Ontario is in the middle of…

Ontario is in the middle of a housing crisis, but encroaching farmlands and compromising environmentally sensitive land should not be the solution. The removal of protected land in one place and addition in another is problematic. Firstly, ecosystems do not adhere to lines on a map. E.g., if a part of a waterway loses protection, all downstream water, whether in a protected area or not, will be affected. Secondly, this amendment might set precedence and encourage further amendments in the future, shifting the Greenbelt north and thus leading to a net loss of precious ecosystems, clean waterways, and - above all - farmland feeding the province.

Research shows there is more than enough land available for development, both inside the existing built-up areas and on undeveloped land outside greenbelts and that we do not need to open the Greenbelt to developers. In its February 2022 report, Ontario's government-appointed Housing Affordability Task Force concluded that a shortage of land isn't the cause of the province's housing crisis, but that we need densification in already developed or unprotected areas close to transit infrastructure.

In summary, given the evidence that amending the Greenbelt is an inefficient and environmentally problematic measure to tackle the housing crisis, I strongly oppose this proposal.