I am proud of Ontario's…

I am proud of Ontario's Greenbelt. Over the past 13 years, I have volunteered thousands of hours to helping the Bruce Trail Conservancy pursue its mission of preserving a ribbon of wilderness along the Niagara Escarpment for everyone, forever. I am passionate about preserving our environment.

Many aspects of the Ontario Government's Bill 23 threaten the health of our environment and, ultimately, the people who live in Ontario. I agree that more affordable housing is necessary, and I accept that our population will grow significantly over the next few decades, and additional housing is needed to meet this growth. However, developing parts of the existing Greenbelt is not the solution. In fact, it will just create other problems.

Housing needs to be built in areas that don't result in the loss of vital farmland, wetlands, woodlands, and other areas that are currently (and wisely) protected. This principle should be readily accepted by everyone in Ontario.

I must also express my concern with the fact that some developers have recently purchased land that is in our current Greenbelt and, therefore, protected from development. Why would a successful and prudent developer do this, unless they believed the land would soon become available for development? To further add to this suspicion of some developers being privy to a move to allow development on Greenbelt lands, several of these developers are known to be generous donors to the Ontario PC party. Has the Ontario Government s traded off our Greenbelt heritage for donations to their political party?

Ultimately, this is not a well thought out piece of legislation. I urge the Environmental Registry to take appropriate measures to ensure the preservation of our current Greenbelt.

Thank you.