I am concerned about the…

I am concerned about the undermining of Ontario's natural assets through these plans. As a lifelong Ontarian, I am incredibly proud to live somewhere with some of the cleanest energy, a large and protected Greenbelt, and a globally progressive conservation authority program. It has been wonderful to see governments appreciate that healthy ecosystems and farmland are essential for future climate change mitigation, biodiversity protection, human health, and the extraction of natural assets. I think these plans to reduce the power of conservation authorities to comment on plans, and to expand development in the Greenbelt are disasterous to the long-term stability of this province. I am someone actively saving money to buy a home and understand that the southern Ontario population is growing, but I don't think these new rules will create the quantity of home needed, nor affordable options. We need to be intensifying on the land that is already available, not just for the environment but because there are amenities nearby, communtities built to support each other, and jobs available in urban areas. Sprawling will only increase commuter traffic, isolate people, and permanently affect wild lands that cannot be fully restored once we realize they were valuable as is. It is essential that we allow all stakeholders to continue to comment on development and planning plans, including conservation authorities and environmental groups so that all decision makers have the full picture of the impacts that could occur from said projects. Conservation authorities especially need to be able to consider pollution and conservation of land when considering development. These issues affect natural hazards and the whole power and benefit of separate conservation authorities comes from having a third party that can consider the whole of environmental impacts. Mandating green building standards means that all future development is built with long-term needs in mind, a large investment now means less retro-fitting, re-building, and unknown consequences in the future. Municipalities have a much better idea of what is possible and desirable from their community than the province and should retain power over input on developments and greenspace. Wetlands are irreplaceable in their ecological services to protect against flooding and clean our water. They are also essential to many species-at-risk that should be prioritized. Ecological offsets are understudied and often ineffective if placed too far from the original site, they should be a last option, not primary policy. The same is true for Greenbelt lands, simply removing areas in the south and adding to the north does not solve the problems of connectivity, sensitive and important lands in the south, and the need to send a clear message that the Greenbelt is protected. The Ford government has repeatedly promised not to touch Greenbelt lands to solve the housing crisis, and I am calling on those promises now. The changes outlined in this Bill do not reflect the needs or wants of Ontarians.