The evidence that this…

ERO number

019-6216

Comment ID

75979

Commenting on behalf of

Individual

Comment status

Comment approved More about comment statuses

Comment

The evidence that this decision threatens the permanency of the Greenbelt and the connectiveness of the ecosystem is clear. Many reports have stated the lack of necessity for the proposed developments and that communities are well within their targets with development opportunity set aside. This appears to be a short sited decision with the benefit going towards developers at the cost of the integrity of the Greenbelt. The information that has been shared by the Ontario Government appears to be misleading and missing crucial information and misrepresenting development needs in the province. The proposed changes indicate "swapping" out areas of the Greenbelt, but do not discuss the connectiveness of the ecosystem. I'm not convinced that appropriate environmental assessment has been done to consider any of this as an asset.

The province, Canada, and the global community have a mandate to protect 30% of land and water by 2030. Ontario is significantly behind on those targets at 10.6%. The Ford Government is making it clear that it has no ambitions to reach those targets, instead relying on environmental organizations in which there are attempts being made to limit their voice and impact. With a responsibility to future generations, decisions that threaten green spaces, biodiversity and the environment should be met with a collection of research and information made available to the public so that we as a people can make sure our decision makers are making informed decisions based on science and fact, not money.

Reports that show Ford's connection to developers has implications to warrant a review of whether or not corruption is involved in this decision.

I am highly hopeful that the proposed amendments will be removed altogether.