During a visit to Thorold today, one of Doug Ford’s cabinet ministers defended the Ontario government’s controversial new housing bill — saying “we need to create a pathway” to build 1.5 million homes in the province over the next decade.
Graydon Smith, the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, was at CHAR Technologies this morning to announce $11.3-million worth of provincial and federal funding for the Thorold facility, which produces clean energy from woody biomass, including unused tree parts and mill by-products such as bark, shavings and sawdust.
After the announcement, ThoroldToday asked Smith what he would say to local residents who are concerned about Bill 23, which has been widely criticized by Ontario mayors because it would eliminate the development charges cities rely on to build critical infrastructure.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario has said the new law — otherwise known as the More Housing Built Faster Act — could leave cities short $5 billion and force taxpayers to potentially foot the bill, either in the form of higher property taxes or service cuts.
“We need to build 1.5 million homes throughout Ontario,” Smith told ThoroldToday. “It’s an example of what’s happening here today: jobs are being created and people that are going to work at this plant in the future are going to need homes. We need to create a pathway to get those homes built. So our government is focused on making sure that we have a strong economy, but also making sure that we have housing for everybody that needs it.”
Will the new bill ensure that environmental concerns are adequately addressed?
“Conservation authorities are still going to be doing the work that they’ve done, focused to make sure people are safe from flooding and hazard lands,” Smith said. “We still got the development process that goes on at the municipal level and their official plans. I really do believe we can have it all. We can get the growth we need for homes, we can have a strong economy, and we can have a really high-functioning ecological network and strong environment.”
Last week, Premier Ford said municipal leaders need to “get on board” and “stop whining” about Bill 23.
