May 17, 2023 To whom it may…

May 17, 2023

To whom it may concerns,

Re: Review of proposed policies adapted from A Place to Grow and Provincial Policy Statement to form a new provincial planning policy instrument.

Canada is obviously amongst the largest land base countries on the planet, and at first glance, it would appear to be able to feed a sizable population however, much of Canada's land base is not available for crop growth suitable to provide the sustenance necessary to survive a long and healthy life. The available arable land for food production to support the Canadian population is small and extremely limited, despite the fact that Canada is so geographically large.

The current world population is roughly 8 billion and in a few relatively short years that population will be nearing 10 billion, at which point the worlds available arable land will struggle to feed the population.

I’m concerned will government, policies, initiatives, and decisions that inadequately address the fact Canada’s arable land component is extremely limited and is likely unable to support the population growth rate the country is currently experiencing. The policies of all government levels are exhausting the arable land available to feed not only Ontario and Canada’s population, but the worlds population.

At least 2/3 of Ontario's land base is found above the 49th parallel and is full of lakes, rock, and muskeg essentially not suitable to support a modern-day population that is so dependant government support. The amount of arable land in the “northern 1/2” of the remaining 1/3 of the lands in Ontario below the 49th parallel, is relatively small and disconnected. The available arable land is so small in this northern area of Central Ontario that is suffices to say the area is general void of good arable land for food production.

This leads me to highlight at best, only 1/6th of Ontario’s land base, normally referred to as southern and lower central Ontario, has a very limited amount arable land available for food production to feed the Canadian population. Although these lands are considered to be in the best agricultural area for Ontario, its important to note on a larger world stage, they are compromised due to long Ontario winters. The lands are only available for food production for a portion of a year, it is not possible to achieve food production rates of comparable lands at lower latitudes and when all facts are digested this country’s ability to feed the Canadian population with a diverse and health food supply are extremely limited.

So, it is obvious to say Canada as big as it is, is much smaller than it appears when viewed from the position of land size capable of feeding the population a health food supply.

The discussion this far has not yet addressed the fact, Ontario has historically neglected to adequately protect its agricultural resources for food production. The urban element in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has consumed significant portions of some of the best arable land in Ontario and more recent governments have been focused on protecting green space surround the GTA with a focus on preserving lands for nature and other environmental reason. These governments including the current Ontario government, have permitted and supported development skipping over areas like the Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM) and Niagara Escapement Commission (NEC) lands, to consume large portions of lands the Province should in fact be reserving for food production. It was noble to respect the importance of the ORM and NEC but completely irresponsible to support urban sprawl beyond these areas that consumes lands that must be reserved for food production to feed the Canadian population first and other population beyond considering the worlds limits in regard to available arable lands.

Immigration to Canada is out of control , and if it continues at an outrageous rate of 1-2 million a year as some discussion on the matter suggest, and the governments continue to allow the use of Ontario's valuable farmland for anything other than FOOD production, it will all lead to disaster beyond belief.

Ontario definitely needs a new vision and taking any arable land south of Orillia or Parry Sound in Ontario for "urban" development must not be in any equation for the future of Ontario. In fact, I believe we are at a crossroad and immediate attention and response is necessary to stop the urban element from consuming any of the arable land Ontario has left.

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture must narrow its focus to "FOOD" production only and fight to retain all of Ontario's arable land for food production that feeds the population with food products that sustain the basic healthy survival needs for the population.

The expression “Farmers Feed Cities” is more important now than it has ever been in the past. The Ministry of Agriculture must focus “ALL” of its time and energy on managing Ontario’s Agricultural Resources for Food Production. Considering the world population challenges in the near future, this department has no room left on its plate to deal with anything other than food production and the protection of the limited agricultural resources to produce same.

In an effort to support the Ministry of Agricultures need to focus on the above, Ontario is at a point where it must rethink the municipal structure. Urban centres must find a way to self-sustain from the tax base within their boundaries. Areas surrounding the urban form GTA and other major urban cities in the province, that are a mix of urban and rural, must be reorganized into separate urban areas and rural areas, so that the rural areas comprised of Agricultural and Natural resources can work to remain rural and help to stop urban sprawl. Larger governance areas must be established on both the urban and rural front to help tip the employment scale more toward private employment with far less government employment.

As an example, the area noted as Oak Ridge Moraine (ORM), could be managed as two distinct municipalities, One Urban and One Rural. The geographic size might suggest this be further delineated into eastern and western regions and studies would determine the ultimate numbers, but ultimately municipal splits would be around separating urban form governance from the rural form.
The “urban” limits within the ORM could easily be join under one management structure, as the desires and needs of the taxpayer within the urban boundaries are generally identical.

The needs of the rural taxpayers are different to those within the urban centres, and since the rural areas are generally comprised of Agricultural and Natural Resources with the scatting of limited residential development that is not reliant on urban municipal servicing, no differently than the residential portion of the farms found on Agricultural resources, the rural areas outside the urban limits, could easily be combined in a rural form municipality that would work toward protecting the Agricultural Resources of Ontario, so they are reserved to at least feed the Ontario population and if managed adequately support other areas of Canada and beyond in a way that helps support the overall tax base for the rural area.

The urban and rural governance split could be done in various ways and maybe a first step would involve focusing on areas surrounding the larger all urban centres in the province. As an example, use the area around the Town of New Tecumseth, Adjala and West Gwillimbury. The urban areas of Alliston, Beeton, Tottenham, Colgan, Hockley Valley, Cookstown, Bradford, etc. could combine into one urban municipality, and all the area outside the urban element limits of these urban forms, would combine as a rural municipality. Some thought might be put into using the watershed boundary for more practical delineation, but definitely separate the rural from the urban, so that the rural is in a better position to protect the rural form from urban sprawl.

Second Tier government might be eliminated and the Ontario government take on a greater role through private sector involvement like OCWA to deal with water and sewer servicing to the urban form, and in fact maybe a private sector entity of a similar nature could be developed to deal with the cross boundary arterial road services that relay traffic to the major employment centres and more effectively share the cost across the portion of the public that use the transportation routes.

There is a definite need for such change as the current municipal structure is set up to promote urban sprawl and the lose of such valuable agricultural resources is a tragedy and not sustainable in the long run for the population of Ontario or the rest of Canada.

I look forward to this process considering the important points I note and to the governments of this country waking up to the real problem of over population face this country and the world.