Instead of developing…

Instead of developing environmentally sensitive lands critical to safeguarding drinking water and agricultural production, the focus should be on making better use of the land that is ready for housing now.
The province should rethink its proposal given:
1. The strong opposition from various stakeholders and the fact that the province’s own Housing Affordability Task Force and member municipalities’ statistics show that the availability of land is not an issue.
2. The Province has not consulted with member municipalities affected by these amendments to the
Greenbelt Plan.
3. The Province has not meaningfully engaged with Indigenous communities to ensure that their interests and concerns are addressed. Consideration of the Crown’s Duty to Consult must be part of the province’s consultation.
4. The Province must work with the development industry to understand why the over 285,000 housing approved housing units across 19 large municipalities and others across the province have not begun construction.
5. The Province must finalize membership and begin meeting with the municipal co-chaired Housing
Supply Action Plan Implementation Team announced in August 2022 to move forward on housing in collaboration with municipalities.
The Greenbelt proposals are a SOLUTION WITHOUT A PROBLEM. The Province must implement the recommendations from the AMO and take the time to get this right.