Bill 31 on housing was presented last year by the Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, and must be adopted very soon. However, under the pretext of responding to the housing crisis, section 37.2 was added on the sly, after the public consultation period. This amendment authorizes municipalities for five years to ignore town planning rules to accelerate housing projects. They will thus be able to bypass the public consultation stages prior to the realization of the projects.
At the Regional Environmental Action Movement (MARE), we rely on collective action to make change, not only for environmental protection, but also for social justice. This is why we need to talk about Article 37.2 and we invite everyone to do the same.
Despite strong protests from experts and the opposition, the amendment was adopted in parliamentary committee last November. If the bill is accepted as is, we are convinced that the development of our municipalities will quickly take a chaotic turn which could well prove catastrophic.
Urban planning rules and citizen participation processes are essential to the harmonious development of our living environments and to the construction of cities adapted to the social and environmental crises we face. Real estate projects impact municipal infrastructure, including drinking water, wastewater and runoff, groundwater, roads and energy needs.
They must therefore be part of rigorous urban planning to ensure the health, safety and quality of life of citizens. Among other things, we must ensure accessibility to sustainable modes of transportation, education and health services, businesses, parks and leisure infrastructure, etc. Not to mention that local green spaces and natural environments, so appreciated by citizens and fundamental for their health, will be even more threatened in the absence of an adequate legal framework for their protection.
Section 37.2 has the potential to torpedo all the efforts made over the years to improve urban planning to make living environments healthier and more resilient in the face of climate change. It could not only cause significant slippage in land use plans, but also ruin the efforts of all levels of government regarding sustainable transportation, health, food security as well as protection and recovery. natural environments.
Let us also mention the possible consequences on the sound administration of our municipalities, as highlighted by MP Virginie Dufour, former municipal councilor, who sees in this not only a “denial of democracy”, but also a risk of favoritism, or even collusion, resulting from negotiations between cities and developers. The Order of Urban Planners of Quebec also disagrees with this approach, because it risks leading to piecemeal construction that does not fit with an overall vision for a neighborhood.
Taking into account all these reasons, we, MARE, and the co-signatories of this letter insist that article 37.2 be removed from Bill 31. The consequences of this amendment are too important to ignore the opinion of the experts of civil society and other stakeholders in land use planning, as the CAQ government is currently doing.
* Also co-signed this letter: Eau Secours, Rébecca Pétrin; the Central Council of Metropolitan Montreal — CSN, Bertrand Guibord; Quebec Hydrocarbon Vigilance Network (RVHQ), Katherine Massam; Ambioterra, Priscilla Gareau; Environmental Citizen Mobilization Coalition of Laval, Jonathan Tremblay; Let’s save Anse à l’Orme, Sue Stacho; Mobilization 6600 MHM nature park, Josée Desmeules; Green Coalition, Carole Reed, Charlie McCleod; Let’s save the wetlands of St-Zotique, Marie-Martine Richer; LOOK citizen!, Jean Baril; Citizens for the Protection of Mount Rigaud, Élie Forest; Mothers at the front Vaudreuil-Soulanges, Christine Dandurand; Eco-citizen group of Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Sylvie Clermont; Let’s Save Sandy Beach, Roxanne Séguin; Wooded ecology Châteauguay, Chantal Payant; Nature Hudson, Adrian Burke; Pincourt Green, Shelagh McNalley; Rivière-du-Nord landfill alert coalition, Normand-Léo Beaudet; Committee for the Protection of the Petit Bois Vert, Luc Gauthier; Let’s save the forest from the extension of the 25, Shanie Gauthier; Montchâtel collective, strong by nature, Vicky Croteau and Marie-France Mathieu; The Great March for the protection of forests, Patrick Gravel; Parc Sentiers des bois de Laval, Jonathan Tremblay; Friends of the Châtels woodland, Catherine Rouleau; Wooded by writers Marie-Eve Brochu; Boisé du Faubourg, Caroline Parent; Let’s save the Fairview forest, Geneviève Lussier; Let’s Save the Cliff, Lisa Mintz; Pointe-au-Père forest mobilization, Rachel Nadeau; Action Environnement Basses-Laurentides, Lucie Massé; In Châteauguay, what city do we want?, Claude Boileau.