Bill 23 overall exhibits a…

Bill 23 overall exhibits a complete lack of understanding of the situation as a whole. Affordable housing must be built near already existing infrastructure, where those of mid to lower incomes do not have to commute to earn enough income to cover their own housing costs, their own vehicular transportation, or development of infrastructure costs. Building responsibly near existing infrastructure and mass transit surely would be more cost effective. To me, improving the public transit infrastructure would also be more cost effective with benefits to the commuters, the physical environment, to our air quality, and ultimately to add to our protection against climate change.
Building "out" into newly sold farmland, and/or greenbelt, will not be cost effective, due to the added costs of: 1) having to build and maintain infrastructure; 2) of individuals/workers/residents having to pay for longer, environmental/climate damaging commutes; 3) of the reduction, and even loss, of health due to reduction/losses of life-giving, oxygen-producing green spaces; 4) of the damage to our health, and damaging environmental costs of extra pollution caused by the loss of oxygen-creating green spaces; 5) of increased pollution caused by the extra vehicular pollution; 6) of the loss of flood plain, and water table reservoir protections; 7) of the loss of agricultural lands, which will increase our dependency on imported products - the implications of which are of a costly and far-reaching loss of provincial autonomy; and 8) of our loss of habitat to each and every form and species of wildlife, each of which play an invaluable role towards keeping our country safe from invasive and sometimes dangerous - even to humans - species. Each species plays a role in keeping the numbers, and diseases, in check, thereby keeping our own lands safe and healthy.
In summary, Bill 23 is dangerous; destroys environmental protections which have been in place since 1946; and will not achieve the goals of expediting construction of affordable housing, let alone housing for ordinary people. Further to that, it is the expressed wish of a government which, despite having the most seats in the legislature, DOES NOT have the support of the majority of Ontarians. There are more people in the province who did not vote for this gov't than there are who did. I would ask the gov't if they really want to alienate much of the citizens, simply for the sake of charging ahead with their own, short-sighted, narrow-minded, expensive, and misguided "solutions". I would ask this gov't to repeal Bill 23 in it's entirety and get back into proper negotiations with the representatives of the whole province - with the environmental, wildlife, climate, and conservation, lobby groups, and with whole of the legislature. There are solutions which are much more cost-effective, and much more agreeable to all parties than what is currently contained in Bill 23!!!