As a Hamilton resident and…

As a Hamilton resident and business owner I am vehemently opposed to Bill 23 and the plan to remove greenbelt lands and force more money losing, car dependent urban sprawl upon municipalities.

It's laughable that this is being proposed under the guise of bringing "affordable housing" supply. Urban sprawl development is a net negative for municipalities tax budgets. Hamilton's choice for building within the existing urban boundary is a path towards fiscal solvency. The plan to reduce or remove developers fees further erodes the tax base. The people left to foot the bill will be all of the citizens, driving property taxes higher. The only ones that benefit from this plan are developers and those that are connected to them. Even the people that buy these new houses will ultimately lose with reduced services, park lands and recreation centres.

This agrument above is meant to appeal to fiscal conservatives, since money is so important. There is no fiscal case to be made for this bill if the goal is affordable housing.

This of course says nothing of the climate crisis or the reduction of valuable farmland. Farmland that will only become more important as we face greater impacts to the food supply chain from climate change. Swapping in land that is unlikely to be developed is a disingenuous attempt to placate people.

I would specifically like to call upon our local MPPs Donna Skelly & Neil Lumsden. The people of Hamilton have already spoken on this matter. Are you acting in good faith as our voice at the table in Ontario or are the benefits of going along with the Ford government too high to pass up?