Davis Legree

Reporter

The Ford administration has committed to backing away from a controversial land-use proposal that drew the ire of Ontario’s farmers.

 released last month, the provincial government proposed a set of regulations that would allow for increased housing development on Ontario farmland.

Specifically, the regulations would allow for three new residential lots to be “created from a lot or parcel of land.” In an agricultural context, a parcel of land can be thought of as a continuous area of farmland under a singular ownership.

While the proposed policy statement acknowledged that “housing must be built in the right places so that Ontario’s vibrant agricultural sector and sensitive areas will continue to form part of the province’s economic prosperity and overall identity,”

Ontario’s farmers were not impressed with the proposed regulations.

“We can continue to support additional dwelling units on the farm, but the three severances were a no-go for us,” said Drew Spoelstra, the vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.

In response to the proposal the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, along with the Ontario branch of the National Farmers Union and several other stakeholders, published a 

 that called on the province to “abandon its proposal to allow for the severing of farmland parcels.”

The statement was accompanied by a call to action for the province’s farmers, asking them to contact and encourage their local MPP to oppose the proposed policy.

On Wednesday, Spoelstra, who owns and operates a farm in Hamilton, said the Ontario Federation of Agriculture has received confirmation from the provincial government that the three severances are “off the table.”

“We were able to get together with our commodity partners and get a couple of meetings with senior staff, the premier and the premier’s officials and it looks like we were able to help them walk that back,” said Spoelstra.

“We’re pretty grateful that they recognize the importance of prime ag land, and they recognize the challenges that we saw with those severances on farmland across Ontario.”

Spoelstra said the Ontario Federation of Agriculture is now “looking forward to providing further input and other consultation,” which it will now have much more time to do.

On Tuesday, Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark extended the consultation period on the policy statement. Originally scheduled to close June 5, Ontarians will now have until August 4 to make their voices heard.

The extension was praised by the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, which issued a statement on Wednesday saying it was “pleased that the government is listening to farmers’ concerns,” and vowed to “continue to engage with government during this extended consultation period.”

According to Grace Skogstad, a professor with the University of Toronto's Department of Political Science, said the Ford administration was caught between a rock and a hard place on this issue.

“The farmers are important voters because they generally vote Conservative,” said Skogstad. “But we know the Ford government is sympathetic to developers. So, they have two bases of support here, whose interests are not congruent.”

Skogstad noted that backing away from the proposed regulations was the politically advantageous move, considering the province’s farmers were so united in opposition to the policy.

“They had to be careful because this is such an important base of support for them,” she said.

When asked whether the Ford administration’s change of mind could have been motivated due to the fear of alienating a strong voter base, Spoelstra did not rule out the possibility.

“Certainly, the farm bases are big supporters of the Conservative Party across the province, so there could have been some challenges there,” he told 

“But, ensuring we got it right was our main focus and I think the government so far has done a good job in terms of working with us on that.”

Drew Spoelstra said the Ontario Federation of Agriculture has received confirmation from the provincial government that the three severances are “off the table.”

Ford v Farmers: Ag advocates score win as province backs away from land-use proposal

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