The Pembina Institute welcomes the opportunity to share our views on the government’s proposed Bill 66, Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, 2018, a new regulation under the Planning Act to create a new economic development tool, and a new open-for-business planning bylaw tool.
We have concerns on many aspects of Bill 66 and its implications for Ontarians. We are of the opinion that Schedule 10 of the proposed Bill (amending the Planning Act), new proposed regulation under the Planning Act to create an open-for-business planning tool, and open-for-business planning tool could result in real, adverse, and potentially irreversible effects to Ontario’s land, environment and climate, and public health.
If Bill 66 becomes law, it would allow municipalities to pass “open-for-business” zoning bylaws that could allow new and potentially inefficiently located large-scale developments to be approved without the sound environmental protections and evidence-based growth management policies that ensure healthy and sustainable communities — including allowing development in the Greenbelt.
