I am strongly in support of…

I am strongly in support of the proposal to return those lands to the Greenbelt that were wrongly -- not just "too fast and not sufficiently transparent" but wrongly -- removed from it in December 2022.

I strongly want protections that will prevent this ever happening again. I want protections against politicians once again breaking their firm, fervent promises to "never touch the Greenbelt".

Here are my suggestions:
1. State that in future, e.g. in the 10-year Greenbelt reviews, boundaries can be changed only to ADD lands to the Greenbelt. Lands cannot be subtracted, except possibly for minor housekeeping adjustments.

2. In future, there should be no possibility for land swaps. Write that into the legislation, please. The idea that pieces of land can be swapped around like puzzle pieces totally misses the point of ecosystems, and continuous natural environments.

3. It's critical that we stop the process of issuing "overall benefit permits" which deny the existence, and importance, of ecosystems. Overall benefit permits suggest that we can swap out the murder (extinction) of one species at risk in one location by paying for the introduction of another supposedly similar species in its place, or by the introduction of new members of that species somewhere else. Unless we clone the environment we are destroying -- with all the thousands and thousands of plant, animal, aquatic and bird species in it -- we can't replace the endangered species the development will kill.

4. Ensure that we learn from the Indigenous peoples who successfully lived on these lands for centuries, by ensuring that lengthy, meaningful and community-wide consultations with First Nations and Indigenous people ALWAYS take place on possible changes to the Greenbelt.

5. Prohibit all aggregate extraction in the Greenbelt. Existing operations should be red circled, and not allowed to renew or expand their licenses.

6. Identify and protect all prime agricultual land in the Greenbelt by enacting conservation easements which ensure speculators cannot convert them into employment or settlement lands without community referenda, widescale consultation, including with First Nations and Indigenous peoples, and thorough environmental and agricultural assessments.

This matters to me because I rely on locally produced food to save me money, reduce transportation-caused Greenhouse Gas Emissions, improve my health, and fight climate change.

It's personally important to me.