I would like to comment on…

I would like to comment on the disastrous Bill 23 proposal to remove greenbelt land. There are many reasons why this is a terrible idea for Toronto and for Ontario. For example:
- Reducing the greenbelt will create a precedent that will reduce the entire value of having a greenbelt, if it can simply be modified at will by the government of the day.
- The greenbelt is intended to be a permanent and continuous belt of land, protecting biodiversity and farmland. As we have just learned, 20% of species in Canada are currently at risk and we have already caused 1 million extinctions of species globally. If this continues, one major outcome may be that we no longer have the ability to pollinate food, creating famines for everybody globally. If we do not maintain green belts across Canada and in other countries, we will effectively be committing mass suicide of the human race. This may sound extreme but it is becoming apparent that this is the current situation.
- The greenbelt space is clearly not needed for housing at all. As you well know, it has been identified that there are thousands of acres of are still available to be developed within the greenbelt. As well, increasing density in existing areas is a far better idea, including encouragement of new apartments in existing houses throughout the city. In fact, to address the housing crisis, building houses in the greenbelt areas is the worst possible idea as they can only be lived in by people who have cars and will need to use them every day, if they can afford them. We should be building in existing urban areas, closer to current and future public transport and closer to jobs.
- Releasing the greenbelt to just a few developers who already own the land is completely unjust and a blatant disregard for justice and equal opportunity.
- There is absolutely nothing positive about this proposal and it should be abandoned immediately.