This act is short-sighted…

This act is short-sighted and ill-conceived. It will benefit corporations and their executives while imposing long-term costs on others. In particular, Schedule 5 will encourage relaxation of pollution controls and increase the risk of exposure to toxic chemicals for people and other organisms. Schedule 10 will have long term serious negative effects on biodiversity. The greenbelt offers secure habitat for many species including a number of endangered species (Jefferson's salamander, red-sided dace, hooded and Canada warblers among other interior forest birds). It also offers an important corridor for the movement of individuals into suitable habitats that may have been extirpated. This ability to move among areas of suitable habitat is a necessity for species that live in metapopulations. There are many other reasons for maintaining the greenbelt in perpetuity.

With an increased need to reduce carbon emissions and a push for local food, loss of agricultural land is critically harmful. Opening the greenbelt to development puts this land at risk and promotes the expansion of municipal boundaries in a time when they need to be held firm to reduce sprawl and allow sufficient densification for efficient transit alternatives. The climate crisis requires much more improvement in transportation and loss of local croplands and urban sprawl are antithetical to minimizing emissions and limiting climate change.