Oak Ridges Moraine: Update on the Latest Important Policy
Developments   by John MacKenzie

Stretching 160km from the Trent River in the east to the Niagara Escarpment in the west, the Oak Ridges Moraine is one of Ontario's most significant landforms. The Oak Ridges Moraine comprises the headwaters of 65 watercourse and forms the spine of a regionally significant system of connected habitats and features. It provides economic and recreation opportunities for the growing population of Central Ontario and is the last opportunity to create a greenbelt above the City of Toronto.

On May 17th 2001 Chris Hodgson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing announced a six-month freeze on development for the Moraine as a means to finding a solution to numerous ongoing Ontario Municipal Board hearings and to develop a long-term Moraine plan. (Read their news release for more details). That same day, all parties unanimously supported Bill 55, An Act to Protect the Oak Ridges Moraine.

During the month of July a government advisory committee prepared draft recommendations that were largely reflected in the Province's Share Your Vision discussion document.

During the last week of August and first week of September thousands of citizens packed stakeholder workshops and meeting halls to voice their concerns with Share Your Vision. Public concerns included: the need to restrict urban expansion and estate residential development, the need to increase the size of Natural linkage and Natural Core areas, the need to restrict aggregate extraction and new roads in Natural Linkage and Natural Core areas, and the need for firm restrictions on water takings. A general concern from the public was that growth management and better environmental planning was needed not just for the Moraine but for the entire region as a whole.

On November 1, 2001, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing announced the release of the Draft Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act and Draft Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan.

Highlights of the draft Act and Plan include a vision for the Oak Ridges Moraine of a "continuous band of green rolling hills that provides form and structure to south-central Ontario, while protecting the ecological and hydrological features and functions that support the health and well-being of the region's residents and ecosystems."

The Plan divides the Moraine into four land use designations:
Natural Core Areas (38% of total area),
Natural Linkage Areas (24%),
Countryside Areas (30%)
Settlement Areas (8%).

Natural Core Areas protect key lands with the greatest concentrations of significant natural features and permit only existing and very restricted resource management uses. Agricultural, recreational, transportation and utility uses will be permitted in these areas. Natural Linkage Areas protect critical natural and open space linkages between the Natural Core Areas and along rivers and streams. Aggregate resource operations in addition to Natural Core Areas uses are permitted in the Natural Linkage designation. Countryside areas will allow most of the uses typically allowed in agricultural and other rural areas including small-scale industrial, commercial, and institutional uses along with golf courses. Special flexibility for limited residential development in Countryside Areas has been provided to eastern municipalities on the Moraine. In addition, provision has been made for a continuous trail and non-motorized recreational access and travel across the full length of the Moraine. The plan shall be reviewed every 10 years and one provision of the plan is that a review cannot reduce the total areas of the Natural Core and Natural Linkage areas.

The detailed maps explaining the land use designations can be viewed in an Adobe PDF format.

The Act and Plan will dramatically change the context of land use and development planning across the Moraine. The legislation will impact environmental assessment processes by providing for stringent review and approval standards and by requiring that only "essential" services be permitted in Natural Core and Natural Linkage Areas. Municipalities and agencies will be required to revisit their existing policies and procedures as part of the requirement for new amendments, watershed studies, water budgets and stringent policies required to implement the plan.

The draft legislation was arrived at in part due to a settlement reached between the Province and two major landowner groups as part of the controversial Ontario Municipal Board Richmond Hill hearing involving appeals to expand the urban boundary of the Town of Richmond Hill. David Crombie conducted settlement discussions on behalf of the Province that would see the exchange of sensitive environmental lands in Richmond Hill for lands of equal value in the proposed Seaton community in Pickering. Discussions on the settlement are continuing.

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OAIA and AQÉI Sign Memorandum of Understanding

At a meeting held in Montreal on October 10, Lee Doran, president of the Ontario Association for Impact Assessment and Peter Leonard, President of Association quebecoise pour l'évaluation d'impacts signed a Memorandum of Understanding (also provided in the more elegant French version) designed to foster closer cooperation between the two affiliates of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA).

The MOU addresses collaboration on issues of mutual concern; information exchange; advancement of the role of students; and organization of joint events. The first concrete project arising from this MOU will be a jointly sponsored workshop on transboundary impact assessment issues, tentatively entitled Impact Assessment without Borders, to be held in the spring of 2002. This workshop will be designed to educate IA practitioners on the range of instruments that are currently available for dealing with transboundary issues, and to explore gaps in the current system. Boundaries internal to provinces (municipalities, Indian Reserves, National Parks, aboriginal land claim areas) and external to provinces (other provincial, territorial, federal and aboriginal jurisdictions; international boundaries) will be addressed in the workshop. Details of the workshop will be provided in future editions of the OAIA Bulletin.

A steering committee, comprising a broad cross-section of players in transboundary issues is being formed to guide the development of the workshop. If you wish to participate in this steering committee or contribute ideas for discussion, please contact one of the following OAIA members currently involved in planning the workshop: Betty Hansen, Lee Doran or Ray Lamoureux.

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Western and Northern Canada Affiliate of IAIA Formed

A new affiliate of IAIA has recently been formed in Western and Northern Canada. Called W&NC for short, it will cover B.C., the Prairie Provinces, parts of the Yukon and Northwest Territories, and possibly Nunavut. The interim executive of the new affiliate are Dr. Bill Ross of the University of Calgary (President), Roger Creasey, Richard Roberts and Ryerson Christie, all well known IA practitioners of excellent reputation. The OAIA executive is already working closely with the new W&NC affiliate, and all indications are that this type of close relationship will continue into the indefinite future. Now we only need an initiative from the Atlantic Region in order to have Canadian Affiliates of IAIA established from coast to coast to coast!

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Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency Holds First R&D Seminar

On October 23 the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency held its first ever seminar dealing with subjects being researched in its recently launched Research and Development Program. The seminar, held at the historical Mount Stephen Club in Montreal, was well attended. Among the luminaries present was Dr. Shirley Conover, a member and past director of OAIA. The conference dealt with the important subject of Follow-up in Environmental Assessment. It focused on two aspects of research that the Agency had sponsored: the use of follow-up committees and the need for a national system for accessing information collected in follow-up programs. The latter concept, in particular, elicited considerable discussion and expressions of support from many quarters. The reports of the researchers will be made available on the Agency's website, once they have been translated into English.

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OAIA President Makes Presentation to Walkerton Inquiry  

On October 29th, at the Walkerton Inquiry's Town Hall session in Toronto, Lee Doran, made a presentation on behalf of OAIA to Commissioner O'Connor. His presentation was scheduled for late in the day, so attendance was sparse by then. Nevertheless, the Commissioner was intent, attentive and congenial throughout.

On the substance of the presentation, the Commissioner seemed quite at ease with the need for consultation and beyond-the-project, if not 'outside the box' thinking in IA for the future. In his brief response, he noted that this approach was quite consistent with what the Commission hoped to accomplish.

Other presentations also emphasized the need for widespread consultation and responsiveness to peoples' needs and concerns. The Commissioner noted, and re-affirmed, how useful such an approach had been to his work with the Inquiry.

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Planning Proceeds with OAIA Winter Series

Your board is pressing ahead with the planning of a series of short learning events to be held in various locations in the province during the winter/early spring period. We will keep you posted in upcoming OAIA Bulletins. If you are interested in helping make these events happen, please contact either Lee Doran in Toronto or Ray Lamoureux in Ottawa/Hull.

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SARA Bill In Committee - CEAA Bill on Deck

The sometimes controversial bill on the Species at Risk Act (SARA) is currently before the Parliamentary Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development. Upon completing its review of that bill, the committee will proceed immediately with a review of the Bill to Amend the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

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OECD Releases Policy Brief: A New Strategy for the Environment

The OECD has recently made available free, in electronic form, its Policy Brief entitled A New Strategy for the Environment. This Policy Brief draws on the OECD's Environmental Outlook report, which projects the likely environmental changes in OECD regions to 2020, and the OECD Environmental Strategy for the First Decade of the 21st Century which was adopted by OECD environment ministers on May 16, 2001. We urge our members to bookmark the OECD site for the wealth of thought-provoking material that can be obtained free of charge there. It is also worthwhile to subscribe to OECD's free online newsletter.

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