Question 1+2. This seems…

Question 1+2.
This seems like a reasonable focus area for this feature, it protects an important feature that is bumping up against rapidly expanding cities. "Hard" boundaries should include the entirety of the moraine and probably go just beyond the extent of this feature to include some buffering space around it. It should include all of the environmental services/ features associated with the moraine using a scientific approach to determine their extent (i.e. waterways/headwaters)

Question 3.
Including additional lands within urban river valleys is important, but this should go beyond public lands to incorporate private lands as well. Otherwise, the river valley lands will become increasingly fragmented as degraded as a result of dislocated areas. This is especially pertinent since private lands are those that are at risk from urban encroachment more so than public lands. To maximize their environmental potential, all lands in urban river valley corridors should be included.

Question 4:

The two proposed study regions are important, but we need a far more ambitious expansion including:
- All moraines within the Greater Golden Horseshoe, given their vital role in providing clean drinking water and mitigating floods.
- Coldwater streams, wetlands and headwaters of river systems, which improve water quality, provide critical habitat for fish and other wildlife and afford many further benefits such as flood control, carbon storage, groundwater recharge and recreational opportunities;
- Former glacial Lake Algonquin and Iroquois Shorelines and Plain which feature significant groundwater discharge zones and the headwaters of many cold-water streams. Additionally, Environment Canada notes that these are highly biodiverse areas and would benefit biodiversity conservation disproportionately.
- The Lake Simcoe basin and northern Simcoe County, where many important ecological and hydrological features are vulnerable to land speculation and intensive development.

Question 5:

Growth Management: There is an abundance of land designated for (primarily residential) greenfield development already within the Greater Golden Horseshoe, that has not yet been used, so there should not be any issue with accommodating growth for a very long time. (See here: https://neptis.org/publications/no-shortage-land-homes-greater-toronto-…). Furthermore, we need to improve our density of new development to avoid the wasteful use of prime agricultural land and natural landscapes. With appropriate strategies, we can greatly expand the greenbelt, and keep our urban lands from pressuring it.

Natural Heritage and Water Resource Systems: As mentioned, a far greater number of hydrologically and ecologically important features on the bounds of the greenbelt should be incorporated.

Agriculture: Expanding the greenbelt to include a much larger portion of the class 1 farmland within the GGH would be ideal. Much of this land has already been destroyed by sprawl development.

Infrastructure: New infrastructure scope and costs can be minimized with urban intensification and need not affect the greenbelt to a significant degree. In keeping with the Ministry’s promise not to remove lands from the Greenbelt, the government should cancel plans to build Highway 413 (GTA West) and the Bradford Bypass (Holland Marsh Highway) which will slice through existing Greenbelt lands and accelerate sprawl.

Question 6:

Given that the pandemic has led to a large increase in the use of Ontario's outdoors. This highlights the demand and need for large amounts of high quality greenspace for recreation, health benefits, and nature protection that improves the quality of life for everyone in Ontario. But it also showed the pressure that increasing demand for greenspace puts on natural areas. As Ontario's population grows we need to keep up with preserving our natural heritage so that Ontarians can continue to benefit from greenspace and ecosystem services in a sustainable way. Additionally, protecting our valuable farmlands and waterways will ensure that they are as resilient as possible in the face of a changing climate. Expanding the greenbelt to a much larger area is a must if we are to preserve biodiversity, agriculture and a high quality of life for Ontarians.