I'm appalled by this…

I'm appalled by this proposal to tamper with the greenbelt. This system of protected land—both forest and farmland—is a contiguous greening that we now know is also a community of networked mycelium. Green spaces are necessary for the health of the people and other animals who live in them and near them. The air in Toronto is cleaned by virtue of the greenbelt, a mere 7,400 acre region that the Ford government promised not to open to development. The argument that we are in a housing crisis doesn't hold much water, to be honest. We know that the housing crisis is a result of badly managed local real estate development (short term rental, offshore and domestic capital speculation, opportunism from landlords) more so than limited available housing. Building more, typically unaffordable suburban (and unenvironmentally built) housing developments will only exacerbate the problem while destroying wetlands, forest, wildlife corridors, and other carbon sinks necessary for climate crisis mitigation. This is not only a shortsighted proposal but a corrupt one. What a disgusting realization to discover that some of the previously undevelopable lands have been recently bought by Tory supporters, the very lands that are now being proposed for development -- what an uncanny coincidence, Mr Ford. Shame on this government.