———— The Greenbelt needs to…

————
The Greenbelt needs to be maintained as a permanent land mass, to remain intact in perpetuity. The Greenbelt is a natural asset, so critical to the health of southern Ontario - not just for the people who live in the region, who depend on good water quality of our urban rivers, and of the rich land for food growing and for recreation, as well as for the many species of wildlife who inhabit this area.

Bill 23 needs to be repealed immediately. It is the absolute wrong policy direction to carve up our precious natural resources to build housing, a dubious claim at best in this bill. Sprawl is yesterday's housing policy. We can do much better and save tax money and municipal costs (water, sewer, electricity etc.) by intensifying and building up, not out, within existing urban boundaries. Single family housing is not the only way to house people. It's the least efficient and most carbon-intensive way of housing people. Much more consideration needs to be given to supportive housing for those who could never afford single family dwellings; housing co-operatives which are a very stable way of building communities; rental accommodations and 6-8 storey buildings along main streets where there is reliable transit and other transportation options (cycling, walking, roadways). Green space is critical to human health and well being. There are hundreds of scientific studies that have proven over and over that access to green space is vital for people's mental and physical health.

Our municipal boundaries need to remain firm - the government's own Housing Task Force said there is "no shortage of developable land in Ontario."

The designation of Greenbelt lands is defined around ecological systems - water courses, wetlands, unique geographical features and agricultural land. Keeping those in place forever will ensure cleaner water, habitat for a myriad of creatures, including a number of species at risk and a source of local food production. For too long, prime agricultural land has been disappearing in Ontario. As global food supply issues and climate change continue to affect Ontario residents and their pocketbooks, it is absolutely essential that we grow as much food locally to the population as possible. This is just smart economic policy, smart agricultural policy and smart environmental policy - all woven together. Good government makes decisions for the benefit of all of us in the province, not just a select few very wealthy elites who are so obviously making a cash grab for the 15 parcels of land the government is intending to remove from the Greenbelt. This must stop. Rescind Bill 23.