I strongly urge you to…

I strongly urge you to REJECT The York Region Official Plan. By proposing to allow development on the Oak Ridges Moraine portion of the Greenbelt, the plan violates the Provincial Planning Act. In order to approve the plan, the provincial government will have to override the development prohibitions of the Greenbelt and Oak Ridges plans. DO YOU THINK THIS IS WHAT ONTARIANS REALLY WANT?!

Removing land from the Greenbelt SHOULD NOT BE AN OPTION. Introducing legislation to amend the Greenbelt Act SHOULD NOT BE AN OPTION.

We all know that either of the above actions will lead to the fragmentation of the Greenbelt, thus rendering it a bunch of green patches that lack environmental integrity. Intersected with
subdivisions, roads and factories, remaining scraps of forest, fields and wetlands will no longer be sufficient to absorb rain, clean our air and water and combat climate change. Local wildlife won't be able to naturally move, forage and breed, and plant pollination and seed dispersal will be greatly reduced. The shrinking buffer between agricultural and residential land is likely to lead to conflict between farmers and new arrivals, and undermine the long-term viability of farming in affected areas. Also, creating a way to remove farmland from the Greenbelt would erode the incentive for high capital investments in farm infrastructure.
York Region's Official Plan is a travesty and MUST BE REJECTED.