Premier Doug Ford’s goal to open Ontario for business has many worried that it will come at the expense of Lake Simcoe.
Bill 66 would allow commercial development to move past laws that have been in place for many years and were meant to protect the natural environment and the health of residents.
While some within the community are worried about what development would look like around Lake Simcoe, Barrie-Innisfil MPP Andrea Khanjin says that Bill 66 was merely proposed to cut through all the unnecessary red tape and won’t affect the natural beauty of the region.
“The premise of Bill 66 was to streamline the outdated duplicative regulations and help business grow in the area, but not at the expense of the lake and the area around it,” Khanjin told BarrieToday.
“There is a lot of fear-mongering from other parties as to how Bill 66 would damage Lake Simcoe, but that just isn’t factual," she added. "Creating business opportunities and maintaining the environment is certainly a tough balance, but one that this government is up for.”
Some of the people who very concerned by Bill 66 are those who live along the shores of Lake Simcoe.
Lake Simcoe Watch is a joint venture by seven organizations that are dedicated to keeping the local community informed on issues pertaining to the lake.
Jack Gibbons, the chair of Lake Simcoe Watch, told BarrieToday that he's unsure of the ultimate goal of the Ford government, but hopes the premier and Khanjin both have the area’s residents and the environment in mind.
“Of course, no one agrees with red tape, which Doug Ford says is the reason for Bill 66, but they’re doing much more than that,” said Gibbons. “We are very concerned in the end that Andrea and Doug are willing to sacrifice Lake Simcoe and the surrounding area for the profit of private developers.”
Gibbons and his peers at Lake Simcoe Watch sent a list of five questions to Khanjin and were at the time of this publication waiting to hear back on their inquiries.
One of the questions directly calls out the Ontario government’s stance on duplicative regulations and asks, “if the purpose of Bill 66 is merely to eliminate unnecessary red tape, why does it completely exempt new developments from Section 6 of the Lake Simcoe Protection Act; Section 7 of the Greenbelt Act; Section 7 of the Oak Ridges Moraine Act and Section 39 of the Clean Water Act? Do you see source water protection and protecting prime agricultural and natural heritage lands as red tape?”
“It seems to us that the provincial government is using the red tape excuse to go back on a promise made that they would leave the Green Belt and some of the most beautiful and important areas of this region,” said Gibbons. “Andrea has no plans that we’ve heard of for one of the biggest issues within Lake Simcoe which is the phosphorus levels. We need reduction, not an increase.”
Gibbons says he will continue to question the provincial government and the local representatives until something productive is done.
“We hope to build a groundswell of support to fight this,” said Gibbons. “This is our lake and it is the biggest reason we have a tourism industry and it is simply a massive attraction for the area because of its beauty. Let's keep it that way.”
