I would like to voice my…

I would like to voice my strong opposition to these proposed planning changes. They fly in the face of the escalating climate emergency we are in, and make a mockery of what a true conservative would do. We should be doubling down on promoting housing density within existing settlement areas, while protecting our natural resources and our irreplaceable farmland. This provincial PC government's own report showed there is already enough existing supply of developable land, and recommended we retain the important protections we have - for a reason! - for our green spaces, our water, our forests, our arable land, our quality of life. What this government is proposing, tearing apart these important regulations in order to promote a type of development that is not sustainable nor resilient, should be illegal. Indeed we do most definitely face a housing crisis, but the solution is not to deregulate more, it should be to support energy efficient, FF-free housing planning development.

It makes me incredibly despondent to see this government renege on its promises to protect green space, and then go further and work to undermine all the progress that should rather be built upon to make our province a more livable and resilient place to live. Right now it seems that all these proposed planning changes will do is grow the profit of certain developers at the expense of the rest of us, as we are all exposed to the increasingly uncertain weather encouraged by these GHG-positive policies, the potential lawsuits from people who buy not-fit-for-purpose houses built on these newly deregulated lands, and the prospect of living in a province where profit is more important than our collective future.