Hello, I am writing today to…

Hello, I am writing today to submit a comment to ERO 019-6216, 019-6217, and 019-6218, pertaining to re-designation of Greenbelt lands.

I am supportive of efforts to increase the supply of housing – rental and owned - as a means of countering the housing crisis. However, I am deeply concerned about the proposed changes to the Greenbelt.

We have seen over the past few years how the climate crisis is worsening, increasing severe weather and causing grave damage (for example, in Lytton BC). In Southern Ontario, one of the largest risks in a changing climates comes from flooding in population centres, and the loss of viable farmland.

If we have homes but no local sustainable food supply, we have just created another, arguably more severe, problem. During Covid, we quickly learned the fragility of supply chains and experienced empty shelves in grocery stores.

The changes suggested in this regulation appear set to make housing, climate change and food supply outcomes worse. The wetlands in protected Greenbelt areas are essential for capturing rainwater runoff before it can flood more populous areas. In addition, by seeking to build new homes in protected areas, Ontario commits itself to expanding urban sprawl - worsening the climate crisis through increased emissions and deepening our food insecurity through the loss of valuable, irreplaceable agricultural lands.

I urge the government to keep its promise not to touch the Greenbelt and instead look to build much more densely in urban areas, particularly areas with strong transit infrastructure. People also want a reasonable commuting distance from home to work. There is no joy in having a home you seldom see because you are commuting hours a day to and from work. This also reduces the negative aspects of commuting, usually in single occupant vehicles, which helps in the climate change fight.

Ripping up the Greenbelt is short-sighted and dangerous, and will only make homes more expensive in the long run by imposing greater environmental risks and expanding unsustainable and inefficient sprawl. This government must take real, meaningful action to build sustainably for the future instead.