• Protecting Water and Farmland in Simcoe County

Enough with the undemocratic MZOs, Doug Ford

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In AWARE News Network
May 21st, 2020
2 Comments
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Ontario Farmland Trust photo

Steamrolling the way for development, behind closed doors

from Ontario Nature

While Ontarians grapple with the social and economic impacts of a global pandemic, the Government of Ontario is quietly setting the stage for development projects to proceed without public consultation or the right to appeal. Without alerting the public through notices on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO), the government has been issuing and revoking Minister’s Zoning Orders – effectively eliminating public participation in each planning decision.

A Minister’s Zoning Order allows the Minister to directly zone land for particular purposes. The Minister does not have to give notice or consult with the public prior to issuing or revoking a zoning order.

Sign the letter to Minister

Please join Ontario Nature in urging the Government of Ontario to curtail its use of Minister’s Zoning Orders for land-use planning. Link to letter objecting to Simcoe County’s request for an MZO to push through the Freele Tract waste facility. As Ontario deals with COVID-19 and prepares for our recovery, the focus should be on enhancing community resilience to climate change and potential future pandemics.

Enabling and supporting public participation in determining the future of our farmlands, forests, wetlands and other natural areas will be vital to advancing this outcome. Expediting development while keeping Ontarians in the dark does not serve the public interest.

Recent MZO issues

2 Responses to “Enough with the undemocratic MZOs, Doug Ford”

  1. Brian Dedora says:

    This is sneaky and underhanded… we do not need the destruction of any more farmland when this pandemic crisis has shown we need to secure our own food supply chains… food grown in Ontario.

  2. Judi Bolton says:

    MZO’s are destructive measures removing our local government’s ability to preserve valuable farmland for growing food. The case in Oro-Medonte Township concerns the McLean Farm on Highway 93 in Oro-Medonte Township.
    Please don’t sacrifice this beautiful farm to house seniors. We have seen with the recent COVID Virus that having Seniors housed together in close proximity is not a healthy way to live. Our concern is losing another farm to development which should be going in predetermined development areas!
    STOP this plan in it’s tracks. Let it go through local development channels with input from taxpayers and Staff in the Planning Department and it will be stopped!

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