NEWS

Bill 245 Amalgamates Five Tribunals into One – why the haste?

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LPAT - view of woods

UPDATE: Bill 245 received Royal Assent on April 19, 2021 and hence the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal no longer exists. It is now within the Ontario Land Tribunal.

Our major concern with the amalgamation of five tribunals, each of which deals with specialized areas of law and practice, is the potential loss of appreciation and sensitivity to the cases dealt with by these individual tribunals. Each tribunal requires adjudicators that have specialised expertise in the subject matter of the appeals that they hear, and in the interpretation of their home statutes, in addition to adjudicative expertise. The more specialised the tribunal’s jurisdiction, the more this would be an issue.

For example for hearings before the Conservation Review Board (under the Ontario Heritage Act) you knew you would be heard by someone who was familiar with and had appreciation for built heritage and had expertise in interpreting the Ontario Heritage Act. The subject matter knowledge and appreciation, and expertise in the interpretation of its “home statute,” will be impossible to meet with such a wide span of subject legislation to be concerned with. Given the diversity of statutes and subject matter over which the Ontario Land Tribunal will have jurisdiction to hear appeals, it may be difficult to make the case that members of this Tribunal, who are arguably intended to be “generalists” dealing with a number of statutes, will develop expertise in interpreting such an array of “home statutes.”

Speak Up on How to Grow Ontario’s Greenbelt – Webinar

Ontario Greenbelt

A free webinar will be hosted by the CELA (Canadian Environmental Law Association) to learn about how to support growing the Greenbelt. The focus will be on the central Grand River Watershed and the Paris-Galt Moraine.

Bill 257

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Ontario wetland - fall

NOTE: Unfortunately, Bill 257 with Schedule 3 was passed on April 12, 2921. So MZOs no longer have to be consistent with the PPS (except in the Greenbelt).

We are concerned, disappointed, and angry that you have introduced legislation that amends the Planning Act to provide that Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZOs) are not required and are deemed to never have been required to be consistent with Provincial Policy Statements (PPS) issued under subsection 3 (1); that is, except for such orders that apply to land in the Greenbelt Area.

This legislation, sneaked in as part of an omnibus bill dealing with unrelated matters, is unjust, authoritarian, and undemocratic. It curtails the municipal planning process and facilitates non-compliance with the Provincial Policy Statements. Worse, it is applied retroactively, apparently to attempt to avoid the Provincial Government being held to account in two ongoing court challenges; Duffin’s Creek and the Foundry.

Proposed Bill 257 a further attack on protected land

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Ontario creek

NOTE: Unfortunately, Bill 257 with Schedule 3 was passed on April 12, 2921. So MZOs no longer have to be consistent with the PPS (except in the Greenbelt).

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.

Hidden within a Bill entitled “Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act, Bill 257” are proposed changes to the Planning Act that will allow Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) to override key provisions of the Planning Act. 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.

Affordable Housing on Eastern Avenue Consultation (The Foundry)

The Foundry at night

This is in response to your Ministry’s request for input from residents’ groups and the public “on how some elements of the existing structures could inform development” of the provincially owned property at 153-185 Eastern Avenue. The request indicates that the Province of Ontario intends to “create new affordable and market housing, and community space, in response to numerous requests from the City of Toronto for increased affordable housing”.

The Court ordered the Province to continue the pause on demolition because there is compelling evidence that the Province has not met its own standards under the Ontario Heritage Act and has breached heritage-related commitments in a subdivision agreement.

We continue to oppose the use of a Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO) which allows the Province to bypass nearly all planning requirements set by the City. Our members are increasingly seeing a pattern of legislative activity involving the use of MZOs across the province, along with other coercive measures the Province is using to fast-track development without full and fair public consultation with those directly affected.

Action Alert – Dominion Foundry Comments deadline March 4th

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Dominion Foundry

As agreed by all parties — the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association (SLNA), the City, and the Province — the hearing has been adjourned (postponed) to give all parties more time to come to some kind of resolution. If they can’t reach a resolution, another court date will be set and the hearing will proceed.

This is great news (for now) because the parties have also agreed that the Interim Order will remain in effect. In other words, the province can’t continue with the demolition while we are discussing resolution.

In the meantime, the Province initiated a one-way “consultation” process which continues until March 4, with the province asking for community input. Using their “consultation” link write to the province today, letting them know this isn’t good enough. A regular two-way dialogue with the community must take place, something we have asked for since October. The process calls for submitting a letter in PDF or Word format – we have prepared a template that you can use as the base for your letter.

Conservation and the importance of community involvement

Petrie Building, 1882, Guelph, Ontario

While much of what lies ahead in 2021 remains unclear, a path yet to be designed, one thing seems clear to me: the importance of community, the opportunity to gather together and experience that sense of feeling part of a greater whole. For many, 2020 has provided time to regroup, to focus our minds on, and to protect, what is truly important.

Many people interact with heritage on a community level. What we as a society value, what we choose to share and protect, how we serve as stewards and the stories and traditions that we choose to carry forward. Concepts of identity and public history have been shaped over time by the intersection of community and heritage. That community response derives from our individual relationship with heritage.

Highway 413 – Back from the dead

Holland Marsh

(Environmental Defense, February 4, 2021) The zombie highway, Highway 413 is back from the dead. And this time it brought company.

The Ontario government has revived long-cancelled proposals to build two major highways: Highway 413 between Milton and Vaughan, and the Holland Marsh Highway – also known as the Bradford Bypass – that would run above Newmarket and straight through the Holland Marsh!

The Holland Marsh Highway was shelved in the early 2000s and was recently revived to go ahead – without updating the environmental assessment that was done nearly a quarter of a century ago. Meanwhile, Highway 413 was cancelled in 2018 after an expert panel found that the damage to Ontario’s communities, Greenbelt, farmland and water quality would far outweigh its benefits.

GTAW Highway – letter to Town of Caledon

Our concerns can be summarized as follows:

  1. The highways, if built, would encourage and facilitate an unprecedented level of urban sprawl in the GTA, which would destroy important green spaces and prime farmland.
  2. They will incur a significant cost to taxpayers which will be borne by the Provincial Government alone (the Federal Government has indicated it will NOT cost-share).
  3. People who live along the highway route (your residents) will suffer health impacts.
  4. Commuters will see little to no benefit from these highways.  And in any case the pandemic has drastically changed our commuting patterns.