Worries for wetlands as Ontario aims to build homes quickly

Environmental advocates are raising the alarm that Ontario's latest housing legislation could prevent conservation authorities from helping municipalities review construction projects and see some wetlands re-mapped for development.

The Ford government has also asked the province's three dozen conservation authorities to look at the swaths of landthey own tosee what could be turned over for housing.

The Conservatives tabled theirBuild Homes Faster Act on Tuesday. It's dubbed the Housing Supply Action Plan 3.0 on government consultation pagesbecause two other housing bills preceded it:onein 2019and anotherthis past springafter a housing task force report was released.

The government has determined that 1.5 million homes need to be built over the coming decade. To get there, Premier Doug Ford'sgovernmentproposed a suite of regulatory changes this week to streamlineconstruction, such as allowingthree units on any residential lot.

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But it's the change in approach to large ecological systems that span municipal boundaries, and the pared down role forconservation authorities, that have drawn criticism fromorganizations such as Environmental Defence.

"It's going to potentially unleash one of the biggest reductions in biodiversity and losses of habitat that we've just seen in decades," Phil Pothen, aland use planning and environmental lawyer, and the group's Ontario program manager, told CBC Radio's All In ADay.

Similar concerns are being expressed in Toronto, which you can read about here.

Environmental advice

"Conservation authorities are still going to play the role they were born to play, which is to protect people and property from flooding and natural hazards andareas where potentially erosion could take place," Minister of Natural Resources and ForestryGraydon Smith told reporters this week.

But Pothen saidthey do a much bigger job than that, and people rely on them to make sureurban sprawl doesn'tdestroy how ecosystems function.

Angela Coleman, the general manager of Conservation Ontario, which advocates for all 36 conservation authorities, is indeed concerned the new bill couldmeaninterconnected watersheds, wetlands and natural areas aredealt within a fragmented way.

Conservation authorities interpret the bill to mean they will have to stick to their core mandate and will no longer be allowed to sign agreements with municipalities to help review development applicationsa decades-long practice they saylets municipalities tap into pooled technicalexpertise that might be costly to do in-house.

Coleman saidthere could be "unintended consequences" if the work done by 36 conservation authorities shifts to444 municipalities of different sizes and staffing levels.

Plus, flooding doesn't stop at city limits, Coleman noted.

"Municipal boundaries aren't necessarily the most effective way to plan for, for example, how upstream development would impact the downstream community," she said.

Around Ottawa, the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority helps review planning applicationsfor the City of Ottawa, County of Lanark and United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. The South Nation Conservation Authority also has agreements with communities big and small in eastern Ontario.

Words on wetlands

As part of its bill, the Ontario government also intends tostripand changelanguage from the manual used to evaluate awetland's significance.

Various sections about documenting rare species are struck through, while the document has new sections about re-mapping existing wetland "units" instead of looking at an interdependent wetland "complex."

"The worst kind of sprawl developers are going to score on it," said Pothen of Environmental Defence. "It's going to drive up land prices, but it's not going to create more housing because we've already got the land we need."

Pothen pointed out communities already have lots of land identified as "greenfield" for future housing.

Coincidentally, the City of Ottawa's planning committee saw a report Thursday that tabulatedit had 1,587 hectares of land most of it already serviced with water and sewer pipes, that could see 69,078 homes.

Lands in trust

Cities must maintain a 15-year supply of land for housing, but the government also wants conservation authorities to look at their holdings. As Ontario's Municipal Affairs and Housing minister Steve Clark put it, conservation authorities are the "second largest landholder in Ontario next to the Crown."

The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority owns2,210 hectares, while South Nation holds about 4,450.

South Nation owns the boardwalk path through the Leitrimwetland near the Findlay Creek community,but also forestsand lands that are atrisk of flooding or alandslide, including near Casselman, Ont.

Its chief administrative officer, CarlBickerdike, said those lands are used for recreationbut alsohave less obvious benefits for air quality, biodiversity and cleandrinking water.

"They're not suitable for development and we will be working hard to maintain them for the public good," Bickerdike added.

Coleman saidsuch lands should be considered for housing as a "last resort."Past generations across the province decided to forgo the profit of development and donated their land, trusting conservation authorities to protect it, she said.

Thebill has already moved to second reading for debateat Queen's Park, and conservation authorities don't expect the government to hold round-table discussions to finesse the bill the way it did in 2019.