The proposed removal of land…

The proposed removal of land from the Greenbelt will weaken the incentive to support intensification of urban areas. The development could also be detrimental to the ecological integrity of the natural ecosystems which provide valuable services to the residents of the GTHA. Focus for development should be placed instead on incentivizing intensification within areas which are already developed. By intensifying development, the creation of complete communities would aid in providing more affordable and liveable areas for people to locate to. Promoting the development of expensive and wasteful single family homes does not benefit the province overall. Instead, allowing expansion into the Greenbelt will only encourage further loss of land and trap people within communities that are not sustainable for the long term. The natural ecosystems in the Greenbelt cannot be recreated and developing on them will worsen the degradation of the vital services these areas provide. Without the natural environment, the impacts of climate change will cause increased harm to developed parts of the province and increase expense to recreate the current systems which we rely upon today. How can the continued development of significant agricultural and natural lands be allowed while there is already large extents of land disturbed already. Focus should shift to supporting more action on creating complete liveable and sustainable communities instead of creating quick wins with single family detached expensive housing unobtainable for most residents of Ontario.