ERO submission #019-6218 I…

ERO submission #019-6218

I object to the proposal to redesignate lands in the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan Area for residential development.

This proposal would undo decades of work to protect environmentally important land. An article in Ecology and Society nicely summarizes this:

"By the mid- to late-1980s, development in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) … had expanded north and had begun to threaten the fragile hydrogeology, geomorphology, and ecology of a major glacial moraine landform that served as an important green space corridor, the Oak Ridges Moraine. It took over a decade of advocacy to secure Ontario provincial moraine-specific legislation in 2001 protecting almost 92% of the moraine from new urban development."

The article goes on to add,

"More impressive is that this important and conservation-based environmental policy was enacted during an era of far-reaching neo-conservative, political economic trends toward smaller government and a market-based ethos. Furthermore, many of the regional conservation movement’s most ardent advocates became involved initially in ORM-related issues for local interests, only to later embrace the entire moraine as a unique and ecologically sensitive landscape." (The Oak Ridges Moraine as a social innovation: strategic vision as a social-ecological interaction, Ecology and Society (19)1:48.)

The Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s own document, A Place to Grow: Growth Plan, updated in May 2022, describes the significance of the Oak Ridges Moraine along with other similar areas of the Greenbelt:

"The GGH [Greater Golden Horseshoe] contains many of Ontario’s most significant ecological and hydrologic natural environments and scenic landscapes, including the Oak Ridges Moraine, the Niagara Escarpment and the other natural areas in the Greenbelt Area and beyond. These natural areas support biodiversity, provide drinking water for the region’s inhabitants, sustain its many resource-based industries, support recreational activities that benefit public health and overall quality of life, and help moderate the impacts of a changing climate.

The region also has some of Canada’s most important and productive farmland. Its fertile soil, moderate climate, abundant water resources, and proximity to markets support agricultural production that cannot be duplicated elsewhere in the country."

I agree with and understand the need for more affordable housing. But as documented by the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force and other sources, there are 88,000 acres within the GTHA already zoned and ready for development. This is more than enough land, available within existing urban boundaries, to exceed long-range housing targets.

So, why, in the Ministry’s own words, are “Ontario’s most significant ecological and hydrologic natural environments and scenic landscapes … which support biodiversity, provide drinking water for the region’s inhabitants, sustain its many resource-based industries, support recreational activities that benefit public health and overall quality of life, and help moderate the impacts of a changing climate” being opened up for residential development? Why is “Canada’s most important and productive farmland … [with] its fertile soil, … abundant water resources, and proximity to markets support[ing] agricultural production that cannot be duplicated elsewhere in the country” being sacrificed to build housing that won’t be affordable for people who need them most in communities near existing transit, services and jobs, when there is ample land available to build on that would use resources more efficiently?

The only conclusion I can draw is that this is being done to enrich land speculators and developers who want access to Greenbelt-protected land to build expensive homes in sprawl development.

This is shameful.