I am generally in favour of…

I am generally in favour of expanding the Greenbelt. As a resident of Waterloo Region, though, I have some concerns.

There are many good reasons for expanding the Greenbelt in Ontario: the idea has popular support; it stops sprawl and leapfrog development; it protects farmland and agricultural systems; and it creates connectivity between natural heritage systems.

Despite good reasons for expanding the Greenbelt, there are several threats being proposed right now which would cut into and degrade the current Greenbelt. These include: infrastructure development (i.e., the proposed hwy 413, the proposed Bradford Bypass, and proposed transit stations); the very real threat of incremental urbanization as towns inside the Greenbelt potentially expand; the propensity for developers to build and spread into greenspace; and, prioritizing aggregate extraction above natural heritage and agriculture. If the province is genuinely serious about the Greenbelt, let alone expanding it, it must not allow threats to the current Greenbelt to continue or go forward.

As for growing the Greenbelt, my first suggestion is to expand the Greenbelt to encompass all farmland. Leapfrog development is already swallowing up farmland by leaps and bounds. Here in southern Ontario, we are blessed with prime agricultural land – the best in the world – on which we depend for our food. It needs to be protected. Ontarions need it protected for our own food security. In coming years, climate change will pose an increasingly greater threat to our food security. This is another reason to protect our farmland and incorporate it into the Greenbelt.

The Greenbelt should include a Bluebelt. The Greenbelt should be expanded into urban river systems and valleys. This could include the Speed and Eramosa Rivers, Duffins Creek, and the Rouge, Humber and Grand Rivers. River systems and valleys protect us from flooding, increase biodiversity, support trail systems, and protect cultural heritage sites.

Also to be added to the Bluebelt should be source waters, headwaters, recharge areas and moraines within the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Water is life. We must insist on the highest standards of protection for water. Walkerton taught us that lesson.

And now I come to Waterloo Region. This is where I live. Already here we’ve seen that the Grand River Conservation Authority and the Region of Waterloo have concerns about the expansion of the Greenbelt into Waterloo Region. Cambridge City Council outright opposes it. The issue is that the Region of Waterloo already has local standards in place which provide higher protections than those of the Greenbelt. We, here, do not want to risk our stronger protections or reduce them so as to enter into the Greenbelt. My recommendation is to “raise the bar.” Have the entire Greenbelt adopt the higher, more restrictive protections found in Waterloo Region.

The long term resilience of Ontario depends on three essential pillars:
1. social wellbeing
2. economic prosperity
3. ecological integrity
A properly planned Greenbelt would go a long way to ensure the third pillar. To do this, high standards of protection need to be developed. This can best be done – not by the province alone – but through genuine consultation with Indigenous Peoples, local governments, experts and Conservation Authorities. The very real and incremental threats posed by climate change must be incorporated into resilience planning. And, finally, all new aggregate extraction in natural heritage systems must be prohibited.