Marsh's Falls Nature Reserve, photo by David Ticoll.
What's Happening
Ontario Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 - LBHF point of view and call to action
Cameron Peck prints in a group exhibition at the Cardinal Gallery, Toronto, November 25 – January 31
Ontario Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022
LBHF point of view and call to action
The Ontario government is in the process of pushing through legislation whose consequences will be disastrous for our natural heritage as well as our democratic rights to protect it.
Bill 23 will also nearly eliminate your rights to have a say or appeal regarding any planning or development decisions. Including official plans, zoning bylaws and minor variances.
All this is in the name of building more housing. But this bill seems to do a lot more to benefit a handful of developers than
to solve the housing crisis. As Ontario’s Housing Affordability Task Force said in its 2022 report, we don’t need to sacrifice environmental
protections to fix the housing crisis. “A shortage of land isn’t the cause of the problem. Land is available, both inside the existing built-up areas and on undeveloped land outside greenbelts…Most of the solution must come from densification.”
Nevertheless, the bill removes 7400 acres from the Ontario Greenbelt, placing its entire future at risk.
The bill will also:
Prohibit provincially appointed conservation
authorities from regulating or stopping developments that damage important habitats, wetlands, and waterways.
Limit the ability of local
municipalities to protect themselves against flooding and other effects of climate change.
Eliminate the role of seven southern Ontario regional municipalities in
planning matters, compromising coordinated efforts to protect natural areas and farmland, determine optimal locations for development and infrastructure, and efficiently deliver municipal services. This could happen in Muskoka too!
What you need to know
Organizations across the province are taking action against Bill 23. They include the Association of Ontario Municipalities, Environmental Defence, the Muskoka Conservancy, Ontario Nature and many others. For a regional perspective, we recommend this Muskoka Lakes Association discussion.
Our Foundation opposes Bill 23 and agrees that it needs a total rewrite.
What you can do now
We encourage Foundation members and supporters to consider making their opposition known to the Ontario government. One easy way to do this is via the Ontario Naturewebsite. It offers a convenient, editable template to email your concerns to the Ontario government, including Muskoka MPP – and Ontario Minister of Natural Resources – Graydon Smith. Note that the closing date for public consultation is November 24.
Cameron Peck prints in a group exhibition at the Cardinal Gallery, 1231 Davenport Rd, Toronto
November 25 – January 31
Cameron Peck, a Chicago native, summered with his family at their Lake of Bays cottage during the mid-20th century. In 1935 he purchased his first vintage wooden launch built by one of the famous boat builders of Muskoka. By the time he decided to sell his accumulated fleet sixteen years later it included 16 gas launches, 7 steamboats, and 68 marine engines. All this was stored and maintained at his private boatyard in Baysville.
When Cameron died in 1990, he left an archive of photographs, letters and articles covering his boating history. Foundation board member Mark McLean has selected fourteen photographs from among the 1500 in Cameron’s archive to reproduce as limited edition prints. They are reproduced on watercolour paper using the platinum-palladium process in a limited edition of twenty.
Four of these photographs will be included in a group exhibition at the Cardinal Gallery, which specializes in fine-art
photography. All fourteen available Peck photos will be on sale through the gallery. The net proceeds of any sales will go directly to Lake of Bays Heritage Foundation.
Lake of Bays Heritage Foundation, P.O. Box 81, Baysville, ON P0B 1A0, Canada
