Council Update – December 18, 2018

This week, Council deliberated on several matters including my Motion regarding Bill 66, Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, 2018.  This proposed legislation is of great concern as the proposed changes to the Planning Act contained within Bill 66  would allow municipalities to pass “open for business” planning bylaws that would bypass important environmental legislation such as the Greenbelt Act, Clean Water Act as well as the Official Plan and applicable Zoning . I have made clear that I would not be in favour of creating an “Open for Business” bylaw and I am glad that Council shared my opinion.  While we in Aurora are always looking at ways in which we can bring new employment to the Town and Region, but not at the expense of the environment or the safety of our residents. Council made a unanimous decision to approve my motion to send the Provincial government a message that Aurora opposes the proposed changes to the Planning act within Bill 66 .  

Our motion will be sent to not only all MPP’s but to every municipality in Ontario as a well as the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO).  Just as we did when we worked towards the successful reform of the OMB, by working with all elected officials across the Province we can achieve positive results and ensure that our environment is protected now and in the future.

I will be meeting with both of our MPP’s –  MPP Michael Parsa and Deputy Premier Christine Elliot – to discuss this issue and make clear the opposition that we as a community have with Bill 66.

Share this post
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
WhatsApp
Email

6 Responses

  1. Thank you Mayor , and Council, for this forward-thinking and environmentally responsible initiative.

    E.L. Springolo

  2. I am so grateful that you and Aurora council took the educated move to oppose bill 66 which threatens the environment and supports the move of the provincial government to maintain legislation already put in place for our protection. Bravo!

  3. Bravo! Thank you Aurora council for standing up for our environment and to push back on the government to uphold the polices and legislation which were created to protect these valuable resources – our water, greenbelt, food and air. Not everything is for sale.

  4. Sounds Very good! I join E.L. Springolo’s thanks for this forward-thinking and environmentally responsible initiative by our Mayor and Council. I’m so glad to learn that Aurora has taken a strong stance on Bill 66 and I appreciate that you will be meeting with our MPP and the Deputy Premier to let them know of our opposition. What a great way to head into 2019!

    Thank you very much

    Kathryn Lloyd

Leave a Reply to Norma McClinton Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe

If you’d like to keep in touch with the Mayor and receive updates, please add your e-mail.

Recent Posts

Council Update – Compensation Increase

As Residents may be aware, last night, Council engaged in a discussion regarding a motion that included a clause to once again include an increase in total Council compensation in the Town’s budget. The clause in the motion which speaks

Read More »