• Protecting Water and Farmland in Simcoe County

Will Doug Ford make developers pay their share for cleaning up Lake Simcoe?

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In Barrie
May 26th, 2022
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By Jack Gibbons, Chair, Lake Simcoe Watch

We asked the leaders of the province’s major parties if they support allowing municipalities and the province to levy development charges to recover 100% of the costs of servicing new developments and cleaning-up Lake Simcoe.

Andrea Horwath (NDP) and Mike Schreiner (Green Party) both said “yes.”  According to Steven Del Duca (Liberal Party), “Growth should pay for growth.”

To see their full responses please click here.

Unfortunately, Doug Ford (PCs) has not responded to our question.

Background

Lake Simcoe’s growing population has been accompanied by higher property taxes and declining water quality. Homeowners and small businesses pay higher municipal taxes because developers are not required to pay the full cost of the new municipal infrastructure that is needed to service their developments. The public pays the difference.

Meanwhile, water quality is declining because new development has not been accompanied by the environmental measures that are needed to protect Lake Simcoe. That’s why pollution of the lake is increasing and why phosphorous reaching the lake is going up instead of down.

What you can do

Please contact Doug Ford and your local candidates and ask them if they believe that developers should pay their fair share of the cost of reducing Lake Simcoe’s phosphorous pollution to 44 tonnes per year by 2030.

Thank you!

Ask Doug Ford and your local candidates where they stand

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