Support the Greenbelt and Sensible Development

On October 25th, the Government of Ontario tabled Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, an omnibus bill proposing sweeping changes to the province’s natural heritage and land use planning legislation and policy. Overall, Bill 23 and associated policies remove and weaken environmental protections and diminish the role of Ontarians in land use planning and decision-making. The Act also includes other sweeping changes, including exemptions from development charges and parkland fees, and removal of the ability of conservation authorities to comment on environmental impact of a development application.The Act was introduced the day after municipal elections, and within 30 days and limited public consultation, was given Royal Assent on November 28, 2022. Indigenous communities were not consulted.

A number of B Corps and other caring companies came together to voice their opposition and ask for the repeal of Bill 23 by asking companies to sign the following letter. See press release below. Please fill in the form below to add your company.

Forest Path in the Greenbelt

Concern over Bill 23 and Greenbelt Development

To:      Doug Ford, Honourable Premier of Ontario

CC:     David Piccini, Honourable Ontario Minister of The Environment
Steve Clark, Honourable Ontario Minister of Housing

From:  Over 120 of Ontario Businesses

Concern over Bill 23 and Greenbelt Development

  • We acknowledge and appreciate that Ontario needs more housing, but there are other options such as increasing urban density and building homes on land that is not protected.
  • With many Canadians now feeling the effects of rising food costs, and the need for local food security, keeping farmland protected is crucial.
  • The adverse effects of climate change is already affecting Canadians. Destroying natural areas that help mitigate flooding and other climate related natural disasters will exacerbate climate related events
  • The best businesses in the world, large and small, have embraced Environmental and Social Governance and understand that protecting the environment is good for the planet and good for business. We expect the same from our government.
  • We urge you to repeal Bill 23 and keep all of the Greenbelt and Ontario natural heritage protected.

 

See list of all 123 Ontario companies that endorse the above. If you are a company in Ontario that supports the above statement, please add your company below.

Companies Supporting

1 Stop HR
100km Foods Inc. (B Corp)
39 Design + Engineering Inc.
Achieve Sustainability Inc.
Affinity Habitat Studio
African Bronze Honey Company (B Corp)
Andreas Drenters Sculptor
Animal Experience International (B Corp)
AnimalRelocators
Arbor Vitae Landscape & Design
Arthur Greenhouses
Barn Angels Composting
BASE Associates Inc. (B Corp)
Be Sure Financial
Bert Coffey Construction Ltd.
Carbon Neutral Technology
Career Aviators
Cathexis Consulting Inc. (B Corp)
CHANGE Lifestyle & Apparel
Charlene's Press Juice Co.
Choose Depth
Compugen Finance (B Corp)
Confetti and Co.
Copernicus Educational Products Inc (B Corp)
Cortex Design Inc.
Courtney’s Gardens
Cover-Ups Flooring & Bath
Crystal Meade
Duplicom
Dylan White Consulting
Ecotone Software Consulting Inc. (B Corp)
ECW Press Ltd. (B Corp)
Edgecom Energy (B Corp)
Emdash (B Corp)
Enviro-Stewards Inc. (B Corp)
Eskakwa Ecoadventure Co. Inc (Cabin Falls Ecolodge, Ecotrailbuilders, Hap Wilson
Ethical Profit Agency (B Corp)
Evolve Builders Group Inc
Evolve Design Solutions Inc.
Faux FX by tracy
Flow Office Wisdom Inc (B Corp)
Forever Natural

G Adventures
Greg Fess Photography
GROSCHE International inc (B Corp)
Hawthorne Security & Investigations Inc.
Heritage Bee Co. (B Corp)
Hobé Hosokawa Marketing (B Corp)
Hub Climbing
Hybrid Hair and Detox Spa
Hyphen Marketing Design Inc.
I Like Chocolate
IMPACT BRIDGE
InvestEco Capital (B Corp)
IOU Concepts Inc.
Karen Farbridge & Associates
Kazolu Brand Communications
Kelvin Thermal Energy Inc.
Keviron Inc.
Kilowatt Kate
Laridae Communications Inc. (B Corp)
LaserVerse
Let’s Talk Guelph Inc.
Limited Time Contracting (B Corp)
Lisa Drenters Photography
Live Well Health and Healing
Lucky Iron Fish (B Corp)
Madawaska Kanu Centre
Maitland Valley Grotto
Moments Spa
Monkeynastix Barrie
Moore Than Renos
Neighbourhood Group of Companies (B Corp)
Nice Planet Film Company
Northern Village (B Corp)
NoTLAS Consulting Inc.
Openly (B Corp)
Optimicity
Ozery Family Bakery (B Corp)
PeaceWorks Technology Solutions (B Corp)
Pinnacle Consultants Inc.
Pitts Professional Corporation

PLAN B Natural Heritage
Pod Boutique
Polestar Hearth Bakery Inc.
Pure + Simple Natural Skincare + Spas
Rachel Murrison, RMT
Raw Signal Group (B Corp)
Realise Change
ReConnect Consulting
Regenerative Space
Riverside Natural Foods Ltd. (B Corp)
Rockside Campbell Design
Roger Dickhout Pineridge Group
Rooted By the Bluffs
rTraction (B Corp)
SIC Automation
Skyo Consulting
Stage Light Communications
Start Here and Go Forward
Steph Law Creates
Stephanian
Stone's Throw Design Inc
Sustainability Advantage (B Corp)
Sustainability Leadership
Swave Studios Inc.
Sweet Grass Farm
SZID Inc.
The Design Industry
The Plumber’s Wife
The Women's Leadership intensive (B Corp)
Topax Protective Packaging
Trufflepig Travel Inc (B Corp)
TruStone
Tungsten Collaborative
Tungsten Collaborative
Tyrcathlen Partners Ltd.
Unwrapit (B Corp)
Up Marketing
Vanderwal builds
Warren’s Waterless Printing
Waterloo Wellness Pharmacy
Women's Global Health Innovations
Wrighthaven Farms Ltd.

We support this statement

Additional Information

The main elements of the act are:

  • Create a process for selling off conservation lands without oversight
  • Strip conservation authority powers which protect us from floods
  • Remove protections from woodlands, wetlands and wildlife habitat
  • Cancel municipal green building standards
  • Remove the public consultation for draft plans of subdivisions
  • Do almost nothing to build more affordable homes inside of our cities and towns where they are needed

If you aren’t familiar with these issues, Bill 23 has recently passed and among other things, it weakens environmental regulation and protection in Ontario. The Greenbelt issue is about opening up sections of protected farmland, and natural areas to development. More information is available in these links:

 

MEDIA RELEASE

ONTARIO BUSINESSES SEND UNIFIED MESSAGE OPPOSING GREENBELT DEVELOPMENT, BILL 23

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday December 20, 2022 

More than seventy businesses across Ontario led by a number of B Corps have come together to call upon Premier Doug Ford to repeal Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, and protect the Greenbelt. 

These companies represent a wide variety of sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture, technology, education, trades, retail and professional services. They are concerned that the Act removes and weakens environmental protections; diminishes the role of Ontarians in land use planning and decision-making and places the burden of the cost of growth-related infrastructure on the municipal tax base.  The Greenbelt consists of two million acres of protected farmland and green space with an annual economic impact of $9.6 billion and provides over 177,000 full-time jobs to Ontarians (Greenbelt.ca)

The letter states:

  • We acknowledge and appreciate that Ontario needs more housing, but there are other options such as increasing urban density and building homes on land that is not protected.
  • With many Canadians now feeling the effects of rising food costs, and the need for local food security, keeping farmland protected is crucial.
  • The adverse effects of climate change are affecting Canadians. Destroying natural areas that help mitigate flooding and other climate related natural disasters will exacerbate climate related events.
  • The best businesses in the world, large and small, have embraced Environmental and Social Governance and understand that protecting the environment is good for the planet and good for business. We expect the same from our government.
  • We urge you to repeal Bill 23 and keep all of the Greenbelt protected.

Jim Phillips, CEO of Copernicus Educational Products Inc. says “Bill 23 is like taking an axe to a quality control system that was created to protect our environment and its citizens. Removing protected land from the Greenbelt is irresponsible and a sign of an unpredictable government.” 

Court Desautels, CEO of the Neighbourhood Group of Companies says "If Bill 23 continues as planned and the Ford government removes 7400 acres from some of the most diverse and fertile land in Ontario, we will look back at this event as one of the most tragic environmental disasters this province has ever seen.  We simply cannot let this happen."

Some of the companies on the list are B Corps, companies that are certified to be in business as a force for good.

Copernicus Educational Products Inc. and Northern Village Inc., B Corps who initiated this campaign, believe that it is important for the business community to have a voice in how the province grows, which includes taking a stand on what is important to the communities we live in. Other companies that have signed the letter can be found at: https://blocalontario.com/initiatives/support-greenbelt