Draft Letter Opposing Schedule 3

​FoSTRA was formed on 23 February 2021, out of a growing frustration with the
Progressive Conservative government’s sidelining of meaningful public
consultation, its blatant disregard for Toronto’s needs, and its assault on local
democracy and planning.
​FoSTRA was formed on 23 February 2021, out of a growing frustration with the
Progressive Conservative government’s sidelining of meaningful public
consultation, its blatant disregard for Toronto’s needs, and its assault on local
democracy and planning.
FoSTRA’s boundaries stretch south of Bloor Street to Lake Ontario and the
Toronto Islands, from the Don River to the Humber. They encompass five wards
with some 400,000 citizens. FoSTRA is a non-partisan federation of residents
and community associations that collaborate to:
• help shape the creation of good public policies at all levels of government,
• preserve and enhance the quality of life for Torontonians,
• promote neighborhood identity and vitality, and
• ensure responsible and respectful development within its boundries.
The Federation’s mandate will continue beyond the reign of this false-majority
government – which was elected with less than 40% of the popular vote. For the
present, the PC onslaught of pro-development, anti-democratic legislation is
making local control and planning increasingly irrelevant.
Ever since the PCs took power on 6 June 2018, Ontario – and especially Toronto
– has suffered a long list of provincial overreaches and abuses of power but
Schedule 3 of this completely unrelated Bill 257 tops them all. What does the
creation of super MZOs (Ministerial Zoning Orders) have to do with
Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion?
The current government:
• is not content to bombard the province with 40 MZOs in 32 months
– one-and-a-quarter MZOs per month. (In the 14 years prior to the
PC regime, the average was one per year);
• is not satisfied with ‘enhanced’ MZOs, which stripped
municipalities of any say in how MZO lands within their
jurisdictions are used;
• now introduces Bill 257’s Schedule 3 to retroactively remove all
provisions of its own Provincial Policy Statement passed in 2020.
Not only is this a blatant attempt to squash lawsuits already lodged
under the Ontario Planning Act, but it also aims to remove all future
barriers and any possibility of lawsuits resulting from its MZOs.

In short, the Ford government seeks to make legal that which was
previously illegal and use its false majority to usurp the authority of the
legislature and give itself dictatorial powers.
Let us just remind ourselves of the provisions in the 2020 Policy
Statement, and I quote directly: “The Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) is a
consolidated statement of the government’s policies on land use planning. It
gives provincial policy direction on key land use planning issues that affect
communities, such as:
• efficient use and management of land and infrastructure
• the provision of sufficient housing to meet changing needs, including
affordable housing
• the protection of the environment and resources including farmland,
natural resources (for example, wetlands and woodlands) and water
• opportunities for economic development and job creation
• the appropriate transportation, water, sewer and other infrastructure
needed to accommodate current and future needs
• the protection of people, property and community resources by directing
development away from natural or human-made hazards, such as flood
prone areas”
All of these directions will be removed if Bill 257’s Schedule 3 is passed. The
legislation proposes the following:
“The Planning Act is amended to provide that ministerial zoning orders made
under section 47 are not required and are deemed to never have been required
to be consistent with policy statements issued under subsection 3 (1).”
Specifically, “Clause 3 (5) (a) does not apply and is deemed never to have
applied . . . ” And Clause 3 (5) states: “A decision of the council of a municipality,
a local board, a planning board, a minister of the Crown and a ministry, board,
commission or agency of the government, including the Tribunal, in respect of
the exercise of any authority that affects a planning matter . . . shall be consistent
with the policy statements issued under subsection (1) . . .”
If this passes, it will mean, for example, that the Foundry site, which the Ford
government secretly agreed to sell to an unknown developer in a no-bid
backroom deal, will have no conditions attached other than a hidden, lucrative
agreement for both the buyer and seller. The Duffin Creek wetland is still an
issue. Who knows what Schedule 3 will mean in the future?
FoSTRA demands that Schedule 3 be struck from the unrelated Bill 257
before passage. If not, we would support a challenge in the courts.
Attached here is the pdf.