The Duffins Rouge…

The Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve (DRAP). part of the Greenbelt (established in 2005) is protected under the Central Pickering Development Plan (CDPD) "in perpetuity" for agricultural and preservation uses. This protection was reaffirmed by The Superior Court in 2007.

In the Durham Region Planning and Economic Development paper of March 2019, page 36, it is stated that "The Greenbelt Plan prohibits consideration of urban area expansion into the Duffins/Rouge Agricultural Preserve."

In Perpetuity means PERMANENT!

DRAP is only a portion of the Greenbelt, although a significant portion, and the ONLY Agricultural Preserve in Ontario. It is meant to provide food, clean water, clean air and exercise for ours and future generations. These are necessities of life that are not negotiable. The Greenbelt is not negotiable.

The heavy hand of a wide-sweeping withdrawal of any of these rights is not part of the democracy that we have all grown up in and/or re-located to.

When the province's own Housing Availability and Task Force stated that there was more than enough land already available to meet the demands of the housing crisis and to provide for all types of housing and businesses without touching the Greenbelt, this assault to such an important life-sustaining part of Ontario is completely unacceptable and totally unnecessary.

This same assault was never a part of the election platform and is an about-face of Premier Ford's promise to not touch the Greenbelt. The voters' respect is at issue here!

We, as trusting, proud Ontarians strongly request a total reversal of this decision. We and new members to our province deserve the right to eat, drink, breathe and exercise on lands that are designated to be there "in perpetuity".