Because this is a large…

Because this is a large country, politicians seem to believe that expansion is "free" and comes at no cost to government, taxpayers, citizens, or the environment. But we need to stop destroying habitat that is important to the entire ecosystem in a mad frenzy of urban expansion and industrial expansion.

Expansion of urban boundaries comes with very high attached costs, both ecological and fiscal. This primarily benefits speculators at the expense of communities and food production, and benefits developers who would rather build "out" cheaply than "up" at a somewhat higher cost.

And it costs all taxpayers for more roads, more services like fire, police, ambulance, and schools over a much wider area. It costs the environment though species loss, particularly predators and insect eating birds. It costs local farmers and farm communities in hyper-inflated land prices, and increased "financialization" of productive land, driving families off land that has been productive for generations.

And it comes at a high personal cost to families with long commutes — negatively impacting family life and stability while simultaneously leading to an increasingly unstable climate.

It baffles me that supposedly intelligent people elected to office either don't get it or compromise their office serving the wrong interests. These are the only two choices. There IS no middle ground.

Politicians in Ottawa have just again called for expansion of the urban boundaries, which is idiotic and unconscionable.

I have twice visited South Korea. Their capital, Seoul, has about the same physical footprint as Ottawa/Gatineau, but houses 20 Million people. There is green space everywhere. There are minimal traffic tie-ups. Korea is a technologically advanced nation exporting to the world. They have multiple "brands" known internationally, and make their own vehicles which they export. In Ontario, ALL vehicle manufacture is foreign owned. I guess Canadians must be too stupid or something.

Or just maybe South Korea has better policies in place and politicians don't take their marching orders from another country or from the highest bidder/speculator.

Immediately at the boundary to the city of Seoul, are agricultural lands, including acres and acres of greenhouses. In a mountainous terrain with few of the assets we have in Ontario, they produce a prodigious amount of food immediately adjacent to the large population, cutting operating and transport costs.

It is time for municipal and provincial politicians in Canada to wake up and smell the coffee. For those who already understand these issues, but continue with business as usual, I frankly don't know how they can justify their behavior in there own minds, or even sleep at night.