We need the Greenbelt and…

ERO number

019-6216

Comment ID

66366

Commenting on behalf of

Individual

Comment status

Comment approved More about comment statuses

Comment

We need the Greenbelt and its environmental protections. Homes can be built anywhere, there's only a small strip of land across Canada where we can grow food and we've already paved over so much of it with our suburban sprawl. It is absolutely disgusting that the Ford government is prioritizing the short-term monetary gains of some extremely wealthy developers over the long-term sustainability of our communities and our planet. We need to be investing in environmental conservation and protections, ecotourism, agriculture, and green energy projects, not removing those protections and incentives. We are in a climate crisis. Removing these protected areas of land to build housing can leave us more susceptible to flooding and other climate effects. This in turn will cause a rise to insurance costs and payouts and further strain our health care services. We need to be focusing on making the lands already earmarked for development sustainable. We need to be creating communities that don't rely on cars and commuting and instead invest in walkable and bikeable communities, and better transit systems. We need to be encouraging communities and companies to build and thrive in areas outside the GTHA. Most Ontarioans can work from home. There's no need for us all to be herded into the small area of the GTHA--our most arable farmland. Stop listening to lobbyist developers and start listening to your constituents. We want to protect the environment. We want to see investments in agriculture, green energy, and better transport. We want sustainable, affordable communities. Not endless urban sprawl that only benefits the few. Protect the Greenbelt. Stop the sprawl. There is no planet B, and Canada and Ontario need to focus on food security and agricultural investment, not urban and suburban development. While some may try to argue that this is meant to help with the housing crisis, this development will not. These developers have no interest in building affordable, sustainable housing. They are only interested in their profits. There is no such thing as endless growth and endless profits. There is a point where it is only destruction and greed. We've reached it. These developers should take these lands as a loss, renounce all claim to them and give them to the Greenbelt and Indigenous partners in perpetuity, and help protect the lands so that the lands can protect our futures.