As a millennial caught in…

As a millennial caught in the housing crisis, I vehemently oppose the proposed changes in Bill 23.

The COVID pandemic showed us all how valuable our green space is to us. A refuge, a place to enjoy time with family or solitude, a soothing reprieve from the stress of our lives.

Not only this, but our green spaces are providing irreplaceable ecosystem services that cost billions to attempt to reproduce, and these attempts fall short. A manufactured wetland cannot provide the same level of water storage, filtration, habitat, and flood protection.

Scaling back the input of Conservation Authorities puts our communities, our homes, and our families at risk. Conservation Authorities were established in the wake of Hurricane Hazel, whose devastation was a wake up call that we need someone to monitor and protect our waterways and floodplains. We cannot forget why they were established and risk repeating our mistakes.

Our green spaces are integral to flood control, to protecting our drinking water, and to providing the very air we breath. We cannot move backwards. The Greenbelt must be protected in perpetuity. We have plenty of unused space in our existing urban boundaries, with vacant properties, underused parking lots, crumbling strip malls.

You have a duty to protect our Greenbelt for future generations.