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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, A ug us t 5, 20 21 | 4 Ying Yang Chartered Professional Accountant Member of Canadian Tax Foundation (647) 989-1276 Oakville Office: (289) 291-3924 Toronto Offiffice: (647) 255-8049 yy@yangaccounting.ca For an affordable solution to your Business and Individual tax difficulties … Make an Appointment Today for a Free Confidential Consultation CRACRACRACRA PPPPrroblobleems?ms? Individual, Corporati &on & Trust Payrayroll, HST includiudingng Overseas & O& Offffshorshore Tax Issueax Issues Yang Tang Tang Tang ax Resolsolution A GUIDE TO EATING LOCAL PATIOS , MENUS, TAKEOUT, DELIVERY, BREWERIES & SPECIALTY GROCERY SCAN THESE CODES WITH YOUR PHONE TO DISCOVER GREAT DINING AND FOOD DESTINATIONS Let's Eat For $50/Week participate in this Foodie Feature linking your business or menu to these QR codes! 4 Week Special! Limited Space - Book Today! For a Small Fee/Week participate in this Foodie Feature linking your business or menu to these QR codes! Please contact Nancy Gibson for information on placing your QR Code ad. Cell: 289-681-2041 • ngibson@starmetrolandmedia.com Limited Space - Book Today! A GUIDE TO EATING LOCAL PATIOS , MENUS, TAKEOUT, DELIVERY, BREWERIES & SPECIALTY GROCERY SCAN THESE CODES WITH YOUR PHONE TO DISCOVER GREAT DINING AND FOOD DESTINATIONS Let's Eat Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark announced July 28 that more of Oakville's Fourteen Mile Creek will be added to the Greenbelt. The designation will ex- tend south to where the creek connects with Lake Ontario. At the announcement, Clark was joined by Oak- ville North-Burlington MPP Effie Triantafilopou- los, Mayor Rob Burton and some council colleagues, as well as Hassaan Basit, CEO of Conservation Halton (CH). "That would actually add 120 acres (48.5 ha) to the Greenbelt," Minister Clark said, addressing assembled media. "This is in addition to the 500 acres (202 ha) that was brought by adding Dar- lington Provincial Park," Clark added in his govern- ment's announcement on Monday. Burton praised Clark both at the event and in an emailed statement to the Oakville Beaver. He said, "from saving Glen Abbey to now announcing the intent to grow the Greenbelt, I am proud of our strong part- nership with the province." The announcement fol- lows a proposal made in February. Clark said back then that he was consider- ing expanding the Green- belt while facing criticism of his record on environ- mentalism. By then, the government of Doug Ford had used Min- isterial Zoning Orders (MZO), a policy tool for fast- tracking development ap- plications, in environmen- tally sensitive areas 14 times between 2018 and February of 2021. Last fall, various mayors stood with Conservation Halton when they expressed concerns regarding the weakening of environmental protections in Bill 229. When asked about the MZOs and Bill 229, Clark said he wanted to "correct the record in terms of Min- isterial Zoning Orders. Ev- ery MZO on non-provin- cially owned land has been at the request of the munic- ipality." He reassured all present that his govern- ment's "commitment to the Greenbelt remains stead- fast as the other speakers have indicated. We are not changing the boundary in any way." In November of 2020, Burton and the other Hal- ton mayors signed a letter decrying amendments to the Conservation Authori- ties Act in Bill 229. "We an- ticipate that some of the more prescriptive changes proposed in Bill 229 will lead to the opposite of your government's stated desire to help conservation au- thorities (CA) modernize and operate with greater fo- cus, transparency and effi- ciency," the letter read. Basit expressed con- cerns about the bill around the same time as the may- ors. Amendments were made to the bill, for which Basit thanked the Ontario government. However, a letter from CH raised the alarm about "a last-minute amendment inserted into Schedule 6, as well as several other chang- es that were not addressed despite our concerns," read a letter by CH. One of the amendments, Basit said in December, "prohibits con- servation authorities from denying permits for devel- opments if presented with a Minister Zoning Order (MZO) issued by the minis- ter of municipal affairs and housing." He characterized the change as "egregious." That letter was followed up by another statement by Halton mayors, including Burton, that said they "stand with CH response to Bill 229 passed today." When asked about the Dec. 8 letter, Burton said, "I give them high marks for having listened. When peo- ple listen to you, you ought to say thank you." Burton, who is on the board of direc- tors for CH, told the Oak- ville Beaver the board and Basit "worked really hard with the government to fix what was wrong with that bill." Basit repeated Burton's statements but also added that "we continue to remain unhappy about some of those" things that weren't changed in the bill. Overall, Basit was pleased with the inclusion of Fourteen Mile Creek into the Greenbelt. PROVINCE ADDS MORE OF 14 MILE CREEK TO GREENBELT MANSOOR TANWEER mtanweer@metroland.com NEWS SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM