Despite repeated promises…

Despite repeated promises that there would be no removal of lands from the Greenbelt, this proposal from the Government of Ontario is planning to carve 7,400 acres out of the Greenbelt anyway.

And it appears that developers who bought Greenbelt land have been linked to the current Government of Ontario (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-sales-of-greenbelt-land-…). In fact, "[o]f the 15 areas slated to be removed from the Greenbelt, eight include properties purchased in the four years since the election of Doug Ford, who in 2018 was recorded telling a private audience he would “open a big chunk” of the protected area should he become premier, a Narwhal/Toronto Star investigation has found....Developers owning Greenbelt land now set to be developed appear to have given significant sums to Ford’s Progressive Conservative Party, donation records show. Lobbying records reveal connections between the party and five of the landowners who will benefit most from the proposed changes." (https://thenarwhal.ca/ford-ontario-greenbelt-cuts-developers/)

As Ontario Nature (a respected charity) points out, "[t]he government’s excuse – that the land is needed to solve the housing crisis – is untrue. The amount of land already designated for development far exceeds what is needed to meet long-range housing targets. That includes 86,500 acres within the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area alone."

Instead, this proposal would lead to the destruction or degradation of wetlands, woodlands, rivers and farmland -- for no good reason! These special places include a large wetland in Richmond Hill that is part of the provincially significant Rouge River Headwater Wetland Complex; major wildlife corridors and thousands of acres of farmland, sensitive woodlands and wetlands situated between the Rouge River and Duffins Creek watersheds, including the entire critical headwater reaches of Petticoat Creek; a large provincially significant wetland in Clarington that is part of a sensitive groundwater recharge area; and a valley of the East Humber River in Vaughan that supports the endangered redside dace. That is just to name a few!

There is no way to undo this if the proposal goes forward. There is no "whoops, maybe we can get this biodiversity back" button. Current and future Ontarians will not be able to fix this mistake on Premier Ford's behalf.

As a lifelong Ontarian, I am begging you to leave the Greenbelt alone. And as a voter, I am unequivocally telling you that these "Proposed Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan" do not represent me.