In 2018, Doug Ford promised…

In 2018, Doug Ford promised he would not touch Greenbelt lands. He knew at that time that the general public IS NOT in support of any removal of protected lands, so why is he now breaking that promise? We are in a climate crisis. So much biodiversity has been lost in Ontario due to habitat destruction, if anything we should be striving to create more areas of protected land, not taking them away. Not to mention that this is some of the most productive farmland in Ontario, wouldn't it be better served as farmland to support our growing population? We have a cost of food crisis just as bad as our housing crisis.
Furthermore developing this land is not even a viable solution to the housing crisis. It is creating more low density urban sprawl. Those in our communities who need housing the most would not be able to afford to live in these houses anyways due to all the associated costs of living far from the city centre and associated services without having reliable transportation. We should be focusing on redeveloping properties within cities to create more high density, affordable housing.
Finally, the fact that some of these lands set to become developable were purchase by real estate developers BEFORE this bill was proposed calls into question the motive of this bill and who exactly will benefit the most:. Developers with ties to the conservative party or the citizens of Ontario.
If the Ford government actually wants to help Ontarians, they should listen to the heaps of valid criticisms of this bill, and strive to find new solutions rather than continuing the tradition of bulldozing precious habitats to put up subdivisions.