News - Page 18 - Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods

FUN opposed to proposed GTA highway and supports the Environmental Defence submission.

Published on: January 21, 2018 | Last Updated on: October 7, 2020

The Ontario government is about to make a big decision that will tell us a lot about what the future of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area will look like. The reason is that, according to the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), the fate of the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the GTA West, AKA Highway 413, will be decided within the next 60 days.

The EA estimates the highway will cost $4 to $6 billion to construct, excluding the expense of land expropriation and ongoing highway maintenance.

FUN supports FoNTRA on OMB Reform

Published on: June 29, 2017 | Last Updated on: October 7, 2020

Our organization was founded 17 years ago, in part, over the frustration felt by community and neighbourhood associations from across Ontario over the use of the OMB tribunals by the development industry to overturn local official plans and even provincial policies. This was accomplished by developers taking advantage of procedural changes over the years at the OMB: changes which favoured “expert” evidence that less well-funded respondents (and even some local authorities) lacked the money and resources to challenge…

Queen’s Park Update – May 7, 2017

Published on: May 7, 2017 | Last Updated on: October 7, 2020

For the last 5 years, elements of the development sector have invested significantly and intensively in mounting a multi-faceted communications campaign to undermine the Growth Plan and Greenbelt Plan. The campaign is comprised of:

– the commissioning and/or funding of reports and publications conveying incomplete, selective and/or inaccurate information;
– rhetorical opinion pieces released through various media, presentations and conferences; and,
– intensive lobbying of elected representatives and senior executives at both the provincial and municipal levels – relying on materials based on the reports/publications described above.

Ontario Bill 2: Prohibiting political contributions from corporations and trade unions

Published on: December 13, 2016 | Last Updated on: October 7, 2020

This Explanatory Note was written as a reader’s aid to Bill 2 and does not form part of the law. Bill 2 has been enacted as Chapter 22 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2016.

A number of amendments are made to the Election Finances Act. Among them:

1. Corporations and trade unions are prohibited from making contributions to parties, constituency associations, nomination contestants, candidates and leadership contestants. Contribution limits for individuals are reduced.

2. “Nomination contestants” — persons seeking to be endorsed as a party’s candidate in an electoral district — are brought within the Act, on and from July 1, 2017.

3. Quarterly allowances are made payable to registered parties and constituency associations.

4. The rules regarding loans and loan guarantees are made more restrictive….

FONTRA Submission on the Review of the OMB

Published on: December 13, 2016 | Last Updated on: October 7, 2020

While FoNTRA shares many of the key concerns regarding the current role and operation of the OMB put forward by advocates for the abolishment of the OMB or the removal of Toronto from its jurisdiction, it does not support these initiatives since the broader need for significant provincial planning reform is not being addressed by these moves. Furthermore, FoNTRA sees the right to appeal certain municipal decisions to an independent body as being of paramount importance in a public process that is to respect procedural fairness for all actors. Experience has shown that residents are regularly called upon to defend city policies and regulations when city council and/or planning staff fail to do so.

FUN Submission Re: The Ontario Municipal Board – September 30, 2016

Published on: December 11, 2016 | Last Updated on: October 13, 2020

September 30, 2016 Submission Re: The Ontario Municipal Board Should the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) be abolished? The Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods (FUN) believes that it should be retained, as alternatives would be more expensive and difficult to use. What is needed are major reforms that address the concerns of the community. The OMB was … Read more

Sewell on City Hall

Published on: November 8, 2016 | Last Updated on: October 13, 2020

Community groups are rightly flummoxed when a development they are opposed to is pushed to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) for a decision.

Should the group start raising $20,000 or more to retain a lawyer to fight on its behalf? Is there any chance the board will be influenced by community concerns? Does it matter what city planners say about the development? Can the group win at the OMB?

I’m often approached by groups facing these questions, and my advice is that it’s difficult to create enough sympathy to raise the money and retain a lawyer. In any case, having a lawyer at the hearing on its own rarely gives a group much chance for success.

FUN Supports FoNTRA on Co-ordinated Land Use Planning Review (CLUPR)

Published on: November 1, 2016 | Last Updated on: October 13, 2020

Land use in the greater golden horseshoe

The Federation of North Toronto Residents Associations (FoNTRA) provides its comments on the proposed changes to the four provincial Land Use Plans:

The Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe,
The Greenbelt Plan,
The Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan, and
The Niagara Escarpment Plan.

The proposed changes follow a provincial review aimed at improving the laws passed to permanently protect agricultural and natural lands, and promote smart development in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. They are intended to allow communities to continue to grow while minimizing impacts of urban growth on productive farmland, heritage buildings and landscapes, archeological resources, green spaces, and important natural areas.

Richmond Hill Decision on Parkland Appeal

Published on: September 18, 2016 | Last Updated on: October 13, 2020

Municipalities across Ontario have reason to celebrate as a recent landmark decision by the Divisional Court may generate millions of dollars for parkland at the cost of the development industry.

In Richmond Hill (Town) v. Elginbay Corporation,1 the Divisional Court considered whether the Ontario Municipal Board (the “OMB”) has the authority to set the alternative rate for the conveyance of parkland in a municipality’s official plan. The Court concluded that the OMB did not. By imposing a cap on the alternative rate in the Town of Richmond Hill’s official plan, the Court held that the OMB overstepped its jurisdiction and unnecessarily fettered the discretion of the Town to make its own decisions, contrary to the intent of the Legislature.

Letter to Canadian and US Governments re: Radionuclides

Published on: September 17, 2016 | Last Updated on: September 23, 2020

The Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods (Ontario) is an umbrella organization of community associations in Ontario which was founded in 2001. Over the past 15 years we have lobbied the provincial and federal governments for more sustainable policies with respect to land use planning, transportation, and the protection of environmentally sensitive areas such as the Oak Ridge Moraine.

We’ve also supported efforts by organizations such as the Canadian Environmental Law Association to protect the great rivers and lakes we are blessed with in Ontario.

On March 2, 2016 you received a petition signed by 110 advocacy groups supporting nomination of radionuclides as a Chemical of Mutual Concern under Annex 3, Part B, Section 2 of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement 2012.