{"id":591,"date":"2019-01-16T17:07:07","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T17:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aconwr.ca\/blog\/?p=591"},"modified":"2019-01-16T17:07:07","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T17:07:07","slug":"bill-66-urgent-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aconwr.ca\/blog\/uncategorized\/bill-66-urgent-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill 66 Urgent Action"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">If you want to\u00a0comment on Bill 66, Here&#8217;s what you can do:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">1.\u00a0Send comments to the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ero.ontario.ca\/notice\/013-4293\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Environmental Registry<\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">.\u00a0 <strong>Note that the deadline for comments is Sunday, January 20th.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">2.\u00a0Write MPPs. A complete list can be found\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ola.org\/en\/members\/current\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">. \u00a0 Kitchener and Waterloo MPPs emails are below and could be copied and pasted into an email.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">Amy Fee Kitchener South Hespeler&lt;amy.fee@pc.ola.org&gt;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">Catherine Fife Waterloo &lt;cfife-qp@ndp.on.ca&gt;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">Laura Mae Lindo Kitchener Centre &lt;LLindo-QP@ndp.on.ca&gt;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">Mike Harris Kitchener Conestogo &lt;mike.harris@pc.ola.org&gt;<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">___________________________________________________________<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0Sample letter:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">There are many reasons why I am opposed to\u00a0Bill\u00a066.\u00a0\u00a0In brief, these are outlined in a Region of Waterloo report, including the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">Lack of prescribed consultation;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">Risks to health, safety and the environment, including groundwater protection;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">Non-applicability of Provincial and Municipal plans and policies\u2026<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">Municipal councils in the Region of Waterloo have overwhelmingly stated their opposition to\u00a0Bill\u00a066\u00a0in its current form.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">That opposition is based on the provision that a municipality can pass an Open for Business bylaw.\u00a0\u00a0If such a bylaw is passed, there would be:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">no need to follow planning documents that have been created over many years;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">no requirements for public consultation;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">no appeal could be made against any municipal act\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">The impact on the future of our cities, our countryside, our natural resources, and on cultural and natural heritage is clear. These are outlined below.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">1. Impact on Planning<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">If a municipality passed an exemption under\u00a0Bill\u00a066, zoning by laws would not need to conform to any official plans.\u00a0\u00a0Site plan approval would not be required.\u00a0\u00a0There would be no protection to the natural or built environments.\u00a0\u00a0Famous structures that attract tourists from around the globe could be flattened.\u00a0\u00a0A municipality could demolish any building or cultural feature it wanted.\u00a0\u00a0A bylaw could be passed that is exempt from all planning and environmental law such as the\u00a0<i>Planning Act<\/i>,\u00a0<i>Places to Grow Act<\/i>, and the\u00a0<i>Planning and Development Act<\/i>.\u00a0\u00a0The planning process is out the window and there is no appeal process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">2.\u00a0\u00a0Impact on the Environment<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">Urban growth tends to be expansive rather than focused on the existing land that has already been developed in urban areas.\u00a0\u00a0We need to resist that tendency to sprawl, thus putting our agricultural and forest resources at risk.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">More than half of Waterloo Region&#8217;s growth comes from building in existing urban areas. This investment in our urban centres means we can keep growing while preserving the rural communities and farms that make Waterloo Region unique.\u00a0This is not a short-term concern.\u00a0\u00a0We need to protect farmland and natural areas from urban sprawl.\u00a0\u00a0Farmland, cultural and natural landscapes provide urban dwellers with respite from stress.\u00a0\u00a0Natural environments provide us with clean water and clean air.\u00a0\u00a0These are qualities that have made Ontario a wonderful place to live, work and play.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">3.\u00a0\u00a0Impact on Heritage<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">The impact on built heritage and cultural landscapes is obvious since\u00a0Bill\u00a066\u00a0circumvents planning by municipal government.\u00a0There are many examples where protection of our built heritage has been put at risk despite good planning.\u00a0\u00a0An Open for Business bylaw could bypass the\u00a0<i>Planning Act<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0<i>Provincial Policy Statement<\/i>.\u00a0\u00a0The latter states clearly that &#8220;Significant built heritage resources and significant cultural heritage landscapes\u00a0<b>shall<\/b>\u00a0be conserved.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">The\u00a0bill\u00a0also impacts on archaeological heritage.\u00a0\u00a0Ontario has a rich history of occupation that dates back at least 12,000 years. The archaeological assessments completed each year in advance of development help fill in the gaps in the story of our province, Indigenous Peoples and more recent settlers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">Archaeology gives a voice to many who have\u00a0been written out of the history of our province. Indigenous and descendant community participation in the process of archaeological investigation has recently amplified that voice.\u00a0Bill\u00a066\u00a0threatens to allow municipalities to opt out of the research that comes from excavations prior to construction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">The Ontario Archaeological Society has stated clearly: \u201cUnder\u00a0Bill\u00a066, a municipality will be able to circumvent\u2026 the <i>Provincial Policy Statement<\/i>\u2026 and Official Plan requirements\u2026. The protection of heritage is a mandatory provincial interest under the Ontario Heritage Act, not a decision of convenience at a municipal level.\u00a0Bill\u00a066\u00a0needs to be amended to restore the requirements that protect our heritage for the generations to come.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario has stated that\u00a0Bill\u00a066\u00a0would allow the development of major employment and economic growth opportunities.\u00a0\u00a0We could see many more demolitions of heritage buildings.\u00a0\u00a0In the past, demolitions have taken place despite protections, including Carnegie libraries, fire stations, city halls and other valuable buildings of historic and cultural significance.\u00a0\u00a0Should a builder decide to demolish an historic building, under an Open for Business bylaw, there would be nothing anybody could do to protect it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">Under\u00a0Bill\u00a066, the lack of heritage protections would mean that we further write out of our history the richness of Indigenous Peoples as well as those settlers whose descendants form a majority of today\u2019s population.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">Bill\u00a066\u00a0puts the cultural and natural landscapes of Ontario at risk.\u00a0\u00a0I ask that you reject this\u00a0bill\u00a0in its current form.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you want to\u00a0comment on Bill 66, Here&#8217;s what you can do: 1.\u00a0Send comments to the\u00a0Environmental Registry.\u00a0 Note that the deadline for comments is Sunday, January 20th.\u00a0\u00a0 2.\u00a0Write MPPs. A complete list can be found\u00a0here. \u00a0 Kitchener and Waterloo MPPs emails are below and could be copied and pasted into an email. Amy Fee Kitchener &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aconwr.ca\/blog\/uncategorized\/bill-66-urgent-action\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Bill 66 Urgent Action<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aconwr.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aconwr.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aconwr.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aconwr.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aconwr.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.aconwr.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":593,"href":"https:\/\/www.aconwr.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591\/revisions\/593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aconwr.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aconwr.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aconwr.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}