"For some city councillors, a letter from housing minister Steve Clark isn't nearly enough to put to rest their concerns about the legislation passed on Monday.
Ontario housing minister Steve Clark probably wasn’t watching the livestream of first regular meeting of Ottawa city council’s new term.
But he did send a letter the same day responding to one of the major concerns voiced by councils, Ottawa’s included, in response to his government’s housing supply Bill 23.
Writing to the president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario on Wednesday, Clark said his government was “committing to ensuring municipalities are kept whole” in the face of impacts to their ability to fund infrastructure that supports housing.
It’s an answer that cities like Ottawa didn’t have as recently as that morning, when planning general manager Don Herweyer told councillors he had no indication the province had a concrete plan for addressing municipal revenue losses resulting from Bill 23. The legislation, which passed Monday, proposed breaks on charges that cities levy on developments to fund infrastructure that new residents will use, from sewers to community centres...."