On March 21, the Minister of Municipal Affairs Andrée Laforest tabled Bill 16, amending the Act respecting land use planning and development, in the wake of the National Policy on Architecture and Land Use Planning . If passed, it would be the most significant change in the history of this founding law, which establishes the foundations of our system of urban planning and land use planning. Without reviewing this system from top to bottom, the bill proposes several improvements, including the recurring production of a national report on land use planning, the modernization of the content of municipal plans and new measures to facilitate densification.
Consultations in parliamentary committee took place during the month of April and civil society was there. A total of 18 groups and experts were heard, including the Ordre des urbanistes du Québec, and 16 other groups submitted briefs, despite the short deadlines.
Several stakeholders share the same impression: the bill represents a great step forward while leaving several important considerations unaddressed, in particular measures guaranteeing a real exemplary state. As we approach the detailed study of the bill, let’s come back to a few key improvements proposed during the consultations.
Enshrine the National Policy in law
The result of a broad mobilization of civil society, the National Policy establishes a global vision for the actions of the government in the territory. This policy must be made permanent by enshrining in law its existence and the obligation of periodic review. This was the first recommendation of the Order and it has also been raised by other groups including Vivre en Ville, the Union des producteurs agricole, the G15+ and the Ariane Alliance. The government’s choices, whether in transportation, infrastructure or via its various programs, have a fundamental impact on land use planning: you have to have an overview.
Create an independent regional planning body
The establishment of a land use planning assessment and monitoring system is one of the most promising elements of the bill. Improving our practices necessarily requires a better understanding of the territory and the impacts of our interventions on it. But we need to go further: we need an independent external perspective to advise the government, evaluate the various programs and policies and support the continuous improvement of practices. Several groups have proposed the creation of a planning observatory or the position of chief planner, comparable to an auditor general. The Urban Development Institute has proposed a National Planning Council composed of independent experts.
Make the Minister of Municipal Affairs the guardian of the role model
To ensure that planning really becomes a cross-cutting concern, a clear political leader is needed. This is why several groups have proposed that the Minister of Municipal Affairs be explicitly identified in the law as the person responsible for land use planning and that she play a preponderant role over the other ministries in this area, for example by establishing territorial criteria that programs and projects should meet and by adopting a policy for the location of public buildings.
Finally, other issues have been raised by multiple players and these deserve to be echoed in future legislation. Municipal and environmental circles have expressed legitimate concerns about the concept of disguised expropriation, in the context of recent judgments invalidating zoning provisions aimed at preserving natural environments and wooded areas. The same actors also denounced the precedence of the Mining Act over territorial planning. Finally, several others, including the Institut du Nouveau Monde and the Montreal Urban Ecology Center have called for the launch of a project with a view to reforming public participation and referendums in urban planning.
In summary, the consultations on Bill 16 were rich and made it possible to identify concerns shared by several groups as well as essential improvements to be made. We hope that elected officials will listen to the community and that the detailed study will result in a more ambitious law. This is the challenge we are issuing to the government: let’s take advantage of the momentum of the National Policy to go further!