Who or what is an ICLEI?

I’m glad you asked! The City of Kawartha Lakes Council is about to pass a new Rural Zoning By-Law with sparse input from property owners. Did unelected groups like ICLEI provide input to the plan?

I asked ChatGPT…

“Is their an organization called ICLEI?”

It replied politely:

“Yes, there is an organization called ICLEI. ICLEI stands for International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives12. It is an international non-governmental organization that promotes sustainable development3. ICLEI provides technical consulting to local governments to identify and meet sustainability objectives2. ICLEI is the world’s leading association of cities and local governments dedicated to sustainable development2. It promotes local action for global sustainability and supports cities to become sustainable, resilient, resource-efficient, biodiverse, low-carbon; to build a smart infrastructure; and to develop an inclusive, green urban economy with the ultimate aim to achieve healthy and happy communities2.

I hope that helps!

Some months ago, John (a friend) expressed concerns that ICLEI was actively engaged in influencing the policies of Canadian municipalities and cities. He claimed that ICLEI exists to promote a global agenda that furthers Climate Action policies authored by the United Nations and imbedded in its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

John wanted to know how and why unelected globalist actors have come to influence municipalities with greater clout than the local citizenship they serve.

The mystery about ICLEI has been partially uncovered through the efforts of groups of concerned constituents of Peterborough and the Kawartha Lakes. Led by Maggie Hope Braun and Angel Godsoe, they have rallied the support of a rapidly expanding community of local property owners who are worried about the detailed contents of a new by-law that is set to be passed by City Council very soon.

The Rural Zoning By-Law Review

At the Council meeting for the City of Kawartha Lakes (CKL) on August 29th, Angel Godsoe delivered a rousing 7 minute speech in her scheduled deputation to the Mayor and eight Councillors. Angel expressed our concerns about the Rural Zoning By-Law project that the City quietly initiated in 2019. The stated purpose was to consolidate the legacy rural by-laws of the City’s 14 geographic areas that had been amalgamated over two decades ago into a new corporation now known as the City of Kawartha Lakes. The by-law rules for property owners were different in each area: 14 different books of rules were still paper-based and employed the original language that is now considered out-of-date and confusing. The goal of the project was to consolidate, update and digitally store a single set of Zoning bylaws for the City. The expected benefits were to improve record keeping, increase administrative efficiencies and uncomplicate the users’ experience.

Sounds good so far right?

A perpetual tug of war.

Property owners and central planners have frequently been at odds regarding government imposed rules that limit what property owners can do with their own property.

In most cases, the zoning rules seem appropriate and reasonable, but in other cases, they are excessively restrictive and burdensome to the chagrin and frustration of owners. Hundreds of these rules exist. They were created over many decades by central planners and public administrators in every municipality across Ontario. Those books of bylaws were supposed to serve the unique needs, interests and priorities of millions of individual property owners while simultaneously trying to serve “the greater good” (whatever that means). The City of Kawartha Lakes is just one municipal government of hundreds in Ontario that authorizes the creation and administrative enforcement of those rules.

Who are the planners?

In the case of the new CKL Rural Zoning By-Law, what do we know about the planners?

WSP is the international consulting corporation that the City engaged to do much of the detail work for this project since 2019.

The WSP web site is a well-crafted example of modern public relations marketing designed to lead the reader to the conclusion that it was a trustworthy and reputable organization. However, “the devil is in the details” of any project.

The WSP consultants are not local residents. As such, they are far removed from knowing our local community, its people and our history. They were expected to make decisions about zoning in a dispassionate manner.

Yes, the project was carried out in conjunction with assigned City staff and some citizen engagement which was minimal and unnoticed by the majority of CKL constituents. For a Rural Zoning By-Law Review project that will affect thousands of property owners in a City with 78,000 residents, that engagement was insufficient. In fact, many residents have only recently become aware of how close that project has come to completion and that it is now within weeks of passage into law by Council.

Who will be affected?

Farmers, cottagers, rural homeowners and small business owners will all be subject to the “modernized , consolidated, improved and harmonized” compendium of property zoning regulations.

QUESTIONS yet to be answered to our satisfaction:

• How often did the WSP consultants and City planners make decisions that benefited their agendas at the expense of property owners’ freedoms of informed choice?

• How many of those decisions influenced by the goals of unelected globalist institutions such as the United Nations’ SDGS or those of ICLEI.

• What do we really know about the shareholders of the Corporation of the City of Kawartha Lakes? For example, is the City’s Chief Administrative Officer

  (CAO), Ron Taylor, obligated to carry out corporate duties and mandates which may not be in the best interests of our residents? After all, his role is the equivalent of ‘President and General Manager’ in private sector companies, and those positions are always accountable to a Board of Directors who manage shareholder interests.

Articles of Incorporation.

I asked ChatGPT to find the official document that created the Corporation of the City of Kawartha Lakes which, I expected, would be searchable as an online public document. This was the reply:

I found a document that might be what you’re looking for. The Corporation of the City of Kawartha Lakes was created in 2001 by the amalgamation of all the municipalities in the former county of Victoria, including Lindsay, Bobcaygeon, Verulam, Fenelon Falls, Omemee, Sturgeon Point, Woodville and 10 townships1. I couldn’t find the document that created the corporation but I found a by-law that regulates public parks and facilities which was passed by the council of The Corporation of the City of Kawartha Lakes in 20062. I hope this helps.

Not unreasonable.

Concerned constituents of the City of Kawartha Lakes simply want answers to questions like those above.

Public awareness about new and/or amended public policy documents is vital to ensure that “buyers’ remorse” DOES NOT become our collective experience AFTER By-Laws have been passed.

Advertisements about key meetings and milestones concerning the Rural Zoning By-Law Review has been inadequate in our view.

We seek an extension to the time that City Council has allowed to enable citizens to become better informed about Report PLAN2023-039, the official designation of the zoning project in question. Angel Godsoe asked for a two month extension. Council granted an unreasonable two-week extension from September 1st to September 15.

If you agree and are a CKL resident…

Please comment below. Indicate if you are interested in adding your name to a petition to delay City Council’s decision to pass this By-Law until a later date when a much higher degree of citizen awareness and consideration has been achieved.

Photo of CKL Council from the web site.