I’m extremely disappointed…

I’m extremely disappointed that the provincial government is proposing removing portions of the Greenbelt. I’m opposed to this proposal because: 1) wetlands cannot be replaced on a 1:1 basis, 2) the risks to flood regulation and water quality, and 3) housing can be built in existing neighbourhoods. I’m deeply concerned that this proposal risks setting a dangerous precedent that would see the Greenbelt cut-up and disappear over time.

It is misleading to state that an acre of land can be taken in one place and replaced with an acre elsewhere. A wetland that is lost is not easily replaced. A review of 59 studies of biodiversity recovery by Pezzati et al., 2018 found that recovery times varied from less than one year to 10,000 years with active restoration efforts. We are lucky to have biodiversity and wetlands in such proximity to urban areas. Once these are removed from the Greenbelt and developed, they will be lost for good. The loss being considered in Map 6 in Durham Region is particularly worrying given the connection to Duffins Creek. A University of Waterloo study valued the ecosystem system services of wetlands in southern Ontario to be worth $9,995 per hectare per year. Wetlands in the Lake Simcoe watershed have ecosystem benefits worth $11,172 per hectare per year. Since wetlands’ benefits vary from watershed to watershed, it is worth reconsidering this proposal of removing one piece of land in the Greenbelt for another in the Paris Galt Moraine.

Overall, the removal of Greenbelt lands poses risks to flood regulation and water quality. These are priceless ecosystem services (or, benefits) that the Greenbelt currently provides. A 250 square metre piece of land in the town of Oakville, Ontario, stores so much stormwater that it saves the city $1.24 million to $1.44 million annually. Certain Greenbelt lands that are being considered to be removed are close to rivers and/or creeks. Areas like this are important to the fight against climate change. Losing these parts of the Greenbelt may be detrimental to Ontario communities and future homeowners in terms of flood risks, which could rise in the future due to climate change. In 2021, the insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) estimated that weather-related events due to climate change cost Canadians around $2.1 billion in insured damages and this figure could reach up to $139 billion by 2050. Environment and Climate Change Canada scientists reported in 2020 that climate change has made rainfall more extreme and storms with extreme rainfall more frequent. There have been significant rainfall events in 2017 and 2018 in Toronto. Communities along Lake Ontario needed sandbags for several days and weeks in 2018.

There can be more than 50,000 homes built in existing neighbourhoods through Missing Middle housing. Such housing includes duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, townhomes, and low-rise apartments. Missing Middle housing can be built more quickly than what is being proposed with the removal of these Greenbelt properties. Building Missing Middle housing would decrease urban development pressures in agricultural and rural areas. Compact urban housing developments provide cost savings for construction and infrastructure maintenance. (Donnan, 2008) The Report of the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force from February 2022 states that there is enough land to develop inside built-up areas and outside of greenbelts. Young people want to live in compact, dense and complete communities in urban areas. They may not want to live in a far-flung subdivision, where they will have to depend on a car.

Thank you for receiving my comment. I hope that the government decides against this change of regulation. I ask that you do not sacrifice pieces of the Greenbelt to build housing. We have the space in urban areas already to accommodate the number of residents that you are estimating would live in these proposed areas. We do not need to set this dangerous precedent.