The Greenbelt is a critical…

The Greenbelt is a critical land mass that needs to be maintained and remain intact. It provides billions in ecosystem services and more. It is a natural, cultural, economic and environmental asset that shouldn't be traded away for short-sighted gains.

Bill 23 should be repealed. It's the wrong policy moving in the wrong direction. The argument for tearing up the Green Belt to build sprawl is highly flawed. We don't need more carbon-intensive housing and infrastructure. We need densification with natural spaces protected for the services and supports they provide.

The government's own Housing Task Force said there is "no shortage of developable land in Ontario." This decision will benefit wealthy developers, but I see no clear indication it will result in anything other than sprawling sub-divisions. We need housing - yes, we need it built faster, but we need to think beyond the suburbs. We need dense, housing built for different sized families, big and small and we need it built close to work and play. Destroying valuable agricultural land to do so is short sighted. We have the land to develop housing - let's use it.