Ontario's Premier Accountability Dashboard · Queen's Park Watch
Bryan Purcell
Bryan Purcell is Vice President of Policy and Programs at The Atmospheric Fund (TAF), a Toronto-based climate finance organization. He has been a leading technical voice criticizing Bill 98's rollback of municipal green building standards, warning that the changes will increase Ontario's dependence on imported US natural gas, raise long-term energy costs for homeowners, and set back sustainable building progress by a decade. Purcell noted that Bill 98 is "the fourth bill in the last four years" overhauling Ontario's planning authorities, yet housing starts continued to decline throughout the same period.
Connected Scandals
Ford's Bill 98 would permanently strip Ontario municipalities of the power to require EV charging, tree canopy, bird-friendly glass, and energy standards from developers — handing a legislative victory to RESCON, the industry lobby already suing Toronto in court over the same rules. Cities have already frozen new green standard programs in anticipation.
As TAF's VP of Policy and Programs, Purcell published analysis documenting how Bill 98 will increase energy costs, deepen natural gas dependency, and harm Ontario's green building sector — providing the technical substance behind criticism of the legislation.