Stealing Legacy

On this page, we aim to keep record of the Ford Government's attempts to weaken environmental protections and sacrifice the health of communities to line the pockets of himself and his industry friends. Scroll down to read more about recent legislation and what it means for the people and nature of Ontario.

"He Doesn't Play for Ontario"

Proposed legislation that undermines our rights, our communities, our markets, and defiles our wildlife legacy. It violates Indigenous Rights, puts federally endangered species in further jeopardy and puts our drinking water and security at risk. All for a few favoured developers who have espoused this plan, to make money at everyone else's expense.

These are not solution, but often are folly - Recognized experts say many of Ford's bills are not necessary but instead it is costly to taxpayers and municipalities- while destroying public spaces, increasing our risks to flood and drought, decimating wildlife across Ontario, and providing the Premier with rights above our democracy.

This is not a Liberal or Conservative issue, this impacts everyone.

Proposed legislations are not a response to immigration and housing needs, because we know governments increase immigration to spur on the economy in a recession, but more is that every housing study (including this government's very limited research-report) says increasing density is the answer (not sprawl) and that there is all the room needed in the Greater Golden Horseshoe's existing greenfields!

These bills are not cutting red tape- Instead these propositions undermine our democracy, defile our legacy and our rights. And the recent changes enacted in 2023 have actually made timelines longer for development....

Increases Urban Sprawl and without supporting capacity for services

The bill will result in increased sprawl

The bill limits fees that a municipality can charge developers, dismantles planning processes to favour sprawl, requiring more services from road maintenance, garbage disposal, sewage treatment etc. The only recourse for municipalities will be to increase property and other taxes

Costs taxpayers and municipalities

The bill costs municipalities and taxpayers

Development costs and fees are taken away from communities and given to the province, meanwhile the resulting sprawling communities, (only accessible by car), require more services which costs municipalities more...and will be borne by the local taxpayers.

Removal of expert oversight

The bill removes expert oversight.

No Conservation Authority (CA) reviews or agreements with municipalities to help plan where housing will be safe (away from flood zones), and no OMNRF review of wetland importance- Instead divesting this review to municipal governments who can be overridden in any case.

Loss of turtles and other souls

Loss of fish and sport fishing

Loss of fish and sport fishing

Redefining what a stream is, which will result in the loss of wetland nurseries and staging areas for fish, and natural filtration systems.

Taking away our rights

The bill strips rights and resources of municipalities.

It provides power for the Premier to overturn any plans and decisions; changes the Land Tribunal's focus to reflect the provincial agenda and not the community's goals. It takes development charges and Conservation Authority fees away from municipalities.

Giving the Premier Ultimate Power

The bill gives one person ultimate power of all land-based decisions. It closes open markets to create a bias market, where the Premier, decides which companies get contracts.

It's all at the Premier's discretion; Ministerial Zoning Orders are authorized in the Bill by the Minister's ability to amend a community's Official Plans and planning decisions, at his whim

Defiles Treaty Laws

The bill removes areas and features affecting Indigenous Rights and Title.

Wetlands are medicine areas and food areas for food security and as part of inherent rights

Leads to Homelessness and Less Affordable Housing

The bill leads to less affordable housing and more homeless.

The bill will result in fewer homes across more area, including farmlands and conservation lands. It removes subsidies for affordable housing and undermines rental protections.

Reducing Food Security _ Increasing Food Costs

Limits farming and undermines food security in an already expensive era!

The bill opens the Green Belt and vital farmlands to development, where Ontario and Canada also, already import more than is grown here, making us more vulnerable to markets and shortages.

No QC and no community identity

No Quality Control or Community Identity

While experts say it would've been easy to cut red tape by having 30 days penalties and moving to planning permits (instead of building permits) this bill removes site plan controls and bylaws that would preserve basic building appearances

Increased taxes, and insurance costs or no coverage at all

Increased Insurance Costs and Taxes (or No Coverage at all!)

Insurers won't insure houses in a flood zone and Acts of God will not be covered- meanwhile many of the houses built if the act passes will be in former flood zones and wetland areas- Filling spongy wetland basins means that water will have no place to go but to top the banks!

Atmospheric Fund letter and review of standards stripped

Loss of parklands

The bill results in the loss of parklands for the public.

Parklands donated or purchased by Conservation Authorities are to be sold for development limiting access to nature and the related wellbeing for our communities- and increasing isolation and mental health concerns.

Putting communities at risk

The Bill will cause the loss of wetlands and habitats equal to that of colonization days which resulted in the Dirty Twenties- Without wetlands we are high and dry!

Wetlands are known for their role in recharging aquifers for potable water, keeping base flows in streams, filtering water and soaking up excess in times of flooding. Losing wetlands means increased risk of flood, reduced drinking water supplies and quality

Downsizing and downgrading Provincially Significant Wetlands, changing the evaluation process and features included in evaluation
Re-evaluating and downgrading existing Provincially Significant Wetlands, to allow for development in these areas.
Defiling and destruction of our wildlife legacy and killing of turtles, fish, amphibians, displacement of moose and more...
Increased flood and drought by removing major wetlands and wetland complexes, and infilling of headwaters
Re-interpreting what a watercourse is, to remove fish nurseries and headwaters
No expert advice or input

More to Know...

This legislation was proposed immediately after the municipal elections before any new councils could respond or rally to overturn the loss of their powers (like they were able to the last time this government attempted this). Association of Municipalities of Ontario is very concerned.
The legislation was approved in principle as it was brought to Second reading within 1 week of the proposal. There is also no obligation to take comments from the Ontario Bill of Rights into consideration.
Hypocrisy? Ford provided $4.2Million to Muskoka, where he has his cottage, to "protect its environment which is so important to the local economy and the great people who live there". So is the rest of Ontario not worthy or valued- are drinking water supplies and fish stocks, nature-tourism, pollinators, etc. not important elsewhere? Link
This one of more coming down the line...
- - a review of the Provincial Policy Statements - the direction set by the provincial government to the municipalities
  - Changes to Green Belt plan - which Ford promised never to touch have recently come to light in relation to Housing Action Plan
Bill 3, which was passed this fall, gives "Strong Mayor Powers" to mayors in the biggest municipalities in Ontario - allows these mayors to push laws through with only one third of their council's support and gives them strong veto powers, among other measures. Read more here
- - Local groups are very concerned about the implications of Bill 3 - read more here
Bill 39, the Better Municipal Governance Act is set to pass in the near future, and gives even more powers to the Minister of Housing and mayors of certain municipalities. Click here to read about the bill
After review by a Standing Committee, and because of overwhelming protest, surface measures within Bill 23 were amended. These changes were for appearances, as the most severe aspects of the Bill remained intact. Click here to read more.

Bill 23 was passed by the Provincial Government on Monday, Nov. 28th, 2022.

Click here to map destruction and changes you have witnessed

Reports from the Auditor General and the Integrity Commissioner revealed that a staff member of the former Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Ryan Amato (now resigned due to the Bill 23 and Greenbelt scandal) was giving preferential treatment to certain developers. Evidence of corruption continues to be discovered. Doug Ford publicly apologized and vowed to reverse the Greenbelt land grab on September 21st 2022, but in 2024 Ford is about to turn back on this again...

Auditor General of Ontario releases results of month’s long investigation into the November 2022 Ford government’s changes to the Greenbelt

The Office of the Auditor General of Ontario is an independent, non-partisan Office of the Legislative Assembly, who “holds those in the public sector accountable for financial responsibility, well-managed programs and transparency in public reporting”. The Office of the Auditor General investigated the Ford government’s November 2022 changes to the Greenbelt because it was requested by all 3 of Ontario’s provincial opposition party leaders.

November 2022 changes

In November 2022, and alongside sweeping changes from Bill 23: More Homes Built Faster, the Ford government removed/redesignated 15 sites located within the Greenbelt in order to develop a minimum of 50,000 new homes. The municipalities implicated included Durham Region, York Region, and Hamilton. The Greenbelt cannot be reduced in size overall, so to “offset” removals, the Ford Government added 7,000 acres (representing only a portion of) the Paris Galt Moraine and 2,400 meters of “Urban River Valleys” or URVs within the region. While there have been two other instances of proposed changes since the inception of the Greenbelt, they pail in comparison to the scale of the removals/redesignation in November 2022.

Selected Key Findings of the Special Report

The process was biased towards certain developers with access to decision makers and lacked objectivity and transparency.

Just 22 sites were reviewed for removal from the Greenbelt by a team known as the “Greenbelt Project Team” despite the fact that 630 requests had been made for removal since 2005. All but one of these sites were provided to the team directly by the Housing Ministry's Chief of Staff. The remaining site was added for consideration by the Greenbelt Project Team, however due to limited time constraints they were unable to research other candidate sites. Of the 15 sites ultimately selected, 14 were brought into the project by the Housing Minister’s Chief of Staff.
92% of the acreage removed belonged to two prominent developers, who had access to and requested removals directly from the same Housing Minister’s Chief of Staff at a September 2022 dinner function held by the Building Industry and Land Development Association.
The developers who own these 15 sites could ultimately see a collective $8.3bn increase to the value of their properties from removal from the Greenbelt.
A lack of transparency further percolated the entire process with respect to communication with non-political staff, with what was communicated to the public, and more.

Considerations for agriculture and the environment were largely discarded.

A decision to drop the only criteria that considered environmental and agricultural factors was made when most of the proposed sites did not meet the criteria. Ultimately, of the 15 sites removed, 13 involve the removal of Specialty Crop and/or Natural Heritage System lands.
The land selected for offset is largely viewed as insufficient and unsuitable. The portion of the Paris Galt Moraine added represents only a fraction of the entire system. The URVs are already protected and are unsuitable for future development due to their steep slopes. Further, they do not contribute to agricultural land protection - a key objection of the Greenbelt.

No formal agreement and little accountability exists to ensure construction starts in time to meaningfully contribute to housing in the near term nor to ensure that sufficient municipal services and infrastructure are offered and paid for by the developers.

Despite the fact that the Greenbelt land opened up is intended by the Government to add “more homes faster”, the impacted municipalities indicate that the time required to run necessary infrastructure to these homes could take a very long time. The Durham region quoted up to 25 years, for example.
The government has indicated that construction must begin by 2025 and that developers are responsible for footing the infrastructure bill, which is estimated by the Durham Region, for example, to cost up to $2bn dollars. However, no formal framework to assess this exists, nor are there any agreements in place.

The process was rushed and poorly timed.

Due to the short time frame, sites could not be properly assessed with respect to infrastructure services, like running roads, sanitation or water treatment to the sites. A largely unsuitable proxy - proximity to developed urban areas - was used instead.
The time period provided for public consultation, as is required, was set to the minimum possible time frame of 30 days. It coincided with a timeframe that was particularly challenging for municipalities given the proximity to municipal elections, which limited their ability to provide commentary within the already short period of time. Despite the short and poorly selected time frame, 35,000 overwhelmingly negative comments were received but no changes were made and the amendments to the Greenbelt Plan were made exactly as proposed.

The proposal lacked consultation with Indigenous peoples.

Background Info

What is the Greenbelt?

Ontario’s Greenbelt is located in Southern Ontario around the Greater Golden Horseshoe that surrounds the City of Toronto. It was established in 2005 with the goal of controlling urbanization and sprawl, protecting vital ecosystems and prime agricultural land, and providing green space for leisure activities. It is the largest of its kind in the world at approximately 2 million acres. Though not located in The Land Between, the Greenbelt is important for all of Ontario with respect to agriculture, mitigating and adapting to climate change, providing home to an estimated 29 species at risk, and more. Further, its dismantling, including the selection of unsuitable offsets, reflect a broader threat facing our entire province with the introduction of Ford’s Bill 23: More Homes Built Faster.

Ontario's Housing Crisis

There is no doubt that Ontario’s population will increase in the years to come. It was concluded by the Ontario government’s Housing Affordability Task Force that 1.5 million new homes will need to be built in the next 10 years to accommodate this growth. With an affordability crisis, however, construction of affordable housing must be a priority. This same task force has advocated strongly for greater density on existing parcels of land rather than development through urban sprawl, as they indicate that a shortage of land is not driving the housing crisis.

The full special report can be found on the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario's website here. You can also read coverage on the issue from The Narwhal here.

UPDATES TO THIS STORY: The Housing Ministry's Chief of Staff has resigned. The OPP has shifted responsibility for the investigation of the Greenbelt land swap to the RCMP, citing "potential conflicts of interest" as rationale. The RCMP is assessing whether or not a full investigation is warranted.

Bill 162, the Get It Done Act

Another Omnibus bill set to cut environmental protection measures in Ontario.

Urban boundary expansion for certain municipalities, which was first implemented through Bill 23, then reversed, and is now being reinstated.
Forcing municipalities to allocate funds and land to building sprawling subdivisions instead of more cost, land-use, and labour effective housing in existing areas.
Enabling land to be expropriated from landowners before proper environmental assessment is completed. This is targeted to projects such as Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass.
Other changes to the environmental assessment process that would shorten timelines and allow certain projects to be exempt from assessments that could protect habitat and ecosystem services.
Bill 162 also vows to fight the federal carbon tax, which is a vital piece in fighting climate change.
Bill 162 was proposed without proper consultation with Indigenous communities, municipalities, or the public.
Bill 162 is being read in parliament and is set to pass into law sometime in 2024.

More battles to be fought...

The Ford Government continues to push forward legislation that will allow unsustainable development in the province, without proper environmental assessment, accountability, or oversight. This summer, the Ontario government released new legislation to carry out next steps in their plans to build 1.5 Million Homes by 2031. Bill 97 and the newly proposed Provincial Planning Statement create several new threats to agricultural, recreational, and natural spaces. This fall, a letter was issued to municipal mayors giving them permission to make boundary expansion decisions without consulting their council or public. The Ford government is also pushing forward with plans to build at Ontario Place, and are ensuring that nothing will get in their way. Most recently, harmful changes to the Endangered Species Act have been proposed. Learn more below.

Proposed Amendments to the Endangered Species Act (ESA)

The Ontario Government is making changes to the ESA, claiming these amendments will “streamline processes for Ontarians” and provide protection to species at risk where it is needed most. The proposed changes alter protection measures for certain species, and allow projects to start before protection measures are implemented and initial studies are completed. Some examples of harmful changes for specific species at risk include:

Changing considerations for Redsided Dace (endangered fish species) habitat protection based on occupation of the habitat area by the species from 20 years to 10 years, and changing how recovery habitat is determined.
Allowing projects in areas where Butternut trees (endangered tree species) grow to be registered before initial tree health assessments have been completed.
Exempting newly listed species-at-risk from certain regulations under the ESA. This would allow certain activities that impact these species to be carried out without permits or agreements under the ESA.
Removal of the Barn Swallow (special concern bird species) as a qualifying species for the Species At Risk Conservation Fund. The Conservation Fund is not a strong or effective conservation measure on its own, however the removal of this species may have impacts on recoverability.
Enabling mine exploration activities that should be prohibited under the ESA. This proposed amendment includes minimal and potentially ineffective regulations to protect certain potentially impacted species-at-risk.
- Proposed mitigation measures do not require new exploration mining projects to assess an area for unknown species at risk habitat before they begin activities. Offsetting impacts by creating new habitat spaces is also included as a way to reduce harm. This is a technique that has been proven ineffective countless times.
Read about the proposed amendments HERE (consultation period now closed)
More information about proposed amendments from Environmental Defence HERE
Read about the Species At Risk Conservation Fund HERE.

Bill 154 and Ontario Place

The Ford government wants to re-open Ontario Place as a luxury private spa and water park, and are quite literally paving the way for this to happen
Bill 154 will:
- exempt the project from environmental impact assessments and restrictions under the Heritage Act
- take land that belongs to the city of Toronto to incorporate into the new project
- give the Minister of Infrastructure, Kinga Surma, the power to issue Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZOs)
- exempt the Ontario Place project from the requirements of the Environmental Bill of Rights
Read about this issue HERE
Watch Global News coverage HERE
Read the bill HERE

Municipal Boundary Expansion

New Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister Paul Calandra recently issued a letter to Ontario Mayors instructing them to make decisions on how their municipalities will grow and changes to official plans.
The letter states that Mayors can propose land use plans and blueprints without consulting their council or the public.
This letter was issued after Calandra had already tabled legislation to reverse boundary expansions that were to occur in many municipalities through the Greenbelt land swap. Read more HERE
This latest move by the PC government shows that Ford and Calandra did not learn from the mistakes made in the Greenbelt development scandal
Read more on this issue HERE

Bill 97 and PPS Related Links and Resources

Osler, Hosking & Harcourt LLP compare the old Growth Plan and Provincial Policy Statement with the new Provincial Planning Statement in this document. CLICK HERE to read.
Cassels Law summary of changes imposed by Bill 97 and the new PPS. CLICK HERE to read.
Bennett Jones analysis of Bill 97 and PPS changes. CLICK HERE to read.
City of Kawartha Lakes analysis of how Bill 97 and new PPS will impact the municipality. CLICK HERE to read.

Provincial Planning Statement

The Ford government is proposing that the Ontario Growth plan and provincial policy statement be combined to create one “Provincial Planning Statement” (PPS). These changes were proposed at the same time as Bill 97. Proposed amendments to the Planning Act, the City of Toronto Act, and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Act in Bill 97 support the review of Provincial Policies to create the new PPS. The main changes that are proposed under the new PPS are

Changing the definition of an “area of employment” to align with the new definition in Bill 97
Elimination of growth, employment, and intensification targets for municipalities. While the government seems to support adhering to current targets, meeting these is no longer mandatory, and the responsibility to forecast growth targets will eventually be passed to municipalities.
Built Boundaries, which are areas that are designated for growth and intensification within a municipality, are no longer defined in the new PPS.
Municipal Comprehensive Reviews, the process in which a municipality ensures that their Official Plan captures the goals laid out in Ontario’s Growth Plan, is eliminated
No longer designating built boundaries or requiring municipal comprehensive reviews means that municipal boundaries can be extended at any time, with no explanation
Maintenance of Agricultural land and Watersheds - the onus is now on municipalities rather than the province to maintain agricultural boundaries and protect water resources, including watershed planning. Watersheds were previously maintained by Conservation Authorities, which had much of their jurisdiction and responsibility removed through Bill 23.
Agricultural land at risk of being parcelled off for development due to changes to permitted uses of rural land. Ontario Farmers are pushing back against this change. READ MORE here.
READ the new PPS here

Bill 97

Passed through the legislature in June of this year, Bill 97 makes changes to a number of acts including the Planning Act and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Act. Among the many legislative changes made through this bill, some of the most prominent include:

Changes to the definition of an “area of employment” to allow for only heavy industry and related uses, such as warehouses and manufacturing. This change would not allow for offices and retail spaces to exist alongside heavy industry unless part of the manufacturing or warehouse establishment. This will drastically change the way urban spaces can be planned, and will make sustainable planning and city design extremely difficult. There is a transitional provision for areas of mixed use that are established prior to this change in definition coming into effect.
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing given new authority and power to
- create regulations facilitating the implementation of the new Provincial Planning Statement
- Exempt land that has been issued a Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO) from additional municipal or provincial approval processes to obtain approvals to establish usage of the land as permitted by the MZO.
- Require landowners to enter into agreements with the Minister or their municipality if the Minister deems this necessary to carry out land development. The Minister can apply restrictions to the land until such an agreement is entered. These agreements can require payments or other contributions beyond what is laid out in the Planning Act and Development Charges Act and any other applicable legislation.
- Changing the definition of development from building of a structure containing 10 residential units or more on a parcel of land, to prescription by the minister. Site plan control does not apply to land where less than 10 residential units are being built, unless prescribed by the minister.
READ more about changes to the Planning Act being implemented through Bill 97

Get it Done Faster Act

To be proposed in early 2024, here are the reviews of the omnibus bill:

TVO Today - Doug Ford’s Omnibus Bill Is Bad Policy That Will Accomplish Nothing:

https://www.tvo.org/article/doug-fords-omnibus-bill-is-bad-policy-that-will-accomplish-nothing

CBC - Doug Ford Government Introduces Get It Done Act. Here’s Whats In It: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/doug-ford-get-it-done-act-legislation-1.7113991

The Record - Doug Ford Hopes To Finally “Get It Done” When Legislature Resumes: https://www.therecord.com/politics/provincial/doug-ford-hopes-to-finally-get-it-done-when-legislature-resumes-tuesday/article_81ec0ccc-14b3-5ff8-9fad-2c47d5f843e7.html

The Narwhal - Everything You Need To Know About How Ontario’s Get It Done Act Will Impact The Environment:

https://thenarwhal.ca/ontario-get-it-done-act-explainer/

The folks at LeadNow.ca have launched a campaign where you can speak up with one click:

LeadNow.ca Campaign - Stop Ford’s Latest Overeach - The Get It Done Act:

https://act.leadnow.ca/getitdone-opposition/

More to Know About Ford's Plans and Policies:

Ford’s Bill 109, a bill that aimed to streamline the approval process for development projects and zoning changes, had backfired and made the process more complicated, expensive, and time consuming.

This bill was pushed through legislation without proper consultation. Ford is pushing his own agenda without consideration of downstream impacts.

Read more about this bill and its impacts HERE.

Isaiah 5:20 - Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!