'It certainly feels good to be heard': Ontario farmers convince Ford government to abandon lot severances
Ontario farmers convince the Ontario government to abandon lot severances.
The proposal was included in a Provincial Planning Statement (PPS) designed to ease the housing crisis in Ontario.
Along with Bill 97, a separate piece of legislation, called the “Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act”, Ontario is trying to find ways to build 1.5 million homes by 2031.
The PPS included a proposal to allow a parcel of farmland to be severed in three ways.
“Unfortunately the lot severance was something that was just I'm not sure there was going to be any middle ground,” says Ethan Wallace, director with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA). “Our province needs housing and we don't want to stand in the way of that. But we certainly think there's a more efficient and better use for farmland than simply sprawl housing.”
On May 19, the OFA issued a joint letter on behalf of most of Ontario’s agriculture associations, asking the government to abandon the severance proposal.
“The concerns surrounded operations like myself that are on the small side,” says Wallace. “A house can be put at the limit, the existing minimum distance separation, and it will prevent me from expanding my operation in the future.”
Wallace says after voicing their concerns the government “took the time to listen and to sit down with us”.
On May 29, the OFA issued a news release saying the province was abandoning the severance proposal.
“It certainly feels good that we were heard,” says Wallace. ”It means that they do respect agriculture here in Ontario.”
In a written statement to CTV News Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing confirmed, “We will not be moving forward with the proposal on rural lot severances.”
The Ministry says the proposal was meant to make it easier for farmers to sever a piece of their land to a descendent and allow them to build a home closer to existing barns or buildings than is currently allowed.
“To be clear: It has never been our intention for severed lots to be transferred or sold to non-family/farm owners, nor for these lots to have anything more than single-family homes (i.e. no multi-residential structures),” Minister Steve Clark wrote in his letter to the OFA. “Any ambiguity regarding our intentions will be clarified, eliminated and resolved.”
The government has now extended the public consultation phase on the PPS to August 4, 2023, to allow “..our government more time to consider alternative solutions to support multi-generational farm families..”.
According to CTVNews.ca, the Ontario government passed Bill 97 on Monday.
It will go into effect once it receives Royal Assent.
The legislation will allow cities, among other things, to expand their borders “at any time” in order to build more homes.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
2 military horses that broke free and ran loose across London are in serious condition
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.