NEWS

Toronto, along with municipalities across Ontario, has suffered an avalanche of provincial laws, regulations, and policies affecting planning and development, all without prior consultation or engagement with the City of Toronto and its residents. As a result, residents are largely unaware both of the changes, and their impacts, and of how the City has responded to them.

We recommend that the City work with and share its communication materials with other municipalities, and encourage them to communicate these changes and their impacts to their residents.

From Mexico to China, global examples of areas where laws are lifted in the name of economic development have seen people and the environment suffer — but the Ford government is still pressing ahead with Bill 5.

With Ontario’s contentious Bill 5 enacted, special economic zones could be coming to Canada for the first time. Touted by Premier Doug Ford as a sure-fire way to “unleash” the economy, the bill has sparked growing public resistance over its implications for Indigenous Rights, the environment, labour standards and democratic accountability. The global track record of special economic zones suggests these fears are well-founded.

Our overriding concern is the undue haste with which this legislation is proceeding, without scrutiny or opportunity for public input at Standing Committee. Regardless of the intent or content of the legislation this is undemocratic and wrong.

Municipalities have a legislated responsibility to protect public health and environmental wellbeing. Restricting their ability to exercise those duties will not protect Ontario or build housing faster.

The proposed changes will only reduce the quality of new housing and communities and expose Ontarian residents to greater environmental risks. We are a democratic society, and this bill would add several measures to make us otherwise.

The most significant legislation from Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives since winning their third straight majority is a sweeping bill that Premier Doug Ford says will protect the economy from tariffs but which critics say will gut environmental protection. 

The PCs are framing the bill as an urgent response to the economic threats posed by U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariffs. Critics are calling that a pretext to loosen oversight of how companies operate in Ontario.

Concerns are coming not just from Ford’s usual opponents — such as First Nations leaders and environmental groups — but also from organizations as varied as the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) and the Toronto Zoo.

Our Annual General Meeting was a success with the approval of ONCA compliant bylaws and the election of a new Board for the coming year.

Our Annual General Meeting was followed by a Town Hall presentation by Sandford Borins, an Emeritus Professor from the University of Toronto. His presentation was ‘Elbows Up – Urban Ontario’

We invited all interested members of community resident organizations to attend the Annual General Meeting and the Town Hall session. Any number of representatives from your organization may attend these events.

Doug Ford says the provincial government will appeal the Ontario Superior Court’s decision to grant an injunction that blocks the removal of several bike lanes in Toronto. “But those bike lanes are coming out one way or another,” Ford said at a press conference in Mississauga Wednesday morning “We’re appealing it, because judges should not determine items like bike lanes.”