This ERO is a greenwashing…

This ERO is a greenwashing attempt by PCPO ministers of the environment and housing and municipal affairs in the face of extreme public opposition to the sprawl-inducing GTA West Highway and the devastation of important wetlands in Pickering and Vaughn.
What sense is there in asking this question when the PCPO is condoning the devastation of substantial, existing Greenbelt areas at the behest of corporate lobbyists, party funders, local land speculators and erroneous political ideology?
Most egregious is the fact that the PCPO is ignoring evidence-based advice to cancel the GTA West Highway that will eliminate large tracts of the existing Greenbelt while delivering poor, if any, value to Ontario taxpayers. Using MZOs to ride roughshod over requests to protect environmentally critical wetlands in Vaughn and Pickering is another example. The responsible ministers and the premier are clearly looking for political cover on these issues by launching this ill-purposed ERO.
The first step in growing the size of the Greenbelt is to protect that which already exists. Any opportunity to increase this by protecting existing natural adjacent areas should be taken. The idea that new Greenbelt can be created is nonsensical as it takes up to 30 years to grow new forests and restore natural habitat devastated by inappropriate and damaging developments. What the PCPO is saying is that they want to monetize parts of the existing Greenbelt now for the benefit of special interests while asking the public for a 30 year free loan on a speculative, restorative deal. I don't think so.
If the responsible ministers have any commitment to Greenbelt expansion they should be engaging the Nature Conservancy, Ontario Nature and similar, non partisan, non-profit environment groups as a guiding task force. It was unfortunate that the PCPO aligned themselves to Ducks Unlimited and funded them as part of this attempted greenwashing exercise. Perhaps political alignment was a key factor in this?