[All] Official Plan Reversals, New Auditor General Report, Bill 23, Zoom Meeting Friday, Dec 8th at 5:30pm

Thu Dec 7 22:05:36 EST 2023

Good Day,

Join us tomorrow (Friday, Dec 8th) at 5:30pm for our final Zoom Update Meeting of the year to discuss the latest Auditor General’s report, Official Plan Reversal outcomes, the Dec 16th ERO deadline, and other current issues:

1) Ford Ends Legislative Session Until Mid-February To Avoid Auditor General’s Report - It was shameful to see Premier Doug Ford adjourn the Legislature on Wednesday until mid-February to avoid accountability and having to face questions about the latest Auditor General Report in Question Period:

	Richard Southern Social Media - https://twitter.com/richardcitynews/status/1732448028391305442?s=61&t=3U2QZcOnPERjvt10X42WeA

Later in the day the Auditor General’s scathing reports found serious issues with hospital staffing, ER closures, and wait times.  It also reported serious concerns about Ontario Place and the Science Centre move, along with concerning Driver’s Test results.  A new Auditor General - Shelley Spence was appointed for a 10 year term by the province filling the position vacated by Bonnie Lysyk back in September at the end of her 10 year term.

	The Toronto Star - Auditor General Finds Hospitals Plagued By Staff Shortages and ER Closures Under Ford Government:
	https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/hospitals-plagued-by-staff-shortages-and-er-closures-under-ford-government-auditor-general-finds/article_526f2f24-9439-11ee-a2c7-4f0b4797334d.html

	CBC - Ford Government’s Decision To Move Ontario Science Centre Based On Incomplete Information, Auditor General Finds:
	https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-auditor-general-2023-report-science-centre-emergency-departments-1.7046016

2) Forced Boundary Decision Updates - It has been a busy few weeks in Council Chambers across Waterloo Region, Halton Region, Wellington County, Hamilton, and elsewhere as Mayors had until today (Dec 7th) to respond to Minister Calandra’s letter about reversing Forced Urban Boundary Expansion reversals.

Wins! - Thankfully, there have been great wins in the City of Hamilton, Centre Wellington, the City of Waterloo, Wellesley Township, and other municipalities where Mayors often with the strong support of their Council's rejected the provincial Forced Boundary Expansions and voted to continue with their original Official Plans submitted in August, 2022.  Kudo’s to these communities for standing up to Queen’s Park corruption, improper processes, and making it clear that they already had the progressive plans needed for the future.  

Losses - Unfortunately, as mentioned previously, the developer and land speculator pressures on municipal leaders was intense and we saw many Council Chambers packed with land owners pleading for their lands to be destroyed and approved for development.  It was very disappointing to see several municipalities quite content to bypass proper planning processes, public engagement, required studies/analysis, First Nations consultation, etc. to request thousands of acres of land for development - overriding and often destroying previous sustainable Official Plans that had little farmland loss.  These very concerning municipalities include the City of Kitchener, Township of Woolwich, Wilmot Township, and North Dumfries Township.

Another significant loss occurred with the City of Guelph Council voting to undermine its own sustainable Official Plan with no public consultation or debate this past Tuesday evening. The most egregious change to the Official Plan was Council voting to convert 64 acres of employment lands to residential adding thousands of new units without understanding the implications to water-taking, jobs or impacts on the mixed-use plan. The Mayor then had the audacity to reach out to Ford Minister Calandra with the message: "...I want to highlight concerns with which we need your help. Our current water supply which is reliant on groundwater, may put constraints across the entire city by the time we are fully built out to 2051". 

We achieved a partial victory in Cambridge where the city rejected some Forced Boundary Expansion lands because they were completely unsuitable for development due to sensitive environmental features but still requested other concerning Forced Boundary Expansion lands from the province.  

It seems that somehow in this era of developers going to the OMB/LPAT to get whatever they want, these municipalities think that they will be able to control staging and somehow limit development despite even a direct order from the province to Woolwich Township to expedite development approvals and stage things faster than ever in the years ahead.  It is confounding and so disappointing to see the poor choices that go so much against the greater public good, proper planning processes, and the long-term sustainable solutions we need.  However, many developers are ecstatic to see the windfall profits destroying so much farmland will bring.

Next Steps - Despite the provincial government passing Bill 150, the Planning Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023 on December 5th just before the Legislature was adjourned, before even all municipalities had responded to the Minister by his December 7th deadline, and before even the ERO comment period was set to close on December 16th, there is still the need and opportunity for citizens to speak up, express our concerns and advocate directly to MMAH Staff to not implement these Forced Boundary Expansion requests.  In the past MMAH Staff had expressed they would only consider reversals needed to meet 2031 housing targets which none of the municipalities requesting these thousands of acres of development have been able to demonstrate.

	ERO - Planning Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023 - deadline Dec 16th at 11:59pm
	https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-7885

	MMAH Staff are requesting you e-mail your comments directly to them at:
	mmahofficialplans at ontario.ca

Please speak up for the future that you would like to see!

3) Kitchener Mayor and Councillor Scott Davey at COP28 - In a staggering move, just days after gutting the sustainable Regional Official Plan for Kitchener that had 0 acres of farmland loss and no urban boundary expansion for Kitchener due to the tens of thousands of development lots already approved - decades worth of land supply, and instead requesting in an 8-to-1 vote thousands of acres of farmland loss by requesting the Forced Boundary Expansions ordered by Minister Clark be re-instated, Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic and Councillor Scott Davey announced they were heading to COP28 in Dubai.

How elected officials can override and destroy the sustainable plan already in place that was so strongly supported by citizens and City Staff, and request thousands of acres of unnecessary and completely unsustainable farmland destruction that will severely threaten the underlying groundwater aquifers that hundreds of thousands of people depend on for all their water needs (with no current alternatives or backup), will threaten very successful core intensification efforts,  and create tens of thousands of car-dependent commuters on a road network already determined to be insufficient and impossible to remedy affordably, and then head off to the world’s leading climate change summit is astounding.

There was almost nothing worse that these Kitchener elected officials could have done to worsen the city’s carbon footprint and any hope of meeting future climate change targets than to destroy the visionary ROP with its focus on climate change and intensification, and instead order thousands of acres of unsustainable urban sprawl and farmland destruction that we know can no longer continue in our climate crisis as we need to dramatically change the way we live, travel, and eat.

It will be very interesting to see just what Mayor Vrbanovic and Councillor Davey will be talking about at COP28.  At the very least perhaps they will learn firsthand just how bad their decision to destroy the Regional Official Plan was and the challenges the City of Kitchener will face trying to meet climate change targets while also building massive amounts of carbon intensive urban sprawl.  It has been really unfortunate to see no one in the media calling out Mayor Vrbanovic for destroying their sustainable 30 year plan for the future and then heading the same week to COP28.

	CityNews - Mayor of Kitchener In Attendance At COP28 In Dubai:
	https://kitchener.citynews.ca/2023/11/30/the-next-major-world-environment-conference-sees-mayor-of-kitchener-in-attendance-in-dubai/?

Guelph Mayor at COP28 - Unlike his counterpart in Kitchener, the Guelph Mayor Cam Gutherie had the audacity to orchestrate the gutting of the sustainable City of Guelph Official Plan from his hotel room in Dubai. In a bold move, at at a Council meeting where the only delegates included back-door process proponents, he worked with local developer Fusion Homes to ensure a majority of Council voted (7-6) to push for the elimination of 64 acres of employment lands to residential on the Guelph Innovation District even though those thousands of new units will not come into play for close to a decade. The CAO of the City of Guelph warned Council that they did not have the studies or water capacity to approve such a move. 

This move undermines an award-winning secondary plan led by former Mayor of Winnipeg Glen Murray for the Guelph Innovation District as well as the Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR) process that considered the demographic, water and infrastructure needs of the City of Guelph to 2051 and came about from over three years of consultation. 

	Guelph Mercury Tribune - Guelph Mayor in Attendance at COP28
	https://www.guelphmercury.com/news/guelph-mayor-in-dubai-for-climate-conference/article_0c75aadc-d2dd-56c9-b935-75757b38afd3.html

4) Peel Region Dissolution Reversal? - Further adding to the provincial chaos, it seems after announcing the break-up of Peel Region earlier this year, Premier Doug Ford is now considering backtracking and cancelling the dissolution of Peel Region.  It seems that the Ford government did little planning or consultation before announcing the dissolution of Peel Region and it turns out the costs will be astronomical, service levels will decline dramatically, and so many efficiencies will be lost that it will overwhelm taxpayers left to pick up additional costs for decades.  This would be another huge loss for Doug Ford who promised former Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion on her deathbed (and even named the ensuing Act after her) that he would finally tear apart Mississauga, Brampton, and Caledon.

The impacts on the other seven upper-tier municipalities under review such as Waterloo Region, Halton Region, Niagara Region, Durham Region and the County of Simcoe could be considerable.  The damage to the Region of Waterloo already by the threat of dissolution, the potential loss of Planning Authority, the staff exodus all these regions are seeing, the loss of planning certainty, etc. has been a massive distraction and a waste of resources.

We have been waiting for years for provincial facilitators that we were assured were coming to find efficiencies.  Then when no facilitators could be found the Minister announced a Legislative Committee would investigate things instead.  Simcoe County received only hours notice before the Committee appeared in their community for hearings and the Standing Committee has just announced local hearing dates of Thursday, January 18th for Waterloo Region.  Register online at:

	Request To Participate In Committee Hearing:
	http://ola.org/en/apply-committees

Here’s some of the recent media articles on the chaos in Peel Region created by the Ford government:

	The Toronto Star - Doug Ford Poised To Reverse Decision To Dissolve Peel Region: Sources:
	https://www.thestar.com/news/morning-digest/ford-could-reverse-peel-dissolution-sources-say-toronto-cop-and-public-servant-get-7-years/article_9d257ab6-942d-11ee-94fe-27c71f842eab.html

	The Toronto Star - Uncertainty Continues For Peel Region Employees As Province Mulls Dissolution Reversal:
	https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/uncertainty-continues-for-peel-employees-as-province-mulls-dissolution-reversal/article_9e6d2282-9452-11ee-a70d-67986afc08a2.html

	The Toronto Star - Doug Ford Accuses NDP of “Gutter Politics” Amid Peel Region Reversal Speculation:
	https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/doug-ford-accuses-ndp-of-gutter-politics-amid-peel-region-reversal-speculation/article_85bf558a-9447-11ee-a0cf-776172819dec.html

5) Local and Provincial Media Coverage - Here's some other recent news articles including stories about the Auditor General investigations, the new Liberal provincial party leader, and an amazing investigative report from the Globe and Mail showing how in addition to the Forced Boundary Expansions, the Ford government also forced many other municipal decisions that are confounding such as the Self-Storage Facility in Woolwich and a condo development on a toxic site in the Grand River floodplain in Cambridge that defies all logic:

	The Guelph Mercury Tribune - “There’s A Water Issue Brewing Here”: Council Votes To Convert Employment Lands To Residential To Favour Local Developer Fusion Homes:
	https://www.guelphmercury.com/news/theres-a-water-issue-brewing-here-council-narrowly-decides-provinces-changes-to-guelph-innovation-district/article_f0553feb-cc48-5c16-88b3-a268ff05d44f.html

	Woolwich Observer - Environmental Groups Greenbelt Promise, GREN And Others File FOIs Seeking Links Between Local Politicians, Developers:
	https://www.observerxtra.com/environmental-groups-seeking-links-between-local-politicians-developers/

	The Toronto Star - Auditor General Report To Be Released Wednesday To Look At Ontario Place and ER Issues:
	https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/auditor-general-report-to-be-released-wednesday-to-look-at-ontario-place-and-er-issues/article_526f2f24-9439-11ee-a2c7-4f0b4797334d.html

	The Trillium - Ontario’s Made Little To No Progress On 92% of Auditors 2021 Land-Use Recommendations - Government Has No Intention To Reform The Way They Use MZO’s:
	https://www.thetrillium.ca/news/municipalities-transit-and-infrastructure/ontarios-made-little-or-no-progress-on-92-of-auditors-2021-land-use-recommendations-7940704

	The Toronto Star - Crombie Calls Ford Attacks Desperate:
	https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/doug-fords-tories-claim-bonnie-crombie-is-out-of-touch-with-everyday-people-and-vacations/article_90e11f7e-92cc-11ee-bfd7-db84eab369c6.html

	The Record - Is the Answer To The Housing Crisis Removing Humans From The Process?:
	https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/is-the-answer-to-the-housing-crisis-removing-humans-from-the-process/article_62304f64-0707-58d3-b77f-e96d05a96100.html

 	The Record - Consultant Reports Find Planning “Waste” at City Halls As Homebuilding Slows In Waterloo Region:
	https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/consultant-reports-find-planning-waste-at-city-halls-as-homebuilding-slows-in-waterloo-region/article_bd72e134-3fe6-5a95-95ad-1337113ab82b.html
	It should be noted that the real issue isn’t the speed of approvals - that’s a red herring - the real issue is why does it take builders so long to begin construction once they have approvals.  There are tens of thousand of housing units that have been approved by our municipalities that years later we are still awaiting construction to even start.  Simply look at all the developments approved for along King Street in Waterloo that we are still awaiting - King & Weber, King & University, King & Erb, the former Post Office lands, the Huether Hotel Lands, Caroline and William Streets, William and Park Street, King & Allen St., King & John Street, etc.  All of these were to be huge developments each with hundreds of units...

	DurhamRegion.com <http://durhamregion.com/> - Greenbelt Lands Returned But All Protections Need To Be Re-instated:
	https://www.durhamregion.com/news/greenbelt-lands-returned-but-advocates-want-all-protections-reinstated-for-pickerings-duffins-rouge-agricultural-preserve/article_abc22f9e-adf0-5ac0-8cf1-e2f2d4e55f0f.html

	The Globe and Mail - Ford Government Altered Local Planning Decisions To Allow For Development: Globe Analysis:
	https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ford-government-greenbelt-policies/

6) GRCA Niska Road Lands - It seems that the GRCA is going to be bringing forward the long-awaited Niska Land Holdings Management Plan that will include plans to sell surplus property in this Guelph area to developers.  The Niska Lands used to be the former Kortright Waterfowl Park in the 1980’s on the west side of Guelph bordering Puslinch Township.  The new plan will be presented at the December 15th GRCA Board Meeting.  Details are as follows:

	https://calendar.grandriver.ca/directors/Index#gsc.tab=0

7) Local Greenbelt Celebrations - Waterloo Area - Deferred to January - Given the intense recent efforts with local municipalities on the Forced Boundary Expansions it has been decided to post-pone the Waterloo Area celebrations until January when it will be combined with a strategic planning meeting to help chart a course for the year ahead.  Please keep us posted on any suggestions or ideas.

8) A Successful "Field Trip" to Queen's Park - Thank you to the 35 individuals who gave Two Hoots and also gave generously of their time to join the Greenbelt Promise campaign to witness the Greenbelt Legislation (Bill 136) being rammed through committee.  We made our mark last Thursday by filling the Hearing Committee room and with many MPPs and journalists retweeting an unusually heated Legislative Hearing session:

NDP Housing Critic Jessica Bell had some very strong remarks for the role of civil society in standing up for the Greenbelt: https://x.com/JessicaBellTO/status/1730598078527217811?s=20

Trillium journalist Charlie Pinkerton had a Twitter thread on the play by play of the hearing: https://x.com/CharliePinkerto/status/1730616708698669376?s=20
Pinkerton also highlighted the brash behaviour of PC MPP Natalia Kusendova here: https://x.com/CharliePinkerto/status/1730634672411906431?s=2

9) Other Relevant News: The Science Centre, Ontario Place, and ongoing issues with the provincial Autism program are all things we need to be paying attention to:

	Canadian Architect - Debunking The Business Case for Relocating the Ontario Science Centre:
	https://www.canadianarchitect.com/analyzing-the-ontario-science-business-case/

	The Toronto Star - Doug Ford Promised To Fix The Broken Autism Program.  5 Years Later, Wait Times Tell A Different Story:
	https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/doug-ford-promised-to-fix-the-broken-ontario-autism-program-5-years-on-wait-times/article_63b96f86-149a-50a5-b9bc-6cd33301301f.html

10) Reminder - Meeting This Friday - Join us tomorrow - Friday, December 8th at 5:30pm for our final meeting of the year to discuss the latest news and what’s next:

	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

Friday, December 8th - 5:30pm - Next update meeting on Zoom - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82644695701?pwd=bnRsUGtWSUcrRnFWR21uYVBISG9jZz09

Friday, December 8th - 8pm to 9pm - Climate Emergency Vigil - Waterloo Public Square - https://www.faithclimatejustice.ca/climate-vigils.html

Friday, December 15th - 8pm to 9pm - Final Climate Emergency Vigil - Waterloo Public Square - https://www.faithclimatejustice.ca/climate-vigils.html

Saturday, December  16th - Final day to comment on ERO Deadline to the Planning Act Statute Law Amendment Act  - https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-7885

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B) Speak Up On The ERO To Stop The Forced Urban Boundry Expansions

https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-7885

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C) 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
Paul Calandra - Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing - paul.calandra at pc.ola.org <mailto:steve.clark at pc.ola.org> or 416-585-7000
Andrea Khanjin - Minster of Environment, Conservation and Parks - andrea.khanjin at pc.ola.org or 705-722-0575
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
Will Bouma - MPP Brantford-Brant - will.bouma at pc.ola.org <mailto:will.bouma at pc.ola.org> or (519) 759-0361
Ted Arnott - MPP Wellington-Halton Hills - ted.arnott at pc.ola.org <mailto:ted.arnott at pc.ola.org> or (519) 787-5247
Ernie Hardeman - MPP Oxford - ernie.hardeman at pc.ola.org <mailto:ernie.hardeman at pc.ola.org> or (519) 537-5222
Matthew Rae - MPP Perth-Wellington - matthew.rae at pc.ola.org <mailto:matthew.rae at pc.ola.org> or (519) 272-0660

Local NDP MPPs:
Catherine Fife - MPP Waterloo - cfife-qp at ndp.on.ca <mailto:cfife-qp at ndp.on.ca> or 519-725-3477

Local Green Party MPPs:
Mike Schreiner - MPP Guelph - mschreiner at ola.org <mailto:mschreiner at ola.org> or (519) 836-4190
New! - Aislinn Clancy - MPP Kitchener Centre - new contact information coming soon

Independent MPPs:
Bobbi Ann Brady - MPP Haldimand-Norfolk - babrady-co at ola.org <mailto:babrady-co at ola.org> or (519) 428-0446

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

Kevin Thomason
Vice-Chair, Grand River Environmental Network
www.gren.ca <http://www.gren.ca/>

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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