The Ontario government’s Bill 23 is now law and The Blue Mountains council is not impressed.
The provincial government passed Bill 23 - More Homes Built Faster Act on Nov. 28. The government said the act is needed to spur construction of much-needed housing, while municipalities are concerned it will cost them money and gut local conservation authorities.
At its committee of the whole meeting on Nov. 30, members of The Blue Mountains council took turns slamming the province for rushing the bill through the legislature without adequately addressing municipal concerns.
Councillors used words like: "atrocious," "outraged" and "appalling" to describe their feelings on the matter.
“The implications of this bill are mind-boggling,” said Coun. Gail Ardiel. “There is going to be so much backlash with this. It’s atrocious what they’re doing. They didn’t listen.”
Coun. Paula Hope said the town needs to look at ways it can protect itself from the new measures.
“(Bill 23) has an impact in many places. I’m outraged. I’m outraged by the whole process. I really feel we’ve been manipulated all along,” said Hope. “We need to protect ourselves as much as possible. This is the highest priority. What are the mitigating actions we can take? The province is not our friend. We need to take care of ourselves.”
Director of Legal Services Will Thomson explained to council that Bill 23 is now the law, but the regulations for how it will be implemented have not been released.
“The implementation is by regulation. We have not seen them yet,” he said.
Thomson said the government passed the bill so quickly that the commenting period on it is still open.
“To the stunned surprise of most municipal commenters across the province, Bill 23 is now law,” he said
Mayor Andrea Matrosovs said The Blue Mountains, Grey County, other municipalities and local conservation authorities had done everything possible to communicate concerns about the bill to the government. Matrosovs and former councillor Rob Sampson attended a meeting of the committee studying the bill at Queen’s Park to communicate the town’s position. The town also organized a meeting with local MPPs Brian Saunderson and Rick Byers, Grey County and the conservation authority about the bill.
“We have done our best to have our presence there,” said Matrosovs.
Coun. Alex Maxwell expressed concerns the town’s bottom line could be impacted by the new laws.
“As information comes in, this will become clearer, but what are the long-term implications on the financial side of Bill 23?” he asked.
Thomson said the details are still “fuzzy,” but said he could foresee “potentially major” financial repercussions for the town. He noted that Bill 23 could possibly reduce the amount of development charges the town collects.
“That money is set aside for projects. If we have less of it, that money has to come from somewhere. Frankly, it comes from taxation,” said Thomson.
He pointed out that the bill deems any house that is 80 per cent or less than the average home price as “affordable” and exempt from development charges. In The Blue Mountains the average home sale price is $1.5 million. Ultimately, it’s possible, according to Thomson, homes prices at more than $1 million would not pay development charges.
“I pray that is not the case, fundamentally that makes no sense. We don’t know the full implications yet,” said Thomson.
Coun. June Porter said the “haste” with which the government passed the bill is “appalling” and she expressed concerns about the “unintended consequences” in the legislation that may not be immediately obvious.
Coun. Shawn McKinlay suggested the town invite MPP Saunderson to a meeting “to stand before us and answer our questions.”
CAO Shawn Everitt said staff would have a summary report about the bill for the Dec. 12 council meeting and the town would reach out to Saunderson’s office about setting up a meeting.
After the meeting, Matrosovs said the province’s passage of the bill will not stop municipal efforts to communicate the potential impacts of the legislation.
“We still have lots of work to do. We’ll continue to work collaboratively. There is strength in numbers,” she said, noting that the ultimate goal is to get the right measures in place to address the housing crisis. “Every municipality is struggling with the question of attainable housing. If we can get the tools we need from the province, that’s where we want to get to.”
