The Greenbelt is an…

The Greenbelt is an ecological urban growth management tool that should not be underestimated. It includes different kinds of animals and plants that can improve the atmospheric environment, effectively reduce urban traffic noise, provide habitat of a wild animal protection area, and increase bio-diversity. Greenbelt policy as an effective tool for promoting urban environmental sustainability, especially important when considering Ontario's Greenbelt area is more than protected countryside. Ontario's Greenbelt was created in 2005 to sustainably manage growing urban environments.

The Greenbelt includes the Niagara Escarpment, Oak Ridges Moraine, and agriculturally protected Holland Marsh. 800,000 acres of land are protected by the Niagara Escarpment Plan and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan plus 1 million acres of land in the Protected Countryside overarching Greenbelt Plan. That total makes it one of the largest and most successful greenbelts in the world. Over $50 million of carrots, onions, and other popular vegetables are produced in very fertile soil in Holland Marsh. Oak Ridges Moraine covers 1,900 square kilometres between Caledon and Rice Lake, near Peterborough and is a hydrological system of streams, wetlands, kettle lakes and ponds, and their catchment areas, seepage areas, springs, and aquifers and other recharge areas. The Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve is a geological formation reaching 725 kilometres long and up to 500 metres tall that began as coastline of the Michigan Basin 450 million years ago. It is protected due to the many unique species and prime recreation grounds. It was designated as one of 15 UNESCO World Biosphere Reserves in Canada in 1990. Tourism associated with the escarpment contributes $100 million to local and regional economies.

Opening the Greenbelt to urban sprawl and companies/factories will loosen urban containment with detrimental effects to greenbelt recreation values, the environment, and orderly growth. Walkerton's contaminated water disaster in 2000 was a result of disorderly growth. It is irresponsible to allow the Ford Government's Bill 66 to deregulate Greenbelt policy and threaten its protections. Ontario's Greenbelt area should be enlarged as the population grows, not reduced. The protections in place now protect future generations. I am aligned with pressure to stop Bill 66, enlarge the greenbelt, and keep policies in place to control the effects of urban sprawl and urban development.