Whereas the Provincial Policy Statements [PPS] provision under Section 3 of the Planning Act accompanied by Section 2, Provincial Interests, came into being as part of the 1983 Planning Act Reform;
Whereas the Comprehensive PPS was established in 1995 following the 1993 report, New Planning for Ontario, prepared by John Sewell's "Commission on Planning and Development Reform in Ontario;
Whereas the PPS provides the policy basis for good land use planning in Ontario;
Whereas the PPS is to be read as a whole and each relevant policy considered and a balance rigorously attempted for each land use decision through the Official Plan, Zoning and Site Plan levels;
Whereas the PPS applies to all decisions in respect of the exercise of any authority that affects a planning matter;
Whereas Section 47 of the Planning Act, 1990 gives the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing the authority to rezone, without public notice or hearing, any property in Ontario;
Whereas a Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) made under section 47 of the Planning Act are decisions subject to the rules of administrative law and based on sound land use planning information;
Whereas exempting MZOs from conformity to the PPS destroys the credibility of land use decisions made under MZOs attracting the appearance of personal favour delivery, destroying public trust in government;
Whereas Bill 257, Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act, 2021, Schedule 3 proposes to amend the Planning Act to provide that MZOs made under section 47 are not required and are deemed to never have been required to be consistent with policy statements issued under subsection 3 (1);
Now therefore be it resolved that the Council of the Town of Caledon vigorously opposes Schedule 3 of Bill 257, Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act, 2021, on the basis that public trust in government is essential for democracy to work and nothing erodes this trust and turns voters against governments more rapidly than the appearance of corruption: the suspicion, valid or otherwise, that politicians are exploiting their power for their own or private interests;
That a copy of this motion be provided to the Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, the Honourable Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Honourable Sylvia Jones, MPP Dufferin-Caledon and municipalities in Ontario.