QUEEN’S PARK – Mike Schreiner, released the following statement following the passage of Bill 39, Better Municipal Governance Act, 2022.
“With the passage of Bill 39, today will be remembered as the day the majority party in the Ontario legislature voted for minority rule.
By giving select ‘strong mayors’ the power to pass by-laws with support from only a third of elected councillors, the government has dealt a lethal blow to public participation in municipal decision making.
It is undemocratic, unfair and unnecessary. Its only objective is to allow the Premier to ride roughshod over municipal councillors to push through his ‘provincial priorities.’
And the provision in Bill 39 that removes protection from the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve is no less egregious.
Ontarians bought and paid for the protection of that land and now Ford is handing it over to pro-sprawl developers.
This amounts to the direct transfer of a valuable public asset to a handful of wealthy land speculators.
It is a brazen betrayal of the public trust.”