This 'proposal' to solve for…

This 'proposal' to solve for a house crisis by providing profit for developers intending to build estate homes outside of the buying power of most Ontarians instead of looking at strategic and long term opportunities for densification to resolve our housing crisis is entirely unnecessary.

Over 80,000 acres of non-Greenbelt land are available to build housing on. 8,000 acres. 8,000!

Thousands of new housing units have been approved but are not being built – for example, only 9% of approved homes in the Waterloo Region have been built in the last two decades.

There is also lots of room and opportunity to build inside our cities and towns by implementing gentle density, so we build near where people want to live and say NO to sprawl. Just like Hamilton and Halton Region did. However, this proposal proposes to TAKE AWAY the democratic voices of our communities while simultaneously DESTROYING our environment.

Cuts to the Greenbelt will NOT create affordable housing. Developers have made millions due to the rising housing costs over the last decade and these homes will be no exception.

We were promised the Greenbelt was safe. Premier Ford even declared his love for the Greenbelt, in a now deleted tweet: “I listened to the people and we are not touching the Greenbelt.”

It sets a dangerous precedent. Once some Greenbelt land is developed, all of it is at risk. Other landowners are going to want to cash in on these priceless plots of land.

And finally, it’s all a smokescreen. Much of the land proposed for the “swaps” is, in fact, already protected. There is no mention in the proposal of who an overseer may be for the 'swaps' so there is no plan in place to ensure that a 'swap' even occurs. Especially with the proposals 'amendments' to the voices and power of our Conservation Authorities, there is nothing in these proposals that support our environment in the long run, only serving developers and not doing anything to resolve our housing crisis for our families and communities.

Preposterous! No to this proposal.