Our Toronto family household…

Our Toronto family household of 6 voting adults are in favour of supporting the building of much needed affordable homes for Ontarians, but DO NOT TRUST Ontario's Provincial Government's Bill23 to be successful in building affordable homes. It is difficult to TRUST Premier Ford's Government considering it approved Bill 23, despite given the opportunity to defer passing of Bill23 until after the the Greenbelt Plan December 4 comment period and after submissions of GTA region official plan reviews. Reviews that provide plans on how to use lands for growth beyond 2051 without encroaching on the Greenbelt.

How can we TRUST the Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing when at least 6 of the Greenbelt Council members resigned citing an assault on conservation authority and environment. How can we TRUST this Ontario Government when the Ontario Federation of Agriculture advises that
"Ontario's limited supply of farmland is a scarce resource, making up less than 5% of the land in the Province... Current rate of farmland loss is measured at 319 acres per day in Ontario according to 2021 Census of Agriculture... These losses are not sustainable and will become increasingly worse with the overreaching effects of Bill 23... Agriculture & Food in Ontario is a major economic driver contributing 47 billion annually to the Provincial economy and employing nearly one million Ontarians through skilled labour, trades, technology, innovation and more"

Yet our Provincial Government chooses to jeopardize Ontario farming and threaten food security by dicing and splicing our Greenbelt. Such manipulations of boundaries brings to mind the cronyism of political Gerrymandering, in this case, so as to favour Real Estate Speculators and Developers.

Already Ontarians are faced with sky rocketing food prices. Floods, droughts, fires, wars, are negatively impacting our food supply. How can we TRUST the Provincial Government when Bill23 and these Greenbelt Proposals further threaten our food supply. Will the Province's short sightedness in decimating our Greenbelt farmland mean we will have to rely on IMPORTED FOODS? How did reliance on IMPORTs of PPEs and Vaccines work for us when faced with a viral pandemic?

How, and, by whom, were lands proposed for removal from the Greenbelt selected, and, other lands swapped in? Without this transparency how can we TRUST that the Provincial Government is making sound decisions on behalf of all its Citizens?

Sprawl through the Greenbelts and unscientific swapping of Greenbelt land is unwise as it threatens not only Food Security, but Indigenous Rights, Species at Risk, Watersheds and exacerbates Climate Change. Once paved over there is no going back.

As stated previously, my family is in favour of building needed affordable housing, however, as reported in the Province's own Housing Task Force this can be accomplished without carving up the Greenbelt. The Task Force recommended better use of existing lands by increasing density in urban and suburban areas. Building UP, not sprawling out. Shortage of land is not the cause of our lack of affordable housing. Reducing "red tape" building approvals was another Task Force recommendation that has merit, provided we don't over rule our Conservation Authorities. We don't want homes and supporting infrastructure built on Flood Plains later to find tax payers on the hook for flood remediation costs. Other ways to increase affordable housing is to tax real estate speculators, owners who don't live in the home or who don't pay taxes in Ontario.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.