Understanding the Fuss about bill 23
Let me begin by wishing you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season. It was wonderful to see the return of the Santa Claus Parade to the streets of Waterdown, a beautiful reminder of the jubilant nature of the season.
I ran for City Council with the promise to be accountable and responsive to my constituents. My sincere Christmas wish is for the government of Ontario to offer you the same courtesy. Political decisions should be based on evidence, supported by principle, and designed to achieve the greatest good. Bill 23 – Ontario’s destructive new ‘housing’ policy - meets none of these requirements. Even worse, it contradicts the research that clearly shows there are over 400,000 building permits already approved, with construction pending. The Province's own Housing Study group has stated there is no shortage of developable land in Ontario.
Most egregiously, Bill 23 effectively shifts billions of dollars in infrastructure funding into the budgets of local communities, as the Ford government is choosing to give massive financial breaks to developers, while forcing new infrastructure costs onto municipalities. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario, upon close inspection of Bill 23, suggests there will be a potential transfer of up to $8.2 billion a year in costs from private sector developers to property taxpayers, without any likelihood of improved housing affordability.
The reduction of development fees that pay for sewers, roads, day cares, parks, recreation centres, libraries and schools, will have a dramatic impact on municipal fiscal sustainability. Frankly, I’m disgusted, and I hope you are too. Bill 23 is a reckless, irresponsible, and anti-democratic approach. It comes from the same Premier whose election promises included "the people have spoken - we're not going to touch the Green Belt."
Watching as drastic and irreversible harm comes to our community and our environment is not something I intend to do. If you share my anger, I encourage you to raise your voice to our PC MPPs and the Premier – I promise you I will.
