LETTER: Dunlop’s response to criticism of Bill 23 is ‘deeply flawed’

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“The purpose of designating the land as protected was to preserve valuable agricultural land that helps ensure food security for local areas,” the reader says.

OrilliaMatters welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your phone number and daytime address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following is in response to a letter to the editor from Simcoe North MP Jill Dunlop titled ‘Dunlop says heartbreaking reality spawned Bill 23’, published on December 22. **************** **********

I read with great interest your response to our newspapers about Bill 23. It was well written and quite compelling, but it was deeply, deeply flawed.

There is undoubtedly a housing crisis and it is a crisis that has been going on for several years. It’s a matter of affordability. The price of a single-family home is beyond the reach of most families.

However, even more than the high purchase cost, it is rising interest rates that will make reasonable monthly mortgage payments even more out of reach. While most families cannot afford a single-family home, Bill 23 will allow developers to gobble up irreplaceable farmland to build more single-family home developments.

We do not need more such housing in the Greenbelt area, but rather we need to build multi-unit housing within the already identified urban settlement areas. Your own government report on affordable housing has stated categorically that we don’t need more land to solve the housing crisis; rather, we need densification.

Generally, construction means more jobs, especially a demand for skilled tradespeople. However, you have overlooked the fact that there is a massive shortage of skilled labor!

And just as important, there is a supply shortage, especially for cement. Projects are already on hold due to lack of supplies or manpower. Simply passing Bill 23 and declaring the Greenbelt now open for business and development won’t guarantee the speedy construction of homes, but what it has done is cost locals of this province the preservation of the forest, wetlands and agricultural lands they deserve and desire.

And, they told your government loud and clear; from city governments, environmentalists, farmers to affordable housing advocates, all have voiced their opposition to Bill 23.

You claim that the government wants to build communities and “help them grow in a way that makes sense”, but how can it when municipalities have been deprived of much of their input into local planning and were deprived of development charges that would not only provide for necessary services like roads and sewers, but also for parks, recreation centers, libraries, etc.? These facilities are often the glue that holds communities together.

Furthermore, you argue that by relieving developers of these development fees, it would reduce the cost of building a home, making it more affordable. The truth is, nothing in the bill requires developers to pass on savings. In a buyer’s marker, builders can charge whatever the market will bear.

Ironically, property owners, whether already part of existing communities or new, will face a significant increase in taxes and therefore monthly costs, to provide the services that development charges would normally pay.

Giving away parts of the Greenbelt for development completely ignores the vital role of the Greenbelt that prompted the original need for protection. The purpose of designating the land as protected was to preserve valuable agricultural land that helps ensure food security for local areas, protect water quality and prevent flooding; to preserve habitat and provide continuous stretches of habitat needed to protect species, as well as provide green space for public enjoyment.

Suggesting that your government expand the Greenbelt shows that you do not appreciate the unique qualities of these lands. Swapping a parcel of land in the GTA and adding the same (or more) area elsewhere assumes that the two parcels of land are identical; but they are certainly not.

If the additional new land merits protection, and everyone agrees it does, it should be added to the Greenbelt without removing the lands already designated. What a wonderful legacy that would be for the people of Ontario; something you could really be proud of. Your government has made a climate and greening commitment that is apparently nothing more than lip service. Clearly, this profit-only legislation shows that.

Your answer was slick, a great piece of “spin” but completely misleading. Bill 23 will do little or nothing to solve the housing crisis facing Ontario, at the cost of lands and waters that will provide valuable services to all of us for generations to come.

Ontario needs multi-unit housing located within existing urban areas, close to transportation hubs, which will help reduce the need for cars and highways. As a MLA and cabinet minister, I urge you to use your influence to have this law revoked.

Janet Campbell Orillia *************************

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