<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Something of relevance to our call at 2.<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">John</div><div class=""><br class=""><div class=""><br class=""><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">------------------------------</div><div class="">John Jackson</div><div class="">17 Major Street</div><div class="">Kitchener N2H 4R1</div><div class="">519-744-7503</div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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<div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">From: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">Tim Gray <<a href="mailto:tgray@environmentaldefence.ca" class="">tgray@environmentaldefence.ca</a>><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">Subject: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><b class="">[Yourstoprotect] Statement from Environmental Defence, Ontario Nature and Ecojustice on Bill 257 regarding legislation to exempt MZOs from planning laws and policy</b><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">Date: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">March 4, 2021 at 5:15:45 PM EST<br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">To: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">Yours to Protect list <<a href="mailto:yourstoprotect@glcserve.com" class="">yourstoprotect@glcserve.com</a>><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">Reply-To: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">Yours to Protect list <<a href="mailto:yourstoprotect@glcserve.com" class="">yourstoprotect@glcserve.com</a>><br class=""></span></div><br class=""><div class=""><div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0.9pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE, ONTARIO NATURE, ECOJUSTICE</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0.9pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">For immediate release: March 4, 2021 </span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0.3pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><strong class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">Statement from Environmental Defence, Ontario Nature and Ecojustice on Bill 257 regarding legislation to exempt MZOs from planning laws and policy</span></strong></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0.3pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><em class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">New law would allow environmentally destructive projects to go forward even if they contravene basic planning rules </span></b></em></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0.3pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">Toronto, Ont. – Today, the Government of Ontario placed provincially protected wetlands, farmland and forests across Ontario in line for development, as the Province launched yet another sneak legislative attack on environmental protection and public participation rules. </span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0.3pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">Hidden within a Bill entitled “Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act, Bill 257” are proposed changes to the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em class=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">Planning Act</span></em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>that will allow Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) to override key provisions of the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em class=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">Planning Act</span></em>. If this legislation becomes law, when a MZO is used to permit development, it will no longer have to be consistent with Ontario’s fundamental planning principles – set out in the Provincial Policy Statement (the "PPS"). Except within the Greenbelt, lands currently protected under the PPS will become vulnerable to development at the whim of the Province, as the law will allow MZOs to be issued to fast-track development projects that destroy protected farmland, wetlands and natural features. </span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0.3pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">These proposals, found in Schedule 3 of the Bill, appear designed to retroactively legitimize the unlawful decision by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to allow the destruction of a large part of the provincially significant Lower Duffins Creek coastal wetland complex in Pickering. This 50-acre wetland is slated to be bulldozed to accommodate a proposed warehouse, authorized through a MZO. Environmental Defence and Ontario Nature, represented by Ecojustice, are challenging this MZO in Divisional Court. The parties assert the Minister unlawfully issued the MZO, which ignores protections for provincially significant wetlands under the PPS and the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em class=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">Planning Act</span></em>. Faced with this lawsuit, the government is changing the law retroactively to override our right to seek redress in the Courts.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">Bill 257 illustrates the Ontario government’s willingness to go to great lengths to ensure developers can destroy even the most environmentally sensitive lands and do so without public consultation or comment. It represents an attack on the public’s constitutional right to seek judicial review of unlawful decisions. Moreover, the government is using the pandemic as a cover for its environmentally destructive actions, hiding this legislative amendment in a bill unrelated to the environment or land use planning, and without announcing it on the Environmental Registry or any other mechanism as required. </span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0.3pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">Today’s attack on Ontario’s most fundamental planning principles is the latest in a broader drive by the government to pave over large swathes of Ontario’s countryside and protected lands. That agenda also includes running an unneeded suburban highway through the Greenbelt, forcing municipalities to lock in in 30 years of sprawl by expanding settlement boundaries, and the unprecedented misuse of Minister’s Zoning Orders to force through sprawl developments in the interim. </span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">About ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (<a href="https://environmentaldefence.ca/" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">https://environmentaldefence.ca/</a>): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities </span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">About ONTARIO NATURE<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong class=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">(</span></strong><a href="https://ontarionature.org/" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">ontarionature.org</a>): Ontario Nature protects wild species and wild spaces through conservation, education and public engagement. Ontario Nature is a charitable organization representing more than 30,000 members and supporters, and more than 150 member groups across Ontario.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">About ECOJUSTICE:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://ecojustice.ca/" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">Ecojustice</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>uses the power of the law to defend nature, combat climate change, and fight for a healthy environment. Its strategic, public interest lawsuits and advocacy lead to precedent-setting court decisions and law and policy that deliver lasting solutions to Canada’s most urgent environmental problems. As Canada’s largest environmental law charity, Ecojustice operates offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Halifax.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0.35pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">-30- </span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0.55pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">For more information on past legislation exempting Minister’s Zoning Orders from Ontario’s planning and environmental laws, see:<a href="https://environmentaldefence.ca/2020/12/04/another-twist-knife-conservation-authorities-ontario-government/" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">https://environmentaldefence.ca/2020/12/04/another-twist-knife-conservation-authorities-ontario-government/</a></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0.25pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">For more information or to arrange an interview please contact: </span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0.25pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">Allen Braude, Environmental Defence,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:abraude@environmentaldefence.ca" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">abraude@environmentaldefence.ca</a>, 416-356-2587 </span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0.25pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">Sean O’Shea, Ecojustice,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:soshea@ecojustice.ca" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">soshea@ecojustice.ca</a>, 416-368-7533</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0.25pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">John Hassell, Ontario Nature,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:johnh@ontarionature.org" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">johnh@ontarionature.org</a>, 416-786-2171</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 7.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" class="">Click<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://act.environmentaldefence.ca/page/broadcast.message.redirect.do?campaignpageurl=https%3A%2F%2Fact.environmentaldefence.ca%2Fpage%2F20558%2Fsubscriptions%2F1%3Fea.broadcast.id%3D423187&ea.campaigner.email=hTeqxYrHpeaBciJe1fyKL4VSescrQKbanHw8u7lWtBM=&enc=y" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">here</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to stop receiving media advisories.</span></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in;" class=""><img border="0" id="_x0000_i1025" alt="Image removed by sender. supporter" class="" apple-inline="yes" src="cid:~WRD007.jpg"></span></div></div><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">--<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">Yourstoprotect mailing list</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class=""><a href="mailto:Yourstoprotect@glcserve.com" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; 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