There are 32 municipalities…

There are 32 municipalities located within the Moraine. It is home to 9 conservation authorities whose authority to protect not only the environment (where 88 species found throughout the Moraine are provincial and/or federal species at risk), but also hundreds of thousands of residents - has been lost because of Bill 23.

Over 6 million Ontarians depend on the Oak Ridges Moraine for clean water. One of the most significant features of the Moraine is the ground water which results from rainwater percolation into the generally porous soils of the Moraine. One of the Moraine's most important functions is as a water recharge/discharge area – sustaining the health of the many watersheds.

Thousands of residents rely on Moraine wells that provides safe drinking water. The Moraine also forms the watershed divide between Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe and is the headwaters to more than 30 rivers – another source of drinking water for many more. Water safety and security is now in jeopardy because this amendment opens the door to start carving up the Moraine for rampant development. It also spells trouble for towns like Millbrook located just outside the political border of the Moraine but depends on an aquifer in the Moraine for its drinking water. This town is now faced with rampant development of almost 2000 residential units without any assurances of a future safe and secure water supply.

The ORM is supposed to be a ‘protected’ area as noted on the government website....

“The Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan was established in 2002. It provides direction on land use and resource management for the land and water located within the moraine.
As part of the Greenbelt, the Oak Ridges Moraine is an environmentally sensitive, geological landform in south central Ontario that stretches 160 kilometers from the Trent River in the east to the Niagara Escarpment in the west, covering approximately 470,000 acres.
The Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, 2001 provides the authority for the creation of the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan for the Oak Ridges Moraine Area. The act requires that decisions made under the Planning Act and the Condominium Act, 1998 conform with the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan."

But is seems the Act is on its way to being dismantled and the Moraine will eventually die a death by a 1000 cuts and so will all life, wild and human that depend on it for their existence and future survival.