Protests continue even after new Ontario housing act becomes law

Criticism of Ontario's new housing act continues to mount even as the legislation, previously known as Bill 23, became law late last month. 

A crowd of just over 100 people gathered near Ottawa City Hall Wednesday calling on Premier Doug Ford to repeal the More Homes Built Faster Act, previously known as Bill 23. 

Critics say it will increase property taxes, lead to the loss of valuable wetlands and farmland, and do nothing to make housing more affordable for those who need it most.

"Once farmland is built into subdivisions we can't get it back. Once wetlands are drained we can't get them back," said protestor Andrea Sissons. "The value of leaving them intact outweighs any value compared to developing them."

Ford has said the new housing law will make it possible for Ontario to build 1.5 million homes in 10 years, mostly by freeing up land that was previously deemed not suitable for development.

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But Sissons and other critics who spoke Wednesday said the government is going about things the wrong way by contributing to more sprawl and opening up sensitive lands for development.

"We need to be smarter in how we're building housing, and not giant 'McMansions' and sprawl on old wetlands and farmlands," said Sissons. "How are we going to feed ourselves if we carry on that way?"

Architect opposition

Architects, landscape architects and urban designers at 16 firms in Ontario posted an open letter addressed to Ford and Steve Clark, minister for municipal affairs and housing, calling on them to send the legislation back to the drawing board.

"We firmly believe that this legislation will not achieve its stated intent," the architects wrote in the letter, which was posted Nov. 25.

"Instead, it will inhibit the construction of affordable housing in our province; dismantle regional planning and urban design considerations; undermine heritage protection, environmental protection, and climate change mitigation; and limit public participation in how we build our communities."

Anthony Leaning, a principal with CSV Architects in Ottawa, did not participate in the drafting of the open letter but said he fully supports his fellow architects in their criticism of the government. 

"We've been working in affordable housing for decades so we have a pretty good idea of what makes affordable housing," said Leaning. "One of the things that doesn't make affordable housing [possible] is suburban expansion."

By encouraging sprawl instead of more intensification, he said affordability becomes an issue not just for homebuyers but for municipalities, since studies have demonstrated suburban development is more of a burden on property taxes than urban infill. 

Ottawa's newly elected mayor Mark Sutcliffe has stated the act could have a 'dramatic' impact on city finances since Ottawa stands to lose out on $130 million in development charges over five years.

Even though Bill 23 has gone on to become law, Leaning said he's planning to bring together the voices of other architects and planners to change the Ford government's mind.  

"If they started listening to people I think they would realize that there are severe problems and flaws with the legislation," he said. "So with luck they'll see that they have to reconsider at least parts of it."