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Dec 3, 2024 | 
environmentaldefence.ca | Phil Pothen
Statement by Phil Pothen, Land Use and Land Development Program Manager, on Auditor General of Ontario’s report on Minister’s Zoning Orders Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – This morning’s Auditor General’s report means that Ontarians cannot have confidence in the safety, integrity or legal validity of the dozens of sprawl development approvals the provincial government has issued using Minister’s Zoning...
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Nov 25, 2024 | 
environmentaldefence.ca | Phil Pothen
Statement from Phil Pothen, Counsel & Land Use and Land Development Program Manager, Environmental DefenceBy exempting Highway 413 project from Ontario’s Environmental Assessment Act, Greenbelt Plan and circumventing Indigenous consultations, the new law removes any serious pretense of a provincial environmental process.
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Sep 9, 2024 | 
nationalobserver.com | Amit Katwala |Phil Pothen |Max Fawcett
This story was originally published by Wired and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaborationIn the skies over Al Ain, in the United Arab Emirates, pilot Mark Newman waits for the signal. When it comes, he flicks a few silver switches on a panel by his leg, twists two black dials, then punches a red button labeled FIRE. A slender canister mounted on the wing of his small propeller plane pops open, releasing a plume of fine white dust.
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Sep 3, 2024 | 
nationalobserver.com | Phil Pothen
A series of candidates for British Columbia's upcoming provincial election have disappeared from the B.C. Conservatives' online list of nominees, as some former BC United members move into the Conservative fold after last week's reshaping of the province's political landscape.
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Sep 3, 2024 | 
nationalobserver.com | Seth Klein |Phil Pothen
B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad says British Columbia needs to have a "conversation" about nuclear power playing a role in the province's energy future, and review educational materials that he says are designed for "indoctrination" of children.
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Aug 30, 2024 | 
nationalobserver.com | Phil Pothen |Matt Bolen |Abdul Matin Sarfraz
Despite construction capacity constraints and interest rate hikes, Ontario has still had enough labour, equipment, materials, investment and land within municipal settlement boundaries to keep up with the growing number of new households.
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Aug 20, 2024 | 
environmentaldefence.ca | Phil Pothen
Statement from Phil Pothen, Land Use and Land Development program manager, in response to Ontario’s Provincial Planning StatementToronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – The Ontario government’s repeal of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe may be a death sentence for the province’s best farmland and many endangered species, and it also ends any real hope of fixing the housing shortage.
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Aug 20, 2024 | 
environmentaldefence.ca | Phil Pothen
After unconscionable delays, a Recovery Strategy and Action Plan for the Redside Dace is now in force Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – After delays totalling more than 15 years, Environment and Climate Change Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada have issued the finalized Recovery Strategy and Action Plan for the endangered Redside Dace, averting an impending courtroom battle over federal violation of...
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Aug 1, 2024 | 
environmentaldefence.ca | Phil Pothen
Statement from Phil Pothen, Land Use and Land Development program manager, on new federal Recovery StrategyToronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – New federal protections for an endangered fish may pose an insurmountable obstacle to the Ontario government’s plans to build a massive new highway north of the GTA that will inevitably result in significant forest and wetland losses to greenfield sprawl.
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Jun 5, 2024 | 
environmentaldefence.ca | Phil Pothen
“Third party” appeals limited to polluters, airports, and aggregate pitsStatement from Phil Pothen, Land Use and Land Development program managerToronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – Bill 185 effectively ends meaningful, independent oversight of development approvals outside existing built up areas.
