Today, Friday, an intrepid group of about 25 Grey Bruce residents led by Stephanie Warner and Jeanette Parry from the Beaver Valley, assembled in front of the office of MPP Rick Byers to protest the impending passage of Bill 23. Intrepid because, as you know, Mother Nature dumped 15 cm of snow on us overnight – it was cold out there!

Our message was clear, as indicated by the letter from the Canadian Environmental Law Association which I copy below.

CELA emphasizes four ’needs’ that are certainly not going to be addressed by Bill 23: The need for climate-safe communities; The need to preserve the essential roles of conservation authorities and upper-tier municipalities in good planning and environmental protection; The need for robust citizen engagement; The need for an affordable equitable quality housing supply. It seems obvious to us as Grey Bruce climate activists that the Doug Ford government is not listening to the public but has his ears wide open to developers and land speculators.

Unfortunately, MPP Rick Byers was in his office but declined to meet or even acknowledge our presence. According to his staff he was “in meetings”, not to be disturbed.

From Canadian Environmental Law Association:

By now you've likely seen the headlines. Ontario’s extensive legislative, regulatory, and policy proposals – including Bill 23 - More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 – will dramatically set back efforts to establish strong, healthy, climate-resilient communities. 

Further deliberation regarding Bill 23 must be delayed until robust and meaningful consultation with Indigenous Peoples is completed. CELA urges the provincial government to pause the passage of Bill 23 to allow full consideration of all the public input and advice that is received, including through the Environmental Registry of Ontario notices (the initial deadlines for the Bill 23 related notices are November 24, 2022).

Last week, I presented on behalf of CELA at public hearings before the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy regarding CELA's concerns with Bill 23.

These include:

• The need for climate-safe communities;
• The need to preserve the essential roles of conservation authorities and upper-tier municipalities in good planning and environmental protection;
• The need for robust citizen engagement;
• The need for an affordable equitable quality housing supply.

We have just posted our written submission to Standing Committee - you can find it here. Anyone can comment before the deadline of 7pmEST this Thursday, November 17th, using this link (choose to “submit material only” after selecting Bill 23 from the menu).  We urge you to submit your own comments and share your concerns regarding Bill 23. General guidelines for what to include in written materials are available here.

CELA has created an action alert page on our website that contains our preliminary analysis of Bill 23, external resources from other organizations, and our oral and written submission to the Standing Committee. Continue to watch this page in the coming weeks, as we post additional analysis and materials for other commenting deadlines.

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Michael Craig, Owen Sound