Greenbelt council says environment ‘at risk’

Province urged to rethink zoning orders, changes to conservation legislation

The chair of the province’s Greenbelt Council is demanding the Ontario government abandon its changes to the Conservation Authorities Act aand halt its use of ministerial

zoning orders, saying that together they put the province’s environment “at risk.”

In a letter sent to Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Steve Clark on Thursday, former Toronto mayor David

Crombie said the governmentappointed advisory body was writing to Clark out of “concern

over two recent government actions that serve to undermine watershed planning, and put at risk key natural heritage and hydrologic features in this province.”

Crombie calls on the province to put a “pause” on the use of minister’s zoning orders, or MZOs, which allow the minister to override local planning rules and dismiss the changes to the Conservation Authorities Act altogether.

In its latest omnibus budget, the government slipped in

drastic changes that limit the role of conservation authorities in the development approval process by allowing government ministers to issue permits

for development on environmentally sensitive lands, or

ooverride decisions made by au- thorities to restrict development.

The government is also facing criticism for its overzealous use of MZOs. It has issued more than 30 this year.

In an interview with the Star, Crombie said the Greenbelt Council, mandated to offer guidance on the protected envi- ronmental lands, felt it was time to make its position clear.

“Watershed planning is absolutely core to the future of the Greenbelt, and conservation aauthorities are core to the suc- cess of the Greenbelt,” said Crombie. “The way they are moving on MZOs, and the cchanges to the conservation au- thorities … hobbling, undermining them and diminishing the ability of them to do their wwork, will have an impact on t the future of the Greenbelt.”

In the letter, Crombie said tthat “any reasonable reading of t the proposed legislation would see it as severely limiting the ability of conservation author- ities to carry out their historic roles and undermining decades of environmental stewardship in Ontario.”

The letter also says that “MZOs need to be accompanied by a public process that is fair and transparent” and ““these measures are especially mportant when combined wwith the current intent to hob- ble the regulatory role of conservation authorities.”

The letter says that government’s actions are “contributing to a growing public concern that the end result will be a widening of the path of political influence on behalf of special interests.”

Adam Wilson, director of communication for the housing minister, said he could only speak to the concerns around the MZOs.

“Every MZO made by the minister on non-provincially owned land has been at the request of the local municipality,” he said. “The government does not consider municipalities to be special interests, and we will continue to work with local governments to accelerate priority provincial and municipal projects.”

Gary Wheeler, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, said conservation authorities wwill “continue to have a core role in preparing and protecting against the impacts of natural hazards, maintaining and managing conservation lands, and roles in drinking water source protection.”

The letter comes the same week w ual the environmental auditor general’s report an- concluded the Tories are not taking the action required to meet climate-change goals.