Throughout all the Ontario…

Throughout all the Ontario governments proposals to tragically withdraw existing lands from the world renowned Greenbelt Plan, it seems there is no reference to the effects of the Climate Crisis that is well underway.

WATER - water courses and wetlands take millenia to form and adapt. They need to be contiguous in order to function effectively. They cannot be polluted by industry or development of any kind.

We will need access to good water the more our population grows and as climate heating takes its toll. Animal life around and in water is part of this ecosystem that works hard to keep the water clean. This function must be respected.

It all operates like a well-oiled machine.
Paving over wetlands and disrupting watercourses should be forbidden if our province is to meet the huge challenge of
dealing with climate change.

The economic gain in allowing natural systems to continue doing their lifegiving work must be understood. Giving power back to conservation authorities is essential to prevent catastrophic breaches to natural heritage areas.
KEEP DEVELOPMENT WITHIN URBAN BOUNDARIES. THE ONTARIO GOVERNMENT HAS MORE THAN ENOUGH PROOF THAT THERE IS PLENTY OF LAND TO BE DEVELOPED WITHIN URBAN BOUNDARIES
NOT REQUIRING NEW TRANSPORTATION, SCHOOLS AND OTHER AMENITIES IN THE WASTELAND OF SPRAWL.

AIR - Building highways through the Greenbelt as the proposed 413 and Bradford Bypass will disrupt and destroy so many natural systems and farmland and pollute the air that we must try our best to keep as clean as we can as air quality becomes more of an issue for our health and that of our natural systems with the climate crisis. Clean water and air work together, this must be understood.
Forest cover plays an essential part is carbon capture.

FARMLAND - Destroying farmland on the Greenbelt for development is so bizarre, given our need for more food security with the challenges of climate change. Canada has a thread of viable aerable soil in which to grow our own food. With supply chain issues already and a future when we must be more reliant on growing our own food, we cannot destroy any more farmland. We CANNOT look to supply from thousands of miles away. If we do, we do so at our peril. We need MORE farmland to be sustainable in a
heating world.

TRANSPORTATION - Using existing transportation corridors like the 407 is an intelligent strategy. If the government wants to hand out ridiculous perks like no fees for vehicle licences why doesn’t it take back the 407 instead of a loss of revenue from licence fees and make it toll free and spend money on extending public transportation within city boundaries. THAT is what is going to help
lower income citizens, not new super highways.

HOUSING - Sprawl outside urban boundaries does not IN ANY WAY solve the problem of low cost housing where amenities do not exist and where they would have to be started from scratch at great expense. It is fiction to say this precedent-setting scheme to whittle away at the Greenbelt is going to solve the low-cost housing crisis. It is so blatantly a scheme to only benefit developers. Blatant at that. And corrupt.

A CRITICAL PIVOT

Going forward with respect for our natural world is integral to being able to cope with the climate crisis we face. Ontario needs to be looking ahead, not backwards ignoring the biggest humanitarian crisis of our time.

Giving natural systems legal personhood has
finally arrived in Canada. In Quebec to be exact.

To quote The Narwhal June 21, 2021
“While a first in Canada, granting legal personhood to natural entities is part of a global movement to recognize the rights of nature in law. Indigenous communities around the world are leading the way in upholding the rights of sacred and ancestral rivers, forests and mountains.”

In Ontario we are lucky to have Indigenous people understanding how critical it is for that our “natural entities” be kept intact for
the wellbeing of the planet.

We must insist that we be Stewards of the Greenbelt not Thieves.