Mayor’s Letter To The Province

The Office of Mayor Marianne Meed Ward

City of Burlington

The Honourable Doug Ford

Premier of Ontario

Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs

premier@ontario.ca

The Honourable Paul Calandra

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Province of Ontario

minister.mah@ontario.ca

July 16, 2024

Dear Premier Ford and Minister Calandra,

I am appealing to you to save critical parks and open greenspace in Burlington, currently operating

as Millcroft Golf Course. This area is vital greenspace in our city. Just as the people of Ontario

have shown how important preserving greenspace to them, the people of Burlington

overwhelmingly support protecting this natural parkland. We need your decisive leadership to

save this space for our community, similarly to how you reversed development of the Greenbelt

for our province.

You are our last hope. The Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) has ruled against us. Despite the

statements made in the OLT decision, this ruling was not made in the public’s interest. This

decision overruled Burlington Council, staff recommendations, expert statements, and the will of

the local community. We are pleading with you to issue a Ministerial Zoning Order to designate

this land as parks and open space. This is the last remaining tool at our disposal. We have

exhausted all other avenues. We have no further options.

We are in the process of finalizing a formal submission through the new Zoning order framework.

We believe our request clearly meets your intake threshold and is fully supported by multiple

planning justification reports. This letter serves as notification of our upcoming MZO request

submission and a plea for your direct help in this matter.

Millcroft Golf Course is essential to our local environment and ecosystem. It serves as natural

storm water management on a flood plain in an urban area. Furthermore, preserving this parkland

is vital, given the shortage of parkland we have of 104 hectares, as identified by City Staff Report

ES-02-23. It is what the community has asked for over and over, it is what experts are

recommending, and it is what Burlington Council has unanimously voted in favour for.

I implore you to save Millcroft Golf Course by issuing an MZO as soon as possible.