The Ontario Planning Act requires a public meeting, with adequate notice, prior to a decision by City Council to amend Mississauga's Official Plan. No such decision has been made yet, but if the decision to grant the amendment goes in favour to grant Queenscorp's application, is there a Charter of Rights breach that can be litigated in Ontario Superior Court:
by members of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation,
by His Majesty the King, in Right of Canada,
by the young people of Erin Mills South,
by individual residents of Erin Mills South who did not receive notice
by individual residents, or
by the Erin Mills South Residents Association?
A recent decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal, Mathur v. Ontario, establishes the principle that according to a CBC story:
"It establishes that, where a government makes a statutory commitment to combat climate change (as the federal government and all provincial and territorial governments have done), it must implement that commitment in a way that complies with the Charter of Rights."
In Ontario's Planning Act, the Province has made a statutory commitment to residents and to First Nations that they will all be given an opportunity to be heard prior to any Planning Act decision to amend a City's Official Plan. It is respectfully submitted that the meeting of May 29, 2023 held by the City of Mississauga Planning and Development Committee did not comply with Ontario's Planning Act and was not conducted in a way that complies with the Charter of Rights.
The procedural rules established by the City of Mississauga respecting the materials to be filed on an application such as OZ/OPA 22-25 W8, do not require that the Applicants file an energy audit comparing post-re-development CO2 emissions v. pre-re-development CO2 emissions. Considering the statutory commitment by the Government of Ontario to combat climate change, are the Province and the City required to implement that commitment, in Planning Act Official Plan amendments, in a way that complies with the Charter of Rights?
See also:
"Court sides with youth in historic climate case against Ontario" Ecojustice blog
Mathur v. Ontario: Grounds for Optimism about the Recognition of a Constitutional Right to a Stable Climate System in Canada?, 2024 CanLIIDocs 964
Stepan Wood – McGill Law Journal
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