The reallocation and removal…

The reallocation and removal of certain regions of the Greenbelt will go down as one of the most eggregious acts of tragic betrayal of the Ontarian people. Mr. Ford; who once claimed and promised that he would not go near the Greenbelt has gone back on his word in an absolute shameless manner. He has given the go-ahead to destroy our already fragile and precious Greenbelt. It was created for a reason, in a time when our awareness was much lower as a population in regards to the damage we were creating towards our natural ecosystems. We have already declared a Climate Change Emergency, so why would this ever have been considered as a good long-term solution?

What kind of precedent does this set for the near-future if we continuously allow compromises to be made and redactions to our promises?

It would be unbecoming to complain without furthering a possible solution to accompany it. There are other ways we can be generating revenue and help alleviate the alleged 'housing crisis'. We could implement substantial increases to the Foreign Buyers Taxes, perhaps extending it province-wide instead of just our big cities. We could pay more attention to the proceeds of money-laundering and black market funds which has also become rampant in recent years. Canada has even established a reputation for being one of the most lenient in that regard which is not something we should be celebrating.

If we were truly in a housing crisis as the provincial government claims; we would not be allowing unfettered access to our real-estate market and hurting the people who call this province home.

Mr. Ford please reassess your stance on this matter. It is impossible to know exactly what repercussions this will have but you can be certain they will be there. Irreversible damage is not something to be taken lightly and our situation has become so precarious. We have seen the changes happen in our own lifetime, with our own eyes. The natural biodiversity that will be lost in these areas will not ever come back.

In addition to going back on your promise, you are undermining municipal governance along with a blatant disregard for any form of democratic process or discussion on this topic. The ability for municipalities to plan in a way that is best for their residents should remain a top priority as it assures for true representation of our most pressing needs with direct and invaluable input from those who care deeply about where we live.