Downtown Owen Sound rally calls for protection of farmland, wetlands

The message was loud and clear in Owen Sound on Tuesday that Ontario's farmland and wetlands need to be protected.

And Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner, who was in town for a downtown rally, said he plans to take that message back to Queen's Park in hopes that Doug Ford's Conservative government will hear the concerns.

About 100 people gathered on both sides of the Gitche Namewikwedong Bridge on 10th Street late Tuesday afternoon for a rally against the government's Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act. Some carried signs with messages like “High Food Prices? Preserve Agricultural Land” and “Farms Feed All,” while countless motorists honked in support.

Schreiner, the MPP for Guelph, said it is important to support those who are calling for the protection of farmland and wetlands in efforts to preserve clean air and drinking water.

“The fact that Doug Ford wants to open the Greenbelt for development, wants to pave over the farmland that feeds us, is just outrageous,” Schreiner said in an interview on the bridge. “It is going to be people power -- like the people out here today on a pretty cold day -- is what it is going to take to push back and tell this government, `Doug Ford, keep your promise and keep your hands off the Greenbelt.'”

Schreiner said he thinks changes can be made, as there is precedence where the Ford government backtracked on legislation to open the Greenbelt through Schedule 10 in Bill 66 in 2018.

“It was rallies like this, it was people pushing back, that forced the Ford government to backtrack on that,” Schreiner said. “I will never forget the day in committee when I voted to get rid of Schedule 10 from Bill 66 and protect the Greenbelt and it is going to take the same level of people power this time.

“We are actually going to have to fight harder this time because right now Ford hasn't backed down yet and we have to continue to keep pushing.”

While much of the attention has been focused on Greenbelt protection, Schreiner said it was important to hear the voices of people across the province because everyone is impacted.

“Protecting farmland is an issue no matter where you live in the province,” said Schreiner. “That is the farmland that feeds us, that is the farmland that contributes $50 billion to the provincial economy and employs over 880,000 people along the entire food, farm and supply chain,”

He added that the Greenbelt snakes its way up through Greybruce as well in the form of the Niagara Escarpment.

“If Doug Ford is going to open the Greenbelt in southern Ontario and we don't stop it, what is going to prevent him from looking at opening the Greenbelt for development in this area as well,” Schreiner said. “I also think it is particularly important for people who live in Conservative ridings to put pressure on Conservative MPPS to go back to caucus and say how upset and angry people are that Doug Ford would break his promise.”

Bill 23 was introduced by the Ontario government late last year with an aim to erect 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years by “reducing bureaucratic costs” and “red tape,” which the government said caused unnecessary delays in construction and pushes home prices higher. The government passed the bill on Nov. 28.

But municipalities and conservation authorities across the province have expressed concerns about the bill, including locally at Grey County, the City of Owen Sound and others.

Among the many concerns raised were that the bill weakens heritage, environmental and farmland protections, adds more administration costs, decreases development charge revenue and may not result in the construction of the types of homes most needed, such as those that are affordable and attainable.

Earlier in January, Schreiner joined Ontario NDP leadership candidate and MPP for Davenport Marit Stiles, as well as Ontario Liberal interitm Leader and MPP for Ottawa South, John Fraser, to ask the Auditor General to assess financial and environmental impacts of Greenbelt land development.

He said he plans to continue to press the government to take measures to protect lands from development.

On Tuesday, rally participants gathered at the bridge on 10th Street, before making their way to the Grey Gallery in the 800 block of 2nd Avenue East for a chance to share their views and concerns with Schreiner.

Rally organizer Danielle Valiquette, who was the Green Party candidate for Bruce-grey-owen Sound in last year's Ontario election, said the issue is near and dear to her because she is a farmer and she has seen Ontario lose prime farmland in areas such as Halton and Peel, and she doesn't want to see that continue.

“We can't afford to lose anymore of it for so many reasons,” Valiquette said. “Bill 23 has passed but I still feel there is lots we can do.

“I think activism like this will get the government's attention.”

Valiquette said the land left in Ontario is critical for not only producing food, but helping to mitigate the climate crisis.

“Paving over these wetlands and farmlands makes no sense,” Valiquette said. “We need to within our existing boundaries build and intensify there. We know what the answer is.”

Chris Tomsett, a retired park superintendant who was at the rally wearing a sheet with the words “stop the sprawl” scrawled across it, said he is tired of the Ford government slashing environmental protections.

“It is over and over and over again,” Tomsett said. “He got rid of (Ontario environmental commissioner) Diane Saxe right off the bat and he is just cutting, cutting and cutting the environmental rules.”

Tomsett, from the Chesley area, said protecting the environment and parkland is something he has committed to his entire life and he doesn't like the direction of the current government.

“It has been shown in the Toronto area alone they don't need more sprawl,” Tomsett said. “Ford's own housing advisory committee showed they can do it inside the urban boundaries and that is what Mike Schreiner and the Green Party have been saying all along.”

Bruce-grey-owen Sound Conservative MPP Rick Byers said Tuesday in a phone interview from Sault Ste. Marie, where he was attending finance committee meetings, that the vast majority of the housing needed will be through intensification within urban boundaries.

“Now there will be other development and I have heard concerns raised over that I would say particularly in those Greenbelt lands,” said Byers. “Those lands that are 0.3 per cent of the Greenbelt that we are allowing development on, from what I understand, many of those are frankly proximate to existing urban boundaries which have servicing available.

“In a number of cases municipalities have actually requested that they be part of it.”

As for Grey-bruce specifically, Byers said that any time there are changes questions are asked, and he has met with and will continue to meet with municipalities and the counties to receive their feedback.

“I had some good meetings with Grey Sauble Conservation Authority and they gave me some thoughts on the process change for activities they used to do and now municipalities will do, and I took note of that and I really appreciated their feedback,” Byers said. “Obviously the specific lands of the Greenbelt aren't here, but people raise the issue nonetheless.”

On the issue of eliminating development charges for attainable, affordable and purpose-built housing, Byers said it will lower the cost of the properties for those who need them, while municipalities will gain additional revenue through increased builds.

“We will work with them,” Byers said of the municipalities. “There are some audits being done on some of the larger municipalities near the GTA, so we will look to see what those numbers show and have ongoing dialogue with the municipalities.”

Byers said communities in the riding have seen development in recent years, including in Owen Sound, Markdale and Dundalk, and he plans to work with them to reach their objectives and include them in the process.

Byers said no legislation is perfect and he will be listening for areas where modifications can be achieved to reach the intended objectives.

“The legislation has passed but I look at this as this doesn't end the process,” said Byers. “In a way the process is just starting now.”