[All] Bill 23 & Planning Issues - Delivering Immediate Input to the Province on Addressing Housing Affordability

[Kevin Thomason]

Good Day,

On our Friday at 5:30pm Zoom call Hal Jaeger presented an excellent response to MMAH Minister Calandra’s ultimatum to municipalities across Ontario to respond by this coming Monday, October 16th to his checklist of Housing Affordability Task Force’s recommendations or face being prohibited from applying for the $1.2 billion Housing Accelerator Fund.

Below are links to the most recent draft of our response to the Minister to ensure that he has citizen and community feedback as well and links for you and/or your community organization to endorse and sign onto the response to the Minister.

This government is reeling in chaos and it is very important that we speak up to provide citizen feedback and ensure the future that we want to see.  Please review the letter and let us know if you are interested in endorsing it as soon as possible. 

Thank you.

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From: "Hal Jaeger" <hzjaeger at gmail.com>
Subject: Delivering Input to the Province on Addressing Housing Affordability
Date: October 14, 2023 at 8:00:36 PM EDT

Dear friends and neighbours, <>
 
The new Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Paul Calandra, has started to welcome feedback <https://oldeberlintown.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Minister-Calandra-Sept-15-2023-Letter-and-Attachment.pdf> (https://oldeberlintown.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Minister-Calandra-Sept-15-2023-Letter-and-Attachment.pdf) on the Housing Affordability Task Force’s recommendations <https://www.ontario.ca/page/housing-affordability-task-force-report> (https://www.ontario.ca/page/housing-affordability-task-force-report).  
 
As you may recall, after the provincial government convened a hand-picked Housing Affordability Task Force, it immediately narrowed its focus to increasing housing supply, and then made dramatic cuts to:
·         the capacity of Conservation Authorities to protect our environment and provide municipalities with guidance on flood prevention,
·         municipalities’ capacity to support development and address affordable housing, and
·         local, democratic, sustainable decision-making.  
 
We now have an opportunity to comment on the Task Force’s recommendations and offer additional suggestions on how to address our housing affordability crisis.  A collective of concerned citizens and community groups led by the Grand River Environmental Network has prepared a response to the Minister.  Please review the response <https://drive.google.com/file/d/14hsPYT1pVWr780l0T25jpcWlvepQqHQA/view> (https://drive.google.com/file/d/14hsPYT1pVWr780l0T25jpcWlvepQqHQA/view) and, if you agree, please endorse the letter <https://forms.gle/NHToW7dzceTgHfUt7> (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSemT0RxO4i5coapsPjhNyVnkz9yLxCTfBIMyhMcnC-fG6r4xw/viewform) by 5pm, October 27, 2023 and pass it on to others who might be interested.
I am available should you have any questions or comments.  Thank you,

Hal

Hal Jaeger
519-341-6007
hzjaeger at gmail.com <mailto:hzjaeger at gmail.com>

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1) Letter to MMAH Minister Paul Calandra in response to his request of municipal leaders on the Housing Affordability Task Force Recommendations:

	https://drive.google.com/file/d/14hsPYT1pVWr780l0T25jpcWlvepQqHQA/view

	

2) Online Form to indicate if you and /or your organization are interested in endorsing the letter:

	https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSemT0RxO4i5coapsPjhNyVnkz9yLxCTfBIMyhMcnC-fG6r4xw/viewform

Or feel free to e-mail Hal Jaeger at hzjaeger at gmail.com or Kevin Thomason at kevinthomason at mac.com directly.


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Kevin Thomason

1115 Cedar Grove Road
Waterloo, Ontario Canada  N2J 3Z4

Phone: (519) 888-0519
Mobile Phone/WhatsApp: (519) 240-1648
Mastodon: @kthomason at mstdn.ca
E-mail: kevinthomason at mac.com

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