It seems somewhat laughable…

It seems somewhat laughable at this point to ask for public input on this matter considering that Doug Ford and the current provincial Government has made it clear that the will of the people is of little consequence when it comes to decisions being made about urban boundary expansion in our communities.

However, there is a need for more housing in this province that is without question. But building mansions on valuable farmland and formally protected greenbelt and conservation areas is not a reasonable solution. People need housing within the communities where they will live and work. Where walking or transit is available. This will help grow our communities.

Our cities are riddled with rotten, vacant and / or crumbling buildings and infrastructure. Especially here in Hamilton, there are endless locations that could be converted from former industrial sights to affordable housing. Covering our farm land and green spaces with unobtainable mansions and strip malls where people need to own cars and use freeways to get to amenities and work is poor planning. Do we want our province littered with subdivisions and strip malls instead of vibrant functioning cities?

In order to maintain healthy, active communities the people living within those communities need access to forest and green space and access to affordable locally sourced produce. Without farmland in Ontario how will we feed our cities and ever growing population? The pandemic has shown how fragile our supply chains are. An emphasis on locally sourced food should be at the forefront of our planning moving forward.

Toronto is a great example of poor planning coming to fruition in this province. Where profits for developers has been put before the needs of the people. Toronto has virtually become an unliveable city so to soaring costs of living, poor access to transit and amenities.