I am a 25 year old Ontarian,…

I am a 25 year old Ontarian, I am the future of this province.

I wholeheartedly disagree with the proposal to open any greenbelt land to housing development. This is a proposal to compromise my future and the future of my province for the short term gain of very few people.

1. Undemocratic:
The greenbelt is a unique and irreplaceable asset, and I am both shocked and disappointed that my government is willing to destroy this asset. Especially because the process around this proposal has been so deeply undemocratic.

We, the people of Ontario, notice that our government has not been transparent with us. We notice that you have gone back on a promise not to develop this land -- a promise that influenced how we voted. We notice that voter apathy has lead to such abysmal voter turnout as to compromise the legitimacy of the government making these destructive decisions.

2. Food:
Ontario is facing an affordable housing crisis, that is true. But there are so many other ways to address housing issues. Ways that are not so permanently destructive.

The government would be remiss to ignore the fact that food is also reaching a crisis point in our province, a crisis that will only be exacerbated over time with population growth and climate change.

At this moment, more people are using food banks in Ontario than ever before, including myself, a working university-educated professional. Citizens using food banks are not experiencing full citizenship. Citizens having to choose between buying fresh vegetables for their families and paying their bills are experiencing full citizenship. Your job as a government is to increase Ontarians' ability to access full citizenship, you are failing.

The reality is that while there are other places to build housing, there is nowhere else to grow food in our province. Nearly every inch if arable land on earth (and in Ontario) has already been harnessed for agriculture. If we loose parts of the greenbelt, we can never replace it, which will serve to deepen the food crisis that we are already seeing hurt the people of Ontario.

3. Housing supply:
Put simply, no one believes that this proposal will make a significant dent in the affordable housing crisis. In fact, most of us don't even believe that the housing crisis is the real motivator for this proposal at all.

The housing that would be built in the greenbelt will not benefit the Ontarians facing the brunt of the housing crisis. The homes will be too expensive and too far away from workplaces. The housing that would be built would only benefit rich people, at the cost of denying every person in Ontario, especially the poor, of the benefits of the greenbelt.

Ontario needs to build more housing that actually serves the needs of its citizens. That means more medium density housing, housing connected to public transit, mixed use zoning where small businesses and residential spaces co-exist. We need thriving communities. We need to house people who are not able to access housing and support people whose housing is precarious. Mega-houses in the greenbelt won't accomplish this. And it's an insult to the intelligence of Ontarians that you are trying to tell us that it will.

We see through the facade that this proposal is about helping vulnerable Ontarians or addressing the affordable housing crisis. It's not and it won't. This proposal is about benefiting developers at the cost of long-term food sustainability and every generation of Ontarians to come.

Do better.