The conservative government…

The conservative government had promised not to touch the green belt when they were campaigning for their election. People voted for this. To develop parts of the green belt now is dishonest and frankly a huge disappointment to both their voter base as well as the young people of Ontario who care about their environmental future. Specifically, promising to replace parts of developed land by planting trees in other areas is not an environmental equivalent. It simply doesn’t work that way; over time this practice will erode the green belt into pieces and increase flood risk throughout the province for all residents. Especially as the effects of global warming continue to become exacerbated in recent years.

Further, opening up parts of the green belt will not create affordable housing. As any informed home buyer would know, new constructions are significantly more expensive to purchase than resale properties, and most of them are purchased by investors, not end users. A better solution would be to densify existing land and allow for rezoning - not advocating for more urban sprawl in the green belt (especially considering the rapidly eroding road infrastructure under a backdrop of massive immigration targets). Many existing home owners living in the GTA and commute to work would also echo this sentiment.