I vehemently oppose these…

I vehemently oppose these proposed amendments to Ontario’s Greenbelt Plan. I am incredibly disheartened by Premier Doug Ford’s decision break his promise to Ontarians that the Greenbelt will not be touched. Approximately four years ago, Doug Ford was quoted saying the following: “The people have spoken – we won’t touch the greenbelt. Very simple. That’s it, the people have spoken. I’m going to listen to them, they don’t want me to touch the greenbelt, we won’t touch the greenbelt. Simple as that” (David Dragon, 2018). This proposed amendment demonstrates that Premier Ford and his government are unwilling to listen to the people of Ontario despite the above referenced comment.

I think of the 1977 Foodland Ontario jingle that has transcended generations and is familiar to countless Ontarians, “Good things grow-o-o, in Ontario!”[You likely hummed the tune in your head as you read this, didn’t you?] (Foodland Ontario, 2022). A large portion of the good things that grow in Ontario are grown in Ontario’s Greenbelt. Ontario is home to “more than half of the highest quality (“Class 1”) farm land in Canada” (Ontario.ca). 750,000 acres of Canada’s most arable and productive farmland is protected within the Greenbelt, of which “60% of Ontario's food processing capacity is located in the Greenbelt's immediate vicinity” (Greenbelt Foundation, 2019). If the Ford Government is allowed to proceed with this policy amendment, it will subsequently lead to development and degradation of this ecologically, agriculturally, and provincially significant land, Consequently putting globally scarce arable farm land at risk, reducing provincial food security, damaging the agricultural economy in Ontario and reducing the production of the *good things that grow in Ontario*. According to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Ontario is already losing 319 acres of farmland each day to development on average (OFA 2022).

The Premier has demonstrated time and time again that he is not a man of his word, at least not to regular everyday working Ontarians. This proposal, regardless of how insignificant the Ford Government claims it will be in terms of adverse ecological and agricultural impact, nonetheless sets a precedent that protected lands can be deregulated and re-zoned at the whim of any government that has been influenced by affluent syndicates whose interests do not align with those of the average Ontarian. Given Premier Ford’s track record of reneging on pledges made to citizens of this province, he simply cannot be relied upon to act in good faith when it comes to development and the Greenbelt. Once its gone, it’s gone. If development is allowed to proceed, there is nothing we can do to get it back. We have a responsibility to preserve these lands so that future generations of Ontarians can benefit nutritionally, ecologically, and economically from all that the Greenbelt has to offer.