PLEASE Remove Schedule 10…

PLEASE Remove Schedule 10 from Bill 66, which allows municipalities to override provisions in the Greenbelt Act, Clean Water Act, Lake Simcoe Act, Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act and Great Lakes Protection Act.

The Greenbelt preserves farmland and greenspace essential for naturally filtering water and preventing flooding, not to mention critical habitat for many of Ontario’s endangered species. It also helps to combat climate change by storing 86.6 million tonnes of carbon. The Greenbelt provides approximately $2.6 billion annually in environmental services.

Protection also makes financial sense. Food and farming in the Greater Golden Horseshoe contributes $12.3 billion to the economy and creates 212,000 jobs. Over 7,000 of these farms are found in the Greenbelt, including half of Ontario’s fruit farms and one fifth of our vegetable farms.

The Greenbelt is also our biggest defence against climate change. Natural greenspace absorbs flood water and reduces the impact of extreme storms on our infrastructure and stormwater management systems.

Thank you.