Paving over the Greenbelt is…

Paving over the Greenbelt is absolutely not necessary to create more affordable housing, as stated by the Provincial Housing Affordability Task Force "One result is that more growth is pushing past urban
boundaries and turning farmland into housing. Undeveloped land inside and outside existing municipal boundaries must be part of the solution, particularly in northern and rural communities, but isn’t nearly enough on its own. Most of the solution must come from densification. Greenbelts and other environmentally sensitive areas must be protected, and farms provide food and food security. Relying too heavily on undeveloped land would whittle away too much of the already small share of land devoted to agriculture." (see page 10 of : https://files.ontario.ca/mmah-housing-affordability-task-force-report-e…).

Sprawling over the Greenbelt has negative consequences for public health, flooding protection (which the Auditor General has just said Ontario is not doing enough for), climate resilience, walkable communities, active transportation, climate mitigation, municipal budgets (since building within existing settlement boundaries is cheaper than building new infrastructure), tax dollars, social connection, housing affordability, and the list goes on.

This is not the answer to the housing crisis. A mix of housing times (not only single detached houses) must be built within existing urban settlement boundaries to build communities that help people stay healthy and happy. Evidence from Public health, urban planning, climate and environmental policy is clear based on the countries and communities with the most satisfied residents on earth: building walkable, complete neighbourhoods with mix of housing types, retail, transit, and greenspace is absolutely the way forward. We need governments to build strong healthy communities and paving over the Greenbelt takes Ontario in the opposite direction. It rolls back decades of good urban planning for almost zero benefit to people other than wealthy developers. This is in no uncertain terms an unjustifiable decision unless the goal is widening the wealth gap, forcing people into car-dependent neighbourhoods, worsening the climate crisis, and lining the pockets of conservative party donors. The electorate will NOT forget how this government is brazenly removing rights for the public good and selling them to private interests. It is, in short, outrageous and offensive. This government has severely overstretched is authority, and insulted the public in the transparency and severity of this deception.