GuelphToday received the following letter to the editor from reader Karen Rathwell who has concerns regarding Bill 229, the Protect, Support and Recover from COVID-19 (Budget Measures Act), 2020 and how Schedule 6 impacts Ontario's Conservation Authorities.
Dear Editor
I begin this letter by declaring how thrilled I was to learn that Ontario's Progressive Conservatives are showing interest in expanding the Green Belt and possibly protecting the Paris/Galt Moraine. It is imperative that the natural capital we are blessed with here in Ontario is appreciated and protected.
During the honourable Steve Clark's (Minister of Municipal of Affairs and Housing) recent announcement, he indicated he wanted to hear from Ontarians on how our provincial leaders can “better protect and preserve farmlands, wetlands, forests and watersheds” and so I write.
First kudos to minister Clarke for putting forward an ecosystem-based proposal to protect the Paris-Galt Moraine: a geological formation spanning from Caledon past Brantford that is some 130 kms long and was formed from continental glaciation approximately 12,000 years ago.
Yet I'm struck by recent news that Ontario's other much lauded science based ecosystem approach is currently threatened by the recent passing of Bill 229, the Protect, Support and Recover from COVID-19 (Budget Measures Act), 2020 that included Schedule 6 Conservation Authorities Act.
Schedule 6 which was approved in December 2020 seeks to water down or limit Ontario's conservation authorities ability to ensure a watershed-based approach in planning decisions. By removing conservation authorities' participation in the planning appeals process, your government is signalling that watershed science and data should not be applied to land use decisions.
Now I appreciate that the "devil is in the details" when it comes to legislation and minster Clark recently announced the formation of the Conservation Authorities Act Working Group to advise on the forthcoming regulations.
But I'm at a loss to understand why three land developers are included in the working group? This seems to be at the complete exclusion of others including environmental organizations that have advocating for Greenbelt protection for many decades.
I do find it ironic that minister Clark's office has appointed a representative of Mattamy Homes on the Conservation Authority Act working group - North America's largest home builder who recently acquired significant acreage in the City of Guelph on the Paris-Galt moraine. The irony would stop here if it wasn't for the fact that two weeks after purchasing the property in question - Mattamy Homes was charged and fined with the largest fines to date by the City of Guelph for contravening its tree cutting and site alteration bylaws.
Minister Clarke - is it appropriate to appoint a representative of a development company that has pled guilty to breaking the rules to contribute to a working group tasked with writing the regulations for protecting people and property from natural hazards, safeguarding drinking water and preventing the loss of natural resources?
Is this the kind of company that should be given opportunities to guide the protection of our green spaces?
Karen Rathwell
Guelph
