I forgot why I hate these rooms
It was an unremarkable Wednesday evening in Barrie for most, but big things were happening whether people knew it or not. For me and a few other advocates for housing, environmental sustainability, we were present at an open house hosted by Mayor Nuttall to discuss changes to Barrie’s Official Plan.
The Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition is very active in land use planning matters, but due to our size and capacity, we can’t intervene in every project or decision. Barrie’s official plan meeting was different though. It was an opportunity to reinforce policies that would stymie sprawl and ensure affordable housing at a large scale in a city that desperately needs it. It’s been a while though since I was deputing to a local council on official plan matters. It was something I did more often when I was involved in community organizing in Springwater Township over 10 years ago.
My mood as I approached the council chambers shifted as if my body knew something was going down and frankly I was a little perplexed. I had forgotten why I hated these rooms, but my body hadn’t.
Quickly it all flooded back as I sat down and waited for the meeting to begin.
Instinctively I scanned the room. How many suits? How many planners and lawyers are here? Which developers or representatives for developers do I recognize? I started a quick tally in my head quickly realizing that, like so often in my past, private interests were full out in stark contrast to members of the public. Overwhelmingly, I knew this wasn’t a friendly room to the ideas that I was about to present.
A fellow water advocate recognized me and sat down beside me with her friends. We started chatting about water protections and source water policies. In these rooms, there’s a predator and prey mentality and the prey stick together. I know that sounds hyperbolic, but it’s true. When outnumbered you want to find community even if it is just one person. Until that point, I knew no one in the crowd that would be similarly minded. That can be intimidating.
Then the meeting began. The format was 5 minutes to speak to council about Barrie’s official plan and what policies should stay or which policies should go. Let’s keep in mind that the official plan is VERY important to the liveability and affordability of a community. It decides what places can get razed and paved, how stringent environmental policies are, what types of affordable housing measures will be in place and outlines the types of housing needed and where. BIG decisions. This is why the public consultation component of the Official Plan took Barrie three years. And also why it was so disappointing to see the province erase that process with its own massive changes via an online consultation held over the winter holiday season that lasted 30 days over the Environmental Registry - a website that few people are aware of let alone know how to navigate to provide comments.
This was the thrust of my deputation. Why would the City of Barrie condone the province removing important decisions made by council with the public’s input for something that is so undemocratic and biased?
Before I deputed, I got to listen to several planners, developers and lawyers talk about land that they wanted to build on. Policies that should be further weakened, more “red tape” that needed to be cut. They talked of the land as if it belonged to them and its outcome was solely in the fate of those whose name is on the deed. As if their decision had no impact on neighbours, on Barrie’s liveability or to the natural community. Developments to get bigger, taller, less stringent demands. All of these requests made without going through the routine and proper process. I was sickened.
Then it was me. I was watching the stop watch on screen as I presented - I needed to ensure I got to the meat of my deputation. My stomach churned because I knew most people behind me were about to hate what I was going to say. I heard a few scoffs when I talked about keeping the process transparent and answerable to the public. I heard a laugh when I suggested that we don’t know where these new policies that gut affordable housing measures and promote sprawl came from, but they look eerily similar to developer requests sometimes with the exact wording. Isn’t that strange? Clearly, my concerns weren’t shared with many behind me.
Some councillors nodded in agreement as I talked about the need to ensure that Barrie grows in a way that is good for its people and its environment and not special interests. There were other councillors who were glazed over and others clearly annoyed that I was pointing out the provincial meddling that got us to this point.
Speakers before me that peddled more development, more sprawl, fewer regulations were mostly met with an enthusiastic thank you. I was met with questions verifying what I was saying. Was it true what I was saying about policies about public access to water being watered down so that developers could build along Little Lake and Lake Simcoe without having to maintain public access to the lake, public vistas or landmarks? The senior planner agreed my interpretation was correct.
I already knew that my threshold for understanding and references was higher, so I had brought with me a chart that outlined each policy section with correct numbering, the wording of each change and the interpretation of what that policy would do. I conferred with renowned planners beforehand to ensure that my interpretation was correct. I had researched affordable housing and environmental policies across the province to ensure that my requests had a legal precedent. I knew that anything less than that - a question that I didn’t know the answer to immediately or couldn’t cite - would discredit what I said or my authority on the subject.
I am not given any benefit of the doubt about whether I’m well researched or have evidence behind me for the most part. This is nothing new. For example, I met with a MPP a few years ago. We were talking about how municipalities need more power to ensure that development approvals get built and how there is a lack of control and therefore an abuse of power by developers who are just waiting to build once the market is more profitable. They asked me for some ideas of what this could look like. I cited information and handed over print outs from respected agencies such the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. I outlined the number of housing approvals there are that are not being built and how some of them have been at full approvals for over a decade. They said, “I have never heard of or seen any of this information before. All they (developers) ask me is for more land and fewer rules.” I asked them, “Did you ask them for evidence to support their requests?” “No,” they said, “but that’s a good idea.”
Smack my head. I have to come prepared, but others don’t even get asked to prove what they say to be true. Ugh.
So this is why I hate these types of rooms - council chambers etc. - where the public voice is outnumbered with special interests that aren’t thinking of the public interest. Where they aren’t held to the standards that community advocates are even though they have unlimited resources and staff comparatively.
There are councillors and other politicians that are doing the good work. They are genuinely trying very hard. And if they happen to read this, I know they will agree with me. The others who wrap themselves in community care and then make decisions to undercut the public’s interest. They will likely feel offended or attacked by my comments. To them I say consider your reaction to my pieces as a litmus test for your integrity.
So how do I leave this so that you, reader, aren’t left feeling like the system is stacked against us? Well maybe with the frank realization that it is stacked against those of us who care about planetary health and for each other. That’s why we must create new communities, new ways of being and interact with the existing structures with eyes wide open that it’s not a fair playing field. We cannot expect rational, evidence based decisions without a lot of effort because that’s not the information the systems in place respond to.
Maybe it’s time that we recognize that it’s okay to feel frustrated and disappointed with how things are because why wouldn’t you? And that maybe that’s the catalyst for each of us to let go of what isn’t working and finding each other again in a way that is rooted in care and concern. Small acts of kindness, gathering and communing, laughter and joy. Audaciously demanding better, because it can be and it should be. Let the old world and the old ways of doing things die. Let’s plant anew. Let them scoff, laugh and disengage. We will continue to speak truth to power, but we’re focusing on bigger things.
P.S. - The City of Barrie’s Mayor Nuttall did end up agreeing with many of our points in the end about its Official Plan. He publicly declared that he would ensure affordable housing measures and densities aimed at reducing sprawl would be returned to the OP along with strengthening policies to protect public access to waterfronts. So even with a stacked house, sometimes we still win the day! Huzzah!
Weekly News Digest - “The Blowhole”
Read my deputation to Barrie City Council. Despite the problems I outlined above, I think it’s important to speak truth to power and get these concerns on the public record.
Speaking for the water. In a similar experience I also testified at a provincial committee a few weeks ago regarding regional governance. I wanted to underscore that we need regional planning to tackle big issues including water concerns. SCGC wanted it on record about the water threats that are ongoing in the area. Have a read here.
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This work you are doing is so important. Thank you for sharing it so generously.