The GWCA sent the following letter today to Ted Arnott, Speaker of the Ontario Legislature and MPP for Wellington-Halton Hills. Please join in voicing your opinion through the official website. Public consultation closes at 11:59 p.m. on January 20, 2019.

On behalf of the Glen Williams Community Association (GWCA), we would like to express our sincere opposition to Bill 66, and in particular the weakening of the Greenbelt and Clean Water Acts.

The Hamlet of Glen Williams, located in Halton Hills, is bordered on three sides by the Greenbelt, and the GWCA has been working diligently to support economic and residential development that provides economic opportunity while preserving the environment that has supported this community for nearly 200 years. Bill 66 would allow the municipality to override the Greenbelt legislation which your government promised to protect during the recent election campaign in your platform “For the People, A Plan for Ontario”. Bill 66 is a betrayal of the Conservative government’s promise, and breaks the trust that your constituents have placed in you as our elected representative.

Let us be clear. The GWCA supports sustainable development in our community to provide employment and affordable living. However, Bill 66 will specifically allow municipalities to avoid sustainable growth by harming our environment and endangering the health of our communities. Bill 66 also allows municipalities to enact these changes to zoning without public consultation which is fundamentally opposed to our democratic rights as citizens.

The last time that a Conservative government in Ontario moved to cut “red-tape” through privatization and deregulation of important environmental safeguards, one of the results was the tragic situation in Walkerton. Let us not fail to learn from history, and maintain those safeguards which keep our communities safe, happy, and healthy.

In short we would ask that you push your caucus colleagues to withdraw Bill 66, keep your party’s promise to maintain the Greenbelt, and work towards development that benefits not only our economy, but supports the environment which sustains us.

Respectfully,

The Board of the Glen Williams Community Association

  • Alex Leger
  • Claudia Russell
  • Janet Bailey
  • Matt Kindbom
  • Don Robinson
  • Sandy Gillians
  • Jude Jayalath
  • Rebecca Moore-Whitsitt
  • Derek Remes
  • Kate Murray
  • Fernanda Amaral

cc.
Hon. Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, M.P.P
Hon. Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, M.P.P.
His Worship Rick Bonnette, Mayor of Halton Hills

Mr. Bryan Lewis, Councillor, Halton Hills
Mr. Ted Brown, Councillor, Halton Hills