I am writing to you to ask…

I am writing to you to ask that you keep your promise to protect the Greenbelt and therefore call back legislature and introduce a new Bill 66 that stops the attacks on the Greenbelt, Oak Ridges Moraine, Lake Simcoe, Source Water Protection Areas and other important protected farm and natural areas to development.

During the election, you promised to protect the Greenbelt and you recently released a “Made in Ontario” Environment Plan which made the same commitment.

I have deep concerns about many aspects of Bill 66, Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, 2018. The proposed legislation would override critical requirements under several provincial laws and policies that are designed to protect safe drinking water, farmland, natural heritage and human health. It would do so in a fashion that undermines fair, consistent and transparent public involvement in decision-making and sets the stage for costly property tax increases to subsidize economically inefficient sprawl development.  

I urge the government to not proceed with Bill 66, as this would allow allow municipalities to pass “open-for-business” zoning by-laws that would circumvent fundamental protections for drinking water, farmland, natural heritage and human health set out in Ontario’s key planning laws and policies and in municipal official plans. The potential negative impact is far-reaching and profound.
In addition to the risks posed to drinking water and human health, the Bill undermines of decades of progress in environmental protections in Ontario.

Once gone, farmland and natural areas are gone forever. Please keep your promise and change Bill 66.