Devastating news in Orilla this week legitimizes our concerns.
LIV Communities' 350 home Hawk Ridge developments Stormwater pond collapsed, destroying 500 meters of Silver Creek, a cold water stream and Brook Trout habitat.
Bill 23: More Homes Built Faster Act.
In November of 2022, the Ford government forced this bill into law. It overrides local democracy by forcing municipalities to develop inappropriate land and removes the regulations that ensure it’s done safely. It opposes intensification within urban boundaries and supports urban sprawl to pave over vital farmland and green spaces. The bill made sweeping changes to environmental protections to build housing, gutting everything from conservation authorities to wetlands to the quality of parks.
I have observed the “Nichol Drain”, a cold water creek that crosses my property, for a decade. Once a healthy habitat for brook trout, red-sided dace and other aquatic life, the effluence of upstream Stormwater ponds have been slowly filling it in with sand and silt deposits, eroding the banks with irregular water flow and disrupting the temperature and water quality with road salt and toxic contamination.
Sadly, for the Brook Trout of Silver Creek, the consequences of this ignorance have materialized. I’m sure the problem will be “fixed” and the creek will be restored to “better than new” conditions after years of playing the murky legal blame game, where someone eventually receives a slap-on-the-wrist fine, where no one is held accountable and no lessons will be learned. Perhaps a little regulation is a benefit and not a hindrance if it can prevent catastrophe.
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