As a newcomer to Toronto…

As a newcomer to Toronto from Australia, I am appalled by a government that would promise greenbelt protection in one election and in the next one repeal Bill 23. Especially as the government was elected by a faulty first past the post election procedure.
There are lots of other ways to build affordable housing inside our cities without compromising conservation lands that protect our Humber River area from flooding, protects woodlands, wetlands and wildlife habitat and cancels green building standards.
Promises by the government to “swap” in 9,400 acres of land in other locations will do nothing to mitigate the damage to the Greenbelt system. That is in part because at least some areas being floated as replacements for bulldozed segments of the Greenbelt were already off limits for development – meaning those additions would not mitigate the net loss of protected lands. Even more importantly, the government’s plans would utterly destroy the certainty of permanent protection that is vital to the functioning of the Greenbelt as a whole.