NEWS RELEASE
NORTH DUFFERIN AGRICULTURAL AND COMMUNITY TASKFORCE
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On Dec. 6, 2018, during the busy Christmas season, Doug Ford’s government introduced Bill 66 Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, an omnibus bill with amendments to at least 15 pieces of Ontario legislation affecting a wide range of services including farming, daycare, private career colleges, wireless and land planning.
Concerned citizens of the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce are particularly troubled by the land planning amendments of Bill 66.
A proposed new section to the Planning Act would allow local municipalities to pass 'open-for-business' planning by-laws which, coupled with approval from the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, would by-pass Ontario’s main environmental protections:
- Clean Water Act, 2006.
- Great Lakes Protection Act, 2015.
- Greenbelt Act, 2005.
- Lake Simcoe Protection Act, 2008.
- Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, 2001.
- Places to Grow Act, 2005.
- Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016.
Bill 66 also proposes to repeal the Toxics Reduction Act, 2009. The Ford government introduced Bill 66 and then abruptly ended the fall sitting of the legislature a week ahead of schedule without answering questions. The legislature is set to resume Feb. 19, 2019. NDACT is asking that Ontarians find out more about this significant proposal.
Through Bill 66, the Ford administration appears to be reversing four decades of work by groups and individuals who fought hard for Ontario's current environmental protections. To compound the problem, Ford’s administration has already taken steps to remove oversight and accountability by closing the office of the Environmental Commissioner.
NDACT invites you to hear our guest speakers talk about the anticipated impacts of Ontario Bill 66 and potential affect on our Greenbelt.
It happens Feb. 2 at the Arboretum starting at 10 a.m.
- Mike Schreiner is the leader of the Green Party of Ontario and the MPP for Guelph, the first ever Green MPP elected to the Ontario Legislature. Mike has led successful policy campaigns to push the provincial government to fund the Experimental Lakes Area, protect local food supplies by restricting the use of neo-nicotinoid pesticides, support small business by increasing market access for local craft breweries and fight climate change by putting a price on carbon pollution. Mike helped NDACT stop the proposed mega-quarry and is a leading advocate for small businesses, local food, water protection and sustainable communities.
- Victor Doyle, the chief architect of Ontario’s farmland-protecting Greenbelt has made it his mission to defend the province’s forward-thinking anti-sprawl policies. No stranger to controversy Victor was disciplined for speaking out against a determined development industry and was vindicated when he won his case in a landmark ruling that professional planners speaking the truth, despite powerful push-back, is not a conflict of interest, it is a requirement of the profession.
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