Hi there, I oppose this bill…

Hi there, I oppose this bill as we don't need to develop the Greenbelts! They are protected by the Greenbelt Act and should remain so to conserve the environment in Southern Ontario. Protected wetlands, lakes and rivers are necessary for water filtration, flood control, sediment retention and enhanced landscape resilience (Greenbelt.ca); they prevent flooding in neighbouring regions. We also need to preserve the farmlands and forests in the Greenbelt.

The housing crisis is very real, speaking personally as a renter in the heart of downtown Toronto, but that does not mean we need to destroy the preserved environment to solve this problem (and building on the Greenbelt would cause more problems down the line). If the concern is more housing, as this bill implies, then what we need is to build the "missing middle" or "yellow belt" (Smartdensity.com). Higher density and development in communities which are traditionally zoned for single-family homes, along with good access to public transit, will help alleviate the housing crisis. Building mixed-use walkable communities with a change to the zoning regulations would greatly help the people of this province, so people have their necessities within a short distance from their home (schools, groceries, restaurants shops, etc) - we need to amend the exclusionary single-family zoning so that when we do build the missing middle, we can build affordable and livable communities.

Thanks for your time and consideration