ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE, CPAWS OTTAWA VALLEY, DAVID SUZUKI FOUNDATION, ONTARIO NATURE, RESCUE LAKE SIMCOE COALITION, WILDERNESS COMMITTEE<\/p>\n
Developers who get permits through a \u201cpolitical route\u201d would be left with nothing<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Toronto, Ont. \u2013 Developers and landowners who want to develop on floodplains, wetlands and other hazardous or environmentally sensitive lands should think twice before using newly-created political shortcuts to circumvent or overrule Conservation Authorities. That is the unified message sent today by Ontario\u2019s opposition political parties. Ontario\u2019s Official Opposition New Democratic Party, as well as the Liberal, and Green parties, pledged to restore the powers of Conservation Authorities<\/strong> over development decisions. The New Democratic, Liberal, and Green parties also committed to revoke without compensation any permits that are granted <\/strong>using the lenient and politicized new development approval routes created by the government.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope these commitments from Ontario\u2019s opposition parties will help stem the destruction the government has unleashed on natural features that keep us safe. They send a clear message to developers that if they use new loopholes to get around Conservation Authorities\u2019 decisions, they risk throwing away their investment,<\/strong>\u201d said Phil Pothen, Ontario Environment Program Manager, Environmental Defence. \u201cThe prudent approach for developers and landowners now is to act as though Conservation Authority decisions are final, and to focus on complying with whatever flood and landslide prevention and other environmental constraints they impose.”<\/p>\n Last December, the Ontario government ignored a deafening chorus of warnings from Conservation Authorities, independent experts, farmers, the public, and its own Greenbelt Council, and passed Schedule 6 of Bill 229, which undermined protections against floods, landslides and environmental hazards by hobbling Conservation Authorities. These changes are designed \u2013 and are already being used in conjunction with Minister\u2019s Zoning Orders \u2013 to unleash residential and commercial sprawl in environmentally sensitive areas, like a Provincially Significant Wetland in Pickering connected to Lower Duffins Creek.<\/p>\n Environmental Defence asked all political parties if they would commit to repeal Bill 229 Schedule 6 in its entirety upon forming government. While the governing Progressive Conservative Party did not respond, all three opposition parties have committed to do exactly that. Specifically, they have committed to:<\/p>\n \u201cRestoring these powers to Conservation Authorities by revoking Schedule 6 will make all of us safer\u201d, said Dr. Anne Bell of Ontario Nature. \u201cConservation Authorities\u2019 traditional role in permitting work and broader land use planning protected the wetlands and forested areas that store and slow the speed of flood waters, preventing and mitigating damage caused by floods and landslides.\u201d<\/p>\n In view of the very grave threat to the environment and public safety created by development permits issued using newly-created mechanisms which circumvent or disregard expert and arms-length scrutiny, Environmental Defence asked the major parties to go further, and commit that if and when they form government, they will revoke, using legislation which denies any compensation to developers,<\/strong> any Conservation Authorities Act permits issued by the Minister or forced on Conservation Authorities. Both the\u00a0Official Opposition Ontario New Democratic Party and the Green Party agreed unambiguously to revoke permits and legislate away any right to compensation. While the Liberal Party did not specify the means of denying compensation, they too committed to revoke the permits, and protect Ontario from any financial liability.<\/p>\n \u201cThe swift commitment by these parties to revoke approvals granted under Schedule 6 without compensation is a bold but necessary statement that reflects the severity of the risks they pose to healthy wetlands, woodlands, biodiversity and public safety.\u201d said Katie Krelove, Ontario Campaigner for the Wilderness Committee.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Schedule 6 changes to the Conservation Authorities Act<\/em> are just one part of a dangerous and coordinated policy agenda that is enriching developers of car-dependent residential and commercial sprawl by sacrificing natural heritage and farmland,\u201d said Claire Malcolmson, Executive Director of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government\u2019s pro-sprawl agenda, which includes running a new suburban highway through the Greenbelt, pressuring municipalities to expand settlement boundaries by July 2022, suburbanizing large swathes of countryside, and using an unprecedented number of Minister\u2019s Zoning Orders to force through sprawl developments in the interim, have led many of\u00a0Ontario\u2019s leading environmental NGOs and grassroots groups to band together in pushing back as the \u2018Yours To Protect\u2019 coalition,\u201d added Phil Pothen. \u201cToday\u2019s announcement is one of many we hope to make over the coming months as we build consensus among Ontarians of all political stripes around stopping the sprawl agenda and preserving our remaining farmland and natural heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n – 30 –<\/p>\n For more information and to arrange an interview please contact:<\/p>\n Allen Braude, Environmental Defence, abraude@environmentaldefence.ca<\/a><\/p>\n John Hassell, Ontario Nature, johnh@ontarionature.org<\/a><\/p>\n Katie Krelove, Wilderness Committee, Ontario Office, katie@wildernesscommittee.org<\/a><\/p>\n The post Ontario opposition parties all vow swift restoration of Conservation Authority powers<\/a> appeared first on Environmental Defence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n This post was originally published on Environmental Defence<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE, CPAWS OTTAWA VALLEY, DAVID SUZUKI FOUNDATION, ONTARIO NATURE, RESCUE LAKE SIMCOE COALITION, WILDERNESS COMMITTEE Developers who get permits through a \u201cpolitical route\u201d…Read More<\/a><\/p>\n The post Ontario opposition parties all vow swift restoration of Conservation Authority powers<\/a> appeared first on Environmental Defence<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":717,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[529,9715],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50156"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/717"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50156"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50157,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50156\/revisions\/50157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n