I would like to express my…

I would like to express my concern that Bill 23's amendments to the Greenbelt Plan will create long-term harm to our society and future generations by irreparably degrading the intact natural environments closest to our major population centres. We need to protect these areas for mitigating flooding, producing food, preserving biodiversity, and providing cultural and recreational opportunities for so much of Ontario's population.

The Greenbelt lands are not needed for housing development, either, as we have significant undeveloped and under-developed land suitable for housing within areas already approved for development, as documented by many municipalities and various Provincial studies. If our need is to build housing quickly, using the currently approved and available land should be prioritized; there is no need to add Greenbelt land to this equation.

The Premier and Cabinet ministers have repeatedly promised to not alter the Greenbelt, but this legislation does so dramatically. The fact that these changes to the Greenbelt will dramatically benefit individual landowners - many of whom bought this land recently for very inflated values, is also concerning, as it raises legitimate questions about whether legislation is being changed to directly benefit people who made political contributions to the ruling party.