I am deeply concerned with…

I am deeply concerned with this proposal. We need to preserve and expand the greenbelt, not chop it up piecemeal and swap the greenbelt parcels for other lands. I believe there are more sustainable solutions to the housing crisis than just building more houses. In addition, the idea that a short-term government can permanently and irreversibly wipe out decades of study and planning is reprehensible.

As I understand it, connectivity of green spaces is vitally important to the ecology and environmental sustainability of an area; the animals cannot travel from one protected, designated area to another without a corridor. Additionally, environmental factors such as water flow and flood plains do not recognize political boundaries. By taking the conservation authority's expertise out of the planning for development, the short-term government is removing a vital voice in the sustainability of our long-term environment.

The housing shortage is a severe problem of which I am personally too familiar as my children have lost hope in ever having the financial stability of owning their own homes. However, I believe there are better ways to calm the market. To begin, the practise of bidding on houses should be outlawed. Home owners should be required to deal with each offer on their home individually; either come to an agreement with the purchaser or not then move on to the next offer. This method would remove the artificial inflation of house prices. Additionally, the new market of short-term rental needs to be strictly regulated to avoid houses being purchased for profits over families. Combining these two sustainable strategies will calm the market, make owning a house once again an achievable goal and by populating a neighbourhood with families, restore a sense of community that is currently lacking.

With an impactful issue which is this far-reaching both for the current population and the generations to come, I believe there should be more checks and balances on the elected provincial government. The policies and laws they are wanting to implement will have impact well beyond their four year term. Since the ramifications will be felt for decades, I believe there should be closer scrutiny of the government's actions. This government in particular vowed to leave the greenbelt alone in their last term of office. Now, just a few short years later they have changed their minds. The evidence points to the worst motive for this change of plan, that of financial gain. This provincial government has made no secret of their ties with the development community and it has not escaped notice that those friends of this government will make huge profits should this bill pass.

To preserve the integrity of government, there should be other voices overseeing these long-reaching government decisions. Voices that will not monetarily benefit from the decisions and will preserve the long-term vision the environment requires.

Thank you for the opportunity to put forth my opinions.