The Greenbelt is protected…

The Greenbelt is protected land, and even the Whitebelt is completely irresponsible to develop during a climate crisis. We cannot afford to lose prime topsoil, precious wetlands, and agricultural land when we have so much room for mid-density development within the existing urban boundary. Our ability to withstand flooding and other extreme weather depends on how well we address these environmental issues and if we can leave the floodplains alone. This ESPECIALLY requires a Conservation Authority and their expertise.

I have mapped all the surface parking and vacant lands in downtown Hamilton and at the time it was close to 40% of the useable land. Parking lots make for dead zones within a city fabric, are unsafe at night and unsightly during the day. They do nothing to build community. They also do nothing to control rainwater runoff at the moment. There is so much potential within our city already.

By building expensive suburbs, it would increase our infrastructure costs (debt!) which our children would be paying off for years, and also increase car dependency, which is also irresponsible during a climate crisis. Ottawa case study has proven this as fact in terms of true costs of expanding.

And finally, the Cities have voted (by survey and by protest) and spoken (by council) with our desire to build within our existing urban boundary. Any move to overturn this is undemocratic (and I would say criminal) during a climate crisis. We can't blindly accept developers money without feeling compelled by issues of climate, food security, and social housing. You would be stealing from our children's future.