This bill needs to be…

This bill needs to be rejected. It is not being made in good faith since the goal is not for the greater good of the majority, rather the financial profit of a few.

This bill is also insidious and guilty of obfuscation. While the idea of creating more homes for those who cannot afford homes is appealing, there has been no guarantee for the maximum cost of purchasing one of these houses. Moreover, this will not solve our issues in homelessness, housing costs, and the cost of groceries. There has been no guarantee that buying one of these houses will not become a bidding war that the average person cannot afford.

The worst part of this bill is the undoing on environmental protection we have fought to create. The greenbelt was created to stop urban sprawl outwards from the city centre of Toronto. It has also been recognized as the largest protected greenbelt IN THE WORLD. If we allow for development on the world's largest protected greenbelt sitting in our backyards, what message does that send to the world about our care for the climate crisis? How can we even sit in at a United Nations Climate Change Conference and say we care when we have destroyed the world's largest greenbelt for fleeting financial gain.

This bill will undo the concept of complex wetlands. Complex wetlands ARE important. They are as vital as organs to a body. You can look at an organ on its own and decided that, on its own, it is not important. But when you take a step back and realize that that organ is a part of a living, breathing body? You realize that it's a part of a system, and that is why it's important. You can't keep removing parts of a system while pretending it doesn't kill the system. And you can't keep transplanting them elsewhere to say you did you due diligence. It can take hundreds, even thousands, of years to create a thriving wetland.

You'd be better off building on the many abandoned buildings and parking lots in the GTA, where NOTHING will never be able to grow because the soil is already so compacted.

The Ford government already closed a provincial agency that gave legal assistance to residents battling development changes in their local municipality. This agency also provided funding so that the average joe wouldn't lose the court battle simply because they ran out of money faster than the company giants. The government took away a regular person's fighting chance, now they want to take the ability away altogether. How will this help improve the trust and transparency between the government and Ontario citizens? How is this meant for the great good, for the average and the struggling citizens, of Ontario?

It is also disrespectful and regressive to undo and limit the power of conservation authorities (CAs). I think the government needs to consider why were they created in the first place, and if our environment and climate goals suggest that now is a good time to undo the power CAs.

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, a democracy is "a government by the people", "a rule of majority". We are supposed to be a democratic country. If our governments cannot - will not - listen to its people (ie, the majority) when making decisions, then we need to stop pretending we're a democracy.