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Mono mayor asks province to release financial info on Bill 23

December 15, 2022   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Mono council has resolved to contribute to a province-wide effort against legislation designed to build more homes faster in Ontario.

Council agreed during a special meeting on Dec. 6 to reach out to a host of officials at Queen’s Park, to voice their opposition to Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act.

“I think we’ve all heard just about enough about this piece of legislation,” Mayor John Creelman said. “It was pushed through the legislative process at an undue haste.”

He said it’s been the subject of more than 2,200 submissions.

“We read every day the consequences this Act will have both in terms of our independence to plan our future, the question of who pays for development,” he said. “Development charges have never really paid for development. Now they pay even less for development.”

He proposed a motion based on, except for a few changes, a similar move by the Town of Caledon. It also includes a call on the province to release the financial input that would’ve been shared with cabinet as part of the process that rushed the legislation to approval.

Creelman’s motion, at its heart, asks the provincial government to reconsider Bill 23.

The resolution asserts the More Homes Built Faster Act will result in changes that severely impact environmental protection, heritage preservation, public participation, loss of farmland, and a municipality’s ability to provide future services, amenities, and infrastructure.

He said it will negatively impact residential tax rates and significantly restrict how municipalities manage growth through the implementation of their official plans and the ability to provide essential infrastructure and community services.

Creelman said conservation authorities will no longer be able to review and comment on development applications and supporting environmental studies on behalf of a municipality.

The legislation will reduce development charges, community benefit charges, and parkland dedication requirements that are required to fund community infrastructure.

The legislation will remove aspects of site plan controls and the ability to regulate architectural details and aspects of landscape design.

The resolution is to be sent to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), Premier Doug Ford, Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark, Environment, Conservation, and Parks Minister David Piccini, Natural Resources and Forestry Minister Graydon Smith, Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones, Opposition Leader Peter Tabuns, Liberal Party Leader John Fraser, Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, the Credit Valley Conservation, and the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority. 

Regarding the cabinet-shared financial input, Deputy Mayor Fred Nix asked if the province would’ve analyzed the legislation’s impacts on municipal development charges.

“Do you think they’ve done that?” Nix said.

Creelman said most proposals go to cabinet with an analysis of impacts, including financial impacts.

“I would be very surprised if they did not have that in front of them,” Creelman said. “It probably reveals that the impact is, as suggested, in the billions of dollars over a period of time.”

Manktelow said the Mono resolution is part of a ground-swell of opposition to the provincial legislation.

“I’m appalled at the rationale which the Ontario government has provided with the bill,” he said. “It has huge destructive effects on the preservation of our land.”

Manktelow said nearby Caledon has calculated as much as a 20 per cent tax increase as a ramification of Bill 23 and the ensuing loss of development charges.

“I don’t know how we’re going to handle this,” he said. “I very much hope that the pressure which is coming from all sides will be felt by the government and they will realize this bill is a mistake.”

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