In the Oak Ridges Moraine…

In the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan, 2017, it is stated in the introduction that “The Greenbelt Plan, together with this Plan and the Niagara Escarpment Plan, identifies where urbanization should not occur in order to provide permanent protection to the agricultural land base and the ecological and hydrological features, areas and functions occurring on this landscape and found within the Oak Ridges Moraine.” The words “where urbanization should not occur in order to provide permanent protection” must be taken at face value.

If the criteria used to decide where to cut chunks out of the Greenbelt include “The lands are adjacent to existing settlement areas” and “The lands are adjacent to the edge of the Greenbelt area boundary” (Proposal summary, Proposed Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan) where does it end? As soon as a piece adjacent to a settlement and also on the edge of the Greenbelt is developed, then the next adjacent piece of the greenbelt also meets the criteria of being adjacent to a settlement area. By these criteria you can take land from the greenbelt over and over and add it somewhere else, but removing the protection on land in one region and adding a piece the same size in another region is not “replacing” the removed land! It is not the same – the animals and plants, the natural features, and the ecology that exist in one area are very different from that in another. All that does is chip away at the areas that need the most protection because they are already rare ecosystems since they are in the most built-up areas.

Any sections of the greenbelt that are removed will be gone forever along with the unique variety and interconnections of living things that are there. We need to think long-term, not with someone’s bank account as the measuring stick. There are many other locations within existing municipal boundaries that can be used for housing. Increasing density will also make public transit affordable and practical which will reduce the need for more cars and more roads.

The Ontario government must do what is best for everyone – do not cut anything from the Greenbelt. Add to it, yes! But do not remove anything. Everyone – rich or poor – needs and deserves greenspace whether they access it directly or just benefit from its existence. We all need cleaner air, biodiversity, food production, water retention and filtering, and all the other benefits of a healthy earth.