ALERT
Ottawa, Ontario November 18, 2022
Ontario Bill 23 Exploits the Public
Dear Ontario members and supporters of REAL Women of Canada,
There is a deep concern about Ontario’s Bill 23 More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, currently before the Ontario Legislature. It appears to be an attack by the government on the rights of the public and especially on the family.
Housing is now a serious problem, but it seems that this great need for housing has been exploited by the Ontario Ford government for its own benefit.
This proposed legislation removes from municipal councils and individuals living in local communities, decisions relating to the building of houses in their area. Housing affects the family, as it relates to work, roads, sewers, schools, community centres and retirement homes in the community. Yet this bill denies the public from having any say in the development of housing in their communities.
Not everyone wants to live in dense urban areas, some want to raise their children in a suburban environment away from the density, noise, and congestion of the city. This bill however strips power from local communities (families) to decide how development will take place even though it directly effects their lives.
Simply put, Bill 23 takes away a residents right to have a say in local planning decisions and severely limits rights of appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal. Further, Bill 23 gives the Ontario Minister of Municipalities and Housing vast power to override local municipal Official Plans despite local support and approval of these plans.
Local communities by way of the elected officials on their city councils, collectively are supposed to decide the nature of the community. They however will no longer have a say in local development applications or have any input respecting Site Plan Control. As well their local councillors will no longer be accountable for development decisions. Instead, unelected, and unaccountable, bureaucrats at Queen’s Park will make decisions affecting communities in which they do not live.
Bill 23 represents a major step towards centralization of housing policies at the micro level at Queen’s Park. In doing so, it will lessen transparency in respect to development. Given the amounts of money involved in development and the occasion for corruption, both soft and hard, lack of transparency is a significant factor.
All of Ontario will be affected by this bill, but especially rural areas of Ontario will experience the reach of this contentious bill since that is where much of undeveloped land is located.
The Progressive Conservative Government benefits from Bill 23
According to the Toronto Star (Nov 17th, 2022), since 2018, developers have purchased large parcels of land included in the protected Greenbelt areas in the province even though they are protected from development. They purchased this land for $278 million. These developers, however, now stand to gain large amounts of money when the land is re-zoned under Bill 23. The Ontario Government has designated 15 areas slated to be removed from the Greenbelt. These 15 areas span 7,400 acres of Greenbelt.
The Toronto star further states that developers have contributed more than $572 thousand to the Ontario Progressive Conservative party since 2014, the earliest year in Ontario’s political donations database.
Action is Needed:
Bill 23 takes away the democratic right of the public to have their voice heard and to have a say in decisions that directly impact their lives and families.
Call/fax/email your local MPP and register your concerns and demand that local Official Plans, and local planning decisions be respected and determined by the municipal councillors representing the public. Insist that the government respect the right of individuals to be heard and to have direct input into the development decisions in their communities.