I vehemently oppose removing…

I vehemently oppose removing even one acre of the Greenbelt to build more cookie-cutter homes.

It's imperative that the government focus either on using this land — among Canada's best agricultural lands — to grow food so we can be self-sufficient when it comes to food, or protect it in the face of climate change. Research suggests the more Greenbelt is lost, the worse our climate will become on a hyperlocal level. Looking at the war in Ukraine (e.g., lack of grain exports in the Black Sea) and growing instability across the world (e.g., gang violence in Central and South America), it's looking more and more likely that globalization isn't sustainable for a world that is eager to turn to nationalism (e.g., America First policies). For the last little while, we've relied on other parts of the world for some of our agricultural imports (e.g., fruits and veggies from South America), but that's growing to be unsustainable as more of the world grows more unstable. We need to produce more of our own food right here in Ontario and we need to export it, so as to ensure our farmers and the agricultural sector thrive and ensure the world is fed amid what is expected to be a massive loss in agricultural lands around the world and growing food insecurity. Once we lose the Greenbelt, we won't get it back. There is very little other agricultural lands across the province and the country, broadly-speaking, that we can use to produce the food we eat and export, so it's time this government takes other steps to both boost and protect the Greenbelt.

In terms of housing, we need to look at policies other jurisdictions around the world have taken to simply rezone entire cities and/or neighbourhoods in order to build up density, not create more sprawl. Communities that are more dense also alleviate the pressures other levels of government face when it comes to delivering services to its citizens (e.g., public transit) and that model needs to continue, but in more communities away from development hubs (e.g., not along Yonge St. in Toronto, but in the areas zoned for residential housing in the city of Toronto).

I trust the government understands this and will listen to the good people of Ontario. I know you all have only the best in mind for Ontarians.

Thank you.