Federal government steps into Greenbelt debate, launching study that could delay some development
The federal government will study Rouge National Urban Park to better understand the impacts of housing developments planned by the Ontario government.
Thestar.com
March 22, 2023
Noor Javed, Kate Allen, Alex Ballingall
The federal government is going to battle the province over its plan to build housing in the Greenbelt by launching an environmental study of Rouge National Urban Park that could enable use of Ottawa’s powers to halt developments, the environment minister suggested.
Speaking in the park on Tuesday, Steven Guilbeault, minister of environment and climate change, said that depending on the findings of the study, Ottawa is open to using all the regulatory tools in its power to ensure the park stays protected.
“We have an idea that is being put forward by the Ford government that in order to build housing, we need to do that on the Greenbelt. We profoundly disagree with that idea,” he said.
The regulatory process hasn’t started because there’s no specific proposal to build yet, but Guilbeault said “if projects are proposed, then chances are that people will ask me to ask the Impact Assessment Agency to look at these projects and whether or not they will have impact on species at risk, for example.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault will be in Markham on Tuesday to announce that he has asked the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada to conduct the study alongside Parks Canada and the federal environment department.
“If we come to the conclusion is that they have irreversible impact on species at risk, then these projects won’t be allowed to go forward. That’s very clear.”
However, Premier Doug Ford suggested Tuesday the federal plans don’t actually threaten the Greenbelt development.
The Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve, a 4,700-acre tract of land immediately adjacent to Rouge National Urban Park, was opened up as part of the province’s controversial Greenbelt land swap announced in November. The Rouge, in Toronto’s eastern suburbs, is the largest urban park in North America, home to over 1,700 species, including 42 considered at risk.
Speaking to reporters in Vaughan, Ford said he has “no problem” with Guilbeault’s move and said the park won’t affect the province’s plans for expanding housing construction.
“It’s really adjacent, and isn’t it great that we can build a community and people can go there and walk through these parks,” said Ford.
“So I have no problem with that. (It) shouldn’t slow down our development plans. But good luck to him (Guilbeault) and we’re going to build a beautiful community there.”
In response, Guilbeault said the federal government had to act, as the province has “made it very clear they have no desire for public consultation, no desire for transparency, and no desire to understand the impacts if we go ahead with these developments.”
He said his office has been swamped with expressions of concern over Ford’s Greenbelt plans and its impacts, including on threatened species.
The goal of the federal study will be to “understand the potential effects, including cumulative effects of past, ongoing and potential future developments on the integrity of the park and its objectives,” Guilbeault said.
He suggested the study of the Rouge park was an obvious place to start, because as a national park it falls under federal jurisdiction; however, he said, “any projects anywhere in Canada that could have an impact on species at risk could go through an impact assessment and could trigger federal intervention.”
Guilbeault cited a development in the city of Longueil, Que., that he stopped because an assessment found it would have an impact on a threatened population of the western chorus frog.
He said the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, Parks Canada and the federal Environment Department will develop the terms and scope of the study for his approval by the end of June. The study will also look at how to protect biodiversity, natural resources and ecological connectivity through the park, and will consult with the public, Indigenous groups and others.
It’s unclear how that timeline will play out, given the province’s tight deadlines for construction on the Greenbelt lands. The government has given developers a deadline of 2025 to get shovels in the ground, with housing approvals in progress by the end of 2023.
A statement from Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark said “the readily developable lands in question are not connected to the Rouge National Urban Park. As they should also be aware, any development on these lands must avoid impacts to species at risk and comply with the Endangered Species Act.”
The green group Environmental Defence lauded the federal announcement, and said the province’s move “left the federal government with no choice but to act.
“The province’s reckless actions require a thorough evaluation and then federal action to protect values of national and international significance,” said Tim Gray, the group’s executive director.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said she’s pleased to see Ottawa “stepping forward to do something I really do hope -- and encourage -- the federal government to use every tool they have.”
Stiles said she wonders if Ford “doesn’t understand the impact of the decisions he’s making,” given that agricultural land will be lost, and species put at risk.
Last fall, Parks Canada -- which oversees the Rouge park -- criticized the Ford government’s decision to open up adjacent land in a letter, saying the decision was made without consultation and could cause “irreversible harm” to wildlife, including endangered species.
In January, Guilbeault hinted at the federal intervention on the Greenbelt, but offered few details of how it would occur. Liberal MPs have also spoken out about the province’s decision to open up environmentally sensitive lands, saying the federal government should step in if any of the proposed developments touch federal jurisdiction.
Ford has always maintained the proposed Greenbelt developments are in the province’s sole jurisdiction.
The province aims to build 1.5 million homes over the next decade, and has promised to swap the Greenbelt lands for new, bigger protected areas -- ones that environmental groups have said are far less ecologically valuable.
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