1. I will start by…

1. I will start by commenting on a statement provided in the context section of the proposal: Section 5.6 of the Greenbelt Plan provides that amendments to the Greenbelt Plan could be considered outside of the 10-year review in the event of major new Provincial policy, legislation, or regulation that creates the need for an amendment. It may be argued that More Homes Built Faster legislation is what triggers the need for amendments outside the 10-year review process. This is not a legitimate or valid argument.
• The need has been self inflicted; and the alleged need for more land to build the needed homes identified in More Homes Built Faster is not supported by the facts. The Province’s own commissioned task force has denied that it is land scarcity which has created the housing crisis.
• The writers of the proposed Amendments to GB have never provided the data to support their claim of land scarcity. In contrast the municipalities can detail the land zoned for greenfield development which is still untouched and the brownfield lands which are still in original state. And the municipalities can identify the draft subdivision plans which have not been executed. In my municipality there have been two subdivisions, each being >700 residential units which have had their lapsing provisions extended beyond the usual 3 years.
• It is said that the GB lands will enable the building of 5,000 homes; this is <1% of the identified need of 1.5 million. Surely those 5,000 can be incorporated across all the new developments over the next 10 years.
Finally the clear indication that it is a façade to claim the appropriateness of making amendments outside the 10-year review is the recently revealed coincidence of 8 of 15 parcels proposed to be taken out of the GB to have been purchased since the Conservative party victory in 2018.
2. To quote context again: “The Oak Ridges Moraine is one of Ontario’s most significant landforms. This irregular ridge stretches 160 kilometres from the Trent River in the east to the Niagara Escarpment in the west. The Escarpment, the Moraine and the Greenbelt Plan’s Natural Heritage System together form the foundation of south-central Ontario’s natural heritage and green space systems.” Where is the study which assesses and measure the impact of redesignating this land to settlement. It was designated as natural core after scientific studies were conducted; what is the basis for saying that this land does not deserve protection? Where is the study to show that the impact on the acquifers which support agriculture, our local food and provides drinking water for thousands.
4. Ontario needs more homes which people can afford to either acquire them and maintain them or to rent them. Enabling the building of more residential units outside current urban boundaries does not accomplish this. Even though the developers of these “cut outs” are supposed to fund installation of services it is the municipalities who maintain them. Providing effective public transit to the outer boundaries of urban area is a challenge today; people living tomorrow, in what is currently the GB, will be even further from the core of the urban area. Without public transit households require one or multiple cars which adds to daily living cost.
5. Finally redesignating the ORM natural core land east of Dufferin/west of Bathurst and north of Hwy 9 to settlement area is inconsistent with the clear promises made on numerous occasions by Premier Ford and Minister Clark to not touch the Greenbelt and the Oak Ridges Moraine. Given that there are no recognized professional groups or associations with relevant expertise & credentials who agree that the housing crisis is due to land scarcity their lies deserve condemnation.