User talk:Shyamalpansuriya

Geography CGC 1D8 A/D Independent Study Unit: Human Geography Step 3: Information Organization Name: Shyamal Pansuriya Topic: Urban Sprawl Position (circle) Pro Con Thesis: The Seal Hunt is beneficial for Canada and should be allowed to continue Argument 1: Hunting Seals is good for the economy Supporting Evidence ·	Creates work for x number of people ·	Is directly worth $y to the hunters ·	Creates z spin-off jobs worth $a Argument 2: Hunting Seals preserves cultural traditions Supporting Evidence ·	Seal hunting has been part of the local culture for x years ·	Y% of the population in the area is directly or indirectly involved in the hunt ·	Some families have been hunting for z generations Argument 3: Hunting Seals maintains ecological balance Supporting Evidence ·	When the hunt was stopped in * the seal population went up by x and fish stocks plummeted ·	Animal y dropped too as there were no fish to eat ·	Such-and-such molluscs became extinct in the area

Urban Sprawl in Ontario
How can we halt Dumb Growth!

Urban sprawl -- the uncontrolled growth of urban centres -- poses a serious threat to the natural environment, our foodland and energy resources, and to human health and quality of life.

Ontario's major urban centres are growing rapidly. Without careful planning and compact development we will lose more land than is necessary and exacerbate existing air and water quality problems.

Population of Ontario Urban Centres (thousands) (Source: Statistics Canada)

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 % Change Toronto 4,116.9 4,198.2 4,256.0 4,346.3 4,444.7 7.92% Ottawa-Hull 974.6 997.7 1,010.7 1,023.2 1,030.5 5.73% Hamilton 626.8 631.1 635.8 643.1 650.4 3.76% London 400.5 404.3 408.3 413.2 416.1 3.90% Kitchener 376.3 382.3 388.5 395.4 403.3 7.18% St Catharines 381.8 383.7 384.4 386.5 389.7 2.07% Windsor 274.4 277.7 281.5 285.9 291.7 6.30% Oshawa 256.7 263.4 269.6 275.6 280.9 9.43% Ontario 10,827.5 10,964.9 11,100.9 11,263.6 11,413.7 5.41%

How this growth is managed will affects our ability to achieve several important environmental goals, such as...

protecting significant natural areas (wetlands, forests, waterways);

conserving valuable resources (in particular Canada's prime agricultural farmland and fossil fuels);

protecting essential ecological processes (such as groundwater recharge and stream flows);

preventing pollution (especially smog, climate change and hazardous wastes).

If recent history is anything to go by, the prospects are bleak:

Since European settlement, about 80 percent of Ontario's wetlands south of the Canadian Shield have been lost to development.

Between 1981 and 1986, prime agricultural land accounted for 59% of all land in Canada converted to urban uses. Ontario has just over one half of all of Canada's class 1 farmland (51%).

Approximately 4,700 square kilometres of Canada's dependable agricultural land (Classes 1, 2, and 3), or about 1 square kilometre daily, was lost between 1981 and 1996 (Statistics Canada, Human Activity and the Environment, p.126 ). That rate increased to 1.3 sq. km a day in the five year period from 1991-96. INDEX Current Strategies

formal strategies and plans to address sprawl the Planning Act

Major Activities

major activities in Ontario that address sprawl.

What Else Could be Done?

other initiatives that could be taken barriers and negative trends

Individual Action

What you can do to help.

Key Players

Who's working on the issue. Other sources of information.

Just how much prime agricultural land is being lost to urbanization is hard to tell. Neither the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, nor the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing keeps track of the loss of prime agricultural land to urban development. Class 1 Farmland Occupied by Urban Land in Ontario Date Percentage 1971 13 1981 14 1991 17 1996 19 Source: Human Activity and the Environment 2000, Statistics Canada

The Current Strategy

The provincial government is developing a Smart Growth Strategy for Ontario, which will includes goals for the protection of natural areas and farmlands. For details, see the Smart Growth section of this web site.

Regionally, the Niagara Escarpment is afforded special protection through the Niagara Escarpment Plan.

Urban planning is managed through the Planning Act and guided by a policy statement. Formal Strategies or Plans for Controlling Urban Sprawl Federal Government None Provincial Government Niagara Escarpment Plan Regional Governments Municipal Official Plans Non-Government None Other None

Goal The 1997 Policy Statement under the Planning Act includes several clear commitments to protecting resources and environmental quality:

2.1.1 Prime agricultural areas will be protected for agricultural use.

2.3.1 Natural heritage and features will be protected from incompatible development

2.4.1 The quality and quantity of ground water and surface water and the function of sensitive ground water recharge/discharge areas will be protected or enhanced.

Major Activities

The opportunity to protect Ontario's prime agricultural land lies within the provincial planning system. Currently, municipal planning is governed by the Ontario Planning Act, which requires that municipalities prepare Official Plans to manage the development and growth within their boundaries.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has produced a Citizen's Guide to the Land Use Planning System in Ontario. It gives a good introduction to how the planning system is supposed to work.

The Regulatory Framework 1. The Planning Act (available online) The Planning Act sets out the ground rules for land use planning in Ontario and describes how land uses may be controlled, and who may control them.

Under the Act, the Province has the responsibility for setting the policy statements, and municipalities are required to develop Official Plans to guide local development.

2. Municipal Official Plans Each municipality in Ontario is required to produce an Official Plan that, according to the Planning Act (Section 16.1),

a) shall contain goals, objectives and policies established primarily to manage and direct physical change and the effects on the social, economic and natural environment of the municipality or part of it, or an area that is without municipal organization; and

b) may contain a description of the measures and procedures proposed to attain the objectives of the plan and a description of the measures and procedures for informing and obtaining the views of the public in respect of a proposed amendment to the official plan or proposed revision of the plan or in respect of a proposed zoning by-law.

Municipalities are required to "have regard for" the provincial policy statement, but it is not a binding requirement. Most of Ontario's municipalities are actively promoting housing development. For examples of municipal plans, see the links to municipal web sites on Green Ontario's list of Ontario's communities.

3. The Ontario Municipal Board The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) is an independent administrative tribunal responsible for hearing appeals and deciding on a variety of contentious municipal matters.

Members of the public can appeal a development decision to the OMB. The Board reviews each appeal and makes a decision in light of:

environmental, social and economic considerations

provincial interest

rights of the individual citizens

the best interests of the community as a whole

This process can be done for little cost, but an effective appeal is costly and rarely results in a reversal of a development decision. Given that the provincial policy statement is seen only as a guideline (and not a mandatory requirement), the OMB usually has little option but to uphold the landowner's right to develop.

Voluntary Initiatives Case studies of voluntary initiatives for compact, healthy urban development will be include here at a later date. Please e-mail the Conservation Council with any case studies you'd like us to consider.

State of the Environment Reporting The provincial government does not publish any statistics on urban development or the rate of loss of agricultural lands and natural areas. Without this information, it is difficult to provide an accurate assessment of the ability of the current planning system to provide an adequate level of protection for farmland and ecological features.

The best information we have been able to find is through the Statistics Canada web site.

What Else Could Be Done?

Clearly, strong government leadership is required at both the provincial and municipal level if we are to control sprawl and create healthy, vibrant communities. Here are some of the options:

Strengthen the Planning Act to require ecologically sound development. Although the Provincial Policy Statement includes ecological goals, there is no requirement that municipalities, planners, and developers meet the highest ecological standards. In particular, the requirement to "have regard for" provincial policies could be strengthened

Develop Regional Plans to manage growth. Municipal Plans are currently developed in isolation from each other. Regional plans are required to determine where development and growth is appropriate and can best support an efficient public transportation system

See our Smart Growth section for more information on regional smart growth panels.

Provide special protection for the Oak Ridges Moraine, prime farmland, and other significant ecological areas. An alternative to regional plans is to develop special plans, similar to the Niagara Escarpment Plan, for other significant ecological features and resources of the province.

Barriers

Highways and Transit Highways and urban sprawl go hand in hand. New roads open up more land for development, and car-dependent suburbs need bigger highways to move people around.

The Ministry of Transportation has dropped public transit from its Business Plan, preferring instead to define an effective transportation system as one where 90 per cent of the population lives within 10 kilometres of a major provincial highway (1998 Ministry of Transportation Business Plan). The Province no longer provides any operating support for public transit.

For more on highways, see our Emerging Issues page on Highways.

Amalgamation The amalgamation of municipalities is supposed to result in cost savings through a reduction in bureaucratic overlap. No assessment has been made of the impact of amalgamation and downsizing on the ability to fulfill the provincial commitment to environmental protection under the Planning Act.

Individual Action

Get involved!

Speak up for the future of our province.

Make sure provincial and municipal planning will result in healthy and sustainable development. Learn the Process For a start, read the Citizen's Guide to the Land Use Planning System in Ontario, produced by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Participate in municipal planning Find out when your local plan is up for review, and what opportunities there are for public involvement

Talk to your local Councillor or MPP Join a local group Join one of the foodland preservation groups, or your local naturalist club (through the Federation of Ontario Naturalists) or the Land Use Planning Coalition

Key Players

Provincial Government Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH)

Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA)

Ontario Municipal Board Federal Government Statistics Canada maintains statistics on land use Municipal Government Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO)

Greater Toronto Services Board Environmental Organizations The Land Use Planning Coalition is a new coalition of agriculture interests and naturalists that have joined together to provide a forum to express to the Province of Ontario the need for a comprehensive land use strategy for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

The Ontario Environment Network has a Land Use Caucus that assists local and provincial groups in working together on land use issues.

The Green Door Alliance is fighting the expansion of Highway 407 across the Rouge River.

The Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society is working to preserve the best foodland in the Niagara region (the link takes you to their "unofficial" web site).

The Federation of Ontario Naturalists is working to protect woodlands and other significant natural areas.

Save the Oak Ridges Moraine (STORM) Coalition was formed in 1989 in response to increased developmental pressures on the Oak Ridges Moraine and to The Planning Act that was not addressing the environmental needs of this fragile ecosystem. Business Associations Urban Development Institute

Ontario Homebuilders Association Farm Associations Ontario Federation of Agriculture

AGCare Professional Associations Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI)

March 2009
Welcome to Wikipedia. Although everyone is welcome to make constructive contributions to Wikipedia, at least one of your recent edits, such as the one you made to Siege of Fort St. Jean, did not appear to be constructive and has been automatically reverted by ClueBot. Please use the sandbox for any test edits you would like to make, and take a look at the welcome page to learn more about contributing to this encyclopedia. If you believe there has been a mistake and would like to report a false positive, please report it here and then remove this warning from your talk page. If your edit was not vandalism, please feel free to make your edit again after reporting it. The following is the log entry regarding this warning: Siege of Fort St. Jean was changed by Shyamalpansuriya (u) (t) making a minor change adding "!!!" on 2009-03-01T20:25:02+00:00. Thank you. ClueBot (talk) 20:25, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

The recent edit you made to the page Siege of Fort St. Jean constitutes vandalism, and has been reverted. Please do not continue to make unconstructive edits to pages; use the sandbox for testing. Thank you.  Blanchardb - Me•MyEars•MyMouth - timed 20:27, 1 March 2009 (UTC)