Re: ERO Number 019-6177 …

Re: ERO Number 019-6177 Review of a Place to Grow and Provincial Policy Statement

I do oppose combining A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe with the Provincial Policy Statement, and to any further diminishment of protections for natural heritage features and agricultural lands in Ontario.

The Growth Plan was Created to Better Protect Natural Heritage Features and Agricultural Systems in the Greater Golden Horseshoe

The Greater Golden Horseshoe covers a large and populous area of the province, which consists of the geographic areas of Brant, Dufferin, Durham, Haldimand, Halton, Hamilton, Kawartha Lakes, Niagara, Northumberland, Peel, Peterborough, Simcoe, Toronto, Waterloo, Wellington, and York.2 Many of Ontario’s most significant ecological and hydrologic natural features are in the Greater Golden Horseshoe.3 There are also significant development pressures in this area of the province.

The Hansard debates for the first and second reading of the PGA reflect the need to better protect natural heritage resources and agricultural lands from development. When it was first introduced in the Legislature in 2004, the Minister of Public Infrastructure and Renewal made the following comments, which remain apposite today:

This proposed legislation will ensure that whatever we do, we would always ensure that
protection of our environment, our agricultural lands and our natural resources.