Despite a vow that he would…

Despite a vow that he would never allow the Green Belt to be cut up Premier Ford has gone back on his word but done it in a most devious way. Under the guise of "Restoring Competitiveness" it is now possible for municipalities to circumvent regulations put in place to protect; farm land, water sources, and the Great Lakes. Apart from the fact that damaging the Great Lakes could cause an international incident, we need to extend more protection to water sources especially moraines such as the Galt-Paris Moraine and continue to protect the Oak Ridges Moraine in its entirety. Many towns and cities in Ontario depend on ground water for their drinking water and given the current trade wars we can absolutely not afford to lose farmland if the citizens of Ontario are going to be able to afford to eat safe wholesome food. The developers of this province have barely made a dent in the land available for them outside of the green belt. Any argument that green belt land is needed for "affordable homes" is utterly bogus, the homes built there would be premium top of the market mansions rather than affordable. But small towns are cash strapped and easy prey for deep pocketed developers who might offer inducements for prime real estate and when the green belt gets nibbled away we will hear claims like "it was the will of the people", "the province doesn't want to get in the way of creating jobs and homes" etc.. But here's an idea, instead of sacrificing irreplaceable green space and fouling water sources, why not make it easier to develop "Brown Field" lands and former industrial places? There is land to spare in this category, much of it available for a song. Sell it off for $1.00 per hectare but with the understanding that the developer is entirely responsible for the remediation of the soil and any water courses that travel through or find their source on that land, subject, of course, to government inspection.

The Premier backed away from messing with the Green Belt before because he saw the reaction of the public the vast majority of whom see it and the water sources protected by it as a sacred trust. Nothing has changed and Ontarians have long memories when they feel that they have been betrayed.