Concerned about Bill 23? Consultations are underway
Posted: November 10, 2022
Categories: GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Ontario
Last month, the Ontario Government introduced Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022. There are currently a number of ministry consultations underway regarding the bill.
Bill 23 has received plenty of interest and concern, as it affects communities, environments and families across the food system. Many organizations have shared summary statements and backgrounders, for example:
- Ontario Farmland Trust → a blog post summarizing the impacts Bill 23 will have on farmland
- Ontario Nature → a Bill 23 Backgrounder
- Environmental Defence → Ontario’s Housing Bill is Actually a Trojan Horse for Environmentally Catastrophic Rural Sprawl
- Canadian Environmental Law Association → Reviewing Bill 23 – More Homes Built Faster, 2022
Please stay tuned, as Sustain’s Networks will be posting statements on Bill 23 soon (*NOV. 17 UPDATE* see here). If your organization would like to contribute to a Network comment, please get in touch. Otherwise, please feel free to build on and use the statements of Sustain Networks tailored to your own region.
If you are looking to submit your own comments, closing dates for the government consultations are fast approaching. The Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy is taking written submissions for Bill 23 as a whole, with a submission deadline of November 17: https://www.ola.org/en/apply-committees
However, there are multiple ways to comment directly on changes to legislation and regulations via Bill 23 — for example, the Planning Act, A Place to Grow and the Provincial Policy Statement are all facing changes proposed in Bill 23. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario has created a helpful list of all the dates for the numerous consultation deadlines.