Politics of the Oak Ridges Moraine

The politics of the Oak Ridges Moraine in southern Ontario, Canada, have centred on the question of how to preserve this extensive natural resource that is increasingly threatened by human modification. Although preservation of the moraine was first suggested in the 1940s, and intermittently over the subsequent fifty years, it was not until 1991 that the issue achieved prominence in political discourse. For the ensuing decade, use of the moraine was hotly contested between the interests of local residents, developers and environmentalists.

On December 14, 2001 legislation was enacted, along with a provincial land use plan for the Oak Ridges Moraine. However, it seems clear that regulation, alone, is insufficient to preserving these valuable lands. Implementing the plan has required "political will, an engaged and informed public, and... broad based private and public partnerships." Monitoring of the Moraine project by citizens and environmental organizations, along with credible ecological information are essential to its continued preservation.

The Oak Ridges Moraine began to come to public awareness in the late 1980s. The establishment, in 1989, of the Save the Oak Ridges Moraine (STORM) Coalition contributed to a growing sense among local residents that action needed to be taken to save the moraine. The Government of Ontario created the Oak Ridges Moraine Technical Working Committee in June 1991 with the joint membership of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. The STORM Coalition played a significant role in the Committee's work. The committee's aim was to create a regional planning strategy to coordinate the activities of various regional and municipal governments with jurisdiction over parts of the moraine. This multi-stakeholder process produced a comprehensive long-term strategy for the Moraine in 1994. However the strategy was subsequently dismissed in favour of local government administration of the affected lands. This led to intense development on some portions of the moraine. Most of this development was suburban detached single-family dwellings with road networks to accommodate them. In particular, Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Newmarket experienced significant growth in the 1990s.

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