For many years, Ontario has…

For many years, Ontario has been working on policies to deter urban sprawl while protecting natural and agricultural lands. Earlier the Bob Rae government hosted the Sewell Commissions and the McGuinty-Wynne governments introduced the Green belt along with smart growth urban intensification policies. Various municipalities have brought this approach to the front lines, planning for transit-oriented, intensification-style development. My own experience in Hamilton illustrates this work as we re-develop the downtown and lower city, and move forward on building a light rail transit system which is partly about transportation, but mostly about redeveloping the King - Main Street Corridor and surrounding neighbourhoods - thousands of new units can be achieved in this area, within steps of high quality transit. The point being that Ontario has worked very hard to implement a sustainable development approach with a low greenhouse gas emission footprint, making smart use of existing transportation and social infrastructure.

The existing Greenbelt is in it's current locations was chosen to support the best remaining farmland and the best natural heritage system of forests, wetlands and linking wildlife corridors. It is for this reason, that lands cannot simply be removed and added elsewhere willy-nilly. After many years on Hamilton City Coucnil, attending OMB hearings and serving as a protector of important lands, it is clear to me that the Government is is proposing this change to serve the interests of private developers. It is now good planning and negates many years of previous public planning processes. In short, I urge you to maintain the current Greenbelt system and re-focus your efforts on urban intensification.