Created in 2005, the Ontario…

Created in 2005, the Ontario Greenbelt – the largest Greenbelt in the world - consists of two million acres of productive farm land and environmentally sensitive areas that have been permanently protected from development. This promise was a vitally important one for the province and an important step for protecting present and future generations.

The Greenbelt is a massive water and air filter, is important for our food supply, a represents a multi billion dollar annual economic and job creating powerhouse. It is a huge provincial success story and one it’s most popular environmental initiatives.

The greenbelt is a valuable and sensitive part of Ontario’s ecosystem. Green spaces act as “the lungs” for the province.

Developing important agricultural land and sensitive ecological spaces is not something we can reverse once completed and it is possibly one of the biggest mistakes the province can make.

“Swapping land 1:1” does nothing to provide future protection for lands of the future and does nothing to protect agricultural sensitive areas now. Developing Greenbelt land is a monstrous and monumental mistake.

The reasons the Greenbelt was created and these lands were deigned to be worthy of protection (to mitigate issues of urban sprawl, pollution, protecting human health, food security and more) and emerging and critical issues wire now than ever and that protection needs to continue.

Developing these lands also does nothing to guarantee lower or affordable housing. It doesn’t alleviate the provinces housing issues it just creates a different problem.

Thank you for listening to my concerns.