{"id":395116,"date":"2020-12-08T07:19:57","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T12:19:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/?p=395116"},"modified":"2020-12-08T07:19:57","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T12:19:57","slug":"doug-fords-controversial-bill-229-endangers-our-environment-and-our-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/doug-fords-controversial-bill-229-endangers-our-environment-and-our-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Doug Ford\u2019s controversial Bill 229 endangers our environment and our communities"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nGutting core environmental oversight will dismantle the institutions that have helped Ontario boast a strong economy and environment
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Toronto, Dec. 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Despite being named \u201cProtect, Support and Recover from COVID-19,\u201d the Doug Ford government\u2019s Bill 229 is putting nature, people and property in danger all across Ontario.<\/p>\n

The 260-page omnibus bill includes a number of unpopular non-pandemic policy changes, most controversially the gutting of the Conservation Authority Act. <\/i>The stripping of Conservation Authorities\u2019 actual authority caused seven members of the Greenbelt Council quit over the weekend. This includes now-former chair David Crombie, a former conservative federal cabinet minister whose resignation letter stated bluntly: \u201cthis is not policy and institutional reform. This is high-level bombing and needs to be resisted.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n In response, Megan Leslie, president and CEO, WWF-Canada said:<\/b>\n <\/p>\n

\u201cGutting core environmental oversight and land-use management will not put us in a place of competitive advantage after the crisis of COVID has lifted. It will instead dismantle the very policies and institutions that have helped Ontario boast both a strong economy and a strong environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Elizabeth Hendriks, vice-president of restoration and regeneration, WWF-Canada says:<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis amendment will lead to a \u2018pay to pave\u2019 approach which we\u2019ve already seen fail many times over. It is expensive and ineffective to just \u2018recreate\u2019 wetlands somewhere else \u2014 and won\u2019t address the concerns of our non-partisan and science-based Conservation Authorities. In the middle of a biodiversity and climate crisis, this government is choosing to put communities and wildlife at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n How Bill 229 affects Conservation Authorities and wetlands:<\/b>\n <\/p>\n

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\n <\/i>Conservation Authorities have provided the ecosystem oversight, watershed management and planning authority that has kept Ontario safe \u2014 and dry \u2014 since 1946.\u00a0 But under Schedule 6, this budget bill takes away the scope and power of Ontario\u2019s 36 regional Conservation Authorities, even as increasing threats of climate change-fuelled flooding and widespread wildlife loss make their roles more important than ever. Specifically, Schedule 6:<\/p>\n