This is a very bad idea with…

This is a very bad idea with many consequences if allowed to happen as proposed. There is nothing in this bill that ensure ensure the housing that is built will actually be affordable. There is enough land within the current municipalities to built all of these new homes and there is no reason to open up the Greenbelt. Conservation Authorities play an extremely valuable and irreplaceable role in protecting our environment not only for the sake of the health of the land, but also protecting us all against damaging flooding, pollution, protecting animals and other species that we rely on for agriculture and overall management of the environment and climate. Urban sprawl is not the answer to more affordable housing and will not help immigration. Immigrants come into dense cities for a reason- because they need social services, supports, jobs, etc. Building all of these new homes far away from city centres is not going to be useful or practical for new immigrants. This plan will also perpetuate our society's reliance on driving, further damaging our environment. As well, the land to be removed from the Greenbelt has established value in terms of its location, ecosystem, etc. and this cannot be replicated somewhere else overnight - these areas took a lot of time to get to where there are now in terms of their ecosystems and we need to continue to protect these areas. As has been reported, a number of developers have bought Greenbelt land when it was unavailable for development prior to the Government's announcement of this bill which is suspect. The purpose of this bill does not seem to be what it is called as there is nothing in it to guarantee 100% that the housing will be affordable, rather this just seems like a way to provide more ways for developers to make a profit and essentially make the rich richer. Developers should need to pay fees associated with their projects to support city infrastructure (e.g. parks, sewage) and the cities should not need to foot the bill so that private corporations can make a higher profit. This bill does not have the wellbeing of the majority of Ontarians in mind at all, just a few who have proposed donations to the current government and support in the next election. I DO NOT support this bill and think it will be incredibly harmful to Ontario if followed through with.