The Honourable Rod Phillips Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks Floor 11, 77 Wellesley Street West Toronto, ON M7A 2T5
January 17, 2019
Dear Honourable Minister,
Trout Unlimited Canada (TUC) is concerned with the proposed Bill 66 (also known as the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act). As it stands, the passing of this Bill would threaten Ontario’s lakes, rivers and drinking water by removing existing protections and oversight associated with development proposals. While TUC recognizes the need to accommodate economic development and forecasted population growth, the provincial government also has a responsibility to make informed decisions based on science, to protect our natural environments and human health.
Trout Unlimited Canada is a national, not-for-profit, conservation charity that is science-based and volunteer-driven. Partners and volunteers are paramount to the numerous successful river restoration projects we implement every year. Our work protects and enhances water quality, water flow, aquatic life and community health. This results in a healthier living environment for fish, wildlife and people. TUC is proud of the critical role our organization has played in the protection of Canada’s aquatic environments for over 40 years and the value of this work to the lives of Canadians.
Schedule 10 of Ontario’s Bill 66 proposes to enable municipalities to attract large-scale economic development by passing “open-for-business planning by-laws” under the Planning Act. Schedule 10 of Bill 66 further specifies that open-for-business planning by-laws do not have to comply with important environmental protections and land use controls established under other provincial laws, plans and policies. If passed, Bill 66 would allow developers to ignore protections for clean water and sensitive natural landscapes across the province.
Acts that are focused on clean water protection not only help protect the health, integrity and function of our provincial waterbodies but also protect the health of the people that live within the Province of Ontario. For instance, The Clean Water Act (CWA) is a direct result of the Walkerton Contamination, when seven Ontario residents lost their lives and almost 2,000 became seriously ill simply by drinking municipal tap water. The safeguards provided in the CWA should not be optional; they are essential to protecting our families from severe illness and even death.
Given the considerable time, effort and resources that have gone into the source protection planning process to date, TUC is gravely concerned by the attempt in Schedule 10 of Bill 66 to allow open-for-business planning by-laws, under the Planning Act to override section 39 of the CWA. Schedule 10 of Bill 66 represents an unprecedented and unjustifiable rollback of current legal requirements that were specifically enacted under the CWA to prevent a recurrence of a similar Walkerton tragedy. Where there is are risks to human health, source protection legislation should supersede other legislative provisions and considerations. Other provincial legislation (including the Planning Act) should be amended where necessary to be consistent with source protection legislation.
Bill 66 will also undermine several additional regulations that protect Ontario’s lakes, rivers and significant watershed features, including the Great Lakes Protection Act, the Lake Simcoe Protection Act, the Greenbelt Act, the Oak Ridges Moraine Act, and the Toxics Reduction Act. These Acts were put in place because of uncontrolled growth and development that had already impacted water quality, water quantity, wetlands, streams and other natural features as well as reducing arable and essential farmland.
The Provincial Policy Statement (PPS), as issued under the Planning Act, contains a number of provincial policies aimed at ensuring safe, healthy and liveable communities and protecting natural heritage features and functions. The Provincial Policy Statements that focus on healthy natural environments are based on years of carefully collected data and on the best science available. For example, the PPS stipulates that all Planning Act decisions must restrict development and site alteration in or near sensitive surface water features and sensitive groundwater features, such that these features and their related hydrologic function will be protected, improved or restored. The PPS also states that Planning Act decisions must protect, improve or restore the quality and quantity of surface water and groundwater resources. These statements were established as a result of extensive discussions and advice from some of the most respected groundwater and surface water scientists in Canada.
TUC would like to emphasize that Ontario’s watersheds and their features and functions are part of our natural infrastructure and are an essential first defence of our water supplies and water resources both for people and the environment. The importance of protecting this natural infrastructure cannot be understated.
TUC is concerned that Bill 66 will have irreversible consequences for human health and the environment by allowing municipalities, developers and industry to sidestep essential public health and environmental laws. These laws protect our watersheds, farmland and green spaces and ensure we have safe water to drink, clean air to breathe and a healthy environment to live in. In order to safeguard environmental health and public safety, TUC strongly believes that the Ontario government should immediately withdraw Schedule 10 of Bill 66. It is the responsibility of the Provincial government to ensure fair and balanced development and not abrogate this responsibility to local municipalities. Before pushing forward, a balance needs to be found between economic growth, natural infrastructure management and water protection.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide input at this critical stage in the process.
Sincerely,
Silvia D’Amelio Chief Executive Officer, Trout Unlimited Canada sdamelio@tucanada.org
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