I oppose the legislation to…

I oppose the legislation to withdraw part of the Greenbelt for housing development. The right way to resolve housing issues is greater density in the cities, in all neighbourhoods. Urban sprawl is tremendously costly. All the infrastructure – roads, sewers, ambulance, schools, power and gas lines – becomes far more costly when so much more distance must be served in low density areas. Paving over the beltline damages watershed and water control, which creates even greater risks as climate change produces more extreme weather events. Paving over sensitive areas and farmland is irreversible – we can never get them back. No responsible Conservative should ever support this action; it attacks the very core notion of what it is to be Conservative. Furthermore, it violates a repeated promise of the current Conservative government to preserve the Greenbelt. Trust in governments is at an all-time low. Reneging on this promise shatters the public faith in the Conservative Party completely.