The first thought to come to…

The first thought to come to mind just form looking at the title of this proposal is that the Greenbelt is supposed to be protected natural landscape in a part of our province which is already quite developed; whether that be urban, suburban, or farmland/countryside. There is no replacing natural landscape by any of those three human developments. Even symbiotic incorporation is an intrusion on natural environments. Nature does not follow our borders and it is difficult to predict how these plans could impact its future. Why remove even more natural beauty in our province, especially near already heavily urbanized areas? Access to these spaces is good for population happiness levels on top of the environmental beneficial factors.

On the topic of the incoming increase in population, why not spread the numbers to the north of the province? Cities such as North Bay, Sudbury, and Sault Ste Marie could better benefit from future population increases than already highly population-dense areas such as the GTA and its surrounding cities.

A last note and the biggest concern: should this proposal go through, I am afraid that this will be the first cut which results from the Greenbelt's death from a thousand cuts. Yes, I understand that the plan is to add to our protected land as a sort of exchange, however some of that land is countryside - which in all technicality is human development and not natural landscape. This is not an equal exchange, as mentioned my first point.

Please consider developing in areas of the province which could actually benefit from it rather than removing more of our beautiful natural landscape.