Photo of a girl sitting in rural Ontario farmland.
5200 acres of farmland are at stake. Regional council wants to develop this land as part of a ‘preferred growth plan’. But Halton Region residents believe there is a better solution. Credit: Allison Batley / Unsplash Credit: Allison Batley / Unsplash

February 16, 2022, Halton Regional Council met for over eight hours to decide the fate of over 5,000 acres of prime agricultural farmland located in the municipalities of Halton Hills and Milton.

Sixty delegations registered to present to council. They included Halton residents; environmental groups OakvilleGreen, BurlingtonGreen, Conserving Our Rural Ecosystem; National Farmer’s Union local 351 President, Chris Krucker; as well as dignitaries like former Toronto Mayor and livable, walkable neighbourhoods expert, David Crombie.

Disgruntled Milton Councillor Rick Malboeuf erringly referred to delegates as special interest groups and declared on mic, “Let me take over chairing this meeting, I’ll shut it down in minutes.”

An additional 50 written submissions included letters from UNIFOR West G.T.A. Regional Environment Council; Halton Hills Climate Action; co-chairs of The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE); as well as local folks concerned about food security, protecting farmers and the agri-food sector.

Many delegations, and written submissions, highlighted the fact that voting for car-dependent sprawl actually flies in the face of municipal climate emergency declarations.

According to Kale Black, Senior Program and Youth Coordinator for BurlingtonGreen, “As a relatively young person, and someone who has worked with young people for the past 14 years, I know that we do not have the luxury of not grabbing these issues by the horns. Climate change is on our doorstep today and if we are not involved in this work then it is very likely we will not have a habitable planet to live out the remainder of our lives.”

There was an undeniable air of north versus south and rural versus urban. Many councillors, and the mayors, from Milton and Halton Hills weighed in on the fact that Burlington and Oakville were allowed to build out and felt these councils should not obstruct north Halton’s plans to sprawl.

This alarming take on, ‘you paved your farmland so we should be able to pave ours,’ was also supported by three Burlington councillors.

It is incomprehensible that individual municipalities believe they have the Devine right to make environmentally devastating decisions. Especially when those decisions not only impact the entire region, but surrounding regions, the province, and ultimately, countries around the world who emit far lower levels of greenhouse gases.

Black says, “Everything is connected – our farmland, our farmers, industrial agriculture, the local food movement, the health of our watershed. You cannot demonstrate that you are working towards climate change mitigation and adaptation and pave over some of the best farmland in the world. It just doesn’t make sense.”

Councillors should learn from the mistakes of Oakville and Burlington. They should be tackling climate change head-on. Instead, they are showing a complete disregard for the work of such visionaries as David Crombie, John Sewell, Jane Jacobs, and Hamilton architect Emma Cubitt.

The mayors and a majority of councillors in the north want to continue down the car-centred, road dominated, unsustainable path of McMansions that created the climate crisis. That is a crystal-clear indication it’s time to get rid of the myopic old guard.

The Modified Preferred Growth Concept, also known as the No Sprawl Option (NSO), crafted by Oakville Mayor Rob Burton and seconded by Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward was voted on that night.

The motion proposed accommodating population and employment growth within the existing approved urban boundary, but only until 2041. From 2041 to 2051, Regional staff were directed to provide a framework for when and how growth would be distributed based on the principles of minimizing land consumption. Not exactly what Halton folks had been promised by Burton.

With clarity and foresight, Halton Hills Councillor, Jane Fogal, and Milton Councillor, Colin Best added a two-part amendment to the motion.

While regional staff were given direction to create a framework for how to minimize land consumption, there was no time frame for an ultimate decision to open, or not open, the urban boundary to accommodate growth past 2041. Public input had established they expected the boundary to be held firm until the provincially mandated date of 2051.

Since the province wants a decision before July 2022, Fogal and Best realized it was prudent to show the province that the region would be working on the accommodation plan expeditiously.

The other part of the amendment specifies that the Agricultural Impact Assessment, Natural Heritage and Water Resources Impact Assessment and any legislation resulting from the Province’s Affordability Housing Task Force recommendations would be considered when deciding how and where to grow beyond 2041.

That information is currently unavailable and yet these reports could potentially have a significant impact. The import of these studies means they provide a justifiable reason for delaying the decision.

Burton’s motion was carried in a 15 to 9 vote. Fogal and Best’s amendment also passed 15 to 9. Councillors voting against holding a firm urban boundary included Burlington Councillors Paul Sharman, Lisa Kearns and Kelvin Galbraith; Halton Hills Councillor Clark Somerville and Mayor Rick Bonnett; Milton Councillors Zeeshan Hamid, Mike Cluett, Rick Malbouef, and Mayor Gordon Krantz.

According to Fogal, “The decision on how and where we grow for the next 30 years is the most consequential decision we will make in terms of fighting climate change. This is why the public have become so passionately engaged and why they will be watching the meeting on March 23rd as well as the process going forward to accommodate growth past 2041.”

Fogal went on to say, “I believe the public would welcome the opportunity to be involved in the process. It is important that we find a way to have meaningful public discussion about creating 15-minute neighbourhoods.”

At the March 23rd Regional Council meeting, council will vote whether to officially accept the NSO.

Stop Sprawl Halton (SSHalton), a coalition of citizens from all walks of life, played an integral role informing the public and educating Regional Council around how to comfortably accommodate the next 30 years of provincially mandated growth within existing boundaries.

The group formed after neighbouring city, Hamilton, won a similar battle to save 3,300 acres of farmland from development. There are currently over 2,000 engaged members from a cross-section of all four municipalities.

SSHalton connected with Stop Sprawl HamOnt who shared tips  like connecting with the Small Change Fund and recruiting the efforts of Wellington Water Watchers to help fundraise and strategize.

Yet, the work of SSHalton is far from over. On February 15th, the day before the regional vote, Milton Mayor Krantz penned a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Clark. Seems the democratic process and people speaking truth to power wasn’t sitting well with Krantz.

The letter revealed that Krantz had not relied on the well-researched and statistically sound information contained in Best’s gentle density presentation. The power-point proved increased population and employment growth could comfortably be accommodated within Halton’s current urban boundary out to 2051.

Best not only presented immediately before Milton Council voted as a municipality in January 2022 but, he repeated the flawless presentation during a workshop held to educate Regional Council on February 9th.

In his letter, Krantz mentioned creating 15-minute walkable communities —  a term also used by Councillor Hamid at the February 16th meeting. These highly desirable communities were the norm before World War II when owning a car was still a dream.

Examples of 15-minute walkable communities can be found throughout Toronto in neighbourhoods like Riverdale, Leslieville, Little Portugal, Bloor West Village, and in the high demand neighbourhoods of Durand, Kirkendale, and Westdale in Hamilton.

These are neighbourhoods where you don’t have to own a car because everything is within a 15-minute walk. So, it’s no surprise, these communities have also become some of the most sought after and expensive real estate because you can literally walk to whatever you need – the grocery store, hockey arena, or café.

While 15-minute communities are an amazing goal, not one has been built in Milton. That’s why groups like SSHalton need to be vigilant, hold leaders to account, and push for walkability to be legislated back into the planning process.

March 23rd Regional Council will vote on the amended NSO. It is anticipated to pass – probably 15 to 9 once again.

In the meantime, it’s imperative to keep feet to fire especially in an election year. Going forward, Regional Council and folks need to strategize how to end this cat and mouse game that farmers are forced to endure – never knowing if next time their farmland will be paved.

There needs to be a strategy to support the 38,000 members of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) who feed people living in Ontario towns and cities. These farmers face a myriad of challenges, not the least of which is climate change.

With 2/3 of OFA members now 35 years of age or older, there needs to be strategies and supports to help young people, particularly those without inter-generational ties to land and those who have traditionally been kept out of farming, to have access to land.

Ultimately, the Ford government could move to overrule the citizens of Halton Region. But that’s unlikely given Best proved all provincially mandated growth could be accommodated within existing boundaries at least until 2051.

An additional layer of safety could be added if every citizen concerned about climate change; food security; food sovereignty; responsible, sustainable population and employment growth; protection of wetlands, watersheds, and at risk species; air quality; an over reliance on fossil fuels and cars; and the undermining of the biggest economic cluster in the Ontario economy – namely the agri-food system – contacted their Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) before the March 23rd vote. Then, Ford would be far less likely to force Halton to sprawl.

You can hear more about the Stop the Sprawl movement this week on rabble radio.

Doreen Nicoll

Doreen Nicoll is weary of the perpetual misinformation and skewed facts that continue to concentrate wealth, power and decision making in the hands of a few to the detriment of the many. As a freelance...