I’m young to the workings of…

Bill 97….

I’m young to the workings of the agricultural environment. I was raised in a small village in southwestern Ontario which has grown over the years and is completely surrounded by farming. I attended rural schools in which many of the kids were part of a family farm. I never understood a lot of it. Fast forward to today. I’m a wife to a third generation farmer. Becoming a part of that has been eye opening.

Oxford County (where I call home) located in southwestern Ontario is not only the dairy capital of Ontario, but is considered the dairy capital of Canada and this bill will have a major impact on century farms.

Do I agree with the fact that we have a housing crisis absolutely.

But filling up our agricultural areas with homes not only limits the growth and development of it established agricultural business. it will also displace areas which still allow wildlife to have a space without constant human interaction. Our cities are already crying because of the wildlife that has been displaced and is trying to survive in an environment they do not enjoy.

The other side of this, developers are unable to keep up now to demand now. Many are already questioning if they are able to proceed with current plans. Increased supply costs and lack of workers, & huge increases in fees to develop in areas and increased interest rates. So making more land available isn’t going to help if we don’t have the workforce to build.

Our government is pushing 15 minutes cities in areas because of the climate crisis. Bill 97 pushes more people to the rural areas where they have to travel for all amenities sort of counter productive to the actual plan. There are still rural areas that do not have access to reliable high speed internet , natural gas let alone getting more then 2 cell bars if that’s you main source of communication. So you’ll have increased living expenses that towns can provide making living a little more affordable. There’s no public transit to get from “a” to “b”

There are things that need to be addressed before allowing a free for all pass.

Concerned Ontario resident