Sustainable Land Use Planning in the North
| In 2007, the ECO undertook an extensive analysis of the environmental implications of various land use policies and allocation decisions in Ontario’s northern boreal landscape. The following articles are included: | |
Contents |
Developing priorities: The challenge of creating a sustainable planning system in Northern Ontario
In this section, the ECO examines some of the central environmental issues relating to northern Ontario. This region is marked by a unique and fragile environment. The need for a more regionally based level of planning to protect this special environment is examined in several contexts, including a review of forest management and community land use planning for the north. Ontario’s approach to mining in the province, including the Mineral Development Strategy for Ontario and the Mining Act, is also reviewed. Based on the findings of this review, the ECO suggests a new planning approach is needed for the north to address the realities of the 21st century.
Defining the “North”
In this section, the terms “the north” and “northern Ontario” refer to the region of the province that includes both the boreal forest and the tundra. The boreal forest area in Ontario is subdivided into three areas:
- The Area of the Undertaking (AOU) – the southern portion of the boreal forest (south of the 51st parallel) where commercial forestry is currently permitted.
- The Northern Boreal Initiative (NBI) area – the middle portion of the boreal forest, to the north of the 51st parallel and the AOU.
- The northernmost portion of the boreal forest, north of the NBI area.
The Wild, Wild North
There is no comprehensive land use planning process for northern Ontario. Detailed legislation, such as the Planning Act, provides clear planning guidance for the incorporated municipalities and privately-owned lands of the south. However, there is no equivalent land use planning system for the mostly Crown-owned lands and unorganized territories of the north.
The area north of the French and Mattawa Rivers is comprised of enormous swaths of Crown land, largely cloaked by the boreal forest. At almost 400,000 km2, the boreal forest covers approximately one-third of Ontario’s entire land-base. The northern portion of Ontario’s boreal forest (i.e., the portion to the north of the 51st parallel) is relatively unimpaired by development, and holds global significance, identified by the World Resources Institute as frontier forests. The United Nations Environment Programme recognizes a part of this region as one of the world’s few remaining closed canopy forests.
Despite the ecological importance of this region, no effective tools have been developed for the proper planning of the north. Currently, the Public Lands Act, which provides the Minister of Natural Resources with the legislative authority to manage provincial Crown lands, is the only tool available to guide northern planning. Unfortunately, this law provides the ministry with remarkably little direction or authority for land use planning. Accordingly, with little legislative guidance and no comprehensive planning system for northern Ontario, the result is an uneven patchwork of government approaches.
In contrast, the Ontario government released its Ontario’s Living Legacy (OLL) strategy for the Area of the Undertaking (AOU) in the southern portion of the boreal forest in 1999, in an attempt to reconcile environmental protection with the interests of industry and other land uses. While not flawless, OLL is a commendable attempt at land use planning. However, it is constrained by its reliance on existing legislation that is not designed to achieve a comprehensive direction for Crown land. Currently, land use planning for the AOU is effectively being managed through the forest management process under the Crown Forest Sustainability Act (CFSA).
For parts of the boreal forest to the north of the AOU, the Ministry of Natural Resources has initiated a land use planning process known as the Northern Boreal Initiative (NBI). However, this initiative is limited in scope as it is focused primarily on commercial forestry activities and does not address other important planning matters such as mining, utility corridors and recreation uses of the land. Further, there currently is no environmental assessment coverage for commercial forestry in the northern part of the boreal forest. Above the NBI area, in the far North of the province, virtually no land use planning has been undertaken at all.
Mineral development occurs throughout the north, including on the tundra of the Hudson Bay Lowlands. With very few constraints on where mining claims may be staked in the north, the Ontario government effectively confers preeminent status to mineral development. The Mining Act treats much of the province essentially as a vast frontier freely open to mineral exploration and development.
The existing planning and approval processes for the north typically operate in isolation from one another. This section of the Annual Report provides a number of examples that demonstrate how the ministries apply a “silo mentality” rather than taking a comprehensive approach to decision-making. This silo approach does not serve Ontarians effectively, nor does it provide adequate assurances of environmental protection in the quest for resource development.
The Need for a Comprehensive Planning System for the North
Northern Ontario’s unique and varied ecology merits, at least, the same standard of planning that applies to the rest of the province. The establishment of a comprehensive land use planning system for northern Ontario is critical to ensure that future decision-making is guided by sound principles, public scrutiny, and a precautionary approach to environmental protection. If action is not taken soon to embrace a new vision for the north, the consequences may be grave. Without effective planning, irreparable harm may be inflicted on the fragile northern environment. Moreover, harm to the natural environment may have significant negative impacts on the social and economic sustainability of northern communities.
The social and economic health of the north is directly tied to the integrity of the natural environment. Urban centres, including Sudbury, Timmins, Thunder Bay, and Sault Ste. Marie, as well as numerous smaller communities, depend on industries that extract and process the timber and mineral resources of the north. Northern Ontario is also home to dozens of First Nation communities, including those represented by the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation, Grand Council Treaty #3, and the Union of Ontario Indians, which have long relied on the natural resources of the north for their livelihood.
The ECO has been calling for the Ontario government to initiate a new approach to the regulation and planning of the north for many years now. For example, in our 2002/2003 Annual Report, the ECO recommended that “the Ministry of Natural Resources conduct gap analyses and develop objectives and targets in order to establish a protected areas network for the Northern Boreal Initiative area as a whole.” In our 2005/2006 Annual Report, the ECO recommended that the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM), the Ministry of the Environment (MOE), and the Ministry of Energy (ENG) “consult the public on an integrated land use planning system for the northern boreal forest, including detailed environmental protection requirements that reflect the area’s unique ecology.”
Some members of government have taken up this call for a new planning approach. In March 2003, the then Leader of the Official Opposition, later elected as the Premier, promised to
- institute meaningful, broad-scale land-use planning for Ontario’s Northern Boreal Forest before any new major development, including ensuring full participation by native communities. Land use planning must protect the ecological integrity of this natural treasure and help to provide a sustainable future for native people and northern communities.
Unfortunately, little comprehensive planning for the north has actually been done. Moreover, when MNR, MOE, MNDM, and ENG were recently asked to review the need for a new integrated land use planning system, through an EBR application, each of the four ministries stated that the public interest did not warrant such action.
The Ontario government has a duty to properly manage northern Crown lands on behalf of the citizens of Ontario. Several ministries – MNR, MOE, MNDM, and ENG – play an important role in meeting this duty to comprehensively plan for the north. Unfortunately, the ability of the ministries to effectively plan is seriously hampered by the absence of the necessary regulatory tools, mandates and resources to meet this challenge.
MNR, MNDM, MOE and ENG each play an important role with respect to northern planning and northern development. The Ministry of Natural Resources plays the most central role in northern Ontario, as the steward of Ontario’s protected areas, forests, fisheries, wildlife, mineral aggregates, and petroleum resources. MNR’s strategic mission is “to manage our natural resources in an ecologically sustainable way to ensure that they are available for the enjoyment and use of future generations. The ministry is committed to conserving biodiversity and using natural resources in a sustainable manner.”
MNR is responsible for regulating commercial forestry under the Crown Forest Sustainability Act. Ontario’s forest industry directly employed 84,000 people, generating approximately $18.6 billion in revenue in 2005. MNR also manages flora and fauna under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act and the Endangered Species Act, as well as Crown lands, which make up 87 per cent of the province, under the Public Lands Act. In addition, Ontario’s system of protected areas, which covers 8.7 million hectares, is managed by MNR, and the ministry has the added responsibility to maintain ecological integrity as the first management priority under the new Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act, 2006. (For further discussion of this law, see Protected Areas Law: Ecological integrity as the first priority.)
The mandate of the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines is “aimed at growing the northern Ontario economy” and creating “a strong, sustainable mineral industry by promoting investment and exploration.” Historically, the responsibility for mineral development was held by MNR until 1985, when it was transferred to the then-named Ministry of Northern Affairs. The government replaced the term “Affairs” with “Development” to emphasize a commitment to greater social and economic development in the north and to promote the ministry’s new role in encouraging mineral development.
MNDM administers a suite of legislation, most notably the Mining Act. The purpose of this legislation is “to encourage prospecting, staking and exploration for the development of mineral resources and to minimize adverse effects on the environment through rehabilitation of mining lands in Ontario.” The value of Ontario’s mineral production was approximately $9.4 billion in 2006, and mining in northern Ontario employed approximately 13,500 people. Ontario has 28 major mines actively producing precious metals, industrial metals and industrial minerals, as well as 14 mines producing gemstones. Additionally, there were more than 229,000 mining claims in good standing as of 2006.
The Ministry of the Environment is responsible for “protecting clean and safe air, land and water to ensure healthy communities, ecological protection and sustainable development for present and future generations of Ontarians.” Among the many statutes MOE administers to meet this mandate are the Environmental Protection Act and the Ontario Water Resources Act, which (in part) regulate the discharge of contaminants into the environment.
MOE is responsible for issuing various approvals and permits, such as permits to take water and approvals to operate sewage facilities or to discharge emissions into the air. Of particular note, MOE is responsible for deciding whether to approve, deny or exempt new public sector projects, as well as some private sector projects, under the Environmental Assessment Act (EAA). This responsibility is particularly relevant in the north, as many of the activities carried out, such as commercial forestry and hydroelectric development and transmission, are subject to the EAA. MOE has issued a declaration order exempting commercial forestry activities in the AOU from the requirement to undergo an individual environmental assessment under the EAA.
The Ministry of Energy also plays a role in the north with respect to energy supply, transmission and delivery. ENG’s mandate includes a responsibility for ensuring that Ontario’s electricity system functions at the highest level of reliability and productivity, and that “protecting the environment is a priority.” For example, ENG is currently evaluating the development of a new energy supply initiative that would involve the construction of a major transmission line across Ontario’s North, to carry electricity from new hydroelectric sites to be developed in Northern Manitoba into Ontario.
| This is an article from the 2006/07 Annual Report to the Legislature from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. |
Citing This Article:
Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. 2007. "Developing Priorities: The Challenge of Creating a Sustainable Planning System in Northern Ontario." Reconciling our Priorities, ECO Annual Report, 2006-07. Toronto, ON : Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. 51-56.
