My name is Laina and I live…

My name is Laina and I live in Burlington ON. I strongly oppose Bill 66.

Doug Ford said he would not touch the Green Belt and has gone back on his promise. This bill is not about "cutting red tape" and making Ontario "open for business"- it is about Doug Ford wanting his wallet to get bigger. He is a businessman and investor- allowing the land to be open for developers only benefits him.

The Green Belt is the largest protected green space in Ontario and it is what makes our province so special. Locals and tourists enjoy the hiking trails and the close escape from the city. It is also home to many protected species ONLY found in Ontario. Bill 66 also jeopardizes over 250 000 Ontario citizens drinking water. The Oak Ridges Moraine is the largest fresh water supply for Ontarian's and Doug Ford's Bill 66 compromises the safety of this watershed by allowing land development and eliminating acts that protect our major water supplies. If that watershed was polluted and something happened similar to the Walkerton crisis, there would be a massive health crisis in Ontario.

The cities in the Golden Horseshoe are growing at a rapid rate and our roads and cities cannot handle the growth. The roads are too congested causing air pollution and the QEW, 401, highway 6 and 403 cannot handle anymore traffic. I work in a school and see so many illnesses and health complications in children that are directly related to air pollution- my son being one of them, suffering from severe asthma that causes attacks when the air quality is poor.

If Doug Ford wants business to come back to Ontario he needs to focus on cities that used to be booming in business but are now struggling, such as the closure of the GM plant that resulted in thousands of employees losing jobs. Re-create new opportunities in these cities with the existing infrastructure. Building more factories and housing in the greenbelt is not going to help the job crisis in Ontario- it just allows more people in and there is not enough jobs to support everyone. The housing market will continue to soar and no one will want to live in Ontario because of how unaffordable it is. The government also needs to start cracking down on people working for cash. My partner has a renovation business and pays taxes but he cannot find jobs because people are advertising on Kijiji and other sites that they will work for cash for only 10$ an hour and do the same work. That takes away from local businesses and our economy.

Canada just met with other countries in the World and made a commitment to make environmental improvements to help stop climate change after the climate change report was released. By Ontario passing this Bill, we would be going back on our commitment and would cause massive environmental devastation.

I am scared for my child's future in Ontario and if this Bill passes, we will probably leave the province.