Liz Benneian is an Environmental Science Educator and Advocate, with a solid reputation throughout the Niagara escarpment region as a respected, concerned and engaged environmental actionist.
Benneian is currently locked in a David and Goliath battle with St. Catharines city council, Niagara regional council, and the Ford government over their decision to actively ignore specialty cropland policy protections.
At the April 3, 2023 council meeting, City of St. Catharines planning staff presented their report citing policy from various sources including, the Ontario Planning Act, Niagara Region Planning policy, and The Greenbelt Act. Based on these policies and the city’s own strategic plan, staff recommended against the expansion of the existing New Hope Church building and parking lot.
City council, which initially appeared set to oppose the proposed expansions, caved once the New Hope Church pastors spoke about the extensive community work the church provides for ‘less fortunate’ community members.
That in itself is a political choice because many of these ‘services’ offered to the ‘deserving poor’ are programs and services that the municipality and provincial government should be providing. Yet, certain council members were more than comfortable downloading these essential services – many considered human rights -- onto a Christian religious charitable organization rather than dealing with the root causes and providing policy alternatives.
Find a robust description of the history of the property and a link to the precedent setting St. Catharines city council meeting which voted against city and regional planning policy as well as the guidelines provided in the Greenbelt act here.
View the full council meeting here with the New Hope Church issue starting at 50:00:00 and the vote taking place at roughly 2:40:00. Be sure to watch the ensuing chaos when Ward 2 Councillor, Matt Harris challenges a city staff member pointing out that any decision in favour of amendments that go against the Official City Plan must be deferred until regional council has a chance to hear from staff and delegations before voting on the matter. Neither Harris nor Mayor Mat Siscoe was able to grasp the concept so council goes in camera to discuss the matter with the city’s legal team.
When the motion went before the Regional Municipality of Niagara, those planners also recommended the amendment be opposed. Once again, planners were ignored and regional council approved the amendment.
Essentially, city and regional councillors made an informed, conscious decision to ignore city, regional and provincial government policies. Benneian maintains that begs the question, if you don’t have policy, what do you have to stand on?
St. Catharines planning staff regularly get requests to alter, build and add onto preexisting structures on Greenbelt land and they routinely say no. In the future, planning staff will have a much more challenging time since the city and region endorsed this amendment.
Yet, city and regional council naively believe this decision does not set a precedent, something Benneian maintains happens on a regular basis in these situations.
Benneian is appealing the decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) which will hear the case over eight days from October 16 to 25, 2024.
In addition to Benneian, The Preservation of Agricultural Land Society (PALS) will be opposing this unnecessary expansion onto land which has the unique designation of being specialty croplands — a designation that generally offers the highest protection of any famland.
The Region of Niagara's lawyer, as part of the OLT hearing, will defend city councill’s decision, not regional staff’s opposition to the plan.
MPP Lisa Thompson, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; MPP Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; and local MPP Sam Oosterhoff should have intervened by now or at least injected a sober second thought on this issue. Instead, all three have remained ominously silent leaving Benneian et al to defend planning and environmental policy as well as the future of the democratic process in Ontario.
Please listen to my conversation with Liz Benneian to learn why the immanent loss of this significant piece of land in St. Catharines is a pivotal moment in the survival of the entire Greenbelt system in Ontario.
For more information and to stay updated on this important environmental and farmland issue check out:
Liz Benneian Facebook
Biodiversity and Climate Action Niagara (BCAN) Facebook and contact them at bcaniagara@gmail.com
The Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society (PALS) – working to preserve the best foodlands in Canada for future generations or email PALS at contatct@palscanada.org
PALS is accepting donations to pay for costs associated with the OLT appeal. Anyone wanting to contribute can contact PALS directly or donate through CanadaHelps.org or e-transfer funds to Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society at Gracia.jabes@bellnet.ca — charitable receipts are available.
*This article was edited to reflect the Region of Niagara’s lawyer will be defending city councill’s planned expansion, not arguing against it as previously reported.
Music: Real Estate by UNIVERSFIELD is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License. freemusicarchive.org.
*Be sure to download the Substack app to get the most from your podcast experience.
Share this post