My comments are as follows:…

My comments are as follows:

1) Legislate that in the 10-year Greenbelt review, outside of minor housekeeping, any amendments to boundaries can only add lands to the Greenbelt with no possibility for land swaps.

2) Amend the Greenbelt legislation so that future governments are compelled to consult meaningfully with First Nations and Indigenous communities.

3) Introduce a provision prohibiting new “Overall Benefit Permits” (a.k.a). Pay to Slay that enables developers to harm habitat critical to the protection of Species at Risk in the Greenbelt.

4) Prohibit the licensing of new aggregate extraction applications in the Greenbelt.

5) Protect all prime agricultural lands in the Greenbelt through conservation easements to ensure speculators are dissuaded from purchasing protected agricultural lands in the Greenbelt.

6) Immediately end the grandfathering of previous zoning for future planning applications that is detrimental to the Greenbelt’s ecological, water and agricultural functions.

Last year’s amendments to the Greenbelt Act, the introduction of Bill 39 (Better Municipal Governance Act) and the Duffin’s Rouge Agricultural Preserve Repeal Act demonstrated that current Greenbelt legislation will NOT ensure the PERMANENT protection of the Greenbelt.

The Greenbelt is one of Ontario’s most important environmental achievement. I recommend legislation that PERMANENTLY protects these lands.