Burlington Mayor & OBCM Vice-Chair Marianne Meed Ward Speaks to Heritage, Infrastructure & Cultural Policy Committee on Bill 97

Thank you to Chair and MPP Laurie Scott, and all the MPPs, for their great questions and comments at yesterday's (May 11) Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy to discuss Bill 97. I presented on behalf of Ontario's Big City Mayors (OBCM) in my role as Vice-Chair.OBCM is supportive of measures the Province has proposed to protect renters and additional funding to the Landlord Tenant Board. More housing also means more rental housing. The Province must incentivize the design and build of purpose built rental project, including family units and student housing.Consultation with municipalities and flexibility in planning policies are key to reaching our shared housing goals and creating vibrant communities for our residents. We look forward to continuing discussions on Bill 97 with the Province.To read my full presentation to the Standing Committee, click/tap the link here or see a summary of the comments below: Mayor Meed Ward Committee Remarks on Bill 97 - 05 11 2023.Burlington Mayor & OBCM Vice-Chair Meed Ward Speaks on behalf of OBCM to the Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy Committee on Bill 97:

• OBCM is encouraged to see the protections proposed for renters in Bill 97 and we applaud the province for including these important amendments to help protect residents and make their lives easier.
• Ontario’s Big City Mayors support the government’s goal of 1.5 million homes, we have all signed pledges and submitted Housing Supply Action Plans with how each municipality will do our part in reaching that goal.
• We support consultations on a regulatory framework to govern municipal rental replacement by-laws in order to protect renters. However, we would also like to see the province prioritize the design and build of purpose-built rental projects that make sense for those looking to rent - starting with family sized units and student rentals.
• We support simplifying existing policies and a refocus on achieving housing outcomes, and agree with the province’s recognition that one size does not fit all when it comes to development and the municipal sector and we are encouraged to see the continued identification of municipal official plans as the most important vehicle for implementation of the Policy Statement for achieving comprehensive, integrated and long term planning.
• However, along with those goals, the province must consider the impact of short-term benefits with long-term negative impacts on the natural environment, agricultural systems, infrastructure and transit delivery, and the creation of complete communities.
• Many of our municipalities already have plans in place to address these issues, and we are asking that flexibility remain for Ontario’s biggest cities as we all work toward the goal of 1.5 million homes.
• OBCM is interested in the role that the Provincial Land and Development Facilitator will play, and how an intervention will work.  We look forward to an opportunity to provide input on the process.
• We are also carefully watching the new authority for a Minister’s Zoning Order. MZO’s can be a valuable tool when used in collaboration with municipalities on time sensitive matters. And where there is a clear public benefit and rationale, such as the creation of affordable housing, public health care uses, educational institutions, or key employment opportunities. We encourage the province to use MZO’s only when necessary and after discussion with the local municipality.
• OBCM applauds the government for looking at a predictable annual cycle for any updates to the Housing Supply Action Plans.  A consistent concern raised by our members has been how resource and labour intensive implementing the previously announced Action Plans has been.
• It was not possible to focus on processing development applications and manage the workload of these plans, or access the resources required to put updates in place when many of us shared the same service providers.
• The extension on the use of SDAF funding and the delayed start date for the refund of fees for processing development applications has really helped. And we would like to thank Minister Clark and the government for listening to these concerns.