Dear Ontario Government, As…

Dear Ontario Government,

As a lifelong resident of this province and a scientist, I strongly disagree with the short-sighted and irresponsible proposed amendments to the Greenbelt. The Greenbelt provides us with clean air and water, local food and recreation. It protects our farmland, greenspaces, rivers, and wetlands - all essential agricultural and ecosystem services that are required for the continued health and sustainability of our Province. Removing protections from the Greenbelt disregards the need for sustainable development in the face of upcoming climate fluctuations, potential food shortages and natural disasters. These lands will never be able to be re-created once the natural or agricultural features are removed from them.

The types of houses proposed to be built (subdivisions) will not help the housing crisis in Ontario, as they will not be low income or affordable homes. Additional subdivisions in these areas will only increase taxes within in local municipalities and make the housing situation more unaffordable. It would place undue burden on smaller municipalities who cannot afford the infrastructure to support the development. I do not see there developed offering to install this for them. The government needs to focus on how to continue development in a responsible manner, by re-zoning for high density developments within vacant and abandoned land.

Earlier this year, the Ontario government’s own Housing Affordability Task Force delivered a report that said the same thing: “A shortage of land isn’t the cause of the problem,” it read. “Land is available, both inside the existing built-up areas and on undeveloped land outside greenbelts.” A bigger problem, the report said, is that Ontario hasn’t used the land it has efficiently.

Additionally, I am disgusted with the collusion of the Ontario government and developers, buying land within the Greenbelt prior to announcing the proposed changes to the Greenbelt Plan. This is blatant racketeering and is illegal.

The proposed changes are short-sighted, resulting in short term economical gain for developers without building affordable density housing. The people of Ontario need a place to live not stand alone homes they cannot afford far from the city which only encourages driving. I have never been more disappointed in a government. You have made it abundantly clear that you do not care about our ability to provide local and sustainable food or our natural environment and wildlife.