TORONTO - Ontario is ignoring environmental concerns raised by the public and must fix a land use planning system that's "hugely weighted" in favour of big developers, the province's environmental commissioner said Tuesday.
The government should introduce legislation that would shield citizen groups that are fighting to protect natural areas from intimidating legal tactics, such as so-called SLAPP lawsuits, Commissioner Gord Miller said in his annual report.
SLAPP suits -- or Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation -- are aimed at discouraging local residents from participating in the planning approval process and deter others from participating out of fear that they'll face "financial liability," he said.
British Columbia, Quebec and several U.S. states have developed anti-SLAPP legislation and Ontario should do the same, Miller said.
"When the stakes are in the millions -- sometimes billions -- of dollars, the resources that developers are prepared to invest to overcome residents' objections far surpass the capacity of most citizens groups, environmental organizations, and even conservative authorities and municipalities," he said in the report.
The report cites one case in which a group of residents who opposed the proposed Big Bay Point Resort on the shores of Lake Simcoe faced a $3.2-million claim for costs by the developer, which was denied by the Ontario Municipal Board last January.
"The public's right to participate in decision-making over matters of public interest is a cornerstone of our democratic system," Miller said in the report.
"Efforts aimed at suppressing this right should be discouraged by the Ontario legislature and other public agencies."
Miller also slammed the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for ignoring public concerns about the environment.
The public has a right under Ontario's Environmental Bill of Rights to request that a ministry change its policies or regulations in order to better protect the environment, he said.
But the ministry, which is primarily responsible for land use planning, has denied every request it's received under the bill of rights over the last decade, he notes.
"This handling of the concerns raised by Ontarians does not constitute good public policy" and raises a "wide variety of concerns" about Ontario's system, Miller said in the report.
He notes that a ministry can refuse to undertake a review on several grounds, including if the policy in question was changed or reviewed within the last five years.
