These comments are in…

These comments are in response to opening up the Greenbelt to development.

I am not against growth and development and fully realize that affordable housing is needed. However, not in the way the provincial government is proposing by destroying protected agricultural land, natural spaces, woodlands and/or wetlands which are critical to the functioning of the region and neighboring communities. Each of these land types is a critical ecosystem that provides ecological services that are the essential building blocks for life. The services and provisions provided are every bit as important as housing, In fact without clean air to breathe and water to drink life would not be possible therefore homes would not be needed.

Putting forth the proposal that critical ecosystems and the services they provide can be easily replaced by destroying 7,400 acres of the Greenbelt land and making up for it by adding 9,400 acres elsewhere. The natural community does not work that way as the provincial government is well aware having experts and science data readily available to them. Ecosystems are the culmination of a diverse community of organisms interacting with one another and working together with their physical environment over an extended period of time. A healthy functioning ecosystem is not easily attained or replicated. Altering, degrading or destroying an ecosystem would incite a rippling effect that could cause an ecosystem to collapse, negatively impacting all that depend on it and what's surrounding it. Changes could endanger drinking water, cause flooding, undermine efforts to mitigate climate change, result in biodiversity loss and so much more, experts warn. All of which would effect the health, financial stability, homes, livelihoods, recreational pursuits of the people of Ontario directly and indirectly.

Land Availability
Earlier this year, the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force delivered a report that said: “A shortage of land isn’t the cause of the problem,” it read. “Land is available, both inside the existing built-up areas and on undeveloped land outside greenbelts.” A bigger problem, the report said, is that Ontario hasn’t used the land it has efficiently.

Industry leaders and experts agree Ontario has plenty of room in existing neighborhoods and lands already designated for development with existing services. One positive change to come out of Bill 23 is zoning allowing for the construction of up to three units on each residential lot. This would help with dense growth as opposed to sprawl. There is a need for mid-range dwelling types such as: duplexes, town homes and low-rise apartments to meet the needs of young adults and young families. Large mansions are not needed. Building triplexes, fourplexes and walk-up apartments in residential neighborhoods and mid-rise housing close to transit and main streets would help meet demands.

People want to live close to where they work, shop and play. Amendments to the Greenbelt would build homes where people don't want them and are vehicle dependent. Long commutes are not what people want and people are concerned about their carbon footprint. Where the provincial government proposes to build homes on the Greenbelt has all the signs of being guided by where land speculators stand to make a return on their investment.

Agricultural Lands
There have been long-standing priorities and planning policies in Ontario about protecting the agricultural lands that are part of the Greenbelt because of the quality of the land. The need for locally produced food has increased over the years and will continue to as the population grows.

Destroying valuable farmlands makes no sense. Growing crops in southern Ontario means the food has a shorter distance to travel to reach large urban centres, which is also good for the environment.
Flooding

Introducing development into the Greenbelt means the construction of roads and buildings where there were none before. This would affect how that land can then interact with water systems, storm water, how groundwater is recharged and how runoff works. The inevitability for flooding will be ever present where as the natural ecosystem would have fed the water back into the system slowly vs. a hardened surface that leaves water with nowhere to go.

Wildlife
Another factor that is not being considered is wildlife and the importance of connectivity. Water flows and animals migrate. Fragmenting natural habitat contributes to limiting wildlife mobility. Placing residential development near natural land would create a hard barrier for wildlife that have a large territories or who need to travel. Interrupting wildlife corridors would result in increased competition for limited resources, edge-adapted wildlife spreading into other habitats, and extinction of smaller, vulnerable populations. For some species struggling to move between habitat patches this could lead to inbreeding and a loss of genetic diversity. This reduces the long-term health of a population making them vulnerable to disease and at greater risk of extinction. All of the aforementioned could result in biodiversity loss in a given area which would affect the health and functioning of an ecosystem.

Building 50,000 homes on the Greenbelt would put people, pets and wildlife in closer proximity to one another increasing the risk of Zoonotic diseases spread from animals to people and vice versa. Developing on or near natural habitat and fragmenting wildlife corridors increases the likelihood of wildlife encounters which puts people, pets and wildlife at risk with animals often paying the price.
The land on the edges of the Greenbelt is just as important as what is at the centre. Taking chunks of the Greenbelt out of the Greenbelt would compromise the integrity of the interconnected ecosystems it is home to and supports. That would be extremely damaging.

If the Greenbelt is opened-up to development it would not stop at 7,400 acres and threaten the stability and certainty of the Greenbelt moving forward.

Not only does the natural community as it pertains to the Greenbelt and other regions in Ontario deserve our utmost respect and the best measures in place for stewardship, it is important that the natural community be recognized as having a firm and equal seat at the table with every level of decision making when it comes to development. We must stop dismissing the importance of protected lands and the vital services they provide. Our future is linked to their future!