In 2018 you promised…

In 2018 you promised Ontarians that the Greenbelt would never be developed. You subsequently reneged on that commitment, presumably in order to satisfy developers who had purchased land within an area that later became part of this protected region. You then promised that the province would conserve twice as much land as that developed within the Greenbelt, but a second draft of the plan for Greenbelt development made no mention of this two for one proposal. Nazaneen Baqizada, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, stated that "Adding public land to the Greenbelt provides permanent protection...”, but why, given your record of broken promises, should the public believe anything this government says? There’s clearly no guarantee of permanent protection anywhere, so how can we possibly believe you won’t continue to allow development within any “protected” area.
Compensating for the loss of 7400 acres within the Greenbelt by adding 9400 acres elsewhere is likewise a very bad deal for the public. This additional land isn’t nearly as arable as the prime Greenbelt farmland slated for development. But your party has apparently not considered how important the local cultivation of food will be in our future. Your inclusion of urban valleys as part of this exchange is also not acceptable since these areas are already protected from development. You have also tampered with legislation designed to protect wetlands so that building could occur in areas crucial for water filtration and sustainability. Have you not considered how important water will be for communities in the future?
We all agree there’s a crucial need for affordable housing, but building large, detached, single family homes in suburbs where amenities are only accessible by car is an antiquated approach that only contributes to urban sprawl, the loss of farmland and climate change. Future community development should instead focus on sustainable high density housing with services accessible on foot or by transit.
Municipal records indicate that 88,000 acres of unprotected land are currently available for decades of housing development, so there’s clearly no need to sacrifice our future. Relenting to the pressure of developers and their obsession with profit will never contribute to lowering housing costs, so please reconsider this flawed approach by prioritizing sustainable housing for everyone’s benefit without encroaching on the Greenbelt.