CUPE’s municipal sector workers are leading a new campaign: Reclaim our Cities – Repeal Bill 23 in response to the Ford government’s brazen attacks on municipalities.
In November, the provincial government passed Bill 23, a legislation that will starve municipalities of funding, harm our environment, and worsen the housing crisis.
The stated purpose of Bill 23, Build Homes Faster Act is to make housing more attainable by increasing supply. However, the legislation serves for-profit developers’ interests by redefining “affordable housing,” making it easier to evict renters, and weakening environmental protections. It is no coincidence that many developers have close ties to the Ontario PC party.
Bill 23 will be particularly destructive when combined with Bill 3 (Strong Mayors Act) and Bill 39 (Better Municipal Governance Act), which undermine local democracy by giving unprecedented powers to “strong mayors” who can force through changes with only one-third of council support.
The main impacts of Bill 23 include:
- Municipal budget cuts: The legislation exempts and reduces developers’ fees that municipalities use to fund housing infrastructure including roads, parks and sewers, and other vital programs including emergency services. The projected overall revenue shortfall for municipalities is approximately $560 million to $1 billion annually.
