Open Letter to Premier Doug Ford and The Ontario Legislative Assembly: Repeal Bill 23 Immediately 

Dear Premier Ford and Ontario MPPs, 

The National Farmers Union – Ontario (NFU-O) demands the immediate repeal of Bill 23. This legislation is disastrous to our ecology and food security. 

We are outraged that Bill 23 has been undemocratically pushed through the legislative assembly before related EROs have even been collected, let alone reviewed. This government has shown a disregard for public consultation and has violated the principles of our democratic process.  

Bill 23 will devastate our already dwindling provincial base of farmland by opening thousands of acres of Canada’s best farmland for development. By signaling that protected farmland is open for business, Bill 23 will lead to further speculation, ballooning land values well beyond the price new farmers can afford, and at a time when our farmer population is aging past retirement.  

Bill 23 legislates a future where farmers will be pushed off an ever-decreasing agricultural land base. New sprawling developments are ONLY good for developers’ profits; the loss of critical farmland near urban centres removes the capacity to feed the people who will live in them.

After years of consistent drought conditions, and as we face an escalating climate emergency threatening our farm operations, Bill 23 hastens the destruction of the interconnected ecology of our wetlands, woodlands, and waterways across Ontario. As farmers we rely on these natural systems. They are a critical buffer to mitigate the effects of the climate emergency through their ability to filter and recharge the water table, sequester carbon, and buffer extreme temperature fluctuations. The greed fueled piecemealing of and development on these natural systems endangers the life and health of the flora, fauna, and people who depend on them.  

Bill 23 is clearly meant to benefit developers and land speculators at the cost of our green spaces, food systems, and the health and safety of all Ontarians. 

Repeal Bill 23 immediately. 

We welcome the opportunity, instead, to work together towards a sustainable future where communities are planned to achieve gentle density around the principles of resilience and sustainability.  

Max Hansgen, 
President, National Farmers Union – Ontario