[All] Bill 23, Greenbelt & Regional Planning Update - Great Rally!

Wed Apr 5 12:20:05 EDT 2023

Good Day,

Here’s an update this week on Bill 23, the Greenbelt attacks, and Regional Planning destruction:

1) Rally Follow-up - It was fantastic to see hundreds of people out in-person this past Sunday to send a strong message to the provincial government in support of our sustainable Regional Official Plans and against the forced urban boundary expansions that they demanded in Hamilton, Halton and elsewhere.  The sunny weather was wonderful, there were lots of creative signs, people had fun visiting and catching-up with each other.  We had MPs, MPPs, Regional Councillors, Municipal Councillors, and many other community leaders in attendance including supporters from health, labour, agriculture along with many other organizations as well.

Kudos to Lyndsay, Hal, Laura, Dorothy, Andrew, Kae, Mike and everyone else who worked so hard to organize and co-ordinate this rally!  Attached below are a variety of photos.

2) Rally Media Coverage - Our rally message and background information made it to hundreds of thousands of people through strong coverage on television, radio, print media, and social media.  Thanks to everyone who shared things online on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Mastodon:

CKCO CTV Television News - Demonstrators Rally to Keep Waterloo Region's Urban Boundary Static:
https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/demonstrators-rally-to-keep-waterloo-region-s-urban-boundary-static-1.6339774

The Record - We Can't Afford Your Sprawl: Rally participants fear province will smash through Waterloo Region's Countryside Line:
https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2023/04/02/we-cant-afford-your-sprawl-rally-participants-fear-province-will-smash-through-waterloo-regions-countryside-line.html

	CBC - Don’t Interfere with Waterloo Region’s plan for growth, demonstrators tell province:
	https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/waterloo-region-growth-rally-1.6799424

3) New Region Official Plan/Stop Sprawl Lawn Signs - Thanks to the dozens of people who took home our new red lawn signs designed to raise awareness about the Regional Official Plan and the need to stop forced boundary expansions to protect our farmland, water and green space.   We still have about forty of these signs available (example below).  Please let any of our Waterloo Region sign captains know if you would be interested in some for your lawn and neighbourhood as it will be very important that we are speaking up for our Regional Plan in the days and weeks:

	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>
	Cambridge - vacant - ashleynlabelle at gmail.com
	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>

4) Pending Announcements from Queen’s Park - Unfortunately we are hearing from good sources that there are likely going to be a number of very negative announcements from the provincial government in the near future and possibly as soon as this Thursday (right before the long weekend in typical Doug Ford style).  Possible announcements could include decisions on area Official Plans such as the Waterloo Regional Official Plan and the County of Wellington Official Plan, changes to the Provincial Policy Statement, changes to the Growth Plan or abolishing it altogether, significant changes to the Land Needs Assessment process, perhaps the abolishing of Municipal Comprehensive Reviews, changes to allow easier Employment Land Conversions and other actions that could have very negative implications for the environment, climate change and good planning principles.  In fact, some of these changes are so sweeping it is almost impossible to contemplate the long-term consequences and damage that is being done to so much that we count on and take for granted in Ontario.

In some brighter news apparently plans to remove further lands from Greenbelt for development have been postponed due to significant public pressure and negative media coverage for the provincial government so don’t underestimate the impact we are having!

We will need to be ready to respond, speak up, and push back on short notice about these potential announcements should they become a reality.

5) Recent Media Coverage - News coverage continues on the Greenbelt and Bill 23:

	Woolwich Observer - Federal interest in Greenbelt plan a boon to opponents:
	https://observerxtra.com/2023/03/30/federal-interest-in-greenbelt-plan-a-boon-to-opponents/

	Ontario won't release document that could show how government chose Greenbelt cuts:
	 https://thenarwhal.ca/ontario-greenbelt-freedom-of-information/

        Housing Minister backtracks on commitment to build 1.5M homes by 2031:
	https://globalnews.ca/news/9601277/ontario-softens-1-5-million-homes-pledge/

        Land speculators caught illegally clearing trees in Hamilton: 
	https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2023/04/01/trees-on-hamilton-urban-expansion-lands-felled-without-permit-city.html

        Doug Ford call Federal environment Minister 'a real piece of work':  
        https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2023/03/30/doug-ford-calls-federal-environment-minister-a-real-piece-of-work.html

6) Municipal Leaders for Stronger Communities Webinar - the next webinar called "Addressing Local Housing Issues: From Ineffective to Effective Solutions”  is being held today (Wednesday, April 5th) at 4 pm.  It features Colin Best (President, Association of Municipalities of Ontario) and Kevin Eby (Registered Planner, Former Director of Community Planning with the Region of Waterloo).

The panel discussion will focus on Kevin’s recent report on the large amounts of land already available for housing and discussion about what municipalities can do to address the actual causes of the housing problems facing their residents.  

Citizens and local municipal officials can register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KvkQj4iRQiq7pU8XgbY4ig

7) Excellent webinar on Bill 23 legislative changes by Mark Winfield, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change - Through mostly non-technical language, Mark Winfield summarizes the changes and impacts of Bill 23 on the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area: 

	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qqljI_mBx4

8) Reminder - No Meeting this Friday - Enjoy the Good Friday Holiday.  Our next update meeting will be Friday, April 14th at 5:30pm:

	Topic: Grand River Watershed Bill 23 Bi-Weekly Zoom Meeting
	Time: Every Other Friday at 5:30pm EST

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

	Meeting ID: 826 4469 5701
	Passcode: 713374

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.

-----------------------------------
A) Upcoming Events

Wednesday, April 5th - 4:00pm - Municipal Leaders for Stronger Communities - Addressing Local Housing Issues - Effective Solutions - https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KvkQj4iRQiq7pU8XgbY4ig

Friday, April 14th - 5:30pm - Next update meeting on Zoom - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82644695701?pwd=bnRsUGtWSUcrRnFWR21uYVBISG9jZz09

Saturday, April 15th - 11am - 12:30pm - Kincardine Rally Against Bill 23 - details below

Friday, Saturday and Sunday April 21st, 22nd, and 23rd - Lots of Earth Day Events happening across Ontario - https://environmentaldefence.ca/ytpweekend2023/

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B) April 2nd Waterloo Rally Photos - thanks to photographer Carter Trussell for many of the rally photos below:

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C) Regional Official Plan Lawn Sign Example - let us know if you would like one!

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D) Municipal Leaders for Stronger Communities Webinar - April 5, 2023 at 4pm

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E) Kincardine Rally Information - April 15th at 11am

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F) 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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