the community, Laura Bowman, a lawyer with the environmental law firm Ecojustice, told Yorkregion.com.

Having grown up in northern York Region, Bowman said she had volunteered with York Simcoe Nature Club and worked on a variety of environment-related issues in the region, including the Bradford Bypass.

She said a number of public-sector infrastructure projects -- pending a slew of additional proposals -- may be exempted from environmental assessments, and consequently preclude the public from being informed and expressing their concerns, as public consultations are part of the EA process.

“The shovels might be in the ground before you find out that something very significant is happening in your community,” Bowman said. “It’ll mean things like nobody gets to see the final decisions being made about the Bradford Bypass.”

Projects such as wastewater management, sewage infrastructure expansion and road widening are on the list of proposed exemptions which Bowman said would eventually be incorporated into the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act.

Details on these proposals are posted for public comment on Ontario's environmental registry until Aug. 22.

Bowman also pointed out that the new legislation was set out to enhance the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s zoning orders (MZOs), which not only override local planning processes but also bypass environmental policies and citizen opposition to redesignating land.

“It basically allows the minister to take control away from local government,” Bowman said.

MZOs are an “exceptional power” -- rarely exercised before the incumbent government -- that enable the provincial government to “swoop down at any time” to make a high-level planning decision locally, she said.

Minister Steve Clark has reportedly issued eight new zoning orders in just over a year, including an order to grant the destruction of three protected wetlands in Vaughan to allow for the construction of a large warehouse and distribution centre and another to give the green light to build a retirement community on a farmland in Markham and Whitchurch-Stouffville.

The new amendments further expand that power so that the minister can also decide on details like site plan control and inclusionary zoning, Bowman said, adding it would "fast-track" approval without people having a say in it.

It would also significantly change the way that people participate in planning decisions, because they would have to fight unwanted development on three fronts -- the municipality, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) and the minister who the developers would attempt to lobby to get their MZOs.

“Some people are calling it the 'bulldozer bill.' It's about digging stuff up and throwing things up quickly. It's not really about economic recovery for all Ontarians,” Bowman said.