[All] Bill 23, Greenbelt, and Regional Planning Update - Thursday Dec 15th

[Kevin Thomason]

Good Day,

First a reminder of our community update meeting tomorrow (Friday, Dec 16th) at 5:30pm - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82644695701?pwd=bnRsUGtWSUcrRnFWR21uYVBISG9jZz09 <https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82644695701?pwd=bnRsUGtWSUcrRnFWR21uYVBISG9jZz09>  Hopefully you can join us and feel free to invite other people and organizations as well.

Despite the holidays rapidly approaching there are still many things happening to push back on Bill 23, Bill 39, and other recent dreadful provincial actions to help ensure a better future for our communities:

1) Motions against Bill 23 - numerous area municipalities including the City of Waterloo and City of Kitchener earlier this week tabled motions and staff reports against Bill 23 and other recent provincial actions.  It was great to see community delegations and strong support from elected officials to speak up and push back against the provincial actions.  In an unusual but fantastic move the new Mayor of the City of Waterloo Dorothy McCabe has authored an excellent Open Letter to Residents expressing serious concerns about Bill #23 that is attached below.

Please watch for and support similar actions in other municipalities across the Grand River Watershed.


2) Media - There continues to be lots of media coverage with articles this week focussing on more crowded parks and additional likely Greenbelt attacks:

	https://www.therecord.com/ts/news/gta/2022/12/12/doug-fords-housing-bill-will-make-parks-more-crowded-toronto-and-mississauga-warn.html

	https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2022/11/10/doug-fords-housing-bill-is-short-sighted-and-will-undermine-long-term-prosperity.html

	https://www.insidehalton.com/opinion-story/10808106-ford-government-will-try-and-grab-more-greenbelt-land/?s=n1?source=newsletter


3) Rally’s and Protests - Numerous rallies and protests continued every day this week though Green Party Leader Mike Schriener has rescheduled the Queen’s Park Rally originally planned for 12:30pm today to Monday, Dec 19th at 12:30pm instead:

	From Thunder Bay to London, Windsor to Ottawa, and everywhere in between, Greens have been going door to door and collecting thousands of signatures from people who are angry with Ford’s destructive Bill 23 and his plan to bulldoze the Greenbelt.
Now that the signatures have been collected, it's time to send a message to Ford. Come out to a rally in front of Queen's Park <https://secure.gpo.ca/civicrm/mailing/url?u=165686&qid=73146204> this Thursday, December 15 at 12:30 PM. Join the rally and help Ontario Green Party Leader, Mike Schreiner, deliver 6,000 petition signatures to Premier Ford at Queen's Park. This will be a holiday gift he will remember!

If you can make it out, please RSVP here <https://secure.gpo.ca/civicrm/mailing/url?u=165686&qid=73146204>. 


There is interest in holding more rallies, canvassing and events here in our regions.  Please e-mail Mike or I or speak up at our Friday 5:30pm meeting if you would be able to help out.


4) Radio - Work continues on our radio campaign with Jeff Stager recording a one hour long radio show about Bill 23 this coming week on CKMS.  Tanya Gevaert has been recording and airing programs and PSA’s on CFRU in Guelph.  We plan to run additional ads on a number of mainstream radio stations as well as campus/community radio stations in the weeks ahead.


5) Lawn Signs - having distributed more than 3,000 signs we now have yet another 1,000 on order that should be available starting later this week.  Please reach out to Mike Marcolongo or any of our sign captains for more information.

	Guelph Downtown - Anne Moore - amoore083 at gmail.com <mailto:amoore083 at gmail.com>
	Guelph South - Al Dejong - albert1dejong at gmail.com <mailto:albert1dejong at gmail.com>
	Centre Wellington  - Peter Varty - pjvarty at gmail.com <mailto:pjvarty at gmail.com>
	Brantford - Joan Faux - mom2jnp at gmail.com <mailto:mom2jnp at gmail.com>
	Cambridge - Jenna Quinn - jenna.quinn at raresites.org <mailto:jenna.quinn at raresites.org>
	Glen Morris - Jeff Leader - geosynergy at yahoo.com <mailto:geosynergy at yahoo.com> 
	Kitchener - Cathy Scott - cathy.scottfree at gmail.com <mailto:cathy.scottfree at gmail.com>
	Waterloo - David Lubell - dlubell at bell.net <mailto:dlubell at bell.net>
	Elmira - Sandra Bray - sandra at sandrabray.ca <mailto:sandra at sandrabray.ca>
	Wilmot - Dorothy Wilson - ah_wilson at sympatico.ca <mailto:ah_wilson at sympatico.ca>
        Wellesley - Linda Lackey - lindamclackey at gmail.com <mailto:lindamclackey at gmail.com>


6) Musical Fun - It seems that some creative people are in the holiday spirit and have been recording songs about Bill #23 and Premier Doug Ford.  Enjoy:

Doug You Gotta Go Song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx-rAmAQ4V0
12 Acts of Destruction - Seasonal Fun:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU_oR22Gapc&list=PLWrzInpyCXnv43RQrIbKFM4c0kmoTSCkv

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n4CJUEd264&list=PLWrzInpyCXnv43RQrIbKFM4c0kmoTSCkv&index=2


7) Environmental Materials for Youth - Liz Benneian an amazing community activist in the Niagara area has created and shared and entire resource library of educational materials for kids.  While not Bill #23 specific there are excellent materials here for youth of many ages:

Grade School Program Materials

I had a request from a teacher a while back asking if anyone could do a presentation for her Grade 3 class and I volunteered. I presented it today and the class and the teacher loved it.

I am adding it to the roster of presentations teachers can have free of charge from Ontariogreen. 

Ontariogreen's full range of environmental science presentations for Grades K to 8 can be found here: http://www.ontariogreen.ca/school-programs.html <http://www.ontariogreen.ca/school-programs.html>


8) Social Media - the folks at Hold the Line Waterloo Region are running ads on social media to help direct people to speak up and send letters to Doug Ford and other elected officials at their website www.holdthelinewr.org.  Please encourage people to send e-mails and continue to speak up.  Also we still need someone who can help to produce materials for TikTok and Instagram.  Please let us know if you or anyone you know would be able to help.


9) Call for Police Investigation - Democracy Watch and Environmental Defence have issued a request (attached below) for the Ontario Provincial Police for an investigation of information leaks to developers in advance of the Greenbelt Land Removals:

	https://environmentaldefence.ca/2022/12/14/environmental-defence-and-democracy-watch-call-for-opp-investigation-of-insider-information-leaks-to-sprawl-developers-in-advance-of-greenbelt-land-removals/

Unfortunately, it remains to be seen if the OPP will investigate and perhaps this helps to explain why Doug Ford was so eager to appoint one of his unqualified best friends head up the provincial police force a year or two ago.


10) Reminder - Friday at 5:30pm Zoom Update Meeting Dial-in Details:

Topic: Grand River Watershed Bill 23 Weekly Zoom Meeting
Time: Fridays at 5:30pm EST

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82644695701?pwd=bnRsUGtWSUcrRnFWR21uYVBISG9jZz09 <https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82644695701?pwd=bnRsUGtWSUcrRnFWR21uYVBISG9jZz09>

Meeting ID: 826 4469 5701
Passcode: 713374
One tap mobile
+17806660144,,82644695701#,,,,*713374# Canada
+12042727920,,82644695701#,,,,*713374# Canada


Thanks for all the great efforts so far.  Please share any questions or ideas.

Cheers,
Kevin Thomason and Mike Marcolongo on behalf of all our community groups.

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A) Upcoming Events

Friday, December 16th - 5:30pm - Update Zoom Call - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82644695701?pwd=bnRsUGtWSUcrRnFWR21uYVBISG9jZz09 <https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82644695701?pwd=bnRsUGtWSUcrRnFWR21uYVBISG9jZz09>

Wednesday, January 4th - 11:59pm - Deadline for submissions to the Environmental Registry of Ontario for Region of Waterloo and Wellington County Official Plans:
	Region of Waterloo - https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-5952 <https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-5952>
	County of Wellington - https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-5635 <https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-5635>

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B) City of Waterloo Open Letter from Mayor Dorothy McCabe

Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2022 at 03:17:33 p.m. EST
Subject: City of Waterloo - Waterloo Mayor concerned about impact of Bill 23 on residents


December 14, 2022

Parks. Recreation centres. Libraries. Fire stations. Sanitary pumping stations. Sewer and water mains. Storm water facilities to prevent flooding. Trails, bike lanes and roads. Planning, design and development.

These are some of the facilities and infrastructure that the City of Waterloo builds primarily with development charges (DCs). DCs are fees that are collected from the developers who build new housing and employment facilities. These fees are necessary in order to pay for growth related infrastructure, capital works and services that future residents, employers and employees need. Future is a key word.

These critical facilities and infrastructure are part of what makes our city enjoyable and a place where people want to live, work and play.

The City of Waterloo supports the concept that ‘growth should pay for growth’.

However, the provincial government’s recent legislation, Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, among other issues, removes the City of Waterloo and all municipalities’ ability to charge developers some of these fees. Bill 23 passes the financial burden of building growth related infrastructure directly to current residents and directly to local property tax bills.

Unless significant changes are made to the province’s new legislation, the city’s ability to build the facilities noted above will be severely constrained.

Ironically, Bill 23 will not actually build more housing quicker. It will have the opposite effect. Without the DC funding to install water and sewer mains and transportation networks, no new homes will be able to be built.

The financial impacts of Bill 23 are real. The City of Waterloo will lose approximately $23 to $31 million in DCs over the next five years. That’s a 35 per cent reduction in funds the city would normally receive from the development industry. In addition, we will see an increase of $2 to $3 million per year in operating costs. Combined, these financial losses are equivalent to a 7-10 per cent tax increase.

This means either significant service reductions or considerable increases to municipal taxes and utility rates to make up the significant funding shortfalls created by Bill 23. City Council and staff are very concerned about the impact Bill 23 will have on the affordability of life for existing residents, many who are already stressed by increased cost of living and high inflation.

Additionally, the notion that municipalities are sitting on millions of dollars of unspent or unallocated reserve funds is simply untrue. The reality is, as the city’s budget presentation of December 12 showed, our reserves are quite low. The DCs we receive are invested back into the community to pay for growth.

However, the problems with Bill 23 go beyond these financial challenges.

Bill 23 also fails to incent or require developers to pass on any savings they achieve to home purchasers or renters. Neither does it place any deadlines or expectations on developers to build new affordable or attainable housing.

The City of Waterloo is doing our part. Today, there are approximately 22,000 housing units in the pipeline at various stages of the design, review and construction process. We have the land we need to build more housing.

In addition, Bill 23 and other recent legislation also negatively impacts land use planning, heritage conservation, public consultation, and environmental protections. We are very concerned about the province’s intention to build on the Greenbelt and the new limits Bill 23 places on the roles of Conservation Authorities.

At a time when we are all dealing with a climate emergency, eroding the Greenbelt and the reducing the role of the Grand River Conservation Authority in urban and rural planning is an unnecessary and troubling idea. Like the Greenbelt, our region is home to important rural lands and environmental areas protected by the countryside line. This promotes intensification within urban areas versus expensive outward sprawl. Legislation that threatens prime agricultural lands and significant natural areas is problematic. Indeed, it is unnecessary. Waterloo has the land it needs within its borders to build the housing units needed.

The City of Waterloo and the Province of Ontario do agree on a few important points.

We agree that more housing of all types for people of all ages, abilities and income levels is needed. This means affordable and supportive housing and housing options - triplexes, duplexes, low, mid and high rises - that are attainable for more people.  

We also agree that some changes to the planning process are needed.

We agree that continuing to work closely with developers and home builders - who contribute greatly to our community – is part of the solution.

However, as written, Bill 23 is not the answer and it will only hurt residents. We know you can’t afford Bill 23 nor should you be expected to pay for future development. Bill 23 needs to be amended.

Waterloo Council and staff are working hard every day to build a great city and to accommodate the growth that already exists and that will continue to come. City of Waterloo Council has approved a 10-point adaption plan to address Bill 23, which will be a major challenge given the financial and resource challenges this Bill creates.

We ask the province to work collaboratively with us so we can build the 22,000 housing units already in the pipeline – and allow us to continue to build a city current and future residents can enjoy.

Respectfully,

Mayor Dorothy McCabe
City of Waterloo

 
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C) Democracy Watch and Environmental Defence Call for OPP Investigation





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D) Speak Up and Ensure Your Voice is Heard:

Premier Doug Ford - doug.fordco at pc.ola.org <mailto:doug.fordco at pc.ola.org> or 416-325-1941
Steve Clark - Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing - steve.clark at pc.ola.org <mailto:steve.clark at pc.ola.org> or 416-585-7214
David Piccini - Minster of Environment, Conservation and Parks - david.piccini at pc.ola.org <mailto:david.paccini at pc.ola.org> or 905-372-4000
Todd Smith - Minister of Energy - todd.smith at pc.ola.org <mailto:todd.smith at pc.ola.org> or 613-962-1144
Michael Parsa - Associate Minister of Housing - michael.parsaco at pc.ola.org <mailto:michael.parsaco at pc.ola.org>

Local Conservative MPPs:
Mike Harris Jr - MPP Kitchener-Conestoga - mike.harris at pc.ola.org <mailto:mike.harris at pc.ola.org> or 519-669-2090
Brian Riddell - MPP Cambridge - brian.riddell at pc.ola.org <mailto:brian.riddell at pc.ola.org> or 519-650-2770
Jess Dixon - MPP Kitchener South - jess.dixon at pc.ola.org <mailto:jess.dixon at pc.ola.org> or 519-650-9413

Local NDP MPPs:
Catherine Fife - MPP Waterloo - cfife-qp at ndp.on.ca <mailto:cfife-qp at ndp.on.ca> or 519-725-3477
Laura Mae Lindo - MPP Kitchener Centre - llindo-qp at ndp.on.ca <mailto:llindo-qp at ndp.on.ca> or 519-579-5460

Or use the Hold The Line Waterloo Region engagement engine to automatically address and send an e-mail you help to draft: www.holdthelinewr.org <http://www.holdthelinewr.org/>

-------------------------------------

Kevin Thomason
Vice-Chair, Grand River Environmental Network

Phone: (519) 888-0519
Mobile Phone/WhatsApp: (519) 240-1648
Twitter: @kthomason
E-mail: kevinthomason at mac.com <mailto:kevinthomason at mac.com>

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