ERO #019-7739 …

ERO #019-7739
Proposal to return lands to the Greenbelt - Greenbelt Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023

In this proposal, the Ontario government states that any proposed changes to the Greenbelt and to the Oak Ridges Moraine boundaries would require the approval of the Ontario Legislature “in an open, public and transparent legislative process”. The Greenbelt was created in 2005 to help ensure natural areas and prime agricultural lands are permanently protected from sprawl development. Permanently protecting these lands is crucial to mitigating climate change, protecting sensitive ecosystems, and ensuring food security for Ontarians. I want to see the Greenbelt permanently protected, not subjected to proposed changes even if the ‘process’ is improved. The only change that should be allowed is to include even more farmland and natural areas.

The description of this proposal also states that the government is “committed to addressing Ontario’s housing supply crisis and working with municipalities to achieve our shared housing targets.” I don’t feel that this should have anything to do with an amendment that purportedly seeks to restore Greenbelt lands to their original level of protection. As documented by the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force and other expert sources, there are 88,000 acres within the GTHA already zoned and ready for development. This is more than enough land, available within existing urban boundaries, to exceed long-range housing targets.

What I would specifically like to see is:
1. Legislation that ensures that, as part of the required 10-year Greenbelt review, any amendments to boundaries can only ADD lands to the Greenbelt, with no possibility of land swaps.
2. An amendment to the legislation compelling current and future governments to consult with First Nations and other Indigenous communities in a meaningful way.
3. The prohibition of new aggregate extraction licensing in the Greenbelt.
4. The protection of all prime agricultural lands in the Greenbelt through conservation easements to ensure speculators are dissuaded from purchasing protected agricultural lands in the Greenbelt.
5. The prohibition of “Overall Benefit Permits” that enable developers to harm habitat critical to the protection of Species at Risk in the Greenbelt.

While it should be unnecessary to include this, a Minister should never again have the power to recommend removals from the Greenbelt.

In closing, I would like to state most emphatically that, as a member of the public, I certainly do give “two hoots” (Premier Ford, November 20, 2023) about this legislation and I hope that this submission makes that clear.