Hello, I want to submit a…

Hello,

I want to submit a comment regarding the provinces' current plans to open up the Greenbelt for housing development.

Myself and my community are extremely opposed to this initiative by the Conservative government. It is well established that building more sprawl outward will not improve affordability. Developers are private corporations who are in the business of making profit. If demand drops, then they simply pause or cancel projects until prices are elevated again. The government has set a date of 2025 for construction to begin, but this is of course can be appealed, or delayed, or some loophole will be exploited to prolong construction until it is more profitable, hence less affordable.

Also, in my community of Stouffville, both parcels of land which are proposed to be developed were purchased for far more than their value (if undeveloped) in the last 2 years. This seems extremely suspicious, and indicates to me and my community that these developers knew ahead of time that these parcels would be available to develop. Or in other words, that the Ford government and Paul Calandra provided information to developers which they were then able to profit from. This I'm quite certain is illegal.

Beyond the above issues related to housing affordability, by developing the Greenbelt around the most populated areas you are essentially compromising what the Greenbelt was initially created for: To provide ecosystem services, flood and water protection to the dense urban communities it surrounds. This is wrong, and there will be a huge price paid for these rash decisions in the future.

The public is not naive. We realize that if the Greenbelt is opened now, that it will continue to be developed and thus compromised for the foreseeable future.

Please use your head. Be forward thinking. DON'T OPEN THE GREENBELT!