News/Events - January 2019
24
2019
What's happening with Bill 66
Agricultural groups across the province are very concerned with Bill 66, Schedule 10. Why? Because it would allow municipalities to pass "open for business" bylaws that could lead to development of prime farmland in order to "reduce red tape" and create jobs - without any public consultation, without regard to any planning laws or water protection and with no right of appeal. Developers and speculators will benefit - but will the public? Farm organizations believe that jobs are created by building on properly zoned lands, and by supporting agriculture on prime farmland, which creates jobs along the entire food chain.
If you believe that farmland protection is not "red tape", consider signing the petition created by Environmental Defense here: https://act.environmentaldefence.ca/page/36530/action/1
and/or make a comment on the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry by Sunday January 20 here: https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/013-4125
**UPDATE**
YOU did it!! Agricultural organizations across the province spoke out urgently against a Schedule buried in Bill 66. At Farms at Work, we reached out to farmers throughout the region to encourage them to speak up against proposed law that would have made farmland protection optional for municipalities in Ontario. Don't be misled by the emphasis on the greenbelt - this bill went far beyond that.
You responded, along with thousands of others, and yesterday the Government backed down: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/…/article-ontario-reverses…/
Let's keep working together to protect farming and food for Ontario!