Hello, I am writing as an…

I am writing as an Ontario resident, I live in Toronto, and I am writing as someone who is really coming to know and experience more and more of Ontario’s Green Belt. Having watched the rate of urban development of Toronto and surrounding areas over the last 10 years, I am alarmed to hear of the proponents in this bill that would allow businesses to ignore rules outlined in the Clean Water Act, the Great Lakes Protection Act and the Toxics Reduction Act. And shocked to hear that this bill could allow the Greenbelt to be opened up for industrial development and urban sprawl.

The Greenbelt protects 2 million acres of Ontario farmland, forests, and nature. It protect what are some of the places that make Ontario such the special place that it is on the planet. Those spaces and getting to know those spaces is what makes me proud to be an Ontarian. I don’t need to go to exotic places. Getting to be in those forests, I am filled with Awe. I feel good. I learn about the seasons, I learn about the plants that grow there, about trees. I learn about the forces of water moving in a river.

Forest lands and Nature Spaces are so important. They have a huge value. As a resident of Ontario, I am telling you that I want my government to hold these spaces as important.

To be able to walk in those kinds of places, whether it’s Rattlesnake point, or the mono cliffs, or some other of the many places where animals, birds, and plants live in dynamic eco-systems. Where other species have lived for thousands and thousands of years. Where rocks hold the history of what came at the beginning. I value the eco-systems and the species that live in those places.

In our day and age, I look to those spaces for sources of inspiration. And I am moved to want to protect them. And if this bill is pushed, I will fight it.

There are so few green spaces left, especially in Southern Ontario. To think that this bill would put the little that is left in jeopardy, fills me with sadness and outrage.

It is a kind of madness that would allow those greenspaces to be lost, for money. What will be lost would be far greater than any money could buy. There are many other ways that business can be stimulated in Ontario communities, that don't involve irreparable damage to our greenspaces.

Please change this bill, Do not go forward with this. Uphold your promise, and uphold the Green Belt Act, the Great Lakes and Lake Simcoe Protections Acts and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act. Protect our green spaces and Water ways.