We need farmland to survive…

We need farmland to survive.

The pandemic showed us how important it is to produce what we need.

We need food, and wetlands to clean our water and protect against flooding and to provide us with the most effective antidepressant in my experience - a peaceful nature experience.

Farm land is already expencive; building over farnland will only make it harder for future generations to grow and eat healthy food.

Farmland in the greenbelt is some of the most productive farmland in Ontario.

With population expected to rise, we need more farmland, not less.

Our resilience is only as strong as the diversity of our ecosystems.

We have already lost many species native to Ontario to extinction; many bees are at risk of extinction.

Pollinators need habitat to survive. We need pollinators to pollinate the most nutrient dense parts of our diets, to survive.

Increased pollination, fertilization improve crop yield; and taste! Birds and bees provide fertilizing manure and pollination services to make the tastiest foods, but they also need habitat like native plants to survive. We need the greenbelt.

Doug Ford seems to have struck a deal with campaign donors to exchange campaign support for inside knowledge on when and which parts of the greenbelt will be opened up for development, allowing land owners to make huge profits. This should be illegal, as a premier should serve the interests of the majority of citizens (who voted against sprawl into greenbelts).

Taxpayers will be told to pay for the infrastructure for the sprawl, not developers; this isnt what Ontarians are asking for.

Bill 23 looks to only benefit a handful of land owners and campaign donors, and the Conservative party leaders in the short term; no other benefits.

Tenants need protections, not fewer protections as Bill 23 says. Rents are already rising faster than wages, and the number of homeless is increasing.

Sprawl will make it hard for home owners to commute to work, access ammenities.

Nothing to say these proposed homes are affordable, which is what is needed.

Bill 23 is bad for everyone.

People move from Europe to Canada in order to escape depressing sprawl, and restore quality of life. Keep Ontario's gems and follow municipalities' housing plans, like Hamilton's.