QUEEN’S PARK UPDATE

The Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) is a consolidated statement of the government’s policies on land use planning. It applies province-wide and provides provincial policy direction on key land use planning issues that affect communities. The government held a 90 day consultation period which closed October 21 2019, during which they sought feedback on proposed changes to the Provincial Policy Statement. The Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods submitted comments as follows:

If you or members of your organization are looking to understand how land use planning works in Ontario, the following may help. The City of Ottawa has put together a series of classes covering the basics (called Primer I and II) and specific topics, such as development charges.

While these courses were developed with Ottawa in mind, most of the content is universal. You can use the material as is, or approach your Planning Department to create classes tailored to your municipality using the Ottawa material as a base.

The government’s recently introduced Bill 66 has been met with widespread concern about the threat to Ontario’s framework for environmental protection. What the Bill does (in Schedule 10) is to allow municipalities to pass “Open for Business” bylaws that give developers permission to circumvent planning and environmental legislation that includes: The Provincial Policy Statement, The Planning Act, The Clean Water Act, The Great Lakes Protection Act, The Greenbelt Act, The Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, The Places to Grow Act, The Environmental Assessment Act, The Environmental Protection Act, The Nutrient Management Act, The Ontario Water Resources Act, and other less well-known legislation that was designed to protect the people of Ontario!

As reported by Environmental Defense Canada (EDC), the government has been meeting with municipalities and development industry members who have identified five challenges: Intensification and Density Targets, Major Transit Station Areas, Settlement and Boundary Expansions, Planning for Employment and Agricultural and Natural Heritage Systems.

The EDC is concerned that if the density targets are loosened in the Growth Plan, or if settlement boundary expansions are permitted (without the math to determine the land need –LNA), we can expect more sprawl and more low density growth putting increasing pressure on the Greenbelt.

EDC is also concerned that there is interest in proceeding with land swaps- trading Greenbelt land for other farmland or natural heritage land beyond the Greenbelt so lands in the Greenbelt can be developed. Even if there is no net loss of Greenbelt lands, the Plan will be eroded. The Greenbelt Plan as a provincial policy that permanently protects land will basically be kaput, signalling open season to the development industry. EDC will be developing a media strategy but needs your local voices to challenge these changes.

FUN’s Role in the Province of Ontario

The Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods (FUN) of Ontario supports and advocates for the interests of community, resident and ratepayer associations throughout the Province of Ontario.

FUN’s mandate includes:

fostering communication among these associations and keeps them informed of decisions and actions taken by the Provincial Government, official bodies such as the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) (which replaces the Ontario Municipal Board) as well as actions of individual municipalities that have province-wide significance.

Ranked Choice Voting – London Ontario – What Happened?

The City of London, Ontario was the first Ontario municipality to use Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) to elect its mayor and councillors. How did it work out?

Each voter was able to rank their choices for mayor and councillor first, second and third. Then the candidate receiving the fewest votes would drop out and the second choice of the voters would transfer to the remaining candidates. This would continue until one candidate received the necessary number of votes to have a majority.