I am in Ottawa for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference, a gathering of municipal officials from across the country focused on advocacy to the federal government. However, this week there is also a lot going on with the provincial-municipal dynamic at Queen’s Park in Toronto. Notably, the Ford government is pushing ahead with both Bill 5 and Bill 6 (the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act and the Safer Municipalities Act respectively), two bills that will greatly impact our local communities, and not for the positive.
Bill 5 drastically overhauls government regulations as it relates to development: stripping protection for our natural heritage sites, threatening endangered species, violating Indigenous Rights, and removing the mandate for environmental assessments. Cabinet ministers will be empowered to ignore protections wherever they deem necessary without checks and balances, which has raised widespread concern from organizations such as the Ecojustice Canada, Ontario Nature, and the Toronto Zoo. Bill 5 will enable the Ford government to continue to expedite projects without clear accountability like with the Wilmot land assembly (where 550 acres of farmland are being assembled by various means) and the landfill expansion in Dresden (where even the PC MPP Steve Pinsonneault has spoken against his own party in its role bypassing an Environmental Assessment for the project through Bill 5). Our farmland and our environment are our future, and they must be vigorously defended. This past week, I attempted to introduce a motion to have the County formally oppose Bill 5, but council chose to defer the motion until we have a report back from staff detailing the bill. I am greatly concerned about what this bill could mean for our municipality and our environment if it is passed. After all, when the premier is making flippant comments about “worry[ing] about a grasshopper jumping across the highway” and given the Ford government’s past history on environmental policy, we have little reason to be confident about the safety and sanctity of our natural heritage. Lest we forget his last term, where Bill 23 attempted to pave over the farmland of the Greenbelt, a debacle that is the subject of an ongoing RCMP investigation.
Furthermore, this week the government is continuing to try to push through Bill 6 the Safer Municipalities Act, which seeks to essentially criminalize homelessness as the government’s solution to the homelessness crisis. The County of Brant formally opposed the criminalization of homelessness back in December when the government was debating Bill 241 (the same bill in the previous session of government), as the data and real-world examples all overwhelmingly show that Housing-First solutions are more effective, more ethical, and more cost-effective than punishing people for being in poverty. It costs more than $10,000 a month to keep a person in jail… versus less than $4,000 a month to put that individual in supportive housing. If it is cheaper and more effective to take the compassionate route, why would our government choose to take the inhumane one? As a founding member of the Ontario Coalition for the Rights of Homeless People (OCRHP), I joined many other municipal colleagues, activists, and organizations in protesting Bill 6 on May 29th. Protests happened in several cities across the province against this unconstitutional and cruel bill.
I would encourage those who believe in lifting up their fellow neighbours, and in being good stewards to our planet for future generations to get involved. Research Bill 5 and 6 to learn more about them, write to your councillors and your MPPs, reach out to volunteer with local advocacy groups, or talk to your friends and family about these pieces of legislation. The Ford government has shown that it will reverse course under public pressure like with the Greenbelt scandal, so let’s come together as a community and apply that pressure. There is no power like people power.
In Solidarity,
Lukas Oakley
Councillor for the County of Brant and Founding Member of the Ontario Coalition for the Rights of Homeless People
