Dear ERO, Bill 23 is wrong…

Dear ERO,
Bill 23 is wrong in so many ways. It’s wrong because it is entirely unnecessary. Over 85,000 acres of land are available outside the Greenbelt on which to build housing. Thousands of new housing units have been approved but are not being built. There is also lots of room and opportunity to build inside our cities and towns with gentle densities and near where people want to live.
It’s wrong because much of the land being swapped into the Greenbelt is already protected — a smoke screen and a game of math gone awry.
It’s wrong because this action will not create affordable housing. Homes in these very pretty locations will cost $1.5+ million.
It’s wrong because we need rich and productive places to grow food, and wetlands to safeguard water sources.
It’s wrong because Premier Ford changed his tune and lied. Premier Ford previously declared his love for the Greenbelt – including in a now deleted tweet: “I listened to the people, and we are not touching the Greenbelt.”
It’s wrong because municipal budgets are already stretched, and the low-density housing planned for these sites is too expensive. The tax base is more efficient if housing is built inside cities — where infrastructure already exists — and tax rates can be kept lower because more housing units are built on each acre of land.
It's wrong because we are in a climate emergency and in order to ensure a safe, livable, healthy Ontario for our children and grandchildren Bill 23 must not be passed.