Protesters converge on MPP's office over controversial housing bill

Linda Kulkarni lives in what she describes as wonderful countryside full of wetlands.

"It's a habitat for endangered species," said theTownship of Montague resident. "We've gotBlanding's turtles [that] come to our doorstep every year, [plus]many different varieties of frogs.

"We need to preserve this for the future."

Kulkarni was one of approximately 80 demonstrators plus at least one dog with his own protest sign who picketed Saturday outside the Smiths Falls, Ont., constituency office ofLanarkFrontenacKingston MPP John Jordan over the controversial Bill 23.

Known as the More Homes Built Faster Act,Bill 23 is the province's attempt to significantly boost Ontario's housing stock.The Progressive Conservative government has promised to build 1.5 million homes in 10 years, including 151,000 in Ottawa alone.

Environmental advocates are concerned the legislation, which still needs to undergo a third and final reading before taking effect, couldsee some wetlands re-mapped for development.

Conservationauthorities interpret the bill to mean they will no longer be allowed to help municipalities review development applications a decades-long practice they say lets municipalities tap into pooled technical expertise that might be costly to do in-house.

"It's downloading so many costs to the residents,"Kulkarnisaid.

"That's why we have the conservation authority," echoed fellow demonstrator Eva Leon, who helda sign depicting Premier Doug Ford as "the Grinch of green spaces."

Leon travelled to the rally from the cottage community of Chaffey's Lock, Ont., roughly 30 kilometressouth of Smiths Falls in theTownship of Rideau Lakes.

"This bill really quashes [the conservation authorities']ability to help the township in deciding what areas should not be touched, or how they should be developed if they are going to be developed," Leon said.

One of several protests

The protest was co-organized by Anita Payne, a retired school teacher who has sought a Kingston-area MPP seat for the Green Partyin recent elections.

Other organizers includedconservation-minded singer-songwriterSarah Harmer, who is originally from Burlington, Ont., and a regionaladvocacy group called Climate Network Lanark.

It was one of several Bill 23 protests heldin the province Saturday, including one in Ottawa that had a much smaller showing.

"Lanark County is home to some of the largest, last remaining wetlands in the whole of southern Ontario," said Susan Brandum, Climate Network Lanark's co-founder, addressing the crowd at a park before they departed for their hour-long protest.

"The key thing that they do right now in terms of the climate issue is they sequester carbon," she said. "We need to keep our wetlands."

Harmer said while the third and final reading of the bill could be coming soon, "shovels won't be in the ground for a while."

"We need to continually push our MPPs, especially our Conservative MPPs," she told the group.

Harmer said Jordan's office initially promised her a pre-protest meeting to discuss the billbut then said he was unavailable.

CBC reached out to Jordan's constituency office on Saturday morning for comment about the protestand had not received a response by theevening.